OAKLEY — Local services in Lake Forest

I purchased my first pair of Oakleys about 25 years ago. I accidentally broke a stem on the Eye Jackets that I had purchased. I can't believe I actually remember the name of my first pair of Oakley shades!!!! Anyhow, I went back to the Sun Glass Hut in the Brea mall to ask how I could get a new stem. The clerk said, "We can mail them in for you. Oakley will probably replace them for you. It will take a couple of weeks, though. Or if you would like, you can drive to the Oakley Factory. It's in Irvine." So with the address and my trusty Thomas Guide in hand, down the 5 freeway I was headed. There was AM/PM gas station around the corner from the Oakley factory, and nothing else! Everything was dirt!!! No hotels, no food spots, just dirt. I can not believe how much this area has been developed!!! It makes me feel old! As I drove up the driveway for the first time. I would have been convinced I was headed into the Halo video game if it had existed yet. I asked the nice young lady at the front desk where the repair center was. She happily pointed me in the right direction. 2 young men were able to assist in the repair center. I gave them my shades and waited patiently like an expecting father. A few minutes later, the young man came back and said, "We have a couple of colors of frames for you to choose from. What color would you like?" I went with the previous root beer brown that I had. Then the young man said, "We also found a defect in one of the lenses. So here is a brand new pair." "Thank you. What do I owe you guys?" He said, "Nothing, you have a lifetime warranty." 😲😲😲 Yes, my mind was blown. Unfortunately, due to my 18 year old youthful vigilance, I managed to have to go back 3 more times over the next couple of years. That is until I lost them jumping into the good old Pacific Ocean. Those dam shades fit so well, I forgot I had them on!!!! 😭😭😭 As a you kid spending that kind money was almost my whole pay check. Wow! It was such a great investment. I became extremely loyal to the Oakley brand. I think I got a new pair the very next day at the old Sun Glass Hut. Over the next decade or two, I have had numerous pairs of their shades due to the fit, durability, and performance. I then purchased other forms of their apparel. They build things to outlast nuclear winter. I've had sandals, mountain bike shorts, and backpacks. Oh! And a really cool computer bag. I remember the day a certain serial killer had my computer bag in my favorite series at the time. "I want my PC bag back, Dexter!!!!" Well, 300 dollars back then may have been a lot for a PC bag. But it outlasted 3 of my laptops. At some point, I gave it to my nephew. He still uses it. It looks as new as they day I purchased it. I think it is over 15 years old! This reminds me of my backpacks. I have had 2 of them. Both the same model. My original one was yellow. Someone stole it.😭😭😭😭 So, I purchased the same one in Gunmetal gray! I bring this up because I got it prior to my favorite serial killers bag. And while bartending part-time at a Joes Crab shack in Az. I had a young coworker admire my beloved Oakley backpack. He said "Wow that is a sweet backpack! Where did you get it?" I took me a couple of seconds to realize that the bag is about 2 years older than my envious coworker. Now, I had taken it back to the Oakley Factory to replace a zipper or 2. It could use a new clip now. I really do wish they still had the repair shop at the factory. 😭😭😭😭 I was even able to make my father a believer! He is an Oakley man, too! Now, a lot of years have gone my, and now I have a couple of prescriptions set of Oakley's. This is why I found myself back here at the Ole Oakley factory. My active wear frames broke.(Slip Shots) I was hoping to see if I could get them replaced. We'll, I ended up having to buy a new pair. But I am happy to do so because their quality stands the test of time! Thank you, Oakley!!! Signed your most loyal customer. PS It would let me write...

I was a raving fan and had purchased several pairs of Oakley's. However, the "Oakley Half Jacket" glasses which are designed to remove and swap the lenses easily were defective and I learned the hard way that Oakley, the company and brand isn't willing to back a defective product.

The replaceable lenses weren't easily removable as per the enclosed instructions. Called support for help and was told it should be easy and to go to youtube for instruction or to a retail store for help. Youtube showed easy replacement so I tried again and the frame broke. Called support and was told there is no warranty for broken frame...the rep. that gave me this information did so without any information...just giving me a blanket statement clearly intended to ward off consumers looking to get something for free which I am not. Ridiculous. The customer service rep. was treating me like I just bought a $5 hambuger and was pretending there was a fly in is so I could get a free burger. These glasses cost over $130 and are designed for "easy" replacement/swapping of lenses and were in mint condition. I forced the issue and was told to submit a claim for "review" along with pictures (which I was happy to hear so I could prove I wasn't scamming them). Sent the claim form, photo's, receipt in multiple emails and placed multiple follow-up calls but they denied receiving my emails...all the while saying they would email me a mailing slip and acknowledging they didn't follow through. I ultimately visited the Oakely store in Wrentham, MA. Nice folks there. I showed them the emails I sent to Cust. support and asked them to "easily" replace the remaining lense. They confirmed the difficulty in replacing the lense and noted that the frames and all 6 lenses were in mint condition with no sign of abuse. However, they directed me back to the inept cust. svc department which, according to the store, is terrific. The only thing about cust. service is terrific is the illusion of actual customer service. The people are friendly. They seem organized with clear knowledge of their own product and processes. However, the processes for resolution are as broken as my $100 glasses and they have no escalation process. A call to the CEO's office has gone unanswered so far also. I would like my 3+ hrs along with my $$, but am...

My relationship with Oakley has been like that of a couple on Maury Povich.

Yes I’ve been loyal to a fault with them and their products for decades, but there have been runs where they did me dirty like sleeping with my best friend. Not actually, but figuratively.

I love the HQ with the dirt track, the sprawling estate, the huge building front which I may or may not have used to rock climb via access of a friend. I’ve rocked backpacks of theirs tougher than rucksacks or haulbags with tape and worn in hats to dust. I’ve also waited 3+ months for a pair of prepaid prescription glasses only to find out they were out of stock, discontinued and then they love to party too hard. I’m particularly annoyed seeing as a global brand like that still is run like a pizza shop with teenagers. They appear to have all the swagger of a multi million dollar company, but are so compartmentalized it’s like trying to socialize with engineers.

I’ve had half jackets, flack jackets, M Wire’s, O Wire’s. I love their durability, everything is quality tested and there is a reason they’ve won gov contracts, but they need to take a serious look at where their money is spent. Sending thousands of frames to sponsored athletes only to completely deplete their stock for the people looking to buy them and keep that margin up so they can continue to sponsor athletes. I’m pretty sure that’ like having Ford commercials only to have all the dealerships have no inventory.

Take a tour of the building it’s great, their website has jobs posted all over, but their capped, ready to be bought, made no growth recently and losing customer base all the time. It’s like part museum, part college dorm room. Décor is classic steam punk wrapped in corporate façade. Bathrooms were nice, but staff is the issue. People don’t treat people the way corporations treat people so when you have a rude company it comes from rude staff. What’s that old saying we don’t make people nice, we just hire nice people, well Fauxkley did the opposite. I’ll still buy their stuff, but if I can get the prescription filled outside of Oakley. There are plenty of companies who still care about their customers and are still making quality products...