Is it any wonder shops are closing down...

I went in to the local camera store today to check out a Sony A7R with the intention of buying it from there if i was happy.

Conversation went something like

Me-Hi, I'm interested in a Sony A7r

Shop attendant-blank stare

Me-do you mind if I take a look at one?

Shop attendant-sure

Me after a few minutes...would you like me to show you the model I'm talking about?

Shop attendant-sure

Me after playing with it-does it have AF, I can't get it to focus?

Shop attendant-I'm not sure

Me-this EVF is pretty cool

Shop attendant-blank stare

Me-can you show me the focus peaking?

Shop attendant-blank stare

Me-so can you tell me anything about the camera?

Shop attendant-sure

Me-blank stare

Shop attendant-it's a great compact that is very compact and has loads of megapixels

Me-blank stare

Her-blank stare

Me-blank stare

Me-Well....um....thank you for....um your time?

you that can be said for plenty of shops. they employ people who know nothing about what they are trying to sell.

the key to finding a good camera store is finding one with the knowledge about photography not just cameras.

Mark0159 wrote in post #17243238
you that can be said for plenty of shops. they employ people who know nothing about what they are trying to sell.

the key to finding a good camera store is finding one with the knowledge about photography not just cameras.

I would have settled for just a little knowledge on cameras let alone photography lol

Mark0159 wrote in post #17243238
you that can be said for plenty of shops.

Somebloke wrote in post #17243266
I would have settled for just a little knowledge on cameras let alone photography

This can be said about many shops, not just camera. For those who don't know it, Radio Shack is probably going away. They are long past financial troubles that can be fixed. They may just go away.

Pundits all have different reasons for it, but in my experience it is the same problem as the OP. There was once a time when employees could answer questions, give advice, suggest solutions. But, like in the example of the camera store above, employees are clueless idiots who often don't even know bare basics.

It is the fault of the system. If the corporation - the stores - hire "clerks" who know nothing about the products in the store and because of it, lose sales then I say good. Let them fail. Good bye and good riddance.

I can't stand it because the one camera shop in my city besides best buy has so small of a selection, I almost have more lenses than them! It gets to the point of not even wanting to go out of the house rather just go online and order it. Plus I thought the point of going to a store was to come home with the product in hand not have them say to you 'oh we can order it', well so can I and cheaper at that.

When I was looking for point and shoots... Target had a display with only half the display models available and half of those wouldn't power on, Officedepot got rid of all their display models and only offers a choice between 4 models and Hhgregg has a display, half of it is empty and nothing powered up, I asked the sales rep and he said there hasn't been power to the cameras since the store opened!

I also believe it about Radio Shack, just recently I went in for a FM trap and F-connector terminators for my hdtv and the sales rep was clueless, luckily the store manager knew where they were.

I think in the future shopping centers and big box stores will cease to exist and residential will take over the land they once sat on.

Consumers told retailers a long time ago they care more about price than service. That's why Wal-Mart runs a 125,000 sq foot store with 3 open cash registers and 3 people on the floor.

You can't compete with walmart on price. You have to compete with quality and service. You still might lose but at least you have a shot depending upon the business...

As the commercial says: "You go to B&H!"

Face-to-face transactions are increasingly backward and outdated for a whole lot of products, and retailers know that. Given that I can have the specifications for any recent camera model in front of me in seconds, I don't expect the clerk in a store that sells cameras to do much more than be polite and handle my credit card. I also don't expect stores to stock anything but the basics. They'd be foolish to try to compete with online retailers.

What irks me is when retail employees are indifferent, discourteous, or petulant. I've visited stores where you can enter, shop, make a purchase, and leave without any employee uttering a single word to you or even seeming to know you're present. That I don't like.

... But she's good at unloading the shipments, stocking the shelves, taking inventory and working cheap. That's all that most retailers want.

I do all my research online and if I want to go hands on, I find a store that has the item I want. I don't NEED to talk to the salesperson, they haven't got the indepth knowledge that I have. I've read consumer reports, reviews, read up on the specs. I just want them to hand me the camera or whatever and leave me alone while I play with it. It's too bad that so many shops give the experience you described. Not everyone prefers to purchase things the way that I do, but it seems more and more people are forced to do it because of the lack of product knowledge in the stores.

AlFooteIII wrote in post #17243436
As the commercial says: "You go to B&H!"

online B&H that is because the times I've been to the physical store, the service has been sub-par, not very helpful nor friendly at all.

I'm fortunate to have The Camera Store a couple of blocks away from work and have always been happy with their service.
Their staff are real photographers and passionate at what they do.
One of staff actually gave me his extra Leica CTOOM flash bracket since I was looking to use a flash and external VF on my M3

I actually have a great camera store within walking distance of my house, but I would never waste their time if I'm not going to buy there, which I often do. But I have no qualms about doing it at a big box store, although I completely recognize the hypocrisy of it all. : ) I'm told that B&H customer service phone guys just want to take your order and don't want to bother answering questions. don't know if that is true or not, but that is their reputation. I love B&H though.

suecassidy wrote in post #17244249
I do all my research online and if I want to go hands on, I find a store that has the item I want. I don't NEED to talk to the salesperson, they haven't got the indepth knowledge that I have. I've read consumer reports, reviews, read up on the specs. I just want them to hand me the camera or whatever and leave me alone while I play with it. It's too bad that so many shops give the experience you described. Not everyone prefers to purchase things the way that I do, but it seems more and more people are forced to do it because of the lack of product knowledge in the stores.

If you don't 'need' a salesperson then why pay a premium to buy from a physical store? Quite often prices in stores are at least 10% more expensive than online. This premium is what I am prepared to pay as a trade off for having someone to answer my questions.

Otherwise there is no point.

On the other side of the coin;

1) A lot of retail stores are now giving only part time ours and often random hours/days each week to employees - its not a stable form of income nor designed to be a long term job like that.

2) Many shops recycle low level staff a lot.

3) as a result of 1 and 2 many shops also hire in student staff during select periods of the year/term.

If you combine those three points staff just have less inclination to learn about the shops market because there is no long term bonus for them. They get paid the same rate and chances are they will be moving along quick anyway.

My sister has also found that this less organised approach also means that staff training, even in big chain store setups, can end up a mess. Staff are "supposed" to get it but multiple things get in the way (She's worked for several places now - most of them ended up with the training being skipped or missed because of various reasons or organisational mistakes).


Of course poor staff means less potential sales - sadly a I think a lot of shops rely upon people walking in and knowing what they want; or shoppers of a level where just re-reading the back of the packet is enough for them (they mostly want to talk about and be convinced to purchase rather than have a real in-depth discussion).


Coupled with high rents - high rates - etc.... its no wonder many highstreet shops close (many have to be online now to make ends-meat - at which point if they do well many drop the highstreet store - its far cheaper to run a wearhouse - maybe even with a showroom - than it is to have a highstreet store).