Camera shop of horrors

[odd jim]

I find it odd (and rather sad) that some people get pleasure from going into shops to wind up the sales people on purpose. Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure from trying to show off your supposed superiority complex by belittling someone with less knowledge than you?

And you wonder why the poor sales staff all look miserable and grumpy? So would I if random people kept coming into the shop with the sole intention of making me look stupid in front of others... were you literally born with the knowledge of all things photography related? I thought not.

How would you feel if I followed everyone of your posts on here correcting every minor detail and mocking your lack of knowledge to every other member publicly?

I feel sorry for you if you really are that insecure that you feel the need to do such a thing to another human bieng, just to give yourself a sense of self satisfaction or a small ego boost. :shrug:

good post!

I myself would quite like to work in a camera shop, its only the fact I wouldnt be able to live on the wages that stops me!!

 

[mani]

i used to work for gamestation and if there's one thing i know its my gaming esp the xbox. xbox fanboy.

when the store first opened up i knew i had my knowledge up to scratch but over-hearing what other staff were saying to customers to get the sale was shocking. but i didnt want to jump in make the staff feel stupid and scare the customer off. If i could i'd go to the till area and start off a convo as i helped with the bagging of the sale and correct them. Though i still wonder how many xbox's went away after the customer was told the xbox elite was better, faster and didnt have the RROD as it had a hard drive and a new chip.

its as the above poster said the real enthusiasts wouldnt work in retail but for the pay. I was lucky that I was doing part-time and it was a saturday job which gave me a nice discount!

 

[clicktor]

I could never be dishonest to a customer like some of the above stories, just to get a sale I mean. Even if it was comission based. I think I could sell more than a bull****er anyway by just being helpful and honest. I can understand why they add loads of bits on if it is comission based, but I hardly think staff atjessops get paid more for adding on a memory card do they?
To be honest some of the above surprises me though, like wondering into Dixons and expecting them to know what a class 6 SDHC card is @ 15mb/s or faster. I mean yeah, I know what one is, and so do most of us here, but times have changed, shops specialising in X don't contain staff specialising in X. They contain people that will work for as cheap as possible and cash things through the till having badly advised a customer with a smile.

 

[JaneH]

I find it odd (and rather sad) that some people get pleasure from going into shops to wind up the sales people on purpose. Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure from trying to show off your supposed superiority complex by belittling someone with less knowledge than you?

A bit harshly expressed, but I agree with the sentiment. Imagine being someone desperate for a job, thrown in with little or no training, and expected to deal with know-it-all customers as well as those who haven't a clue what they want or (gasp) need....and neither do you. Yes, it's irritating to deal with clueless sales clerks but it's not all their faults. And they might try to self-educate but don't know where to start and wonder why they should bother when they're on minimum wage.

 

[big soft moose]

what i'd like to know is why they dont put - photographic knowledge as an essential on the job description

There are probably loads of amateur togs who'd love to do a bit of work in a photography shop, even jessops, (if ony for the staff discount)

B&Q have started listing DIY knowledge as a desirable , and axminster power insist on woodwork knowledge as an essential even for their till monkeys - so why do so many camera shops think its a good idea to recruit a minimum wage halfwit who's sole photographic knowledge is which end you look through to be their main customer interface ?

I suspect the reason is because halfwits work for less , but thats a classic case of penny wise, pound foolish in my opinion.

 

[ziggy©]

I dont really expect them to be know everything i would know. Its the same as going to Tescos. You would not expect the sales assistant at Tesco to know the amount of calories in every can of Tuna.

If you ask a sales assistant at Tesco whether a product contains processed fat she/he will probably think you are mental.

They are sales assistants not photography experts.

 

[tfboy]

When I was a student, I worked in PC World for some time. I started as a merchandiser / shelf-stocker and didn't do any sales. Interestingly, people would ask me questions and after some time, I'd recognise the same people coming over and looking for me as they found me to be far more knowledgeable and honest than most of the sales guys there. I did get the smug feeling when I saw sales advisors approaching customers and asking how they could help and they were told "if you want to help me, tell me where your most helpful merchandiser employee is!"

After a few months, I moved up to being a sales person myself, and it sure was better pay as I'd get commission on my sales. Of course, there's competition between us poorly students wanting the best bonus of the month!

Worst horror story I remember is speaking to some potential customers (a family with two kids in tow). After talking for about 15-20 minutes, it was clear they wanted one of the most powerful PC packages we had at the time. Of course, this turned out to be the most expensive (around £1800 and that's 10 years ago!). I didn't have to upsell for them to want it - they were happy to spend the money as they trusted what I was saying and saw it as an investment.

As it was approaching closing time, I asked them to excuse me for a minute whilst I went to the tills to ensure they kept one open with credit card terminal active. At that point, my supervisor who was a pushy salesman asked "are they taking the extended warranty?" I replied saying no, they're not, and yes, I have explained the benefits but they don't want to spend the extra £600 (a third of the price of the entire PC!) on the extra warranty.

He then follows me back to the customers who were waiting by the PC and he then jumps ahead of me and starts talking to them: "you do realise that the standard warranty only covers the base unit PC and not the really really really expensive monitor that you're buying? If you have a problem even within a year, the monitor's manufacturer's warranty doesn't cover it - you must have the extended warranty!"

The father of the family then said "so you're telling me that unless I buy your really expensive extended warranty, the monitor you are selling actually isn't covered for failures?!?"

The sales guy said "Yup!"

At that point, I was fuming and could see the whole attitude of the customer really changing to being satisfied having received good customer service to being bullied around into buying something really expensive they couldn't see the value and questioned how accurate the "monitor isn't guaranteed" argument! They were about to walk out the store and I was going to lose my big sale.

I then butted back in and pushed my boss out the way (growing a pair of balls at the same time!) and did reassure them that the monitor was covered for year, just not against accidental damage. If it goes pop on its own, you're OK. If you drop it and smash the screen, you're not OK.

Eventually, they agreed to buy the PC package without the extended monitor and thanked me and asked for the name of my boss so they could officially write in and complain about him whilst congratulating me on my advice. Needless to say I didn't have a problem with that

I waited for that month's pay check to come in with the commission from that single sale and then handed in my notice. My boss couldn't believe me and didn't want me to leave. I just had to say "tough, it's partly your fault I'm leaving!"

OK it's not a camera-related story, but from experience, for those who see commission and profit to be of the utmost importance, they're prepared to lie and give bad customer advice just to get it :thumbsdown:

 

[Flash In The Pan]

A couple of my favourites:

Overheard in the Jessops clearance shop in Glasgow (which to be fair to them was not run or staffed by Jessops)

Customer: "could you tell me what 18-200mm means on this lens"

Sales Assistant "that's the minimum and maximum distance you can be from your subject for it to be in focus"

....

Just after the D300 was launched I popped into a camera shop in Glasgow (one that is no longer there) and enquired as to whether they had any stock...

Me: "I'm after a Nikon D300"
Sales boy: "I'm sorry, they've stopped producing them"
Me: "err, they were just launched a month or so ago"
SB "No, sorry, you've made a mistake, the D300 has been replaced, this is the new model - the D400"
Me: "that's a CANON 400D, I'm after a NIKON D300"
SB: (getting exasperated) "Yes, I know, and I told you, it's been replaced by this camera the D400"

 

[Scarecrow]

In all fairness to the staff in stores like Currys or Dixons, they sell a lot more than camera equipment and it's probably expecting rather a lot for them to know all the ins and outs of all the photographic kit they sell.

I've been in to photography for a great number of years now, but as I've always been a Canon man, if anyone asked me something about Nikon I wouldn't have a clue. Couldn't even tell which of their models are full frame.

 

[String]

^^^^^^^ Ditto

 

[looneytunez1024]

mines not so much a horror story more of an annoyance when i went to buy my 60D from j*****s and despite me telling the guy i didnt have anymore money on me and could only buy the camera he proceeded to push me to buy a memory card and try and force insurance on me i had to tell him numerous times i couldnt afford it as only had enough cash for the camera baring in mind i was handing over £800 at the time, you know is £800 not enough that they have to push for more i wish i had got it from pc world now as i could of had the extra warrenty for £4.50 a month

 

[AJQS]

I dont really expect them to be know everything i would know. Its the same as going to Tescos. You would not expect the sales assistant at Tesco to know the amount of calories in every can of Tuna.

If you ask a sales assistant at Tesco whether a product contains processed fat she/he will probably think you are mental.

They are sales assistants not photography experts.

Customers do ask me stupid questions such as that in Spar all the time. TBH if you're in a specialist area such as a camera shop, you at least need to know a little about the products you sell.

You'd be suprised what I know about the groceries in Spar...

 

[WP-UK]

It always helps to know a good variety of information about your products but as mentioned, in larger stores such as Comet this is more difficult unless you are specifically sectioned on say 'cameras'.

I have in the past had information from sales assistants knowing its incorrect but don't correct them or complain, instead just avoid them next time I visit. It is embarrassing when you are corrected but if its done correctly with a smile and good intentions of just giving you a bit of knowledge then I like to be informed.

 

[leftcurl]

i have to say, the guys in Wildings near me are always very helpful - even though i've hardly ever bought anything from them - as they openly admit they can't really compete with the web, but they'll happily discuss the pro's and con's of certain equipment and they know their stuff too.

 

[FreakAccidentBoy]

My most surprising camera shopping experience was whilst looking at lenses in a fairly large store in Tottenham Court Road. I realised whilst trying to find a particular lens in the display cabinet that all of them were labelled not as, say, 24-105mm, 50mm f1.8 etc, but by their filter size. Obviously the guy making up the labels just read that off the end of the lens....and this is quite a large electrical store with a camera department mind you. It was still the same last time I went in.

Maybe one day I'll mention it

 

[ziggy©]

I've been in to photography for a great number of years now, but as I've always been a Canon man, if anyone asked me something about Nikon I wouldn't have a clue. Couldn't even tell which of their models are full frame.

 

[chip]

mines not so much a horror story more of an annoyance when i went to buy my 60D from j*****s and despite me telling the guy i didnt have anymore money on me and could only buy the camera he proceeded to push me to buy a memory card and try and force insurance on me i had to tell him numerous times i couldnt afford it as only had enough cash for the camera baring in mind i was handing over £800 at the time, you know is £800 not enough that they have to push for more i wish i had got it from pc world now as i could of had the extra warrenty for £4.50 a month

The camera shops often make a fairly small margin on camera sales and the markup on warranties is often more profitable than the sale itself

 

[Musicman]

To be honest some of the above surprises me though, like wondering into Dixons and expecting them to know what a class 6 SDHC card is @ 15mb/s or faster. I mean yeah, I know what one is, and so do most of us here, but times have changed, shops specialising in X don't contain staff specialising in X. They contain people that will work for as cheap as possible and cash things through the till having badly advised a customer with a smile.

I'd sort of understand to some extent, but I wasn't asking for advice, I'd told them what I wanted. If I'd gone in saying I was looking for a card suitable for shooting AVCHD video on a Panasonic G2, then I'd agree.

All it required from them was an ability to read the packaging, which I couldn't do because they'd placed all the memory cards in a secure area far behind the counter. This was on the photographic counter, I should add.

I do expect some level of understanding of a customer's intent. I made it clear I was after a higher end card. To then openly suggest the cheapest card they had in stock was just bizarre.

I've worked in retail and I'd never have got away with such a thing. It's as much about management attitude as anything else.

e2a: I certainly never go into a shop to deliberately show up a sales assistant's lack of knowledge or wind them up.

 

[fixedimage]

The camera shops often make a fairly small margin on camera sales and the markup on warranties is often more profitable than the sale itself

When I woked in retail there was a term for selling things like warranties, service plans etc - "money for nothing". Because something like 90% of the people that buy them don't use them, even when they have a situation where they should, they've either forgotten about it or lost the paperwork.

That said, I took out the Dom & Gen cover on my 24-70mm f2.8 lens when I bought it from jessops and it was worth it, I dinked the focus ring and got it repaired FOC.
If I hadn't had it covered I'd probably have just lived with it and not changed from Nikon to Canon. (due to not being able to sell it for as much with the damage)

 

[Musicman]

I still hold a bit of a grudge against my local branch of Jessops. We used to have a very good, old-fashioned camera shop by the station. They had a fine selection of new and used cameras and everything else you'd want. I'd go in there a lot, try stuff, talk to the knowledgeable staff and buy it.

In the early 90s Jessops opened their branch a little further down the high street. I think within a year, the old shop had closed and become a bedding sales emporium.

I'm slowly mellowing on that. Boots actually had the same card as I eventually bought for a couple of quid cheaper than Jessops, but I'm actually inclined to spend my money in the one store in town I can still buy 120 film.

 

[Nuffles]

Commission is no longer based on the object you sell, in either Jessops or DRL (Dixons Retail Ltd - Currys, Dixons (online) and PC World) if not other shops as well. In Jessops your commission is based on the extras you sell with it. If you get a card, bag and extended warranty with the camera you're much closer to getting a bonus at the end of the month than you are without selling them. In DRL (where I work at the moment) there is a target each month which you have to hit (say, 4k in a month for 12hour/week part time staff like myself) and once you hit that target, you start getting bonus of 1% of that target. If I make the company 5k in one month, I'll get £50 extra in my paycheck. Not really much incentive but there you go. It was introduced to reduce powerselling on the large items and to encourage selling of small items (as you make the store more money by selling lots of small items than you do one large item).

I try my very best to be cheerful and helpful for every customer. I have a pretty wide technical knowledge but I will readily admit if I don't know something and will break open Google on one of the tills to find out for the customer. I've had many, many customers remark on the standard of knowledge and service that they didn't expect in Currys, but I also get customers who insist they know better than me because I'm 19 and work in Currys (which instantly makes me an ignorant student), even when what they think is wrong.

Whenever you go into a multi-tech store (ie, Currys) you have a high chance of getting a salesman who specialises in a different part of the store. In my high street store I specialise in the camera department, but we have a computer, TV and sound/music specialists, and cashiers who deal with the till system. If you catch any of them out of their specialist area then they're going to be a bit stuck. God help you if you try to ask me what makes Plasma TVs better for sport and LED TVs better for films, but the same could be said if you asked the TV guy about any of the cameras. If you get someone who blatantly doesn't know what they're talking about it'd probably be a good idea to ask if the specialist in that area is in that day because it'll probably help.

Yes we are on minimum wage and the only training we receive is on 'Fives' (psychological sales technique) and things like health and safety/equality/cash management/theft. The company relies on you understanding your specialism.

Proper camera shops have less of an excuse, however. The main problem with camera shops is that customers expect expert sales colleagues for online prices. It's not going to happen. Where is the monetary incentive for experts when they're getting paid minimum wage? If you want the expert knowledge you have to be prepared to pay more. High street stores already have massive overheards compared to the internet in staff wages, rent, electricity and shop floor costs compared to a guy sitting in a warehouse and people already expect it to cost the same as online. It's not going to happen. It's going to happen even less if you expect expert service. You can have it one way or the other. All too often people use camera shops for free advice and then go and buy it online instead. I think roughly half my customers do this. Thanks for paying my wages guys.

 

[Carousels Spin]

And my final one was in J*****s. I was with a rather fiesty female friend who was a keen photographer and wanted to buy a new camera. The assistant came over to me and asked if he could help.

My friend said she's like buy a camera camera. The assistant asked me again if he could help.

I told him it was my friend (who was simmering like a volcano by now) who wanted a camera.

He looked at her and then said to me "It'll be a simple point and shoot then? We have some nice ones in pink."

I left at that point as I can't stand the sight of blood.

Did you ever find out what happened after that and/or see that assistant again?

 

[George.d(^^,)b]

I have to say though, while on work experience in the lakes at Jessops, the sales assistants all had high end DSLR's themselves and knew a great deal about them ^_+ Even though I know myself this isn't always the case. I got my low end DSLR from argos and the guy openly admitted he knew nothing about the camera.

 

[gm43uk]

Did you ever find out what happened after that and/or see that assistant again?

A week later she went back into the shop with a camera bag over her shoulder, walked up to the assistant, opened the bag to show him her new, Nikon D200 that she'd bought somewhere else and said "It's a nice camera, shame it doesn't come in pink but I'm sure I'll manage somehow."

I wish I'd been there, she said his face was a picture when she walked back into the shop. She's a really sweet person but you don't dare upset her, she doesn't take prisoners.

 

[shanlea]

i went into a 'specialist camera shop' in devon last week after seeing some lenses, camera bags and tripods in the window, the owner asked what i was looking for and i told him i was looking for a d90, he looked me sttraight in the eye and told me he only had one camera in stock atm and it was a dissposable!

 

[big soft moose]

i went into a 'specialist camera shop' in devon last week after seeing some lenses, camera bags and tripods in the window, the owner asked what i was looking for and i told him i was looking for a d90, he looked me sttraight in the eye and told me he only had one camera in stock atm and it was a dissposable!

ouch - btw for good service in Devon its hard to beat Mifsuds in Brixham (near torquay)

 

[cyclamens]

I find it odd (and rather sad) that some people get pleasure from going into shops to wind up the sales people on purpose. Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure from trying to show off your supposed superiority complex by belittling someone with less knowledge than you?

And you wonder why the poor sales staff all look miserable and grumpy? So would I if random people kept coming into the shop with the sole intention of making me look stupid in front of others... were you literally born with the knowledge of all things photography related? I thought not.

How would you feel if I followed everyone of your posts on here correcting every minor detail and mocking your lack of knowledge to every other member publicly?

I feel sorry for you if you really are that insecure that you feel the need to do such a thing to another human bieng, just to give yourself a sense of self satisfaction or a small ego boost. :shrug:

Reality check anyone? Good post Although I have in the past taken enjoyment out of winding up the self-righteous arrogant morons who think they know more than you (generic term), in certain 'specialist' retailers.

The later post by Nuffles I think explains even more. Yes, I have been annoyed by the 'lack of knowledge' but your points are obviously correct.
I went with my daughter to look at laptops - 'If you sign up for this phone deal you get a free one........' 'Do I look like an idiot?'
I would be miffed if my employer was encouraging customers to buy at a cheaper price online - collect from store - with the reference number - hand it to the assistant - who then goes and gets the item from the shelf

As for Tesco? Generally fairly helpful staff with no particular product knowledge - other than where it may be in the store. The only problem for me is that they work for a company I hold in contempt.

 

[Smoot]

I've heard a few horror stories about Jessops but in my own personal experience I have been truly statisfied.

The jessops store in Meadowhall has specific Canon and Nikon sales reps. I can't really speak for the Nikon guy, but the 2 Canon specialists I have dealt with were extremely knowledgable.

It's a shame not all jessops stores seem to operate like this though.

Rich

 

[whitewash]

ive always been a firm believer that even if your a relatively low paid sales person working in a 'specialist' shop you should know about what your selling and atleast be able to answer fairly basic questions about the products to carry out your job properly. even if you have to do that research yourself.

im guessing that in most shops there is a lot of 'down time' (there was when i worked in a shop) where there are no customers in the shop so use that time wisely to learn the stock, i used to do this when i worked in a local shop/off license so i could be of more use when a customer asked for a 'dry white wine' i could at least point them out to a customer, and that only took to reading the label on the back when stacking shelves.

 

[String]

ive always been a firm believer that even if your a relatively low paid sales person working in a 'specialist' shop you should know about what your selling and atleast be able to answer fairly basic questions about the products to carry out your job properly. even if you have to do that research yourself.

im guessing that in most shops there is a lot of 'down time' (there was when i worked in a shop) where there are no customers in the shop so use that time wisely to learn the stock, i used to do this when i worked in a local shop/off license so i could be of more use when a customer asked for a 'dry white wine' i could at least point them out to a customer, and that only took to reading the label on the back when stacking shelves.

I'm certain that was the case. It certainly was for me, many years ago. However, I feel times have changed, and the attitude now seems to be "Pay me a small amount, and you get a small amount of work"

 

[lofcuk]

Commission is no longer based on the object you sell, in either Jessops or DRL (Dixons Retail Ltd - Currys, Dixons (online) and PC World) if not other shops as well. In Jessops your commission is based on the extras you sell with it. If you get a card, bag and extended warranty with the camera you're much closer to getting a bonus at the end of the month than you are without selling them. In DRL (where I work at the moment) there is a target each month which you have to hit (say, 4k in a month for 12hour/week part time staff like myself) and once you hit that target, you start getting bonus of 1% of that target. If I make the company 5k in one month, I'll get £50 extra in my paycheck. Not really much incentive but there you go. It was introduced to reduce powerselling on the large items and to encourage selling of small items (as you make the store more money by selling lots of small items than you do one large item).

I try my very best to be cheerful and helpful for every customer. I have a pretty wide technical knowledge but I will readily admit if I don't know something and will break open Google on one of the tills to find out for the customer. I've had many, many customers remark on the standard of knowledge and service that they didn't expect in Currys, but I also get customers who insist they know better than me because I'm 19 and work in Currys (which instantly makes me an ignorant student), even when what they think is wrong.

Whenever you go into a multi-tech store (ie, Currys) you have a high chance of getting a salesman who specialises in a different part of the store. In my high street store I specialise in the camera department, but we have a computer, TV and sound/music specialists, and cashiers who deal with the till system. If you catch any of them out of their specialist area then they're going to be a bit stuck. God help you if you try to ask me what makes Plasma TVs better for sport and LED TVs better for films, but the same could be said if you asked the TV guy about any of the cameras. If you get someone who blatantly doesn't know what they're talking about it'd probably be a good idea to ask if the specialist in that area is in that day because it'll probably help.

Yes we are on minimum wage and the only training we receive is on 'Fives' (psychological sales technique) and things like health and safety/equality/cash management/theft. The company relies on you understanding your specialism.

Proper camera shops have less of an excuse, however. The main problem with camera shops is that customers expect expert sales colleagues for online prices. It's not going to happen. Where is the monetary incentive for experts when they're getting paid minimum wage? If you want the expert knowledge you have to be prepared to pay more. High street stores already have massive overheards compared to the internet in staff wages, rent, electricity and shop floor costs compared to a guy sitting in a warehouse and people already expect it to cost the same as online. It's not going to happen. It's going to happen even less if you expect expert service. You can have it one way or the other. All too often people use camera shops for free advice and then go and buy it online instead. I think roughly half my customers do this. Thanks for paying my wages guys.

Excellent post by someone on the inside. The problem I had with Dixons group when I worked for them about three years ago, was that when the CEO was going to do a store visit, the store would be warned in advance. So for that morning the staff were all looked motivated and interested. In my local Dixons group stores, you still see large groups of staff standing around chatting, not being helpful. As you say, I guess if the staff are not financially motivated it is difficult.

 

[kiko]

i wish we had commission at Jessops,

we get rediculous targets (hope no-one from head office reads this) from the top, which to be fair quite a few people in stores do acheive (i am not one of them). it just seems now that they want us to use pressure tactics to get every last pennie out of people, which i find is wrong. if we didn't sell some items cheaper than what we buy them at, have more staff, have more training (we get quite a bit in the on-line variety which is iffy at best) less people telling us we are rubbish. we'd be amazing. i don't mind the money i wish it was more as anyone would.

i'm now in my second stint with jessops (hurt my back only job i could just walk back into part time, seeming i keep getting rejected from photo studios for not having an a-level in photography) and i've just learnt to be nice with people if they get me to target i get congratulated, if they get what they want and it doesn't get my target for the day/week i'm happy for the customer but keep my head down.

I have worked in an independant shop and if you are nice to people be honest, answer their questions and get them what they want they'll come back (hopefully). I don't know everything but I won't lie (that annoyed an area manager 3 years ago hahaha he doesn't work there anymore) ask Brian and Flo (mods) even though i'm pretty sure i haven't got a penny out of them yet.

i've worked with quite a few idiots who just don't care about cameras and ignore any chance to learn something.

 

[Jelster]

i wish we had commission at Jessops,

You cannot have a sales force that is targeted without performance related pay, after many years of sales management I know it doesn't work.

Steve

 

[Bazza2764]

Not really a horror story as such, but the staff at my local camera shop are useless. They have been there decades, so arn't like your usual Jessops staff(The only other camera shop in town). He probably knows his stuff, but he has the WORST customer attitude ever. He's always misserable, mutters and seems annoyed to serve customers. Its a real shame, because if they were decent, I would more than likely spend quite a bit of money there, especially as they have a selection of second hand lenses for decent prices. How hard is it to put on a smile when working in a customer service job?

wouldnt be "Bonsers?" would it?

 

[kiko]

You cannot have a sales force that is targeted without performance related pay, after many years of sales management I know it doesn't work.

Steve

well we get a bonus at christmas (for me it was two days pay this year or 12hrs pay) and i am pretty sure our managers get running bonuses each month/quarter.
i'm pretty sure i've not recieved any SPIVs since returning in October. (just checked some pay slips) I'm greatful occasionally we have overtime (rare though) annoyingly it's paid in arrears.

how would i go about asking about wages of higher up people in the company? freedom of information act type thing? or does that not count as they are a private company once again?

 

[big soft moose]

how would i go about asking about wages of higher up people in the company? freedom of information act type thing? or does that not count as they are a private company once again?

freedom of information act doesnt apply - but i would suggest that you ask HR in general terms under the guise that you are interested in progressing a career with the company.

they wont be able to tell you exactly who earns what but they ought to be able to give you arough idea of management wage structure

 

[Nuffles]

ouch - btw for good service in Devon its hard to beat Mifsuds in Brixham (near torquay)

Mifsuds are excellent. I picked up my 17-55mm f/2.8 from them second hand. Definitely worth dropping into even if you're only visiting South Devon for their excellent (and well stocked) second hand section.

 

[jon ryan]

As we're doing shops that give good service, I'm putting in a word for Walters PhotoVideo of Merthyr Tydfil.

I needed a new 70-200 in a hurry, they had a used one at a decent price & got it to me within 18 hours. No delivery charge and a 12 month warranty - on a used lens! Extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I'll certainly be using them again.

 

[fracster]

I find it odd (and rather sad) that some people get pleasure from going into shops to wind up the sales people on purpose. Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure from trying to show off your supposed superiority complex by belittling someone with less knowledge than you?

And you wonder why the poor sales staff all look miserable and grumpy? So would I if random people kept coming into the shop with the sole intention of making me look stupid in front of others... were you literally born with the knowledge of all things photography related? I thought not.

How would you feel if I followed everyone of your posts on here correcting every minor detail and mocking your lack of knowledge to every other member publicly?

I feel sorry for you if you really are that insecure that you feel the need to do such a thing to another human bieng, just to give yourself a sense of self satisfaction or a small ego boost. :shrug:

Harsh, but true and kudos for having the tads to say it...........

 

[Olliel]

Had to teach a sales advisor at a local camera store about DOF last week.

Went in to have a look at 35mm prime lens and was being forced to buy a zoom as 'they are better'

You don't stand a chance if you don't know a lot, but want some simple honest advise

Get most of my info or help from here
Thanks guys : )

Ollie