Amusing Camera "Shop" Incompetence :)

Ok, picture the scene.

You're just charging all your batteries, cleaning your kit and making sure everything is cool as you've planned a day out tomorrow @ Brands Hatch.

Your monopod decides that it's too old be worth using anymore and says "I'm not going to lock in position any more" and subsequently you panic somewhat.

There's no decent camera retailers within a few miles of my house, and bearing in mind it was 3pm on a Sunday...I was stuffed.

But wait! There's a branch of Jessops in town...hahahahaha oh dear.

It went like this:

Hi. I need a monopod.

You need a monopod? Which one? *hands me their catalogue*

Well I've looked at two, the Manfrotto or the Velbon ones....

Ok hang on.

*waits*

No, sorry, neither are in stock. I can order you one if you like.

Pardon? You joking?

No. No one ever uses monopods, so we don't carry many in stock.

I need it for Monday. What do you have in stock?

(She disappeared for 5 minutes and at this point I did actually think about leaving the shop, but that's not on really).

We have this one *produces Jessops own brand tat*

Hmmm....I'll leave it for now, but thanks anyway.

To be honest, I didn't really expect them to have anything that wasn't made of chocolate..and they didn't! But there might have been the slim chance that they had something that was of some use.

Utter rubbish! I had no faith in their abilities or knowledge when I bought a bag from them - "Hi I need a bag for my camera - yes sir, do you know what camera you have?" - and have even less now.



The mind boggles.

Losers.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it, Dave?
Jessops must be related to Ritz Cameras over here. While visiting family in Hemet, California, I dropped by the local Ritz. There was practically nothing in the store. The poor girl there was apologetic and embarrassed. Couldn't blame her.
Here in our small town, 100K souls, we have a small locally owned camera shop that really knows their stuff and carries a reasonable selection. Hope they never get bought out by Ritz like the one in Hemet

I have the same kinda of experence here where I live. But I have found that even the "good" shops really aren't that good after all.

So you know what I have figured out, the best place to buy is online, where I already know what I wont.

I don't trust any of the local shops at all. Kinda said really since they are going to get any of my $$$ and I am sure that some of the people really know there stuff.

I usually buy either on line or from a shop about 15m away - which isn't open on sundays.

Desperation got the better of me, and as expected they were of no use whatsoever!

Once I get back tonight I'll start looking for a monpod that'll work for a few years

I remember when Jessops was just one shop here in Leicester owned and run by Frank Jessop and his son. They were enthusiasts and used to get queues of customers.

Now Jessops is a huge conglomerate not run by the Jessop family any more and a visit to their stores really is a lottery. Best thing to do I've found is to get to know which are the knowledgable assistants and wait for one of them rather than to allow myself to be served by one I don't know. It's also a good idea, if no assistants you know are there, to linger around for a while whilst observing how other customers are dealt with.

It shouldn't be like this but it's modern life.

My local jessops are equally as bad, no stock of anything useful at all.

But they do have a canon dslr shooter as one of the assistants, so if I need anything quick I will wait for that person to serve me.

Best thing to get from Jesops is the free catalogue, I leave one in the loo, the stock is interesting and the prices are always good for a laugh. N

All the Ritz camera's around my area are dumb.Prices are comedy and they stock up on their "Quantaray" brand lenses. The only canon lense I saw there was a 17-40L and 28-135 IS. Both looked like they've been abused by customers that wanted to "try them out." I'm sure I'm willing to spend money on a used lense that cost more than it does from B&H.

Oh and the other random electronic/camera shops are funny. I walk in with my camera around my chest because I was looking for a store that sold camera bags so I can test them out...and the guy immediately jumps on me asking me why I didn't have a UV filter on my lense and how I NEED one for protection. Then he tried to sell me this fisheye screw on lense that screws onto the front of your lense. He kept saying it would make my pictures a million times better and make the camera "get more light" whatever that means. He said he was a professional photographer. Oh man all I could do was laugh in my head.

Take it easy on the Jessops people, I too have been frustrated by their lack of stock, and at times, the incompetence of their staff but to be fair, they are not employed to give technical support or opinion.
Their sole purpose in life is to take your money in return for a box of goodies.

well, i cant stand ritz, they have nothing usefull unless you want a new camera.. but then they are way too expensive. I dont have a local camera shop, the one i do go to every once in awhile is a 45 minute ride and to be truthfull i really dont care for thier prices and the staff are kind of snooty... sorta of like theyre thinking " who is this amatuer, asking questions and trying to learn something? How dare he?" Call me stupid but i feel i need to deal with that kind of attitude!
-zacker-

Yup - Once got into an argument with the Mall Rat at Ritz who insisted that Image Stabilization is ALWAYS the Camera, not the lens.

I once overheard a young female assistant in Dixons explaining to a lady customer that the MM's of a lens indicated the number of times the lens would bring things closer - ie., a 135mm lens would make objects appear 135 times nearer.

"You mean that's not true????? ooops "

Sounds like a typical camera shop. Seems like they either have too much junk or nothing at all.