Parent to Ray Ban and Prada eyewear buys Oakley- by Eli

Luxottica Group, the world's biggest eyewear maker and the parent behind famous brands including Ray Ban and Prada is buying the sports brand Oakley.

Oakley which not only makes top quality sunglasses (including versions with built in radios) but also watches and apparel items had previously been in litigation against Luxottica over issues with retailer brand Sunglass Hut also owned by Luxottica. The litigation was resolved paving the way for this buyout.

Oakley recently bought another top end eyewear brand, Oliver Peoples (my personal eyewear of choice) and the retail chain The Optical Shop of Aspen.

The good news: This buyout gives Luxottica great control of high end eyewear brands and eyewear retail brands as well.

The bad news: Oakley, despite its upscale image, has in the Brand Man's opinion, some of the worst customer service in the apparel/watch brand business. I recently tried having my Oakley watch band replaced at their headquarters office/service facility. Their customer service department is staffed by young, inexperienced (although not altogether inept) folks who seem to have alot of energy but little knowledge about the product or company procedures.

My simple repair required eight phone calls on my part to get handled properly after it was done improperly the first time despite careful attention to detail on my end. The company's senior executives hide from the public and have their executive assistants work diligently to keep consumers at bay without providing access to any escalated level of customer service. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being the lowest grade and 5 the best, I give Oakley customer service a 1.5.

Luxottica, a word to the wise, work on improving Oakley's weak customer service touch point immediately. You might be losing loyal customers without knowing it and unnecessarily.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli