Due to a lapse in concentration, I managed to break one of my contact lenses while on holiday, necessitating a trip to the opticians. I've been using one particular firm for my five years in the Netherlands, and they've been pretty good. However, they still demonstrate the same customer service idiosyncracies of other Dutch companies. I ordered my lens on Monday, got the phone call on Thursday to say it was in, and headed in to pick it up. 99 euros for one lens. Ouch. I dutifully swiped my PIN card, ruefully surveyed the damage, and cursed my stupidity. I then asked if, by any chance, they had any kind of insurance scheme. The chap behind the counter looked at me as if I were mildly retarded, paused to consider my question, and then said "Well, you could pay 32 euros per year and get 50% off your lenses."
I've been their contact lens customer for five years and they've never mentioned this to me before. I could have saved hundreds of euros by now if I'd known about this. When I got my lenses in the UK, the first thing my optician did was practically force me to take out their insurance. But here? No. You have to ask. And you have to ask the right questions: Firms will never volunteer the information that you might need, but will make you keep guessing until you come up with the right question.
It's lucky that I'm such a sweet-natured, patient person; a lesser individual might become extremely riled by this.
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I'll have to talk to you more about this. I've been wanting to wear contacts ever since moving to The Netehrlands (given the fact that no one but Elton John seems to have thought of wearing glasses with windshield wipers), and have yet to find a place that provides lenses which are both affordable and comfortable. It seems you've found one (albiet without any help from those in the know, damn them).
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