Dream of: 21 March 1996 "Repairing Eye-Glasses"
Carolina had accompanied me to the eyewear department of the department store where I had originally bought two sets of eyeglasses. Both sets were now broken – one of the arms on each set had come off – and I was bringing the glasses to be repaired. The glasses were supposed to be protected by a one year warranty and so it should not cost me anything to repair them. However, I had already had one pair repaired before – the same thing, an arm falling off, had occurred – and so I was unsure that that pair of glasses would still be covered. I told Carolina that, unless I was asked, I wasn't going to mention the fact that the pair had already once been repaired.
I walked up to the counter of the eyewear department and began talking to a woman on the other side. She was a thin brown-haired woman probably in her early thirties. When I handed her the glasses, I told her my name was on the side of one of the cases. I told her why I was here, and also mentioned that the glasses were under warranty. She quickly looked up her records and found my account. After glancing over it, she told me that they would be able to repair the glasses, but that since one pair had already been repaired before, I would have to pay $5 to have that pair fixed.
I had been somewhat prepared for this, and I knew what my argument was going to be. I was going to tell her that I had understood the original warranty to specify that any damage to the glasses which occurred within a one year period would be repaired at no charge. I didn't recall any provision saying that only one repair would be made at no charge.
The woman answered that the contract itself had such a provision in it. I didn't recall having ever actually read a contract, and I asked the woman if she could show me a copy of it. She seemed to hesitate and finally said she didn't have a copy of the contract which I had entered with her, but after a little searching she did produce another contract which she said was similar to the one which covered my glasses.
I quickly looked over the contract and my eyes soon landed on a the words "one time only." Reading over that section I saw that it was very clear that the warranty specified that only one repair was guaranteed for the glasses. From the terms of the contract I was holding, I wasn't even entitled to get the discount of paying only $5 for the second repair. I was unsure whether the woman had made a mistake and should actually be charging more, of if the contract into which I had actually entered was different from the contract which I was holding in my hand. Whatever the reason, I quickly saw that I was getting a good deal by simply having to pay the $5. I returned the contract to the woman and told her that I had no problem with paying the $5 to repair the one set of glasses.
The woman took the glasses from me. I waited only a short while before she returned with one pair and handed it to me. The arm was now repaired, but the lenses weren't set properly in the frames, and I gave the glasses back to her to adjust them. When she was finished she handed them back to me.
***
I was walking around the department store, thinking that as long as I was here, I might look for some clothes. The thought occurred to me that I might look at some bib overalls.
