Oakley customer service - what is the legal position?

This doesn't answer your question but I think at that point I'd be taking the full refund and buying from someone else. I'd be unhappy with them having my business by then.

If they are faulty, I don't think the whole distance selling regs thing is relevant anyway is it? At that point it's just sale of goods act. It would be different if you were trying to return a custom item because you didn't like the colour, for example.

I think they’ve been reasonable. They’ve refunded the faulty item. Personally I would have queried the non Working voucher prior to ordering the more expensive ones.

You aren’t out of pocket, you decided to buy some more expensive glasses.

I think they’ve been reasonable. They’ve refunded the faulty item

This

Personally I would have queried the non Working voucher prior to ordering the more expensive ones.

The voucher code was against full price items, the OP was buying discounted frames

It’s rubbish but not unreasonable.

They sent faulty glasses and then offered a refund.

After that it’s more muddled by you decided to spend more with them

one of the lenses was loose – not falling out, but noticeably not solid in the frame, so I contacted them to see whether I could get them fixed.

Funnily enough, I've got a pair of Oakley Frogskins with prescription lenses in, and one of my lenses is slightly loose. It's a little annoying when cleaning the lenses as it feels like the lens may fall out - however, in reality, it makes zero difference to my vision and hasn't fallen out (yet...)

Seems reasonable to me as they offered you a full refund and a voucher as a goodwill gesture and when you didn’t like it they gave you an additional discount. I’d be very happy with that. If you didn’t want to spend any more money with them then perhaps a friend or relative could have used the voucher..🤷‍♂️

I had some faulty glasses - Radar Path, lens cracked. Oakley replaced them even though they were out of warranty (I had to return them for inspection first) and gave me a 30% voucher and when they sent the wrong lenses in the warranty replacement pair they sent me the correct ones FOC.

To answer your original question I very much doubt you have any legal recourse.

Tangential but I recently ordered prescription Oakleys from Extreme Eyewear. Super quick (8 days from order to delivery), best price and the comfort of knowing there’s a UK bricks and mortar optician ready to deal with in the event of a problem.

They do on the face of it appear to be in breach of their own T&Cs. As usual with these sort of companies the drafting of their T&Cs is awful, but there is at the least an implication of a right to request a replacement:

“Faulty goods. If you find the goods that have been delivered do not materially conform with their previously given description in the Order Confirmations, are incomplete or damaged or are faulty and we cannot remedy the issue or fault to your reasonable satisfaction then these goods can be returned without prejudice to other rights granted to you by applicable law. We invite you to carefully read our Warranty and Returns Policies for more information about returning the faulty goods or those purchased items which do not correspond to those described in the Order Confirmations and confirmed in the Shipment Confirmation

Returns and new shipping costs inside the Eurozone will be covered by us. Exchanges are available for items of the same price, in their original condition and packaging, within 45 days of the initial purchase.”

This drafting invites you to find more info in their Returns Policy. I read that too and that policy just refers you back to the T&Cs so doesn’t help. Again, standard half arsed nonsense. I do wonder who these companies get to draft this stuff for them. It’s always rubbish.

Often in these scenarios the hardest thing is to actually find someone to have a convo with, as per your point about nobody calling you back. To the extent you have the energy and it’s worth your time, I would ask them why they have not acted in accordance with their own T&Cs and point them to the wording I’ve cut and paste above.

There is a reference to elsewhere to custom goods not being returnable but it cannot be the intention of the drafting that this is applicable in the case if damaged goods, so in my view the right to ask for a replacement prevails.

They invite you to use dispute resolution services if you feel your complaint is unresolved by them, via the below link, but it’s unfathomable so doesn’t really help

https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.adr.show

They do on the face of it appear to be in breach of their own T&Cs.

I disagree

....are faulty and we cannot remedy the issue or fault to your reasonable satisfaction then these goods can be returned without prejudice to other rights granted to you by applicable law.

That doesn't say they have to remedy to your chosen satisfaction. I'm interpreting that as meaning that if their remedy isn't to your satisfaction, you don't have to accept and can have a refund instead.

In this case, the OP's proposed remedy is for them to remake in a way that the lens isn't wobbly. Oakley don't have to offer that*, their remedy is that they can't fix it so keep them as are (you've already had a discount). That isn't acceptable to the OP so the rights are to return for a refund - which Oakley already offered as plan B instead of rights having to be invoked.

* why they don't for goodwill.... who knows. Maybe they've got a batch of slightly oversized frames they're knocking out for cheap with slightly loose lenses

Was definitely not impressed upon ordering a couple sets of advertised UK boots & trainers sized 10's. To then find they're actually UK 9's.

They even knew of the website issue prior to me ordering and offered a mere apology which is cool and all though no offer of a discount code or goodwill gesture as you will.

Had to wait in especially for courier which is let's face it always towards end of day.

Muppets ime. Plus some may think their shades are £££££ though check out their one off custom boots which are not refundable in terms and conditions. I mean seriously!

Distance Selling Regulations doesn't exist.

Under CCR you can generally return goods bought unseen for a refund within 14 days but I think there's an exception here for bespoke goods such as prescription lenses.

With faulty goods you have 30 days (before it gets more complicated) under CRA to return them for a refund or a replacement. You can request which you'd prefer but this is ultimately at the retailer's decision.

So far so fair, it's exactly what Oakley has offered and you have accepted.

Them hiking up the price is a bit shit but you said they were discounted to start with which is why you bought them. Is the new price still a discount price only a smaller one? That's why your voucher didn't work if so, very few places anywhere will let you stack discounts.

Legally I don't think you have any rights at all here I'm afraid. Morally I think a company like Oakley should be honouring the original price as a gesture of goodwill, though you've effectively made two unrelated purchases so I'm not seeing how they could be obliged to other than for a bit of positive PR.

Making a point on principle aside (and I absolutely would) you might be better off selling the voucher code. 30% off is surely worth more than the 10% increase?

One thing I don't understand though. You've already bought the replacements. Did you not notice they were more expensive at the time? The time to haggle was before reordering, you agreed to a Contract of Sale at the point where you gave them money. The CS rep is probably correct here, they can't issue refunds but Sales might've been able to wangle charging you less, your request needs escalating to someone with more authority.

I can't see as Oakley has done anything wrong here other than poor QC on the first pair (which is annoying given how much they must have cost) and then failing to call back when promised. I would be disappointed but unsurprised if you get told whatever the Italian equivalent is for "bog off."

Good luck, keep us posted.

yeah, pretty shitty, but I think Oakely trade on the brand these days.

Send them back if they are crap, and get a full refund, and buy elsewhere would be my advice.

Unless they're actually crap - ie "not of satisfactory quality" rather than "I don't like them" - I doubt the OP can send them back being a bespoke item.

Hasn't Oakley always traded on brand? I remember seeing big stickers for "thermonuclear protection" in the back windows of hatchbacks you could lose a football up the exhaust of long before I knew what the company actually did. (Genuine question, I've always liked at least some of their designs but I've no idea whether they're actually decent quality or not.)

I think they used to make snow boards or surf boards or something.

It's just a fashion brand nower days.

I think they used to make snow boards or surf boards or something.

It’s just a fashion brand nower days.

Started out with motorcycle grips and moved into goggles & then glasses.

They're just one of about a million Luxottica brands these days.

I stand corrected.

It’s just a fashion brand nowadays

Well of course it is, and always has been, just like Rayban and pretty much all the other brands now owned by Luxottica.

Doesn’t stop them also being high quality performance optics, otherwise nobody’s going to buy them, are they! There are lots of ‘fashion’ brands that are purely for aesthetic purposes, and cost far more than Oakleys ever have, but so what.

I’ve got a bunch of different pairs of Rayban, Oakley, Arnet/Arnette and SunGod sunglasses, some have had prescription lenses fitted, some were bought with prescription lenses because they were only available with them; the Oakley WHY3/4/8 frames I’ve got were specifically Rx frames, but I’ve bought replacement regular tinted lenses from Sunglass Fix, and I wear them a lot, the WHY3/4 frames are titanium rimless and so light I barely notice them, and they’re roughly twenty years old. The fact that most of my sports sunglasses were bought fifteen-twenty years ago, are still being worn and are still in excellent condition says a lot for their quality.

Sunglass Fix will make custom lenses as well as their off the shelf ones, and I think they might do Rx versions, and they’ll fit them as well, and their prices are very reasonable.
I ordered some basic tinted blue-coated lenses for my WHY4’s, and when I got them I found that when the prescription lenses had originally been fitted, someone had cross-threaded one of the retaining screws! I messed the screw up trying to get it out, but it wouldn’t go back in properly, because the frame’s titanium, so very difficult to work with. Also I managed to scratch a lens.
I contacted them, they asked me to post lenses and frames back, and they sorted out the problem screw and the frame, made up new lenses the same shape as the original prescription ones, and charged me £7 extra over the cost of the original lenses!

Fantastic customer service, I’ve got several other frames which need new lenses for, a second pair of WHY4’s and a couple of pairs of Arnet Black Dogs, and I’ll be sending them off in the next few months.
I honestly think Sunglass Fix are outstanding for their price and quality, they just take a bit longer purely because of the distance, but I’ve not been disappointed with the half-dozen or so lenses I’ve bought for old frames.

Doesn’t stop them also being high quality performance optics, otherwise nobody’s going to buy them, are they!

Well, that's not true is it. They just need to be perceived to be good.

The fact that most of my sports sunglasses were bought fifteen-twenty years ago, are still being worn and are still in excellent condition says a lot for their quality.

It says a lot for their quality 15-20 years ago.

@simondbarnes I thought you were taking the mickey with Luxottica , haha!

I particularly like how https://www.essilorluxottica.com/en/brands/eyecare/

have a live news ticker of their share prices at the top of the web page.

That really inspires buyer confidence!

Athough, in defence of the RayBan brand, I bought some UK sunnies with prescription lenses, and I broke them in Spain.

I took them to an optician in spain and they fixed them free of charge... literally free of charge.

They are semi-rimless aviators, and it was just the little plasic bit of fishing line that broke, so not a costly fix by any account, but they insisted there was no charge... which I though was quite weird.

Either way, if I'm stuck for speccies I know exactly where I'm going to go in future.

Members get 25% off frames, prescription lenses are a set price. Mine arrive Monday I am scared now 😂

Oakley's famed customer service has disappeared like it never existed and it was all a dream.

I wanted a bit of plastic from them (a part of frame) and they told me tough, out of warranty, no I said, I want to buy it. Nope don't hold it in stock (the glasses are maybe 3 years old), here's a 30% off voucher; buy a new pair.

So just toss those £100 glasses into the bin and buy some new ones...Err, no thanks

Good luck OP, I hope you get it resolved, I won't be buying from them again.

I have had brilliant service from Oakley, albeit via an indie optician.  I bought transition prescription lenses about 5 years ago, 2 years ago they failed, the tint was blotchy in the sun.  They were replaced foc, optician broke the frame refitting the lenses so he replaced frame too, foc, Oakley frame exact replacement.

The new lenses have just failed again, in the sun there clear cracking where the lenses aren't turning dark.  Fine in low light levels.  So I went back, soon as optician tested them in store, he got a replacement foc, from Oakley.

So they 've failed twice which isn't brilliant, and been replaced foc twice.  Big cheer for indie optician and Oakley.

Can't help OP, but their CS is odd. They don't seem to have spare parts for anything and just offer you discount codes.  I wanted a part (sunglasses clip that are known to break) on my DRT5 helmet. Nope, but we can warranty it but of course I didn't have proof of purchase as it was from CRC and I never got round to downloading order history.

So they offered me 50% off a new one as goodwill. Which seemed pretty fair. But I really just wanted a small part not a new helmet!

I have just bought two pairs of oakley framed glasses (normal/sunglasses) from local optician as the frames fit my odd shaped head. They are stupid money really and defo a high level of brand tax.