SURVEY..ever deal with arrogant camera salesmen?

I been into photography since high school and I must said that

almost every "true" camera stores seems to hire the most

arrogant,nasty, and ignorant people I have ever dealt with in a

specific type of product line. Sure I have deal with jerks selling

cars, pushy idiots selling insurance and get-rich real estate people

but why is it that almost every camera store I have every been to has

such people working for them. That includes over the counter sales

assistants to on-line order people in NYC. I know they must be making

barely minimum wage plus commisson but why are they so nasty and

think that YOU are stupid. And if they were pro photographers of any

merit, why would be working for cheap and risk losing sales by being

complete jerks? I have walked out of a few camera stores in area

because of attitudes and told another one off ( tho I must admit I

still return to the store but try to find another clerk/sales person

to assist me)...is it just me or is this a wide spread problem?

 

5 years ago I was tossed between buying a Canon or Nikon system and

the salesman I dealt with asked me what cameras I used before and I

said Pentax Spotmatic. He told me I be " lucky to get 10 cents a

pound for your old equipment" and told me that his store specializes

in " professional equipment and " have you checked the APS system?

its great for amateur photographers like you"..I almost punched the

assh*le out...

 

anybody go thru this on a standard basis?

Armando,

I noticed early in pursuit of a photo career that some salespeople at camera shops are frustrated wannabe photographers. They're jealous of those who are still actively pursuing a tough, competitive profession. There are just as many highly professional salespeople. Unfortunately it's human nature to find it easier to criticize than to praise.

Here in Minnesota our choices of Camera Dealers is very limited. At one place that I frequent in emergencies (there prices are upwards of 20% more than B&H, but they are the ONLY pro shop in town) the sales people are unfailingly polite and professional. I have never been made to feel rude too, or had some jackass try to belittle me. However I have run into a Holier than Thou attitude at anouther local dealer (primarly a consumer level reseller). I have quickly disabused them of that attitude. There is nothing worse than having a twenty something-living at home-"I know what an F-stop is" sales rep tell me what I want, when I know a damn-site better than him what it is I came into his store for.

Damn straight. I'm only 18, so when I walk into my local camera store, they're trying to push me to buy a Minolta HTSI thinking I need it for photo class. But 1) I'm a true Nikonian, and 2) I DON'T NEED A MINOLTA HTSI!! (action enthusiast and proud owner of a recently-acquired F5!). Then the next month they're trying to sell the Rebel Ti! I swear, they must pick a 'camera of the month' to sell, since it seems like they have a new favorite every time I go there.

 

And when I'm asking to look at glass or something really nice, they usually don't even know what I'm talking about!! (too used to peddling the N80s and D100s to soccer moms). Hell, the last time I was there, just as I finally resolved to buy an F5, the person at the counter didn't even know what I was talking about!!!

 

"Can I see an F5"

 

"Ummm...for what?"

 

"Uhh...for holding? I dunno--FOR TAKING PHOTOS!!!"

 

"Is it a Canon?"

 

SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT ONE WAS!!!

 

I absolutely *hate* going there, but it's by far the closest place. But I'm still pissed that I applied there three times over the course of a year (before I disliked the store) and still never got a call back. Grrr.

I recall having been treated with some disdain as a kid/teenager in some NYC camera stores back in the late 1960s-early '70s, but generally they were as polite and helpful toward my same-age friend and I as toward any other customer. Our money spent just as well.

 

Nowadays it takes a helluva lot for any store employee to get on my nerves. I'm more likely to get burned up at a grocery store overhearing teenage stock clerks cussing and making lewd remarks in the aisles, or screwing around at the register instead of working than by any perception of arrogance by order takers in camera shops. I've talked to managers in grocery stores about unruly or unhelpful employees but I've never done so in camera shops. I figure camera shop owners/managers hire the type of people they want representing their business so my opinions won't matter.

 

The extremely rare instances when I've encountered annoying camera shop employees the past few years have occurred when either they were eager to make a quick sale and lost interest after less than five minutes of my asking about the features of various Metz pro flashes (the brochure was a bit puzzling) and moved on to a customer interested in a P&S digicam, or when the employee was a kid who tried to cover up for ignorance with indifference and arrogance. I simply chose to ignore the latter and asked for a copy of the owners manual to figure out a feature for myself. Both types of incidents, interestingly, occurred at different shops in Austin, Texas, an otherwise laid back town full of friendly folks. Maybe I just caught 'em on bad days. Every time.

Hi Armando,

 

You are not alone. In any profession there are arrogant D*** heads even in the practice of medicine (yes, I am a medico), it is a fact and is unavoidable. I live in Australia, and originally from Sri Lanka, a small island near India. I used to shop a lot in Singapore on my way to Sri Lanka. Some of them have been very arrogant for me. I think this is multifactorial:-

- small wages

- minimal profits

- appearance (I look like an Indian, I was told by locals that there's a preconceived perception that the Indians and look alikes do not buy rather they ask prices and tend to look only) - I was instructed to shop with them to avoid the problem

- discount stores, they do not like us playing with there stuff before we buy

- if for some reason they sniff that we are not gonna buy stuff from them

 

I must admit when they (Singapore) get to know you after a few visits and you establish a rapport with them they are nicer. Now I have contacts at Cathay photo store, whom are very nice. But this at a cost as they are not the cheapest. I also have shopped in large dept stores in Tokyo (Yodobashi, Sakuraya) they are very nice they even let us play with 600mm Nikkors, that was my first time!!!, but the issue in Japan is the language. The Aussie salesmen are very polite and helpful (in generally Aussies are very nice!!!! I am not biased!!!) but the problem here is, it is far too expensive (eg 600/4 Nikkor is USD 11000/-!!! B&H price USD 7300/- Grey).

 

Either way by being arrogant will cost them by reducing the sales because communication is important as anything. By default there would be better people around, it is a matter of looking!!

the dumbing down of consumers or the dumbing down of sales people.

 

which came first?? the chicken or the egg? either way, the avid

photo geek whom value bargains rarely buy equipment from the local

store except for supplies because it much easier finding bargains

online. i worked at the local store for awhile and i mostly sold

compact digitals, canon rebels and the entry nikons with a all around

zoom lens even though i offer them many different models and useful

infromation

I have worked the other side of the counter, so I try hard to 'pre-qualify' with these guys to spare myself any bull-sh*t.

 

In the market for a pocket P&S, I walked into a (decent) store locally and gave them some version of this spiel:

"I've been shooting for 20 years, and I have all I need in full-size 35mm SLR's and lenses. I'm interested in a P&S that has decent quality in a wide angle, maybe a fixed 28mm. What do you have?"

 

The answer, they slapped something on the counter (I have forgotten what, a major brand 35-something zoom P&S) and said with the best sincere salesmans smile, "You simply can't take a bad picture with this camera...."

 

I turned around and left, and I have never returned.

Flip side of the coin, friend. I'm in sales for a living (not photo equipment, industrial machinery) and deal with customers all the time who seem to pick up the phone with a chip on their shoulder. Sure, there are poor salesmen out there, so take your money someplace else and don't complain about it. With the advent of online stores and Ebay, there's gear aplenty to be had without ever talking to another human being. If you want to kick the tires on a new camera then by all means go down to the neighborhood store and ask to see one but why are you surprised that the guy called you an amateur when you aked if you could trade in a Spotmatic toward that D1X or new VR lens you were looking at? That would be like driving into the Mercedes dealership in a Camry and being offended when they show you the E-class cars. Honestly... As long as you're holding the credit card, there's no legitimate reason to complain.

I must be going to the wrong places. The owner of an Athens, Ohio, shop (on Court St. next to the OU campus) spent a lot of time teaching a kid with an Argus C3 development and exposure. Karl's Cameras in Parkersburg, W.Va. stretched their credit rules to help me get gear I badly needed for work. Inkley's in Pocatello, Idaho, in the '70s was always helpful and let me use their dry-mount press. People at most of the shops around Portland, OR. are helpful, and I'm not a big spender for them by any means. There's a couple places I wouldn't go back to, but they're a minority.

In the bay area-- Had a great experience with Precision Cameras, in Mountain View California. Great service, great people, a little pricey-- but worth it. When I walked in there one day and asked for a rotating mount for my 645, they tried their best to help (for 40 minuets or so), and when they saw none of what they have would seem as a sensible solution, suggested that I would check Keeble and Schucat in Palo Alto. That store (K&S), although the largest in the area, is absurdly EXPENSIVE, and most of their employees are either arrogant or just playing the same NYC tricks reported by Armando. I walked in there, and the first 2 who tried to "help" me, did not seem to know what I refer to, where to start looking whether they have in stock, and climaxed in offering my the newest Tamron 28-300 hyperzoom.

<<guy called you an amateur when you aked if you could trade in a Spotmatic>>

 

I have to take offense to that remark,Erik. Some of are a lot older than you and perhaps a Pentax Spotmatic in 1970 was the best thing this side of a Nikon F or Leica and no doubt,plenty of "pro" users had them. I carried that camera for 15 yrs into some serious situations and travels and that "amateur" camera has won me a few photo competetion prizes as well as various newspaper features. ...

 

And whats the deal with badmouthing soccer moms with a D100? Your still talking close to $2000 worth of "junk" there, Ansel Adams. And I happen to own a 1992 Camry that never seen a repair shop unlike my 1998 BMW M3 that I bought new.

 

what camera store do YOU work at?

I asked a sales person at a supposedly reputable camera store if they had Tri X Pan in 120 size, after a pause and a funny look from the salesman, he mentioned that Tri X Pan isn�t made in 120 size. As I began explaining I�d been shooting Tri X in 120 for years he looked at me like �Yeah�..Right� and rolled his eyes! I kept my mouth shut and left the store, never to return.

Being ignorant and arrogant is a recipe for disaster, no matter what line of work is involved!

It's pretty rare nowadays to find a sales clerk in a camera store that knows anything about photography. They try to make up for their lack of knowledge with a vivid imagination which, fueled by sales commissions, produces some really remarkable bullsh*t. <p>

 

I think the only thing worse than having to talk to these people yourself, is standing at the counter listening to them lie through their teeth to take advantage of some tyro who doesn't know any better.

As one poster said, these days there is little real need to talk in person to any camera salespeople, as the "local camera store" seems to be going the way of the dinosaurs. That's too bad, really, because when I was younger I was helped a LOT by some camera salespeople at various stores in the Bay Area. There are (or were) good, conscientious people in this profession. I live in Berkeley, California, and I really mourned the demise of Palmer's Cameras on University Avenue.

 

But of course, the other side of the coin for me was that when I was first starting out doing bird photography I was too young to go up to a well-known camera store in San Francisco so my father went instead. He knows virtually nothing about photography and this obviously showed, so the barracudas at this store took advantage of him and sold him some overpriced junk. Some years later I went to that same store to buy a metering head for my Nikon F and once I showed that I knew a bit the salespeople were actually very helpful and fair.

 

I agree with the comment about K & S in Mt. View, California. It's a big, impressive store but I think that the staff has gotten spoiled by the number of wealthy Silicon Valley types who have walked in and bought thousands of dollars in equipment without questioning caring about price.

 

Of course, some people have bad experiences with the "salespeople" at the cheapie discount places that advertise in the photo magazines. No, not B & H and Adorama, but some others. The bait-and-switch and other misleading tactics used by those places are well-known.

 

Let me finish by saying that actually, when it comes to arrogance, I have found that many of the macho wannabe guys who work in bicycle shops are the worst, much worse than photo store employees.

At the local stores here, it's hit and miss. There's some really great salesmen, but on the other hand, there are ones that make you want to scream. Ordering online from B&H was a huge hassle, too -- EVERY SINGLE salesperson I talked to was a jerk, bar none. The only guy from B&H who was friendly and decent was Henry Posner, the guy who's in charge of sales (i think). You'd think that a nice guy like Henry could hire other people who could be polite. *sigh* The camera I bought from them was excellent, but I'll never shop there again.

Back in the '60s and '70s the salesmen at the local camera stores were "professionals." Selling cameras was their life's work. They knew all about the newest models but they also knew the good points and faults of cameras dating back 20 years. Today I get the feeling the people I'm talking to are in their jobs until they can find something else. And if you aren't interested in the latest technology they don't want to be bothered. And they know absolutely nothing about cameras made more than five years ago.

It seems to me that you may have overreacted a bit to the guy's comment, and took it as a personal attack, when he just made a simple assessment of your needs, based on the information that you've given him. I'd admit that I would have been offended too, but I'm not sure that he was intentionally rude. I remember looking for 24" wall ovens and taking offense at the salesman question: "do you live in a mobile home, or something?".

When I was a resident in surgery in Toronto, Canada, I was always made to feel that I was subhuman whenever I entered a photo store like Henry's. That's too bad, because they were just across the street from St. Michael's Hospital, where I was working at the time. I had the impression that if I didn't flash the cash within a minute of entering, they were going to serve the next likely prospect. As a result, I think in the years of training there, I've only bought something like two flash units from them (a Vivitar 285HV, and a really cheap no-name in the bargain bin for $15, which has continued to work perfectly 15+ years later). My F3 and all my Nikkors were bought second-hand.<p>I started working in Syracuse, NY 3 years ago, and I came to realize that I would need some macro lenses to document my surgical work. For the first time in my life I was actually willing to consider the purchase of a new lens. There are three shops in town. One deals with discount consumer equipment, and I really didn't find it useful at all. The second is MQ Camera. The owner and the workers there know their stuff, and they are photo enthusiasts. They supply cameras and darkroom equipment to the students at Syracuse University. I was allowed to try a couple of 60mm macros until I found one that was suitable. I found that the first one had one corner which was less sharp than the others. The second one was equally sharp in all corners. Being able to cherry pick lenses was a great bonus. They also have items that I would not have expected at a small photo store. The owner has the Nikon S3 2000 new in box, for example. I went there yesterday, and found a mint 85mm f/1.4 AIS. Costly, but very tempting (but I'd be dead if my wife found out I was even thinking of it). I thought their prices would be higher, but it turns out that they are in fact comparable to B&H, and sometimes cheaper. A new Nikon FM3a, for example was $485, while B&H was selling it for far more. He's also an authorized Leica dealer, so that when I needed something for my Pradovit CA2500 projector, I could get it from him.<p>The third store is run by a photo enthusiast in North Syracuse. North Plaza Camera Shop is filled with Kodak folders, old Zeiss and Voigtlanders, etc. Mike lets you play with them, and if they strike your fancy, you can purchase them. When I expressed an interest in Zeiss Super Ikonta Bs, he showed me his personal camera and the prints (about 16x16, I think) that he had made from it. The prints were as large as a poster and sharp as a tack. I would say that if the store is run by photo enthusiasts, you will get good service.

Yup.

 

I'm in Austin also... and there's not too many places to shop for camera equipment or supplies. I thought it was my imagination - the "hurry up and buy something you're wasting my time" vibes I was getting at one place ...

 

But it wasn't. I heard from someone who used to work at that first store that that store had an antifemale reputation - but that they are trying to change that. I dunno. They tend to come across impatient every time I've been there.

 

And because of that I didn't buy my camera and lenses there - I went to their competition across the street - where they are much nicer.

 

'shana

having spent the last 4 years on the other side of the counter.....I know exactly what these salesmen are like but it takes two to tango. The worst customers are the ones that walk in thinking they know more than you - admitedly some do. However on the point that why are salesmen not practising pro photography instead of selling it well - it funded me through 4 years of uni.

I can see both sides of the coin here... First I am a photographer, second I have been

behind the sales counter at your local camera stores...

 

The reason employees push certain crap cameras harder than something they

obviously know is better, money. The retailers gey kickbacks on certain models from

the manfacturer, which are then passed partially on to the salesman who sells them.

 

I worked at a Ritz camera center, notorious for asshole sales people, and this is why...

 

They pay people about $6 an hour to deal with the most retarded people on the face

of the planet. After 8 hours a day, for months on end, people start to get to you...like

you wouldnt believe. So, if someone who is obviously a yahoo walked in, wasted my

time and telling me all their stories and problems, and then wanted a camera...Well,

they are going to buy the camera that I make a commission off of. $15-$25 for one

sale vs. a straight $6/hr? You do the math.

 

Also, realize that many times it's not you they are being an asshole to... It's the

umpteen million people before you that has wasted their time. I would venture to say

that for every photographer I talked to who had any knowledge of what they were

doing, I talked to 99 who didnt and wanted ME to explain it for them.

 

Alas, I couldnt handle retail sales... And I never quite understood why I would get

$200 paychecks, and $400 kickback checks that didnt come from my employer.

 

I've also had the local camera stores be dickheads to me...but I understand why...and

they generally shut up when I run more equipment & photography knowledge around

them in one minute, then they could in a week. Order online, and skip the

middlemen.

 

just a thought...

Shoshana, FWIW, I didn't get any anti-female vibes from the store near UT. In fact whenever I'm there usually there's a woman or two behind the counter. My gripe with that place, a fairly minor one, is that some of the kids behind the counter (they seem like kids to me and I'm only 45) have a bit of an indifferent attitude like they can't be bothered. I get the feeling their minds are on the clock and what they're doing after work (entirely understandable in Austin, I must admit). Others are very helpful, tho' not the most knowledgeable folks I've met. But that comes with experience.

 

I just don't like to see a small, independent shop run that way because they can't afford to be indifferent in this market. They may have fooled themselves into believing that they've got a market sewn up but it ain't so. All it would take to drive a small shop like that into the ground is for a competitor with enough funding to last two years to open up nearby and run the place a lot more professionally and just a wee bit more friendly.

 

My favorite local shop, in Fort Worth, is run just that way. It's a comfortable compromise between congeniality and professionalism. The shop is fairly new so they're not out of the woods yet but they have as good a shot as anyone.

well heres a salesman's perspective. i currently an a sales clerk (also in the middle of opening my own studio). you as a sales rep deal with all types. from the people who walk in with a platinum card and know jack shyt about photography but want to buy an F5 because they can. then slap a 28-300 zoom on it and wonder why their pictures still suck. i personally will sell people whatever they want. i initialy try and feel out customers. the problem is that sales people dont want you as a customer to waste their time. many people come in the store just to look at a camera then go order it of the internet. then they run back to you because the shady internet dealer took the usb canles and ac adapter out the box. then they look stupid when u tell them that the camera should have come with all the accesories theirs didnt. or the absolute worst is ive had customers come in my store, buy off the net, then have the stone nerve to ask me to help them work their camera. in fact ive been written up for refusing just that. you waste a hour of my time, dont buy the camea from me, then expect me to take my time to show you how to use it because your too stupid to read the instructions.

Desmond,

 

C-u-l-t-i-v-a-t-e your customers. It's not your boss, your bosses boss, or even your

bosses, bosses boss who pays your check, it's the customer. Just cause they spend

big bucks on the net doesn't mean they wont buy everything else from you. If you

don't piss them off. I buy most of my film and every accessory I can from a local shop.

Occasionally I will eat the taxes and buy the bigger ticket items. Primarily, because

most people there are friendly.