***** Shop assistants

[steve817]

I guess I'm pretty lucky. The store I go to is great.

 

[SonicAdvDX]

Meh, yes. You're very lucky. Service really isn't all that great in Louisiana...

 

[lazarus219]

I think out of the roughly 6 stores here, 1 has staff that know what they are talking about, 3 have one knowledgeable person, and the rest have none (mainly the big electrics shop) but even though they have no idea why do they try and talk like they do?

I think i might have had worse experiences than a few here because im only 15, the people in shops dont seems to accept that i know alot about photography and the cameras available,
a few stories-
*the 350D had just come out so i had a look in a shop, the silver editions were only just in (no black) and when i asked when the black model would get in, i was blatantly told that they were not going to make them at all, and that 350's would only be in silver- i then said no in about a month black should be released, she then checked the canon website (after looking at 35mm camera i pointed out the link) she didnt know it was called the XT and we were on the american site- she then saw the silver for sale through a link, and then black XT- coming soon, Point proven

* One day in the same store, i was filling out a form to enter some photos in a competition (which by the way has been VERY poorly judged, not because i didnt win but the photos that won were recognised by lots of people as being nothnig special compared to others)
but while filling out this form a man came in asking about telephoto lenses for his SLR (nikon N75) i guessed it right away, he was asked what camera he had, and when he said umm nikon n70- something(he did know but was having a block on it), so after the lady stood around for a long time havign no idea what a n70somethnig would be, i turned aroudn and asked the man- nikon n75? and he said yep thats it!,
the ladys said oh ok, so you need a telephonic lens? ( i could see this guy did know alot and i was still looking at him at at this we both laughed a little, and then he asked a few more questions that she couldnt answer and left,

*In adelaide i went to shop to find a grad ND filter, the shop seemed like a decent place(and id been told it was good by a friend)- and when i asked for a graduated ND filters i didnt get any what? whats an ND filter? he said ok ill see what we have, they sell really quickly, so he brought out 1 filter- said it was all the was left, it was an ND8 and wasnt graduated, so i asked if they had anything in graduated, and he said there isnt such thing, then he otld me that filter would cut down light by 8 stops, i then asked about wide angle lenses, and after producing a lens selling for $260 i asked why so much (i know you can buy them for 75-90 and he said this was the best proffesional wide lense available
1. it was a converter
2. it was a cheap raynox clip on- only worth 75
3. it wouldnt even fit the 58mm thread i asked for

at least i have good stories from the only good shop here-
if i ask for something in particular they hand it to me, answer any questions and don't try and put me onto anything else unless i ask about it
IF i ask for something not common, they dont say huh? whats that- they tell me they dont stock them because they dont sell much but will order it in for me when im ready to buy after deciding exactly which i need,


ive actually decided i want to work experience in one of these shops just so i can see how bad they really are, just outta interest and i guess id like the job anwyay because it's one thing i love and know about,

that was a long post, but yeh i hate camera shop staff!

 

[Unimaxium]

Those are some pretty good (as in funny) stories! I love that she called it a telephonic lens .

 

[lazarus219]

i think i have some more that i cant remember, the sad thing is its always been the same store, and usually the same lady, god knows how she manages to keep a job when she must be constantly misleading people,

Does anyone here manage a camera store? im just interested about what actually gets done when hiring?

 

[Artemis]

i think i have some more that i cant remember, the sad thing is its always been the same store, and usually the same lady, god knows how she manages to keep a job when she must be constantly misleading people,

Does anyone here manage a camera store? im just interested about what actually gets done when hiring?

Apparently not a lot...

 

[photong]

wow. im lucky lol if i go to the professioanl stores they all pretty much know their stuff. if i go to say black's (blackphoto.com) you'd have to get one of the older guys or one or two girls to get your info on the cameras.

one store in town i dont like too much. everytime i go there theyre not very helpful. when i went to them for school supplies i got the run around and gave up and just shoped somewhere else.

now...notonly do you have to worry about people knowing their info, and not being bias towards certain companies....you have to worry about their personality too...talkative, a jerk etc....theres still a lot of those in the good shops in my city

 

[lazarus219]

damn your lucky then, i dont think any shops here are actually photography shops, they just sell the cameras, i think the shop i have bad expereinces with constantly actually seel SLR and DSLR but not lenses or accessories for them,

Look! i finally got an avatar- 124 posts later

 

[Rob]

I always seem to find the store idiot... It's definitely a talent I have. Pretty much all the local independent shops in the UK have now gone bust - the buying power of the big chains like Dixons group and Jessops ensure that most people are going to go to the lowest common denominator / price.

The level of cow excrement in what they're telling the punters seems to be getting worse, probably because the most basic digital cameras these days have so many features. They're selling to a market, which is everyone. Sadly most of these punters will never get their complicated little box of tricks out of program mode and will never manage to take a good picture. They'll also not know the critical information in order to make a comparison; such as optical quality and sensor properties - all they've been fed is the length of the zoom and the number of MP.

Still, if I were paid minimum wage by an ungreatful corporation to talk to members of the public all day long with no breaks and no hope of ever getting a promotion, with a manager who is idiocy personified and a working environment that's positively hostile, I'd probably entertain myself by making vast claims of how good the product in my hand is, just to avoid climbing the stairs to get the customer another box to look at which they won't buy anyway..... It's McCulture at it's finest that's to blame.

 

[fadingaway1986]

Still, if I were paid minimum wage by an ungreatful corporation to talk to members of the public all day long with no breaks and no hope of ever getting a promotion, with a manager who is idiocy personified and a working environment that's positively hostile, I'd probably entertain myself by making vast claims of how good the product in my hand is, just to avoid climbing the stairs to get the customer another box to look at which they won't buy anyway..... It's McCulture at it's finest that's to blame.

Wow.

You just explained my work environment!

except the fact that i lie to them. I just try to encourage them to buy camera's that I know we have and I know exactly where they are located. hehe. I also know not to push expensive things onto them... If they are looking at a cheap camera - sell it to them rather than wasting time showing them a really expensive camera that is really good - and they dont buy it.

 

[Toffee]

:banghead: PMSL when my husband said that if you go into our local Jessops store and ask for a camera and they'll wheel out a donkey :lmao: Spot on! After 3 months of tedium we've still not managed to replace all of our stolen camera equipment. 2 of the 3 lenses we finally managed to get were broken and the time I spent waiting in their shop should have meant that I got a complementary chair everytime I came in. I got bored of seeing how many customers complaining and bringing back their prints saying that they were all wrong.

Another store told us that the Canon EOS3 was discontinued years ago. He knew that for a fact because he'd worked for the company for 3 years and never seen one. Clearly we have been imagining things!

Don't get me on to how their Insurance Services managed to mislay over £600 of our vouchers....ale: Thank goodness for Special Delivery post!

Um, I'm sure that not all the Jessops are awful :| but I think I like using the internet more and more...

 

[John the Greek]

My first two rolls of B&W film were ruined by two different stores. At one they cut up the negatives and even failed to develop some of them, at the other some new girl stuck the film into their machine even though it wasn't C41 compatible and ruined all of it.

 

[lazarus219]

that must have been frustrating- losing an entire film,
What did the shop do after that happened?
i noticed this is your first post- welcome to the forums

 

[John the Greek]

They gave me another roll of film for free... then said they'll also pay off the processing costs.. so that's the best they can do I suppose. They gave me a roll of 24 exp although they ruined 36 exp... but I didn't notice until after finishing the roll...

Funny thing is, I applied to work there over a week ago and the manager has been brushing me off saying stuff like.. "I have to wait a little longer to hear from my supervisor...." BS like that. Meanwhile, some new girl working there destroyed my film, and I heard she destroyed someone else's the day before. Not only that but I saw atleast 2 other new people there today. It seems like anyone that doesn't have any photography knowledge and experience can get a job there.

ALSO... 24/36 of the photos they ruined were taken up at Cornell so they're not photos I can just take again hoping for good results...

 

[Lensmeister]

WOW ..... what a kettle of worms I have unleashed here ...........

There was me just letting off a little steam and BANG ..... almost EVERYONE feeles the same ! ! ! ! ! !


So I am not the only one.

As Kenny Evertt once said ...... "Lets round them up, put them in a fields ................... AND BOMB THE B'STARDS"

Seriously ......

From now on I am going to ask for someone who knows what the hell they are doing! ! ! ! !

Thanks all ..... I have o go get some tissues as the tears are steaming down my face with laughter ! ! ! !