Shop online at Shade Station

I bought a pair of sunglasses online from Shadestation. BEWARE of buying from this shop - if there is anything wrong with the product they will be unhelpful and useless. I ordered a pair of sunglasses in June from them and because they cost so much I was meant to receive free next day delivery. As they were prescription sunglasses, I was told that the lenses would take one week to make. THREE weeks later I finally received the sunglasses, after several phone calls to the store.

When I opened the package the sunglasses had been completely bent out of shape - they were completely unwearable. I rung up straight away and described the problem - they told me to send them back by special delivery which I did (it cost me £6). I rung them the next day to check that they had received them and they had - they told me they would be ready within a week. I was visiting the area the next week so I said I'd come in and try on my sunglasses once they'd been fixed. I was told this was fine.

After a week, I rung again asking where they were and after some confusion from the shop assistants, who hadn't got an idea what was going on, I was told they hadn't even been sent for repair! I kept ringing them for the next FOUR WEEKS asking why they hadn't been sent out to me yet (I rung every 2-3 days) and every time I got an answer that evaded the question - they didn't have a clue. I started asking to speak to the manager and she refused to come on the phone.

SEVEN weeks after ordering these sunglasses (and £280 later) I finally got them through the post again. This time they were too large. I rung up the same day to complain and asked for a refund. The shop assistant on the phone said he wasn't authorised to do that and gave me the email address of the managing directors. I wrote a lengthy email fully explaining the extent of the ignorance of the staff at Shade station and why I was very unhappy with the service.

I got a reply stating that what i said in the email was made up - that they had sent out my sunglasses within a week and I had never called them to ask where they were. This simply wasn't true - obviously I have my phone records to prove how many times I called them. They also claimed I had 'sent the sunglasses back three times already' and I 'should take them to my local optician to get them fixed' as they 'had tried to help me for long enough'. This was completely unacceptable - I replied to the email saying this and also asked for the postage money back. A week later I hadn't got a reply, so I emailed again and within another week I finally got a refund only for the postage money (not for the sunglasses). So, after 10 weeks I finally got my £6 back.

I really do not recommend shopping here, as if there is a problem with the product, they are extremely rude and unhelpful.