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being a good boy, i actually searched this whole forum and found that while there are two threads re dentists, there are none re optometrists/opticians/eyeglasses. at least none i could find. so...
last month i needed a new pair of prescription glasses while in pattaya and after a bit of comparison shopping i opted for Charoen on 2nd road. i found a satisfactory frame and got a decent price, so i ordered. it took a week, but i had been warned, so no problem. the problem was, once the glasses arrived, they could not 'fit' the frames to my head. it only required a slight reshaping of one earpiece (or whatever you call the thing that extends from the lenses to keep the glasses on your ears), a process i have seen performed innumerable times by heating up the piece so it can be molded without breaking. instead this 'optician' just began to bend the piece and just prior to its snapping i suggested he stop. i repeatedly asked if there were *anything* they could do to help short of breaking the glasses.
no. and if they did break when they tried to help, then too bad for me.
so i took my lopsided new glasses and went on my way.
over a month later, back in pattaya, i lost a lense from my prescription sunglasses. again i price-shopped, but i did *not* return to the Charoen shop. i got a good price at another shop, also on 2nd road, and not until i paid the deposit did i discover it was also a member of the Charoen chain!
okay. okay. different shop. different people. better attitude. i went ahead. they adjusted my prescription slightly and sitting in that little room with the big "E" on the wall it seemed fine. 
2 days later my glasses were ready. they looked fine. i paid, i took them, i headed on my way. a half-block later i tripped on the curb. two blocks after that i noticed i had no peripheral vision as i failed to recognize the proximity of a moving motorbike. since i got the sunglasses *primarily* for playing golf, this was going to be a problem. and when i stepped into the market and took the glasses off, my eyes struggled to re-focus. and my head hurt.
shopping finished, i returned to the optician to ask if i might expect these problems to lessen with time, or was i just screwed. the *very first thing* he said to me, before i'd even explained the situation, was:
I CAN NOT REPLACE YOUR GLASSES!
excuse me?
YOU APPROVED PRESCRIPTION. I CAN NOT HELP YOU!
i managed to say i only wanted to know if these problems might be temporary, but before i finished that word, he repeated:
I CAN NOT TAKE BACK GLASSES. NOT MY FAULT.
so much for 'customer service'.
on a side note, i have to bemoan the rapidly declining competency and pleasantness of much of the thai service industry. from housekeepers to waiters to desk clerks -- to opticians.
pretty soon it will be as bad as the rest of the world. 
so, if anyone has a good, helpful, qualified optometrist to recommend i'd like to take my next business away from the charoen chain.
last month i needed a new pair of prescription glasses while in pattaya and after a bit of comparison shopping i opted for Charoen on 2nd road. i found a satisfactory frame and got a decent price, so i ordered. it took a week, but i had been warned, so no problem. the problem was, once the glasses arrived, they could not 'fit' the frames to my head. it only required a slight reshaping of one earpiece (or whatever you call the thing that extends from the lenses to keep the glasses on your ears), a process i have seen performed innumerable times by heating up the piece so it can be molded without breaking. instead this 'optician' just began to bend the piece and just prior to its snapping i suggested he stop. i repeatedly asked if there were *anything* they could do to help short of breaking the glasses.
no. and if they did break when they tried to help, then too bad for me.
so i took my lopsided new glasses and went on my way. over a month later, back in pattaya, i lost a lense from my prescription sunglasses. again i price-shopped, but i did *not* return to the Charoen shop. i got a good price at another shop, also on 2nd road, and not until i paid the deposit did i discover it was also a member of the Charoen chain!
okay. okay. different shop. different people. better attitude. i went ahead. they adjusted my prescription slightly and sitting in that little room with the big "E" on the wall it seemed fine. 2 days later my glasses were ready. they looked fine. i paid, i took them, i headed on my way. a half-block later i tripped on the curb. two blocks after that i noticed i had no peripheral vision as i failed to recognize the proximity of a moving motorbike. since i got the sunglasses *primarily* for playing golf, this was going to be a problem. and when i stepped into the market and took the glasses off, my eyes struggled to re-focus. and my head hurt.
shopping finished, i returned to the optician to ask if i might expect these problems to lessen with time, or was i just screwed. the *very first thing* he said to me, before i'd even explained the situation, was:
I CAN NOT REPLACE YOUR GLASSES!
excuse me?
YOU APPROVED PRESCRIPTION. I CAN NOT HELP YOU!
i managed to say i only wanted to know if these problems might be temporary, but before i finished that word, he repeated:
I CAN NOT TAKE BACK GLASSES. NOT MY FAULT.
so much for 'customer service'.
on a side note, i have to bemoan the rapidly declining competency and pleasantness of much of the thai service industry. from housekeepers to waiters to desk clerks -- to opticians.
pretty soon it will be as bad as the rest of the world. so, if anyone has a good, helpful, qualified optometrist to recommend i'd like to take my next business away from the charoen chain.
) So they supply 're-builds' at a reasonable price. And last week replaced nose pieces, free of charge, same as billy.
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