As an openly gay man of 63 years I have a vast amount of shopping under my belt! When I moved to Charlotte 7 years ago I settled in Meyers Park near the upscale Southpark Mall. Since moving here I began using LensCrafters for my eye ware . After having purchased 12 pairs of glasses over 7 years I had come to rely on their good service. When a Pair of Prada frames broke I went in seeking a repair. A relatively new salesperson was helping me and she got up to ask a seasoned employee whom I had seen there many times before about the frames. She practically yelled across the room " we haven't had those frames in here for two years" ! When I asked the new rep to look at my records she told me that I had purchased them only 7 months prior. I said that I knew that 2 years was "BS"...NOT in an aggressive way at all. She then jumped up and ran from the table and into the back room saying that she couldn't bear to here "that "word". The older sales person screamed across the room "I DON'T KNOW WHY WE HAVE TO WAIT ON PEOPLE LIKE YOU"! I said " like what "? And she replied "You know LIKE WHAT"!
I left shocked, embarrassed and sick to my stomach. I sent an email to the company and got an immediate response telling me that the manager would call me. While one employee did call me to ask what had happened I never received a call from the manager. I was hoping that they would at least tell me that they had gotten some sensitivity training in place but I was never given the courtesy.
I'm warning all of my gay friends to steer clear of the possibility of embarrassment at LensCrafters. In my 63 years I have never had such a hateful experience ....it still stings.
W. Scott Carter