My online shopper warning to the world: lens.com

I needed some new contacts and so I did a Google search for my brand (night & day) and a few sites popped up.  I hate buying contacts.  Every year I have switched which website I buy from based on who is the cheapest.  1-800-CONTACTS was my first company to use, but has become one of the most expensive.  Last year I bought from www.CoastalContacts.com.  One of my searches brought up www.lens.com.  They claimed I could get Night & Day contacts at 39.99 per box.  That is $6 cheaper per box than I had found elsewhere, and I am buying four boxes.  So I went ahead and started working on the order, because I wanted to see if some crazy fee or shipping would be added.  So this is how far I got:

And I was happy to see they were including a free case.  Shipping for 7.95 is okay with me...but then I realized....something isn't right.  Do the math: 79.98 + 79.98 + FREE = ????  It should be 159.96, not 170.36.  Ummmmm....this is wrong.  I have sent them an email and I am waiting to hear back.  Sounds like a scam to me.

On the flipside I found another website called www.contactlensking.com that had my contacts for 40.95 per box.  I was about to go ahead and follow my tradition of switching stores to get contacts from, but then decided to check www.coastalcontacts.com one more time...mostly because I already had an account with them and I didn't want to have to enter all my contact information again...and I am glad I did.  I found out coastal contacts had a price match.  So I called them up, told them about contactlensking.com, they put me on hold to check on contactlensking, got back and told me they would give me my contacts at a rate 10% better than contactlensking!  Wahoo.  So I am very happy to be a Coastal Contacts customer.  I got Night & Day contacts at 41.50 per box including shipping!

Summary of lesson learned:
www.coastalcontacts.com = good reputable company that price matches and is easy to work with.
www.lens.com = scammers

UPDATE:

Below is the email I received-

Dear Joe,
Thank you for contacting Lens.com.The variation in the costing you’re seeing is due mostly to the fluctuations in the economy coupled with our efforts to provide you with contact lenses at the lowest possible cost. We pass through the costs to you as close to break-even as we can. Due to a recent increase in our handling costs we have been forced to implement a temporary handling surcharge. We are working hard to find ways to eliminate this cost, and in the meantime, we are absorbing as much of the increased cost as possible. Currently, a handling fee of 6.5% of the product value will automatically be included in your order total and itemized on your invoice. Despite this increase, our efforts provide you with consistently lower prices than the competition.
Sincerely,
Tonya
Lens.com
Customer Service Department

So I replied with this:

And at what point was I going to be made aware of the added handling cost?  It doesn't matter to me that you have one, or that it is temporary, I only want to be made aware of it.  If I would have been aware you were adding the handling fee I may have ordered from your company.  However, because I was not made aware I figure your company was scamming people...which it still sounds to me that you are.  I would recommend a swift change to your checkout procedure that spells out the added handling fee in a line on the checkout and/or just add the 6.5% into the end price of your contacts, so that it raises the "price per box" amount.  This would be the best.  Thank you.  I have already ordered from another website, and written a blog post about your questionable math.  I would however look forward to seeing some changes on your website.  I am trying not to be upset, but I really feel you guys are cheating people and I hope you understand.  Thank you.

And they replied with this:

Thank you for contacting Lens.com.

I apologize for the inconveience (sic) this has caused. The handling fee is included in the subtotal. We are working on the website to have a specific line for the handling fee.
Sincerely,
Helen

Europe in a Historical Perspective - Arc de Triomphe

In all the cities I went there were large cathedrals, historical museums, and historical monuments.  The history that took place in Europe is widely respected and celebrated.  It seems that all important events are marked by a artifact to pay tribute to that piece of history.  In Paris this is all especially true, but was also true in Munich, Zurich, and Vienna.  In Paris there were several bridges, arcs, museums, statues, obelisks, or plaques that described the event that took place there.  The Arc de Triomphe was one of my favorite historical pieces.  It stands as a reminder of those that died in the French Revolution.

Europe and the Evolution of Democracy

As I mentioned before I had the chance to visit the Les Invalides and inside it is the tomb of many of the leaders of the French Revolution including Napoleon Bonaparte.  I have heard about this important historical time, but it was different to actually be in France where these men, and woman, were entombed.  I do not actually know that much about the French Revolution, but having been in Paris it is now more interesting to me.  By the next time I go to Paris I plan to read up on the French Revolution.  I was already interested to find that Napoleon had died on Saint Helena and was much later brought back to Paris to be entombed.

Europeans and their parks

There seemed to a lot more parks in Europe than there are in the US.  In the middle of Interlaken there was a small park surrounded by big buildings.  It looked out of place, but was a testimony to the importance of parks.  In Vienna one park was lined completely with benches.  There must have been 150 benches in this busy park…I wish I had taken a picture.  The park was located right in downtown and therefore must be very busy.

A lot of the parks have fun things to do in them too.  For example one park had a large chess board while another had fun balancing things (see photos).

The public spaces were also kept very clean.  Everyday street sweepers would make sure any messes were cleaned up.  While this happens in the US, it doesn't seem to happen as often.  I had heard that Paris is somewhat of a dirty city, but I felt like Paris was fairly clean given the large amount of people in the city.  Yes there was some graffiti in some of the Metro's, but I would often also see clean-up crews removing the graffiti.

Everyday life in Europe - Time spent with Dominique

While I was able to visit a few non-tourist areas, most of them did not seem too different from American life.  The time spent in Leysin with Dominique gave me the greatest insight into what everyday life in Europe was like.  Conversations with him about Switzerland is where I first started to feel that Europe really was a different place with a rich culture.  To me it seems like Americans have little or no unique culture, this is very likely because I grew up there, but to me it seemed that Europeans work to maintain a sense of culture.  We do not have a special way to eat things or historically great things to eat.  Even Curling has a long tradition there and Dominique did his best to explain that history to us.


I hope to return to Leysin and get a better sense of everyday life there.  I loved it and want to go back and spend some more time with Dominique.  In fact my favorite town was Aigle, at the bottom of the mountain because it had a small-town feel similar to Logan.  I hope to to go back and drink deeply from the rich culture.

Evolution of Human Rights in Europe: Dachau

"Work brings freedom" gate

I visited Dachau for several hours and still felt like I was rushing through the concentration camp.  The camp was one of the first used and therefore had a lot of history, all of which was very sobering.  In my mind the people were treated worse than the African slaves.  People were put in the camps to "reform" them into good working citizens.  They were denied freedom without due process of law.  The memorial and museum at the camp were very factual.  Everything seemed to be presented without emotion.  I am not sure why it was presented this way.  Perhaps that is the way all historical museums are in Europe.

The visit was what I expected: It made you sick, mad, sad, and yet hopeful.

"Never Again"

The well-used crematorium

Battles and Conflicts in Europe: Napoleon's tomb

I went to visit Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides.  Also at Les Invalides were many military history items, including a TON of cannons and tanks.  It is amazing how rich France's history is of war.  They have truly been the center of a great deal of strife.

  On this trip I also watched "The Count of Monte Cristo."  I was going to go to Chateu D'if, but was told it was not that exciting.  Watching this movie made being in France a great deal more fun and exciting though, including the parts about Napoleon.  I learned that Napoleon was not originally entombed there, but was brought there later in the mid 1800s.

European views of politics and the like

Everyone I spoke with on the trains in Europe loved President Obama…and by everyone I mean people of all ages…high school…college students…older people.  They thought he was doing good things for America, and in some cases seemed to imply that he was helping bring America up to European standards.  One of the specific "good" things they said he was doing was providing health care to all US citizens.  It seem that they (everyone I spoke with except the high school student) seemed to know more about the health care debate in America than I did.  When I asked about unemployment insurance they were less familiar with the current situation of it in America, but they were for it.  It seemed common sense to them.  Almost as if they were saying "duh!" to me.  Same thing about Social Security benefits and mandating limits on carbon emissions.  The only topic they didn't have much opinion on was whether or not the government ought to provide day care.  Only one of the people I talked to had children, so that could have been the reason why, and that one person was for providing day care.

I asked several Swiss people whether they felt Switzerland ought to join the E.U. and they all eventually said "no", but some thought about it for a long time.  One older woman felt that Switzerland may join the EU, but only after a lot of pressure is applied.  The biggest reason she gave for joining the EU was to make it possible for the country to join the Eurozone.

Most people did not want to tackle the topic of Turkish accession, but when I forced them to say yes or no I had four people say yes and one say no…all of these people were Swiss nationals.

Three observations about daily life in Europe: Transportation, Language, Religion

1. In Switzerland, Germany, and Austria the public transportation is great.  One woman I spoke with in Geneva said she had a car, but rarely uses it because of the traffic.  She said it is better just to use the public transportation for everything including shopping and going to work.  She felt public transportation was a little expensive, but worth it because it is less of a hassle.  In Leysin I noticed even the high school aged kids used the trains to get home from school which I thought would be fun if I was in there shoes, but to them it is probably normal.  I really enjoyed using the trains, trams, subways, and buses.  They took us everywhere we wanted to go and we didn't have to deal with parking and things.  In the US I feel limited by the public transportation, but not in Europe.  On our discovery weekend we used sleeper trains to get to our next destination.  They were convenient, but small and cramped.

2. Language was definitely a barrier on this trip.  A lot of the advertisements and things included English words, but it seemed like a lot of the important things were not…for example directions or names of things.  I would become lost or confused and didn't want to ask for help because either I didn't know the language or didn't know which language to use.  It was challenging, but at the same time it made it fun and adventurous.

3. The role of of religion in European everyday life seemed very minimal to me.  It seems very similar to that of the US, in which God and religion is not talked about much in public life.  The only time I saw religiousness is when I toured cathedrals and there would be people praying.  I did have the opportunity to attend the first bit of a Catholic mass to get a feel of the devotion of the members…which the members there were devoted.  The mass took place on a Friday afternoon, so people on a lunch break came to worship.

The behaviors of consumer in Europe

I have yet to see a "big box" store in Europe.  Even the presenter at Medtronics talked about how there is no "one stop shop" stores.  In every shopping district there is just a lot of little stores.  Some of the clothing stores, in Vienna for example, had only eight items that were available in one or two colors and sizes.  I would never go into a store like that, but obviously people must go in there and buy things or it would go out of business.  I got used to going to the "Co-op" stores and in one city I found a "Co-op City" which was like a small mall.  It had two levels of clothing departments, a restaurant on the top floor and the typical groceries on the lowest level.  It was the closest I got to a one stop shop experience, however, things such as electronics were still missing.

The consumers in Europe are VERY environmentally conscience at least compared to Americans.  Everywhere I went I saw signs of the importance of environmental responsibility.  Zurich, Vienna, and Munich all had recycling bins in most public areas.  I saw solar panels, wind turbines, a nuclear power plant, and a lot of signs about fair trade.  In Geneva the boardwalk near the lake had a exhibit about environment responsibility (see photos).  From my observation Europeans are more environmentally responsible than Americas.

The Wonderful Food of Europe

 I had my first opportunity to eat a McDonalds outside of the US.  It is a really different experience.  I ate a hamburger with fries and a Sprite in Vienna.  It was a three level restaurant.  It seemed more like a nice cafe than a fast-food joint.  Most interestingly the place was filled with about 85% females, most of whom were between sixteen and thirty years old.  Most of the menu was the same as the US, but was much more expensive.  The ketchup was not included with the meal and cost an additional .50 euros.  I wish more McDonalds in America had the ambience that this one did, but definitely not the costs.

In each country I like to try the local soda, for example in Mexico they have a drink called "Manzana Lift" that is sold by Coca-Cola.  In Vienna they had a drink called "Almdudler" that was distributed by Coca-Cola.  I have a very hard time describing it because I haven't had anything like it, but it somewhat close to ginger ale and an apple flavored drink.  I had the drink along with my Vienna sausage (bratwurst with cheese) and enjoyed both of them very much.

Dancing at Microsoft

One of our presenter talked about how "it is not Microsoft's business model to take a technology and develop a niche market" but that they leave that up to their partners.  I would never have guessed this to be their model but it makes sense knowing that 65% of their revenue comes from the partner ecosystem.  One of the new Microsoft tools is something called "Hohm" that helps homeowners save money.  I have looked at using this tool for my energy efficiency consulting to help people save money on their utility bills.  I wanted to ask how this tool is being used by the Microsoft partners.

The highlight of the Microsoft visit was the "apartment" that had the great new products of Microsoft like the Kinect for XBOX 360.  I had never felt like the Wii was cool enough to make me want to buy one, but this Kinect thing seems very neat.


I kept track of how many times a Microsoft employee mentioned Google, Apple, or Oracle and whether it was in a good or bad context.  Amazingly they mentioned Apple (or its products) twice, once in a good way and once in a negative way.  Google they mentioned three times in a negative way and once in a positive way.  Oracle they only mentioned once in a good way.  This is a subtle hint, I believe, that Google is a big competitor to Microsoft and I can see why.  Just about every product or technology that was mentioned by a Microsoft employee, I could think of a product that Google has developed that would compete directly with it.  In general I am usually a bigger fan of Google products as opposed to Microsoft, but I see the competition as a good thing as it pushes each company to be innovative.

Disneyland Paris. It really was magical.

Yeah for Disneyland!

This was my first time to a Disney theme park and I loved it…even as an adult.  I liked the Walt Disney Studio more than the regular park because it seemed a little more geared towards teenagers and older people.  The Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster were my favorites.

In our class we made recommendations about what Disneyland Paris should do to be more successful, and they seemed to have done a few of the things I recommended.  The parks seemed to cater more towards the European/French culture than the American culture so as to attract the local crowds.  The workers weren't overly-friendly or "up in your face" like I hear they are in the American Disney parks which probably helps the local feel more comfortable.  The workers always spoke French to you until you looked at them funny then they would speak English.

Some criticism of the park that I had were the inefficient workers at the restaurants and also there were lots of no smoking signs that were ignored.  Overall it was a good experience and I look forward to going back there someday with my wife.

My favorite.

Workshop with Dean Anderson

The Dean was very open and spoke frankly about his personal life in his workshop about strategic leadership.  It is nice to see him that way.  When people make themselves vulnerable like that it makes them more real and approachable.  I now feel like I could stop the Dean in the hallway and talk to him.  I liked the Dean's workshop because it got me thinking broadly.  He talked about worrying more about being a great person that people want to keep in touch with more than trying to keep in touch with a lot people.  This makes a lot of sense.  I try to keep in touch with people, but it is time consuming, so the Dean just saved me a lot of time!

Exciting things happening at NATO

It was a different experience to have an 'organization visit' over lunch at a restaurant, but I enjoyed having it that way to give variety to our visits.  In fact in some ways it was probably better.  Instead of spending time walking around and just seeing different meeting rooms, we got to sit and talk with them in a informal setting.  The first two speakers were very professional and business-like and I had just written that observation down when Patrick, the third presenter got up.  He was a character, but informative.  He spoke about how the organization was very horizontal which makes getting a job there difficult.

This visit was different also because there are exciting things happening in NATO and so we got to hear a lot of current events instead of just history things.  I am curious to explore the quote by the last presenter, Adrian, about "Is security needed for economic prosperity or is economic prosperity needed for security?"

Caterpillar and 6 Sigma

Caterpillar was very interesting to me because they use "6 Sigma" principles.  If I understood our tour guide correctly I believe they have been using it for 2 years now.  I saw this implemented through things such as their "High Five for Safety" posters that included pictures of how to do things safely.  The company stocks parts at this site and they cannot use RFID technology because too much of their products are iron ore which interrupts the RFID signal.  The company dealt with the economic crisis by completely getting rid of the night shift.  This must have resulted in a lot of jobs lost, but I am only guessing.

InBev. A strange brew.

The InBev tour was neat, but not necessarily too interesting to me.  I did enjoy the tidbit that there is a school for brewers...who knew?  I also was happy to hear that there is no waste that comes from the facility; everything is re-used somehow.  Most of the other information presented were things I already knew, but it was fun to actually see the big machinery that carried out the process.  It was also way fun to wear the shiny orange jackets.  They really took safety seriously.

Huntsman Chemical - Our namesake

Sure they messed up on the name of our University (see photo to the left), but hey, they did give a fine presentation followed by a enjoyable tour and lunch.

The introduction presentation about what shaped Europe was especially enlightening.  When the presenter framed Europe the way he did it really made it look like the European Union must have taken a miracle to come about.  All of the presenters seemed to talk a lot about energy conservation and being environmentally friendly, which might be part of a larger initiative being pushed within the company.  It was mentioned that the EU mostly regulated the company, because the EU deals with environment protection.  The tour of the facilities was pleasant in that it provided an opportunity to see all of the types of products that come from or are possible because of Huntsman Chemical.

OECD

I was interested that the presenter said the OECD is a kind of stealth organization, although not on purpose.  Many people do not know who they are or what they do, but they use the information that the OECD produces.

A lot of background was presented, which I already knew.  However, I never did feel like I got a clear answer about what the benefits of being a member are, even though the question was asked twice.  It may have been that the presenter did not enough time to cover the subject or maybe he didn't understand it himself.  The second presenter, France Chain, did a great job painting a picture of the complexity of the anti-bribery issue that the OECD is pushing.  Up until this point I thought the playing field was leveled the same we did when we were kids playing games, by just making up an arbitrary rule to make the game more fair, but this would not work in this situation.  Another topic I hoped they would discuss was about its push to advocate transparency.  I did not have time to ask the question and therefore will have to do my own research when I have time.  Following the presentations it was fun to visit the Chateau that the OECD holds meetings in.

Cailler (Nestle) - The magical chocolate factory

The Cailler chocolate factory was a magical place.  The tour given was light-hearted and entertaining.  It showed the history of the cocoa bean and how it became popular.  The best for me was a room with all the cocoa beans.  There was one bag from Ghana!  It made me so excited.  For all I know those could have been the cocoa beans I harvested while I was in Ghana.  Of course it was also wonderful to have all you can eat samples....which all the scholars got sick from eating too much.  Then everyone went out to the store and bought tons of chocolate to take home to share with friends and family...including me.  I spent about about CHF 40 (or $41).  All the Scholars together spent about CHF 558 ($580)!  Unbelievable.

WTO...valid concerns of being undemocratic

The presenter, Josep Bask, was great because he was informal and very open about the WTO.  He was an amazing presenter to me.  He would answered all of my questions just as I was about to ask them. 

His openness about the organization made me understand more why some feel the organization is lacking in democracy.  I see now why it is a valid concern.  In order to be efficient there are times the government must act quickly without the citizens of the country having a say in the matter.  He mentioned something called "fast track" several times that I plan to research.  I am also concerned because it seems that the countries do throw in unrelated self-interest type things, similar to the pork barreling in US politics.

My badge to enter the WTO

ICRC. Are they inefficient financially?

As a type of NGO this visit was the most interesting to me.  The visit to ICRC helped convince me even more that I want to work with NGO's in the near future.  I am, however, critical of the Red Cross.  I have heard stories of the inefficiency and wasted money, and the presenter did not help reassure me otherwise because she mention that she was paid very well.  I believe charity organizations should be the most financially efficient organizations.  While some might argue that the Red Cross is not a charity organization, I would flat out disagree.

With all that said I still very much enjoyed the chance to learn more about the organization.  It was interesting that the ICRC takes the stance that people have the "right to fight."    The organization has a neutral stance and the presenter said that they keep that neutrality by transparency, which I think is very important.  The transparency of the organization may be why there are widespread stories about the financial wastes that occur.  I strongly believe in transparency and look for to the visit with the OECD as I hear they make a strong push to advocate transparency.  The thing about transparency is that it can be implemented in different ways...more to come about that thought after the OECD visit.

Medtronic and their use of LEAN manufacturing

The Medtronic visit was nice because the presenter seemed like someone that could have been in our shoes 2-3 years ago.  He was easy to relate to and it was helpful to hear him talk about working abroad.  I wish I would have had time to ask him more about what it is like to have a family already when he moved overseas. 

As for the company, Medtronic has more difficulty marketing in Europe because each country is different, but the EU approves products faster than the US.  The manufacturing that takes place at the site uses LEAN manufacturing and a few years ago I thought I might go in that direction as a career, so it was great to see how it was implemented in making the medical devices.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures...this was an interesting point in fact.  Every visit we went to had different rules about whether or not we could take pictures.  It seemed like manufacturing places were the strictest on photo taking.

Credit Agricole (Marie Pascal)

To talk about "Managing a Financial Services Organization" we had Marie Pascal from Credit Agricole come to our hotel in Leysin.

The creation of the brand name Amundi, which is the specific division she works for, was an interesting story.  Mundi means world and they like the letters 'a' and 'm' because they stand for Asset Management.  So they combined these elements to make the brand name Amundi.

Pascal also spoke about the idea of having predetermined "red-zones" for risk for their investments.  This was new to me.  Now that I think about it this seems like an obvious thing to do, but it had not occurred to me.  The question that I did not get to ask was about how asset management can take place in a communist country because she talked about working with investments in China.  This seems like it would be very difficult.
 
Marie Pascal also spoke about socially responsible investments.  The fact that they actually had a category specifically for these investments says something about the company.  Pascal was a very intelligent woman, however, I wish we had more time for asking questions during her presentation.

IMD visit was informative, but not for me

IMD looked impressive, but left me with no desire to obtain an MBA from them.  Some of the scholars were impressed, others weren't.  For me an MBA program there does not fit in with my plan, at least not at this point.  I am trying to leave myself open to all kinds of possibilities while on this trip, and I constantly ask myself 'what if I did this...' to just try and feel things out.  I am still not entirely convinced that doing an MBA in an intensive one year is the best method to receive one.  It seems like the Stevens Henager approach, which to me is efficient but less effective.  There are some things that you cannot shortcut and I think learning is one of them.


EDIT: My thoughts revisited a few days later-
After writing the above paragraph I spoke with Shannon about the topic and she pointed out to me what the difference is between Stevens Henager and IMD, and that is the faculty and methods.  This makes sense to me.  The quality of learning is heavily effected by the abilities of the teachers.  I am glad I had this conversation with Shannon to adjust my point of view.