Manufacturing defect?

[steveadorjan]

I've bought a pair of Radarlocks with clear-black iridium photochromic lens, which got delivered today. Everything looks fine, except there seems to be a tiny spot on the right half of the lens (see the whitish dot to the left of the flashlight in the photos). It's pretty small and cannot be seen when I put the glasses on, but it's clearly visible when held in hand. Both surfaces of the lens are smooth and it definitely doesn't look like a scratch, but more like it's inside the lens material.

I've showed it to a local Oakley dealer (I bought them online from abroad), and he said this is like a 1-in-100 type of manufacturing defect, which affects polarized and photochromic Oakley lenses, because when these special layers are sandwiched in the lens, sometimes a tiny bubble of air or grain of dust can get trapped. He also said that Oakley has a QC policy similar to LCD screen manufacturers with dead pixel, that is, if there are less than 3 such tiny spots/blemishes in the lens, it's not considered a replaceable defect (i.e. not a warranty issue).

I'm a bit miffed though, because I have several other Radarlock lenses (no photochromic or polarized ones), and none of them had similar issues out of the box. Can anyone chime in if they had similar experience? Thanks

 

[Lexkempo]

Id insist on an exchange of just plain return it with a nice polite complaint to customer care!

 

[steveadorjan]

I could in theory do that, but I'd have to pay for return postage (about 20 euros) and the online retailer I've bought it from does not have this model or lens in stock any more. My other worry is that even if I paid a lot for return postage, the retailer may not be able to get a replacement from Oakley/Luxottica (basically, the local dealer I talked to said that he's similar lens defects and Oakley would not acknowledge the defect unless there were several such spots in the lens; I guess they might have some standard calculation for what is still "acceptable").

 

[the_owl]

with a receipt, you can mail that back to Oakley. but youre going to eat shipping any way you look at it. theres no way I would keep a pair with a defect like that. Not brand new at least

 

[Lexkempo]

I could in theory do that, but I'd have to pay for return postage (about 20 euros) and the online retailer I've bought it from does not have this model or lens in stock any more. My other worry is that even if I paid a lot for return postage, the retailer may not be able to get a replacement from Oakley/Luxottica (basically, the local dealer I talked to said that he's similar lens defects and Oakley would not acknowledge the defect unless there were several such spots in the lens; I guess they might have some standard calculation for what is still "acceptable").

Did you contact Oakley directly ? Or did the retailer tell you Oakley said that?

Seems fishy that they woulda said that...

 

[WavecloudCustoms]

I have had a few factory defects in recent times on various lenses and pairs... Never on the old stuff though. Oakley did used to equal perfection

 

[Carrera1963]

Did you contact Oakley directly ? Or did the retailer tell you Oakley said that?

Seems fishy that they woulda said that...

This. I would contact Oakley directly for a second opinion.

 

[steveadorjan]

No, it was not the seller who told me that. The seller immediately offered the possibility to ship them back, but I have to pay for shipping and he has no replacement/exchange for it in stock (i.e. I could probably get a refund or wait till they sort it out with Oakley). The guy I talked to is a local dealer (the seller is an online retailer from a different country), and I just asked for his advice. Basically, he said it was a manufacturing defect but sth. that -- at least in his experience as a dealer -- Oakley tends to consider "acceptable" (i.e. not replaced under warranty). He said it's a 1-in-100 kind of problem and only to be found in photochromic or polarized lenses. It might be the case that it's newer batches that have QC issues. All my other Radarlocks are at least 3 years old.
I'm waiting to hear back from the online seller I bought it from, as he promised to inquire into it.
The problem is I'm in Europe now, and I'm not sure how Oakley Europe customer service deal with such issues. I emailed them, but from past experience, they are not too quick in responding to emails

 

[GRFMotorsports]

I have seen lenses at the store with stuff that gets trapped in the lens itself or under the iridium coating. Depending on where it is at on the lens make a difference but I always inspect each lens before I walk out with a pair.

 

[steveadorjan]

I have seen lenses at the store with stuff that gets trapped in the lens itself or under the iridium coating. Depending on where it is at on the lens make a difference but I always inspect each lens before I walk out with a pair.

Were they similar to this one? It doesn't really disturb my field of vision when I put them on (though I just tried them indoors today).