I think the guys at the camera store were making fun of me today

[rsosa]

mmhhh same reactions here
a friend has canon ( I also do ) and at first he thought... what? you have abandoned your rig? well, its different I said, i want the M4 for B&W and I want to develop and I want to enlarge it (being all day with computers I need some manual work, honestly!) and also said, you cant go around with the big DSLR, it always catches attention and people think you are a reporter. But with the M4, people hardly notice it unless its another photographer. When I made pics in the streets and people didnt noticed I was like, nice... I made it.
now my friend was looking at a lens the other day and was amazed by the quality and finish of a goggled summaron 35 2.8. Now he likes leica... huh?!

On the other hand, I wouldnt pay right now the price of the M9 (have priorities in life, like the car for the girl and me and I want to keep shooting film) but I must admit that there is an undeniable fact that Leica is pricey

 

[Nikkor AIS]

Vote with your dollars. Buy from someplace else 😉.
Follow it up and write a letter to the manager telling them you felt insulted ... because you were. Name names and be specific. See if it's so funny when/if they are out of a job. If they don't have basic respect for customers, then why would you want to help keep them in business?

Just yesterday I went into a store looking for some film and was told that the film I was looking for was no longer being stocked. I asked if the film had been discontinued. They said, "No, we don't want to stock it anymore":bang:.
I said, "Fine, I will just shop elsewhere."
Left them standing there with their mouths open.

Life is too short.

 

[coolfotog]

Somewhere I read or heard a nasty quip to use in a case like that: "I have this because there's a reason why I am the customer and you are the clerk."

vereeeeee nasteeee!! clerks can be customers too!

 

[ibcrewin]

What would I have done? Well, I would have probably turned around and called him on it. Told him that wasn't very professional of him and would have talked to the manager on the spot. I don't cuss around.

 

[Mudman]

There are also a lot of people who don't realize that for the majority of the population, even in a rich country like the U.S., $300 for a camera lens (much less $1000 or $2000 or more) is not at all affordable, and it is fair to question the marginal utility of that lens for family snapshots.

it's increasingly true on this forum over time.

I get what you're saying, but the fellow is a photographer, and has spent more on lenses and gear than I ever do (Brand new pro nikon lenses and the prosumer bodies). I spent $250 for a CV 35mm f2.5 with the screwmount adapter. And I think what is affordable depends on how much you want something. I don't make much, but I know how to save, and I don't use credit cards so I have no debt beyond my car. It's not unheard of me to wait a year or longer to buy something I want. I'll wait until the price has come down and I have enough money saved up. My one large buy would be an M6 TTL .85 for my birthday. I spent $1300, a very large amount of money. I saved for 10 months.

 

[mwooten]

Poor service, or maybe mediocre service, has become all to common. I can think of several local restaurants, although they have wonderful food, we will not return to because of the service. If someone does not even act like they give a sht that I may buy something from them, then why should I?
Yet, when I have received exceptional service I always return.

There are few, if any, monopoly venders of photography goods anymore. We are not forced to buy from the only store in town.

 

[David Hughes]

I remember just after I bought my M8 I was in a well known up market Brisbane camera store looking for something and asked the salesman if they sold the (then new) M8 at all. To which he replied "Only a dickhead would pay six grand for one of those things ... we don't stock them!"

Trouble is a lot of stores don't seem to need customers these days but why don't they just lock the doors to keep us out? We'd get the message a lot quicker then.

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

HDR- High Dynamic Range. It's photography, just on a different level. It's done with computer software now, but I know a German Master Photographer that was doing it with film shots many years before digital. It's just bracketed shots placed on top of each other to bring out the shadowed areas and increased colour and contrast. There are some really nice HDR shots out there.... and some really bad ones.

I vaguely remember that the military somewhere were experimenting with some software that did just that, because they were interested in what's in the shadows. It was mentioned and demo'ed on a forum a few years ago. Does it ring a bell with anyone?

It did whatever it did with just the basic/single shot.

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

As for the price of the things, I know what my CL has cost over the years and it works out a lot cheaper than a new digital P&S or SLR every other year or faster...

Same goes for the vintage ones up to the M2. And I like the subtle colours in the slides.

Regards, David

 

[kdemas]

Back to the OPs experience...

I had a similar experience when the M8 was coming out. I had used this local store for nearly everything, pumping a fair amount into their coffers rather than saving $$$ at the likes of B&H. When I was treated rudely regarding the M8 waiting list, and after escalating to a manager only to learn that their policies were the problem, that was it.

I calmly told them that I wouldn't be making another large purchase with them, ever. I haven't. Instead tens of thousands of dollars have gone to another, less local, retailer and into Internet purchases. What a stupid loss for the local guys when some simple courtesy would have avoided it.

Bottom line, customer service matters. If it's not there I will instead go to where I can save th most money, it's one or the other. Crappy service and higher prices don't make for a compelling experience.

 

[zumbido]

Anyone who has ever been behind the counter will tell you the flip side: a very, very strong majority of customers who think they were treated poorly are top-grade jerks. They treat staff with rudeness, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement (see a number of the comments in this thread for proudly-advertised examples), and then act the fool when someone hits the breaking point and responds in kind. Like playground bullies who cry when someone hits back.

The fact that someone depends on your custom for their livelihood seems to mean to many that they should treat you with a subservient deference. Anyone who was raised right should know that it's just the opposite. You are the one with the power in the transaction (whether to spend your money or not), so it is your responsibility to set the example by behaving with some class and treating the other person with dignity--not just as a halfwitted robot who's there to hand you things and put your money in the till.

 

[tlitody]

BTW, I found one photo in that third roll that I kinda liked and was proud of. It was one I took in a local mortuary of an organ by an (empty) casket.

I say I was almost proud of it, but not quite. It wasn't sharp enough and the blacks weren't black enough and the light was too diffused. I went back today and the same organ was there and casket. I took a pen and paper, too. I got my light meter out and made a note of what I metered and what I exposed for. I took 16 different shots of the same setting with different appetures.

I was kinda excited that after my 3rd roll I was kinda starten' to feel it😎

which organ, a heart, a liver, a spleen or something else😀

 

[chris00nj]

They probably leave the store to go to Diesel to get a pair of $200 jeans that were made in China.

At least Leica Ms are expensive, because (among other things) they are assembled by hand in Germany.

Designer clothes made in China are probably made on the same line with the same material by the same people as clothes that are much less expensive.

 

[alistair.o]

Anyone who has ever been behind the counter will tell you the flip side: a very, very strong majority of customers who think they were treated poorly are top-grade jerks. They treat staff with rudeness, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement (see a number of the comments in this thread for proudly-advertised examples), and then act the fool when someone hits the breaking point and responds in kind. Like playground bullies who cry when someone hits back.

The fact that someone depends on your custom for their livelihood seems to mean to many that they should treat you with a subservient deference. Anyone who was raised right should know that it's just the opposite. You are the one with the power in the transaction (whether to spend your money or not), so it is your responsibility to set the example by behaving with some class and treating the other person with dignity--not just as a halfwitted robot who's there to hand you things and put your money in the till.

That maybe the case Brian, but in this case there appears to have been gratuitous rudeness. It sounds as though there was more than a modicum of ignorance mixed with envy.

To my fellow forum members who have rightly asserted that clerks are human and have feelings too, I agree but, they are in their chosen position to serve (not to be servile) as much as the customer is there to be human and civil.

Al

 

[David Murphy]

If I were shopping for $2000+ cameras I'd expect nothing but top notch service and attentiveness from store personnel. That's their job.

 

[zumbido]

If I were shopping for $2000+ cameras I'd expect nothing but top notch service and attentiveness from store personnel. That's their job.

Their job is to provide good service as a human being offering said service. Their job, no matter how expensive the camera is, is not to take abuse.

Note it doesn't sound to me like the OP abused anyone, I'm just replying to a bunch of the low-class trash in this thread that make clerks sound like indentured servants.

 

[j j]

"The guy made a big deal about saying how Panasonic makes the point and shoot one for Leica." "Leica. For the photographer that wants to pay a lot for a name."

The two quotes make a pretty accurate description of the Leica-badged Panasonic digicams and do not constitute an insult aimed at the OP or his M3.

 

[shadowfox]

While walking away I heard one of them say:

Leica. For the photographer that wants to pay a lot for a name.

Then they all laughed.

Two separate points:
- Their action is bad from the perspective of them being a sales clerk. That will reflect badly on their career if they don't wise up pretty soon.

- But you can't really blame them for repeating a stereotype, because they simply don't know. If they had known that not all Leica's are expensive and there are valid reasons (as opposed to vanity) to choose those over other brands, then they would be laughing with you, not at you.

Keep the first one in mind the next time you go there (or not), but don't sweat the second point.

 

[jsrockit]

While walking away I heard one of them say:

Leica. For the photographer that wants to pay a lot for a name.

Then they all laughed.

You would think that a sales person would be interested in someone who wants to spend a lot of money. :bang:

 

[SonC]

"The guy made a big deal about saying how Panasonic makes the point and shoot one for Leica." "Leica. For the photographer that wants to pay a lot for a name."

The two quotes make a pretty accurate description of the Leica-badged Panasonic digicams and do not constitute an insult aimed at the OP or his M3.

No, but the timing does.