"i want a camera..."

brad131987

brad131987

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today in jessops
a young couple came in and asked
"i want a camera that takes picture where the subject(her child) is in focus but everything else blurred"
they had know idea what they wanted and the man said we want a DSLR or compact
but do they do the same
she was going on about how she wanted to learn how to use a camera
they didnt even know if they had the right memory card at home for it.

they ended up buying a £350 pentax and it only took 15 minutes from going in to walking out with it

seems a bit rushed really
 
They'll be doing their first wedding next weekend ;)
 
I work in Jessops and today I sold a 5DmkII to a customer who asked me if it was a pro camera and I said yes so he bought it. I don't see what the point of this thread is, there's allot of people out there with more money then sense which we all know.

And a £350 Pentax sounds good to me, at least it wasn't a D7000 or 60D or anything.
 
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brad131987 said:
today in jessops
a young couple came in and asked
"i want a camera that takes picture where the subject(her child) is in focus but everything else blurred"
they had know idea what they wanted and the man said we want a DSLR or compact
but do they do the same
she was going on about how she wanted to learn how to use a camera
they didnt even know if they had the right memory card at home for it.

they ended up buying a £350 pentax and it only took 15 minutes from going in to walking out with it

seems a bit rushed really
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DropDead said:
I work in Jessops and today I sold a 5DmkII to a customer who asked me if it was a pro camera and I said yes so he bought it. I don't see what the point of this thread is, there's allot of people out there with more money then sense which we all know.

And a £350 Pentax sounds good to me, at least it wasn't a D7000 or D60 or anything.
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I take it you both got your commision on the sales..... Well done : thumbs:
 
Splog said:
I take it you both got your commision on the sales..... Well done : thumbs:
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Haha I wish, I have never received commission at Jessops for the 2 years of working there.
 
nope i dont work in jessops


i just think people should do more research that just do instant buys

ive never owned a Pentax so wouldnt know what there like
but to go in wanting a camera but dont know what sort you want from a massive range of compact or DSLR types is a bit silly

i started with a film camera then a 350D then the 400D
i want a pro but am still deciding over the 5D mkii or the 7D now
ive been taking pictures for over 7 years so have 'some' knowledge but dont know every thing

they say they were rushed into buying a compact that wast to there expectations just before christmas but then take so little time getting the next one
 
Personally, I just think it's a shame that sales staff can't take more time to help and educate customers like these to make sure that they actually get something that's right for them.
High Street stores can't compete with online prices, so customer service and knowledgeable staff are the only things likely to keep them afloat long-term.
 
Bilko said:
Don't be so harsh. People have to start somewhere.
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indeed and where they ought to start is with a good book, some camera magazines, or a forum like this

and at least do some rudimentary research before going to buy
 
if i wasnt in a rush (car park ticket running out) (and car parking being expensive) i would have probably helped them myself
im no expert but know how to work a camera
or even saved them alot of money by buying off of ebay
 
SarahLee said:
Personally, I just think it's a shame that sales staff can't take more time to help and educate customers like these to make sure that they actually get something that's right for them.
High Street stores can't compete with online prices, so customer service and knowledgeable staff are the only things likely to keep them afloat long-term.
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How can you educate someone when they ask you one question, you answer it and they say they'll take it?

And by the sounds of it, the person who sold them that Pentax did just that seeing as they didn't walk out with 5dMkII or anything ridiculous.
 
Hmmmm odd.

99 per cent of "should I buy a dslr or compact?" questions on here end up with the op being told to buy the dslr despite only having £100 to spend...

Yet when someone in Jessops gives the same advice there's outrage - they probably would've gotten away with it too if it hasn't been a pesky pentax.
 
Remember the good old days when staff would take their time to talk to the customer to find out what they want,I know they said (i want a camera that takes picture where the subject(her child) is in focus but everything else blurred)

But if it were me i would of asked them more questions,Maybe my retail days have changed where it was all about the customer making them feel welcomed etc..
 
I say good on you to be honest. You could of been a complete prick and made them walk out with a 7D or something, but you didn't. You've given them a very decent, easy to use camera that does exact what they want it to do.
It may not do certain things as good as it's Canon, Nikon or Sony counterparts, but it'll certainly get them started. Who knows, you could of just spawned another photographer!
 
SarahLee said:
Personally, I just think it's a shame that sales staff can't take more time to help and educate customers like these to make sure that they actually get something that's right for them.
High Street stores can't compete with online prices, so customer service and knowledgeable staff are the only things likely to keep them afloat long-term.
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If people won't listen, there's not much you can do. I've been amazed at some of the "Does this do that? Right, I'll take it" conversations I've overheard in tech shops.

When it comes to tech purchases, there's folk that will spend longer discussing the colour of the case than the specifications of the gadget. It's a classic case of Parkinson's Law of Triviality. Techie details can frighten some people.

And as has been said already, there are more folk than you think with more money credit than sense.
 
We should be thankful for the all the gear no idea people out there. It helps to keep the prices down and the manufacturers in business.
 
Learning to use a 5D2 is no harder than a £350 Pentax or pretty much anything else, really. You have to have a camera to learn on, and if you can afford a top end one, why not go for it?
 
Alastair said:
If people won't listen, there's not much you can do. I've been amazed at some of the "Does this do that? Right, I'll take it" conversations I've overheard in tech shops....
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It's not so much the customer not listening, what the customer doesn't want to hear is a load of technical drivel, which can be confusing.... Having worked in the retail side of IT, I've had to learn one other important skill besisdes my technical knowledge... that is to speak in laymans terms.

The bottom line is, the customer is asking, "will this do what I want it to?.... If so I will take it"

:)
 
jon ryan said:
Learning to use a 5D2 is no harder than a £350 Pentax or pretty much anything else, really. You have to have a camera to learn on, and if you can afford a top end one, why not go for it?
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Agreed :thumbs:

Les ;)
 
farrance said:
I say good on you to be honest. You could of been a complete prick and made them walk out with a 7D or something, but you didn't. You've given them a very decent, easy to use camera that does exact what they want it to do.
It may not do certain things as good as it's Canon, Nikon or Sony counterparts, but it'll certainly get them started. Who knows, you could of just spawned another photographer!
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According to most mags etc it'll do them better...
 
Rob 80386 said:
Having worked in the retail side of IT, I've had to learn one other important skill besisdes my technical knowledge... that is to speak in laymans terms.
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I couldn't work in retail (I don't do people en masse) and really struggle with speaking in layman's terms - I tend to start explaining things from first principles so that whoever I'm talking to can understand what is I'm trying to tell them and this can result in a very long conversation.

For example, my customers are all software developers and sometimes even some of them have no idea what I'm talking about when they ask me for an explanation of something my software is doing. :naughty:
 
It is not really the job of the shop staff to stop a buyer buying whatever they want. They can recommend, offer advise etc,. if required but if someone wants to spend £350 without really knowing what they are doing then so be it.
It suggests £350 is not a lot to the buyer and in the big scheme of things £350 is not really much money.
Not everyone has to analyse their purchases for 3 months before buying...
 
I don't think there's a problem here. The couple wanted a camera offering shallow depth of field (even if they didn't know the correct terminology) to take photographs of their child. That, pretty much, means a DSLR, and they bought an entry level Pentax which should meet their requirements very well. Any other DSLR would be just as good, and the salesman could have tried to sell them a more expensive model, but doesn't seem to have done so. The memory card issue doesn't matter. They're not very expensive, and I don't know what cards every camera on the market uses either.

More money than sense? This is relative. £350 is quite a lot for me, but I know quite a lot of people who will drop this and more on a new phone, an iPad or concert tickets, without a second thought. They buy what they 'fancy', because they can afford it quite easily, and don't do any research either. These are just consumer items for them, not serious investments.
 
I went to jessops in Milton keynes last week and they couldn't have been more helpful. About 20 minutes we talked back and forth about cameras, I didn't buy one, but Will in January.
 
I was in my local Jessops the week before Christmas. There was 2 members of staff and a queue of people about 20 deep. I could hear a couple near the front asking about memory cards for their daughters camera.
They had no idea what they wanted and did not even know what camera their daughter had. The staff member was patiently trying to explain that they shouldn't buy anything if they didn't know what they wanted but they were demanding to be sold "the best card on the market"!
He sold them something in the end, probably just to get them to leave.
Staff in most high street chains are not given the training or the time to use their knowledge on the shop floor so they can't be blamed for making a sale when someone comes in waving cash about and doesn't really know or care about what they want.
 
Yeah i'd like to say I might not know everything myself but I engage with customers all the time, if anything I usually learn something from them! And that's why I have customers who come to my branch requesting for me because I do sit there and take the time for them.

But you you get allot of people who come in and jargon does push them away from what they are looking for, like simple things such as Sensor Sizes with Compact, CSC and DSLR.. I've had times where they ask you about image quality between the ranges and you tell them about sensor sizes and then they have no idea what your talking about anymore and just walk away, so keeping it simple is usually the best thing.

All these people saying about finding out what the customer wants.. thats what we do.. they come and ask for a pro camera, we supply them with a pro camera, they want a cheap point and shoot, we give them a cheap point and shoot.. I don't understand the issue... it's like you going to car showroom asking for a Fast sports car and the the sales man selling you a moped.. Where's the logic in this?
 
Hmm. I'm still not sure if this thread started as a criticism of Jessops, or the customers who bought the camera.
 
both really
1 for the customer who could have researched
2 jessops for selling so quick to a couple that had no real understanding of camera types
 
I spend a lot of time deciding what equipment to purchase and where to purchase it from because i have to shed a lot of sweat to earn my money, especially in these times. But it's a fact that a hell of a lot of people in this country are rich and it's just not worth their time researching to save a few quid, they think nothing of blowing thousands without a thought, and why should they? If i was loaded i'd spend thousands on all the best gear myself!
 
It came across to me as a dig at the customers, which I thought was a little unfair. They clearly knew that they wanted a camera that would take shallow DoF shots and that was a good starter camera to learn with. In all honesty, if you're not familiar with terminology such as DoF or what DSLRs vs compacts are capable of it's really not that easy to do your own research online.

Hence my comment that it's a shame sales staff can't spend more time helping customers like these rather than mocking them. Although now knowing that Brad was only looking in as another customer does put a different light on it.

As for some people with more money than sense - you're always going to get those buying all sorts of stuff :lol:
 
It's funny. Not everyone wants to pursue the craft of photography. Some just want nicer pictures than their phone provides, and don't care too much about the detail of the implementation.

Some (and I am one of them) see excessively detailed research as a waste of time. If I can afford it and I know what I want to do with it, I'm buying it. If either of those doesn't hold, I shouldn't be in the shop. I wanted a better focusing camera than my D3100 that wasn't too much bigger, so I got a D7000. If I'd started 500 threads on which camera to buy and read all the reviews, I'd have come out with...a D7000. If there hadn't been money off the D3100 when I bought that and I'd gotten a 550D instead, I'd have walked into the shop and gotten a 7D. Many hours of deliberation and agonizing would have led me to...a 7D. I couldn't care less about the camera or lenses I use as long as they help achieve the image I'm after. They're just tools. The thing that matters to me is the picture at the end.
 
ausemmao said:
It's funny. Not everyone wants to pursue the craft of photography. Some just want nicer pictures than their phone provides, and don't care too much about the detail of the implementation.

Some (and I am one of them) see excessively detailed research as a waste of time. If I can afford it and I know what I want to do with it, I'm buying it. If either of those doesn't hold, I shouldn't be in the shop. I wanted a better focusing camera than my D3100 that wasn't too much bigger, so I got a D7000. If I'd started 500 threads on which camera to buy and read all the reviews, I'd have come out with...a D7000. If there hadn't been money off the D3100 when I bought that and I'd gotten a 550D instead, I'd have walked into the shop and gotten a 7D. Many hours of deliberation and agonizing would have led me to...a 7D. I couldn't care less about the camera or lenses I use as long as they help achieve the image I'm after. They're just tools. The thing that matters to me is the picture at the end.
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My feelings exactly, but more eloquently put.
 
And a £350 Pentax sounds good to me, at least it wasn't a D7000 or 60D or anything.
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I don't understand this statement! What do you mean "or anything"? It was something!
 
Isn't there an advert on telly at the moment that actually mentions exactly what they want, ie 'the main subject in focus and everything else blurred'. Can't remember which camera it is for though.

That ad could well be what the couple saw and just wanted a camera that could do what they saw on the telly without any understanding of the technicalities.
 
Ploddles said:
Isn't there an advert on telly at the moment that actually mentions exactly what they want, ie 'the main subject in focus and everything else blurred'. Can't remember which camera it is for though.

That ad could well be what the couple saw and just wanted a camera that could do what they saw on the telly without any understanding of the technicalities.
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Yep, isn't it the Sony Nex? And you're probably right about them wanting what they saw.

And in response to the original post, with a £350 Pentax they probably have what they want and possibly what they could afford. Whether it gives them the right result is another matter but one or both of them may turn into potential photography lovers and may well end up on a website like this one, asking questions to get more from their new camera.
 
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dan96 said:
I went to jessops in Milton keynes last week and they couldn't have been more helpful. About 20 minutes we talked back and forth about cameras, I didn't buy one, but Will in January.
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Funny you say that, i went in there when i was down at the foo fighters concert back in july.

My jessops store up here its kinda small and pokey, but in milton keynes the guy really ****ed off my girlfriend, they let me try just about any camera with all the lenses i wanted, it was magic. I just thanked them and walked away. Eventually i did buy my 5d and all my lenses so far from them. I like jessops.
 
Jessops gets bad press on here like halfords on car forums but you can look touch and feel the stuff your buying. Ok they dont know as much as you would like but we are enthusiasts and they might not be. You can get it the same day too.

Also IF customer service is good its something you dont usually get from a internet shop. I order alot of stuff off the internet and you never find out about their customer service until something goes wrong.
 
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