| Author | Thread |
|
|
08/03/2006 01:29:37 PM · #1 |
I am so frustrated and angry right now.
As you may recall in this thread, I went to a local camera store and had bad service.
Well, I should've learned from that time. I wanted my Canon AT-1 to be cleaned since school starts in a few weeks. I took it in to that store because it's the only camera store in the city, and the only place I could find that does cleaning. I called them yesterday and they said it would take one day to get my camera back, so I brought it in and they assured me that it would be ready to pick up today.
So I take the bus uptown, which is a 25 minute ride, and the man there looks at my camera, which is in the bag on the floor wide open and says he hasn't gotten around to it yet and he might clean it tomorrow if he gets time. I told him I was told twice by two different employees that it would be ready for today, and he says no one told him that. He halfheartedly apologized and blamed the other workers.
Now I know it's not that big a deal, but I am very angry about this. I feel disrespected for the second time by this store. I had to spend $4.50 and 50 minutes total on the bus to get there today, when they told me it would be ready.
I'm very much thinking of taking off the $4.50 from the price they tell me, and then sending an email to the owner telling him about my two bad experiences and informing him that I no longer plan on buying my Dslr or other equipment that I'll need as a photography major at their store. I really want them to know that their poor customer service has literally cost them thousands of dollars.
I just want to be taken seriously. I'm young but I'm not stupid.
Message edited by author 2006-08-03 13:30:35.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:31:23 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by moniepenny:
Now I know it's not that big a deal, but I am very angry about this. I feel disrespected for the second time by this store. |
For a *second* time? - I only allow stores to disrespect me once. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:32:36 PM · #3 |
I sympathize with you, but there's a lesson to be learned here; if you have to go out of your way to pick something up, invest in a phone call first to be sure it is done. For example, I won't go to the mechanic to pick up my car without having someone call for me first to be sure it is finished. (I'm deaf so I can't use the phone)
R.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:38:58 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
I sympathize with you, but there's a lesson to be learned here; if you have to go out of your way to pick something up, invest in a phone call first to be sure it is done. For example, I won't go to the mechanic to pick up my car without having someone call for me first to be sure it is finished. (I'm deaf so I can't use the phone)
R. |
I was going to do that! I had planned on calling the whole time but ended up forgetting to and just going anyways. Still though, they did assure me twice it would be ready today.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:39:00 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
I sympathize with you, but there's a lesson to be learned here; if you have to go out of your way to pick something up, invest in a phone call first to be sure it is done. |
This is sort of a mandatory thing for me, as I have chronic pain and unnecessary trips/waiting can be painful and exhausting as well as inconvienent and annoying. The worst is the pharmacies... I call and it is ready, but I go in and because they're always taking and filling perscriptions from people who are in line already, they can't just hand me my bag and let me pay...
Anyway. monniepenny, I hope if you do contact the owner it goes well. I can understand why you are angry - even without additional troubles, what you went through is bad enough. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:40:21 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by jhonan:
Originally posted by moniepenny:
Now I know it's not that big a deal, but I am very angry about this. I feel disrespected for the second time by this store. |
For a *second* time? - I only allow stores to disrespect me once. |
I don't have much of a choice, it's the only store here.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:49:10 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by moniepenny:
I don't have much of a choice, it's the only store here. |
The audacity of some of these store employees never ceases to amaze me. The local stores are fighting for their lives in the face of on-line pricing and yet they persist in poor customer service behaviors.
Were I in your shoes, I would most certainly write a note to the owners of the store, calmly detailing your experiences and letting them know that they have lost your future business.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:58:10 PM · #8 |
Definetly write a letter and tell them you won't be coming back, after you detail your poor experiences. The only action we can take against this sort of treatment is to spread the word and send our dollars elsewhere.
I've been in your shoes - pretty much my entire town is the same way, to the point that the ONLY things I will buy local are food and gas. Everything else comes over the net - I happily pay S&H, just so I don't give the local jerks business.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:27:47 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by OdysseyF22:
Definetly write a letter and tell them you won't be coming back, after you detail your poor experiences. The only action we can take against this sort of treatment is to spread the word and send our dollars elsewhere.
I've been in your shoes - pretty much my entire town is the same way, to the point that the ONLY things I will buy local are food and gas. Everything else comes over the net - I happily pay S&H, just so I don't give the local jerks business. |
I wish I could buy online soo bad! I don't have a credit card or a paypal and my mom won't let me do either. (She still controls the funds for now, can't mess with the one who pays the tuition.)
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:30:11 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by moniepenny:
I wish I could buy online soo bad! I don't have a credit card or a paypal and my mom won't let me do either. (She still controls the funds for now, can't mess with the one who pays the tuition.) |
Do you have your own bank account? Does it have a debit card with a Visa symbol on it? If so you can use that to pay online; it's what I do. I actually can't remember when's the last time I wrote a check; I do all my buying with the debit card, don't even carry more than 20-40 dollars of cash.
R.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:38:56 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by moniepenny:
I wish I could buy online soo bad! I don't have a credit card or a paypal and my mom won't let me do either. (She still controls the funds for now, can't mess with the one who pays the tuition.) |
Do you have your own bank account? Does it have a debit card with a Visa symbol on it? If so you can use that to pay online; it's what I do. I actually can't remember when's the last time I wrote a check; I do all my buying with the debit card, don't even carry more than 20-40 dollars of cash.
R. |
I would agree that at your age it would be a good thing to get your own bank account. They may not give you a debit card with at first but they will if you keep your account in good standing. Even if you don't have alot of income if you use the bank it could make your life easier in the long run. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:46:33 PM · #12 |
My daughter is 17, and her checking account does have a debit card associated with it. She did have to have a parent sign because she's not 18.
There is a small issue with the debit card, though. Because transactions can be processed as either debit or credit, if they are processed as credit, you can get an approved purchase even if there is ot enough money in the account. That leads to overdrafts, which are expensive. I do agree, though, that a debit card is a great way to be able to pourchase on line without having to have an actual credit card. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:48:43 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
My daughter is 17, and her checking account does have a debit card associated with it. She did have to have a parent sign because she's not 18.
There is a small issue with the debit card, though. Because transactions can be processed as either debit or credit, if they are processed as credit, you can get an approved purchase even if there is ot enough money in the account. That leads to overdrafts, which are expensive. I do agree, though, that a debit card is a great way to be able to pourchase on line without having to have an actual credit card. |
And after you overdraw your account and have to pay the $30 fee, you learn to keep careful track of your funds! It's too expensive a mistake to make again. I've had an account with a debit card now for about 5 years, and I only made that mistake once. No way to learn about the value of money like having to part with it for stupid reasons.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:53:07 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by OdysseyF22:
And after you overdraw your account and have to pay the $30 fee, you learn to keep careful track of your funds! It's too expensive a mistake to make again. I've had an account with a debit card now for about 5 years, and I only made that mistake once. No way to learn about the value of money like having to part with it for stupid reasons. |
Absolutely!
R.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:53:35 PM · #15 |
Instead of writing a letter declaring you'll never darken their door again, I suggest calling the owner to ask him what he'll do to take care of you.
That allows two things to happen:
1) The owner gets to make it up to you
2) The owner learns what his employees are doing in time to do something about it
I've had good luck with this strategy on several occasions. Don't yell, but make it clear that you received poor service. It's bad enough that it wasn't ready, but the employee then blowing you off is even worse. Assuming he wasn't swamped, he should've immediately taken care of you.
Now, sometimes they don't care, in which case you walk and never look back. And tell everyone you know to avoid them.
I'll never buy a certain brand of car again for just that reason: not the original problem, but the utter unwillngess of both the dealer and the manufacturer to help me out. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 02:57:49 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by levyj413:
Instead of writing a letter declaring you'll never darken their door again, I suggest calling the owner to ask him what he'll do to take care of you.
That allows two things to happen:
1) The owner gets to make it up to you
2) The owner learns what his employees are doing in time to do something about it
I've had good luck with this strategy on several occasions. Don't yell, but make it clear that you received poor service. It's bad enough that it wasn't ready, but the employee then blowing you off is even worse. Assuming he wasn't swamped, he should've immediately taken care of you.
Now, sometimes they don't care, in which case you walk and never look back. And tell everyone you know to avoid them.
I'll never buy a certain brand of car again for just that reason: not the original problem, but the utter unwillngess of both the dealer and the manufacturer to help me out. |
The only problem with this is the risk of sparking a vendetta. If the employee catches hell for being unprofessional, and knows it's you that got him in hot water, do you really want him to have acess to/work on your expensive camera again?
The idea has merit, and can often work quite well. Especially at larger companies, where there's more safeguards. But at the local camera shop, if it were me, I wouldn't want to take that chance.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 03:01:29 PM · #17 |
When you go in to pick up your camera act like you are really interested in buying a new camera, have them draw up the sale then tell them you will come back tomorrow to purchase it if you get around to it.
Remember to phone ahead next time. Which you should have done this time, especially after already having bad dealings with that store.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:31:39 PM · #18 |
I do have a bank account and debit card but it doesn't have a visa symbol on it.
And the store was completely empty, they were just standing around, not swamped at all.
And if one more person tells me I should've called ahead... : P
(This is about how bad the store is, not my indiscretions.)
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:38:08 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by moniepenny:
And if one more person tells me I should've called ahead... : P |
you should have called ahead!
//runs off and hide
Message edited by author 2006-08-03 22:38:37. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:38:35 PM · #20 |
There's on local "real" camera store here that I know of (and lots of those Ritz places). I've been in there a couple of times. I always seem to get the guy who stares vacantly into space and kinda sorta half-listens to me, but doesn't get overly enthused. I was looking to get the 24-105 at that time - he said "I don't think we have it in." That was all. Another gentlemen who works there overheard and offered to go check for me, and did. They didn't have it but the second gentleman said they might get one in about a week. Even he didn't offer to take my name and number.
Moral of the story? Be nice to me and I'll spend LOTS of money. B&H got the order. |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:41:53 PM · #21 |
Sometimes stuff comes up and the employees can't get to a small job before they do the bigger ones that their boss says are more important.
At the computer store I worked at we were able to predict when a repair would be done most of the time, but if the jobs ahead of it took longer than expected or we had equipment problems with our stuff, sometimes it just took longer. We usually called the customers to tell them it was done though. |
|
|
|
08/05/2006 11:04:26 PM · #22 |
Just thought I'd update to say that I called the place today and they said my camera was done. I went it to pick it up and the same guy who had been rude the other day was supernice to me, apologized, explained some stuff about my camera, and let me have it back for free because the cleaning wasn't too hard anyways.
And my uncle came in today from a different province and showed me how to use the camera and lenses, so yeah I had a good day. : )
|
|
|
|
08/05/2006 11:31:44 PM · #23 |
There is a photography store in Kansas City that has dirt cheap prices but horrible customer service also. I think it's because the store is run by photographers.
I find that photographers are ruthless to other photographers unless they know them personally. And if they have the slightest idea that you're an amateur, you might as well forget getting good service from them because "they are better than you".
Your photography has already been judged before you show them a print.
|
|
|
|
08/05/2006 11:52:22 PM · #24 |
Not quite the same experience, but...
Last Saturday afternoon, I had one company print 6 bridal prints for me. They did a wonderful job and even did it while I waited (!), but they couldn't do canvas for me. So I took the 16x20" canvas job to another company. They told me they would have the print ready for me Monday afternoon.
So... at 6pm Monday (an hour before they close), I call them up. Oh ... so sorry, it's not ready. Now I'm frustrated. The wedding is next week and it still needs to be mounted and framed!
So... I immediately begin looking for someone who can do the job for me *that* night. (I realized I was really pulling strings now and was going to pay thru the nose, but I needed it right away). I had just found someone at 6:30 made arranges for them to stay late and do it for me.
So I called over to the first place to tell them to "cancel the order, I'll be right over to pick it up". To my surprise they said "Are you David Terry? We have your print. It's ready to be picked up."
They sure pulled a rabbit out of the hat on that one. I had already vowed that I would never go back to them again (and I still might not). The trouble is ... they told me Monday and I promised my customer Monday. I can't very well go back to my customer with egg on my face for someone else's mistake.
So anyway, my story at least has a semi-happy ending. But I can certainly appreciate your feelings when told one thing and then experience another! It's like ... where has service gone these days?!?
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 12:13:13 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by moniepenny:
Just thought I'd update to say that I called the place today and they said my camera was done. I went it to pick it up and the same guy who had been rude the other day was supernice to me, apologized, explained some stuff about my camera, and let me have it back for free because the cleaning wasn't too hard anyways. |
He must have read this post :) |
|
