What ever happened to personal service?

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

10/05/2007 06:29:06 AM · #1

So I want to do a combination of rant and being sad for the decline of the camera shops in my area.

There are two......and I have patronized both of them over the last 30 odd years, buying both cameras and lenses from both and using their services for custom work and enlargements.

I guess what saddens me is that I would think in these days of the Web, you'd think that the small shop who can't compete, volume-wise, would go out of their way to cultivate customers with value-added, personal service. I know I'd rather hold the camera/lens in my hand, kibbitz a little about the pros and cons, look at the new and improved, next best stuff, and make an occasion out of a purchase of new stuff, especially since, even though I'm low end DSLR, my purchases *still* amount to hundreds of dollars. So.....hold my hand, and talk nice to me, ya know? Pretend that I'm important and that you'd like me to come back and spend more money.

The first shop that cranked me was one that I went in, found a lens that I liked, reserved it, and then when I went in to talk to the woman I'd been dealing with, who was on the phone, the other people who worked there acted like I was an inconvenience 'cause I wanted to wait to talk to the same person that waited on me originally......they actually got kind of snotty with me, so I left. And I will NEVER go back.

So......on to the second shop.....same thing. I'm looking at a used lens.....it's a nice lens, and cheap, but when I saw the ding on the lens hood, and this was a superzoom with a long tube, I decided that I didn't want to chance it, so I asked to look at the other lens that was in the cabinet.

They got the box out, the lens is in the bag with its dessicant, the lens hood had obviously never been out of its bag, there were no mars on it, and the paperwork was all folded up and wrapped in the box like a new lens, which is what I *assumed* I was looking at.

They did nothing to allay this assumption, I bought this lens, took it home, but when my wife looked at the box, she noticed that the UPC seal was cut out of the box. I also couldn't find the warranty slip. So.....I look at the invoice, and sure enough......it says USED lens.

I feel used and abused. I don't feel like they were honest with me, and they also had something of an attitude as well like they didn't much care one way or the other if I bought anything from them.

So I won't.

So.....after trying to keep money in town, and also having failed miserably when I tried both times, with the D70s and the D40 kits to buy them from these shops, which neither of them could keep in stock, I give up. I see no reason to darken either of their doorways again.

Ritz camera, in the malls here have been helpful, courteous, and have had what I've needed when I needed it.

It just seems like a shame, and I won't have any sympathy if I ever hear of them going out of business.

Anyone else run into anything like this?

Spork99

OM System OM-1

10/05/2007 08:23:21 AM · #2

Nope.

Fortunately, my local store, Norman Camera, has good customer service. The only problem I have is when they're busy and I have to wait. Their marked price in-store can be a bit higher than elsewhere, but if you show them that you can get it for less, they'll usually match the price, or at least get close enough. If you take shipping costs into consideration, it's usually a wash and, best of all, there's no waiting for UPS/FedEx.

Of course this place has been in business for 50 years and now they have a pretty good web presence.

Louis

Nikon D800

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

10/05/2007 09:20:40 AM · #3

The guys at all the Henrys locations I've ever been in in Toronto, Burlington, Oakville etc. have always been very helpful, accomodating, chatty, etc., even letting me have stuff like lens cases for free when buying a pricey lens and so on.

In 2002 or whatever it was when I was shopping for a D100, I went into Burlington Camera for the first time in about twenty years. This is where I'd bought all my original camera equipment in the 80s (Canon stuff!). The feel of the place was old. The guy behind the counter was slippery. I didn't get the sense that my expensive potential purchase was particularly interesting to them. I was out of there in five minutes and have never gone back.

One negative experience per store is enough, considering how many there are out there.

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

10/05/2007 10:36:15 AM · #4

Originally posted by Louis:

I'm getting that from the two Ritz Camera locations in two different malls......what I'd call "Old Time" customer servide, from a chain, of all places. Granted, I never seem to have the same salesperson twice, but each one of the people I've dealt with have been decent, helpful, and much to my surprise, VERY knowledgeable.

Originally posted by Louis:

In 2002 or whatever it was when I was shopping for a D100, I went into Burlington Camera for the first time in about twenty years. This is where I'd bought all my original camera equipment in the 80s (Canon stuff!). The feel of the place was old. The guy behind the counter was slippery. I didn't get the sense that my expensive potential purchase was particularly interesting to them. I was out of there in five minutes and have never gone back.

One negative experience per store is enough, considering how many there are out there.

Yeah.....I was both surprised and disappointed. I knew when I had my one-man country garage that I had to give my customers something extra if I didn't want them to go to Goodyear, Jiffy Lube, Sears Auto Center, or the like, and what I could give them was courteous, exemplary service that would make it worth their while to go out of their way to get to me *and* pay a few more dollars for the comfort and knowledge that their car was going to get that extra special touch from someone they knew.

But that's okay.....Ritz is convenient and competitive, they stock most everything I want, and their people are top shelf.

And I have you guys here to offer up many diverse opinions and much experience.

I'm good to go, methinks!

Message edited by author 2007-10-05 10:42:52.

klkitchens

Pentax K-1

Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 AF

10/05/2007 10:39:48 AM · #5

I don't find Ritz/Wolf to be all that great service wise -- not around here anyway.

I think all retail is suffering from the same "lowest common denominator" hiring practices. That's why we're seeing booger rings, other piercings, and cellphones on employees when 15-20 years ago, that would have never been allowed (had cellphones been around).

Management has lowered their expectations and employees are more than happy to deliver.

David Ey

Nikon D80

10/05/2007 11:06:04 AM · #6

Well, since you asked.....In the Fort Worth area there are three major stores...Arlington Camera, Fort Worth Camera, both of which are knowledgeable and helpful and independently owned and Wolf Camera, the highest priced and the ones who always try to push you in the direction of what ever it is they have in stock.

10/05/2007 11:07:51 AM · #7

Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:

Management has lowered their expectations and employees are more than happy to deliver.

This really says it all!

I feel like I'm 150 years old because the only thing I want to do is to be better today that I was yesterday, and the same goes for tomorrow.

I never had any problem getting a job, and keeping it because my standards and values always exceeded every place I worked.

I *want* to be the best at whatever I take on, and if someone is going to pay me, I feel that it's on me to give their money's worth, not on them to have to squeeze it out of me.

I like to be a hero and exced the customer's expectations whenever I can.

Pride in a job well done just seems like a pipe dream these days........sigh.....