Dear Claudienne

In early July I went to an optician in Kingston to have my eyes tested. His establishment had a special whereby there was no charge for testing my eyes and I was charged $32,000 for the lenses and frame ($14,000 for the lenses and $18,000 for the frame). When I went back the following week and got the glasses I realised that I couldn’t read fine print.

I returned to the optician the following day and my eyes were retested. The optician then told me that the lens prescription I got was the wrong one. He said that he should have prescribed bifocal lenses but I had given him an incorrect date of birth. He showed me the paper on which he had written my age as 35, but I pointed out to him that beside age he had also written down my year of birth as 1974. He then said that anybody could make a mistake.

The optician then told me that I would have to pay an additional $8,000 for the bifocal lenses. I was also told that the spectacles with the bifocal lenses would not be handed over to me until I paid the additional $8,000.

Could you look into this matter for me.

VJ

Dear VJ

We contacted the office of the optician and learnt that he was off the island. However, a senior employee explained to Tell Claudienne that persons 38 and upwards usually need reading glasses that are fitted with bifocal lenses. She said that when your eyes were first tested the doctor prescribed single vision lenses. However, when he retested your eyes he realised that he had made a mistake. You were therefore only charged an additional $8,000 for the bifocal lenses. Because of his mistake you were not charged the lab fee of $14,000 for the making of the bifocal lenses, it was explained.

The policy is that the full amount for the glasses must be paid, before they are handed over to the client.

We note that resulting from our intervention, the optician was consulted overseas and agreed to reduce the additional amount you have to pay for the bifocal lenses to $4,000.

Good luck.

Dear Claudienne

On Wednesday, August 8, 2012 I received the following text message from Digicel “Your international 1,000 plan will expire on 2012/08/08 17:55. To renew your plan at a cost of $1,000 for 700 minutes just dial *134*1*1000#.” However, at approximately 7:30 pm when I tried to send $1,000 to another phone I was informed that I had insufficient funds. However, when I had checked the credit earlier in the day my balance was over $1,900.

I called Digicel and was told by a customer service agent that the technicians had seen where an automatic renewal of the international plan was done unknown to me. The agent stated that the credit would be returned to my phone but to date (August 11, 2012) I have not received the credit. Each time I call I am informed by a supervisor that Digicel does not have automatic renewal on the international plan and she has sent for a report. I have been waiting nearly 72 hours for a rebate investigation to be done and I am hoping that you can assist me with this.

SA

Dear SA

We spoke to Digicel and note that they have contacted you and refunded the $1,000 credit to your account. Digicel has advised Tell Claudienne that it does not offer auto renewal on international plans as these must be manually renewed by customers.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.