Pig ignorant shop staff

[thanatos]

I try and spend some of my hard-earned in small local independent businesses including camera shops. So rather than getting things considerably cheaper online or in the big stores, they can earn a living and I can enjoy their wares.

This morning I took in a roll of film for developing and scanning, no prints. The guy in the camera shop is a miserable curmudgeon at the best oof times but today he was even worse. He insisted I pay for prints even though I didn't want them and told me there'd be an extra charge anyway for the CD. Now, I've used their processing services before and this usually isn't the case. Anyway, I told him that I'd had it done cheaper before and didn't want to pay 11 GBP (i.e. ~20 USD) for processing and scanning a roll of 36 and he just ripped up the order envelope in front of me and said, "Suit yourself" and walked off! So that's a portion of my fairly reasonable disposable income that's going elsewhere, pr1ck.

 

[zuikologist]

Deserves what he gets. It is a surprise some people stay in business so long.

 

[Trius]

Sigh. I would be tempted to plot some revenge, but that just escalates the problem. He doesn't understand word-of-mouth, does he?

 

[c.poulton]

You have the right idea - take your business elsewhere!

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Was this the owner, or a ofttimes falsetto-, screetch-voiced (ok, a teen, *fine*) employee?

 

[peter_n]

Isn't everybody like that in Yorkshire? 😉

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

Isn't everybody like that in Yorkshire? 😉

That made me chuckle.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Working in a store would be great
if not for those pesky customers! 😉

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

I think it might actually be cheaper for you to use a B&H mailer and send it back and across the pond 😉

What's happening to old fashioned customer service and just plain human courtesy? 🙁

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

By the way, comparing this clerk to a pig is probably an insult to our four-legged friend 🙂

 

[telenous]

Appaling behaviour - reminds me of the Basil Fawlty level of service - without the laughs.

Thanatos, why don't you try your local Snappy Snaps? They are a big franchise but they are individually owned and run. The Oxford branch even makes me a better price just for being a frequent customer.

 

[photogdave]

That's a real shame. Experiences like that tend to make people wary of all shops. I'm lucky and (still) have lots of great shops where I live and haven't had to turn to internet shopping by neccessity, like others have had to.
I hope you can find another place that will appreciate your custom with good service.

 

[BrianShaw]

Anyway, I told him that I'd had it done cheaper before and didn't want to pay 11 GBP (i.e. ~20 USD) for processing and scanning a roll of 36 and he just ripped up the order envelope in front of me and said, "Suit yourself" and walked off!

Try to imagine his side of the situation. Perhaps he's too busy processing profitable sales (i.e., making money) and doesn't choose to take the time to discuss a transaction that won't add to his profit (i.e., his primary motivation for being in the business).

Do like he (and others here at RFF) suggests... go find someone that offers the specific services you want. That is the win-win situation!

This discussion of develop-and scan-only comes up periodically and reminds me of a conversation I had with a guy at work. His truck needed a major service but he didn't want to pay the shop $600 to do it. He priced out all of the parts/materials and could do it his self for $200. So he did just that... all but one part... changing the transmission fluid. He went back to the shop and asked the owner how much he would charge to change the transmission fluid on his truck. The shop guy reminded him that he needed a complete 100,000 mile service, to which my friend informed the shop guy that he didn't want to pay the price so he did everything himself except that one part for $200. The shop guy quoted him $400 for the transmission fluid change... because he (shop guy) knew how to do it and my buddy didn't... and he (shop guy) can't stay in business if he's weaseled out of what little profit he makes doing the complete service package.

The only other alternative seems to be learning to do it all yourself.

Sorry if I come off as a conservative, Republican American... but making a living by running a small shop is VERY DIFFICULT these days and sometimes small shop owners simply need to get to the point about refusing to do non-profitable jobs... the chances of return visits with "profitable" work is too slim to count on in many cases.

Could you report back in a year or so and let us know if he's still in business or not?

 

[Chaser]

snip>... but making a living by running a small shop is VERY DIFFICULT these days and sometimes small shop owners simply need to get to the point about refusing to do non-profitable jobs... the chances of return visits with "profitable" work is too slim to count on in many cases.

Could you report back in a year or so and let us know if he's still in business or not?

I agree that it is hard to keep a float as a small business, but an employee or owner should know it is damned near impossible if you treat your customers like crap.

 

[jonasv]

Try to imagine his side of the situation. Perhaps he's too busy processing profitable sales (i.e., making money) and doesn't choose to take the time to discuss a transaction that won't add to his profit (i.e., his primary motivation for being in the business).

Do like he (and others here at RFF) suggests... go find someone that offers the specific services you want. That is the win-win situation!

This discussion of develop-and scan-only comes up periodically and reminds me of a conversation I had with a guy at work. His truck needed a major service but he didn't want to pay the shop $600 to do it. He priced out all of the parts/materials and could do it his self for $200. So he did just that... all but one part... changing the transmission fluid. He went back to the shop and asked the owner how much he would charge to change the transmission fluid on his truck. The shop guy reminded him that he needed a complete 100,000 mile service, to which my friend informed the shop guy that he didn't want to pay the price so he did everything himself except that one part for $200. The shop guy quoted him $400 for the transmission fluid change... because he (shop guy) knew how to do it and my buddy didn't... and he (shop guy) can't stay in business if he's weaseled out of what little profit he makes doing the complete service package.

The only other alternative seems to be learning to do it all yourself.

Sorry if I come off as a conservative, Republican American... but making a living by running a small shop is VERY DIFFICULT these days and sometimes small shop owners simply need to get to the point about refusing to do non-profitable jobs... the chances of return visits with "profitable" work is too slim to count on in many cases.

Could you report back in a year or so and let us know if he's still in business or not?

To a certain extent you may well be right, but I think it's a bit besides the point. Had the shop clerk explained that, it would have been a different story. But being a jerk towards customers has nothing to do with it and is a more important reason for shops getting in trouble than minor issues like prints+scans or just scans. Word of mouth spreads fast...

 

[BrianShaw]

I agree that it is hard to keep a float as a small business, but an employee or owner should know it is damned near impossible if you treat your customers like crap.

Quite true... but more true with regard to a "high-profit" customer than a low-profit" customer.

 

[BrianShaw]

But being a jerk towards customers has nothing to do with it

Someone has already spoken to this point... it's a "Yorkshire tradition" 🙂

 

[ChrisPlatt]

A couple years ago the owner of the lab where my wife had all her prints
done swore up and down to me that Kodak no longer sold slide mailers.

The truth of course was that he had stopped carrying them in his store.

We haven't been back there since...

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-

 

[peter_n]

Someone has already spoken to this point... it's a Yorkshire tradition" 🙂

As a lad from the other side of the Pennines I could've meant it, but of course I was joking. I know a number of Yorkshire lads and they are the salt of the earth. And I mean that.

 

[Trius]

Quite true... but more true with regard to a "high-profit" customer than a low-profit" customer.

With that approach, no "low-profit" customers will ever become "high-profit" customers.

Tearing up the order envelope in front of the customer is a show of utter disrespect for the very person (CUSTOMER) that allows you to derive any profit at all.