I went to a photo store

[gfurm]

It wasn't in the UK, somwhere else. biggest photo retailer in the country, conversation between me and woman behind the counter:

me: do you have circular polarizers?

wbc: for what camera?

me: for dSLR

wbc: what brand is the camera?

me: why do you ask for that? souldn't you ask for filter size instead?

wbc: aaa you want a filter, yes we do have them, what size do you need?

me: 52mm

wbc: they are all there (pointing towards one shelf)

me: but they are UV filters and I want polarizer (shelf was full of UV filters of all sizes brands and shapes)

wbc: ooh then I don't think we have them





then I went to small shop somwhere else. there was one guy talking to shop assistant asking about digital compacts. and here I heard something amazing, this shop assistant didn't try to sell him the most expensive compact he had. he aske what for it'll be used and then said that there won't be any difference between camera for 150$ and 300$. that in this case MP don't change anything except more noise in small sensor, that all this scientific test in photo magazines have nothing to do with real life when you don't see any barrel or pincushion distorison on 6x4 print. he was giving him an honest opinion not some rubbish to sell him expensive stuff.

then I asked him about polarizes, he didn't have 52mm so I asked him why it's said that linear polarizes don't work with SLR, that I tried mine and it works. he said that early AF cameras had problems with the way linear polarizers polarize light but he was using this kind polarizers on many different SLR and never had any problems, and if mine works then I don't need anything else. He didn't try to sell me something I don't need. I was really surprised about his way of dealing with customers, honest guy who know what he's talking about.

[Fred666]

There are still a few out there. It is just a question of finding them!



Darren

[Peacekeeper]

I know two guys at two different stores like that.

By the way one of them is a very very small repair shop and he doesn't stock cameras as a rule, as his business is repairs and lenses. Well, he sold Three (3) K100D's in the last two days, now he needs to order some more.. Go PENTAX

[danielchtong]

It is nice to hear that good salesmen with knowledge do well like this. Sometimes it bothers me that I got all the valuable info including test run on equipment and it all ends up with me ordering stuff from the Yankee (B&H) on price.
Do you call them Walmartization? Likely it is not bad down under.

Daniel

Crashman wrote:

I know two guys at two different stores like that.

By the way one of them is a very very small repair shop and he doesn't stock cameras as a rule, as his business is repairs and lenses. Well, he sold Three (3) K100D's in the last two days, now he needs to order some more.. Go PENTAX

[TDN]

Yep, some salespeople forget that the goal is not selling as much as you can to the customer now, the goal is to get them to come back

A lot of shops/restaurants/bars forget that, luckily there are still a few good ones out there

TDN

[Heathglen]

When you get a store with good sales people who know wht they are doing and treat you properly, why not give them credit & name that store?

Larry in Dallas

[Fred666]

Good idea

I will start with Giles Cameras, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex



Darren

[Monza76]

I think we are the worst off in North America. Here the "super store" concept has created a low cost, buteven lower service, market. We get things cheaper because these huge stores hire part time workers at minimum wage. They don't give them enough hours to qualify for benefits, and the result is they often hold two jobs to make ends meet. These workers are not trained and they have no incentive to learn on their own because next week they may be selling lawn furniture or pet food.

The price we pay for low prices, the erosion of service. Our last camera store in Gander closed under sad circumstances with a note on the door thanking the "super store" for their contribution. I won't name the chain but the writing was on the wal so to speak.

Ira

[nlp239]

We are NOT the worst off in North America. I assure you, with my experience in at least 3 European countries we are STILL the best. Some countries never reached customer service.

I instruct in Customer Care/Services and the whole idea is to have the Right Attitude, Attention and Action - the 3 As of Customer Care. The good thing is, if you do something right it will get repeated and people hear about it. It would be a nightmare if you do something bad and it gets repeated 13 times - a real statistic.

I'll now get off my soap box.

[Scotty Dawg]

Your not kidding there Ira. I recently decided to get a digital camera, So I went looking. There used to be at least 5 small shops in my area. Now there's only one, And that one only had digital point and shoot cameras. It's sad because I purchased my Ricoh XRP from them back in the day, And I always recieved great service from them. I believe that if they didn't also do professional photography (weddings, class pics, etc), They'd be long gone. And another thing, These large chains:evil: aren't only hurting the small shops. They're also hurting the manufacturer by (strongly) requesting that they drop their price by as much (if not more) as 4% every year. :O

Monza76 wrote:

I think we are the worst off in North America. Here the "super store" concept has created a low cost, buteven lower service, market. We get things cheaper because these huge stores hire part time workers at minimum wage. They don't give them enough hours to qualify for benefits, and the result is they often hold two jobs to make ends meet. These workers are not trained and they have no incentive to learn on their own because next week they may be selling lawn furniture or pet food.

The price we pay for low prices, the erosion of service. Our last camera store in Gander closed under sad circumstances with a note on the door thanking the "super store" for their contribution. I won't name the chain but the writing was on the wal so to speak.

Ira