‘Beware of the fine print’ is what we learned to live with when buying a new car as all important – or shall we say surprising – sales details were usually shifted to the lower bottom section of an otherwise glossy contractual document made up of enormous fonts.
For many of us there was however another sizeable obstacle attached: could we ever make out those miniature letters telling a puzzled customer that warranty was reduced from two years to three months and that the sales price was stated without VAT…
Shrugging it all off until we started to realize that not only figuring out important information before parting with hard-earned cash is a problem, but that trying to decipher an access code for an online bank-transaction leads to a frenzy of unsuccessful attempts as well, we reluctantly embarked on a multi-layered path of making a life-changing decision.
‘I am too young for specs’ is probably what for most of us came as the initial reaction. ‘If I start wearing specs, I need to change my driving license or lose it altogether’ although the latter point completely fake a certain second worry. And then of course, ‘I heard that buying specs is a complicated and above all else costly undertaking’. Paired with cheap sets of excuses such as ‘How often do I buy a new car’ and ‘Let my spouse and kids take over online banking’ we successfully neglected our eyes justified demand for proper treatment until another year or as in your friendly columnist’s case, another decade or two.
Until nothing worked out anymore including reading fellow commentator’s articles in their newspapers’ printed editions or walking the aisle to the correct seat on-board a train proudly displaying my reservation yet without the slightest clue where to sit down.
A lot of research ensued and with the practical advantage of calling more than one country home specs and their prices and how and where to obtain them were per due diligence compared and analysed.
The word shock would describe reactions as understatement of the year – not only is an eye-test obligatory as only that machine could read your eyes deficiencies so to speak; there is no self-service counter for specs as a doctor ultimately must decide what is appropriate for a patient to start seeing again and not the patient’s vague ‘well, I cannot read properly anymore’.
Does it come for free? Not where I inquired unless you agree to buy your specs from that very (chain) opticians thereafter. How to figure that one out? By hoping the sales staff lets us in on the secret before committing because you would have assumed so, we were unable to read the fine print anyways.
Not amused it was on to another sales outlet and here the eye test would have been for free but in turn the specs on display were made for Paris Hilton or George Clooney – lookalikes. Even if that were a true mirror reflection for many of our dear readers having the fitting wallet readily available to pay for designer products or at least in my case certainly was no option.
Health cover to the rescue and a further trip to the optician asking about the reimbursement of our insurer made me happy – yes, they will pay – and unhappy at the same time as the further reply duly stated ‘only if you pay for specs from a certain elevated price tag onwards’. Hence pay for 400 Euros and you get back 100 Euros so the actual net cost just above 300 Euros. Thank you, but no, thank you.
Then of course and to add injury to insult and me of course the complete novice I learned that even these prices were only for the actual glasses but not the frame…
Another ten years of walking in the dark? No way I declared, and my lovely Turkish family came to the rescue. Have you ever considered getting your specs delivered in Türkiye? Off to a recommended private eye clinic which I thought would be overly expensive, but it was not at all, setting me back 300 TL to be precise for eye test and doctor’s face-to-face recommendations and a further test. Verdict: short sighted only, long distance view like an eagle. Notification in hand and off to an opticians of choice. Eyesight checked once more so that everything prescribed would work out in my favour, then on to a wide range of models including basic frames and yes indeed, designer frames made in Italy or Japan, too. I hesitated and having learned my Hilton/Clooney – lessons as mentioned earlier on in this column I almost opted for the basic still nice-looking model until the lady told me the designer frame price. Quickly calculating and comparing with the Euros alternatives no more questions: perfect quality, perfect service, perfect quality-price ratio, and I was on my way having agreed to settle at just under 1600 TL.
For roughly one third of the price the other end here one gets a high-quality product and to top it all off, a free two-year warranty shipped in for good measure. Did we unfairly benefit from unjust exchange rates? Not really, as after all me buying in Türkiye is supporting the local economy. Buying local is good for our shops; their friendly staff, and our neighbourhoods to keep shops and businesses open.
And even if what is expected by economic forecasters that the FOREX will settle somewhere around the 10 TL for 1 EURO margin, we still support the local economy whilst paying half of what we would have to pay in other parts of Europe.
That said please do not be surprised if you spot me in town or along Ladies Beach in one of our fine eateries proudly displaying a small black specs carrier bag next to me. Once the menu has arrived you would see a smile on my face as finally, I manage to actually read what is printed on it instead of guessing or having memorized the order of dishes from previous visits.
Have a wonderful early spring in Kusadasi, have a good time.
