customer service reps who don't know about photography

[DirkDynamo]

i just got off the phone with Adorama's customer service. the reason i called them is because i ordered a set of 11x14 trays. i got the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/DKTR1114S.html"> 'adorama' brand</a>. i thought they looked like good enough trays - pretty close to the paterson trays even. on the website description it says they have the thermometer slots,and are stable to handling- but the trays they sent me are thin, flimsy, and sort of bent out of shape. no thermometer slots even though it specifically said it did (i guess ill hot glue a catch). they are nowhere near the quality of my other paterson trays. its still something i can live with though. so when i called and talked to the representative (having spent like 250$ at their store) to try and see if they shipped me the right thing. she argued with me and told me she didnt understand what the difference was or why it mattered and she couldnt send a replacement since there was no defect (i didnt want a replacement).

the trays will work fine for now, i guess you get what you pay for, but if the picture is not of the item you are selling, and the description is not of the item you are selling, how am i supposed to know im going to get what i order? would email be more effective than calling for getting them to change their description? i know that a few trays are a really minor thing for a big photo company, and its good that they even carry darkroom stuff, but im mad at the way the representative treated me. is there anything i can do? is there anything i <b>should</b> do or am i over reacting?

 

[roteague]

No, that has been my experience with them as well. So, now I shop Calumet or elsewhere.

 

[jeffneedham]

i've been on the "what happened to customer service?" soapbox lately. the best thing you can do is take your business elsewhere. most likely, there is some business out there that would love to earn your business.

recently, B&H lost my business. i called about a wacom graphics tablet, and asked if they would match the price offered elsewhere. the person on the other end of the line told me to buy it somewhere else. i ended up saving sixty bucks by going to my local shop (Hunt's in South Portland).

plenty of others will tell you that's the new york way of doing things, but most of us don't live in new york. plus, that's no reason to argue with a customer.

i'll stop my rant with this...if you need good service through the mail - go to freestyle.

 

[ErinHilburn]

I ordered a reflector disk from Adorama and recieved a tripod. Not only was customer service rude to me, but they wanted me to pay to ship the tripod they accidentally shipped to me back to them. I figured I was doing them a favor since a tripod is worth more than a reflector disk. They never got back to me about it. So now I have a random extra tripod.

 

[Claire Senft]

I have done very little business with Adorama. All I have bought from them were archival boxes. Not having anything to compare them to, they seem to be well made.

I am retired. My previous duties included supervising a purchasing department buying several million dollars of chemical and base oils. In my opinion, there is no better way to get the donkey's attention then buying elsewhere.

It feels good too.

 

[wilsonneal]

Adorama doesn't care if you buy elsewhere. As a matter of fact, if you say to them "I found this better price, can you match it", they'll shout "Buy it from them" and hang up or walk away from the counter, if you're in the store.

I was in there two days ago to see an "excellent condition" Deardorff for $1500+. It turned out to be a beater with trashed bellows and lots of gouges. The sales guy, who clearly didn't know what a Deardorff was, wanted me to either buy it or stop wasting his time (I was in there all of 2 minutes). Very rude.

I will buy film or some chemistry there, as they're across the street from my office, but for anything else I'll go to B&H or Calumet.

 

[gr82bart]

In Rome, do what the Romans do.

When I shop in Adorama or B&H, I know exactly what I want. I go in, look around, get what I want and get out. Works very well for me. Recently though I have chatted up a couple key people certain departments - like the darkroom, MF cameras, etc... and ask for them specifically when I call or walk in. It helps.

Regards, Art.

 

[bob01721]

"... I have chatted up a couple key people certain departments - like the darkroom, MF cameras, etc... and ask for them specifically when I call or walk in. It helps..."

It sure does!

It doesn't work so well over the net, but in person it goes a long way -- especially if you remember their name. Once they recognize your face, the service improves dramatically.

 

[mark]

Screw-em, go somewhere else.

I hate dealing with that attitude and refuse too.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Yeah, selling auto parts and holding my end of CS and being on the short end at time myself, I've been on the customer service soap box myself lately. Do what I did. I fired off an email between reading your post and replying. If something likwe this happened in my store, I would want to know.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yeah, I find the Adorama staff kind of brusque in general. I don't go in there that often.

At B&H there are some people who really know what they are talking about--lighting especially, the guys in the used department, and a few pros and old timers scattered around the store (1 guy in darkroom, one in 35mm, the guys at the Pro counter and LF, one in film, a couple in tripods and bags), but a lot of them don't really.

At other New York shops like Fotocare, Photo Gizzmo, Lens and Repro, and such, the staff is knowledgeable, but you're paying for that service, because they don't do the volume that B&H and Adorama do.

 

[jovo]

I
....Recently though I have chatted up a couple key people certain departments - like the darkroom, MF cameras, etc... and ask for them specifically when I call or walk in. It helps.

Wow...I thought the game was for the sales people to remember MY name, chat ME up a bit, and make ME feel like I mattered. I guess that's just so 20th century....well, f**k me for living in the past.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Wow...I thought the game was for the sales people to remember MY name, chat ME up a bit, and make ME feel like I mattered. I guess that's just so 20th century....well, f**k me for living in the past.

Louis Shu at Photo Gizzmo still plays that game.

 

[jovo]

Louis Shu at Photo Gizzmo still plays that game.

Thanks, good to know that.

 

[gr82bart]

Wow...I thought the game was for the sales people to remember MY name, chat ME up a bit, and make ME feel like I mattered. I guess that's just so 20th century....well, f**k me for living in the past.

I know, but that costs more now. It sucks.

Art.

 

[DBP]

I try to spend a bit more at the local shop because they have people who know and like photography.

As for Adorama, I swore off doing business with them after they sent me the same defective (misaligned rangefinder) Bessa R twice. It took me almost six weeks to straighten things out. The full story is on Photo.net. I ordered one from B&H after all that and have happily used it for 3 and a half years.

 

[Changeling1]

You know, these guys have earned quite an abysmal reputation for lousy and rude customer service. Perhaps they should change the store name to A$$holerama and have done with it.

 

[DirkDynamo]

im glad i wasnt just being ridiculous.

i thought i might have been in for something when i heard the pre-recorded voice on their answering system. it was the first time i heard a real new yorker accent.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Maybe you get what you pay for?

You bought trays that were cheaper than Paterson and found they weren't as good. Well, yes.

You went to one of the least expensive dealers in the US and found that you didn't get the level of service, advice and help you get in the most expensive. Once again, I am not astonished by this.

You pay your money and you take your choice. Many NY camera stores are famously abrasive and short, but on those occasions when I have visited them, I have found that if you know exactly what you want, you will get it quickly and efficiently. Do anything that they perceive as wasting their time, and you get short shrift.

As for 'I can buy it cheaper at...' I completely sympathise with 'So buy it at...' Why not, after all? They aren't selling on service: they're selling on price. If you don't like their prices, go elsewhere.

Edited addition: my wife joined Sears in the late 60s and left after 7 years, as a Department Manager, in the 1970s. When she first joined, the 'The Customer Is Always Right' mentality was carried to absurd extremes, and says that she would often have LOVED to say 'So go to K-Mart'.

And read Thorne Smith's 'Rain in the Doorway', c. 1930.

Please understand that I am not applying his descriptions to you: I am merely putting the view of the 'other side', as it were:

"Neither my partners nor I can stand having our store cluttered up with a lot of rattle-brained, vacillating, self-important time-wasters and ill-mannered bullies such as, unfortunately, so many persons who habitually frequent department stores. You must be familiar with the sort I mean," the man went on, "She bustles into the store with seventy-nine cents in her purse and a parcel of goods to exchange and thinks she's God Almighty's social arbiter in the presence of a group of slaves. We chuck 'em out here before they can upset our salesgirls."

Cheers,

Roger

 

[David H. Bebbington]

You know, these guys have earned quite an abysmal reputation for lousy and rude customer service. Perhaps they should change the store name to A$$holerama and have done with it.

And what a hell of a way to earn a living. I wonder what effect being constantly rude (and no doubt being told at frequent intervals by customers to go and **** yourself) has on the staff - do they all end up as alcoholics or suicides, or do they just leave all the time?

 

[Lee Shively]

Unfortunately, cheap is cheap.

Back before the internet was even a twinkle in the eye of that guy who said he invented it, I called Adorama to buy a Lowepro shoulder bag listed in their camera mag ad. The salesman said they didn't have it but they did have an Adorama-brand bag that was "just like" the Lowepro and cost less than half the Lowepro price. So I ordered the thing and it was a piece of shit. The only thing it had in common with Lowepro was that it claimed to be a camera bag. I had to return it at my expense. It was a good lesson.

The only times I've bought anything from Adorama since then has been when B&H, Calumet or whoever else didn't have that particular item on hand.

I agree customer service has gone down the tubes but it's our own fault. We want Walmart prices at the Rolex store. Not just want--expect. I actually feel sorry for the customer service people having to deal with people's bad attitude.

But, back to the original post--No, you were correct. You were just making sure you got what you ordered. You shouldn't have to put up with attitude either.

 

[jeffneedham]

I agree customer service has gone down the tubes but it's our own fault. We want Walmart prices at the Rolex store. Not just want--expect. I actually feel sorry for the customer service people having to deal with people's bad attitude.

How is it our fault for wanting a good deal? We have the right to expect a competitive market. There's that whole supply and demand thing.

No matter what business you're in, workers will complain about the conditions. A phone rep at Adorama probably despises callers, while a waiter can't stand the majority of people that sit down at their tables. We've all dealt with bad attitude before. Wanting a good deal doesn't mean you have a bad attitude. If something is half the price, it doesn't necessarily have to be crap. If you can get an off-brand instead of handing over an extra day's wage, good for you. Customer service reps are bieng PAID to do their jobs. If they don't feel that they're being paid enough to be kind, they need to find a new job.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Jeff,

Quality costs money. If you want more quality, you have pay more. This applies to service as well as goods. Some people in shops can afford to spend half an hour chatting about photography because they aren't under constant pressure to move on to the next customer. Others can't. Which sort of job would you rather have?

Supply and demand? Yes. If you aren't willing to pay a fair price for what you demand, why should anyone be willing to supply it?

If you eat at the sort of places where waiters despise the customers, you have only yoirself to blame. Try going to a decent restaurant instead.

Of course if you believe in 'designer labels' there's no hope for you.

There's a big difference between 'a good deal' and 'a deal that is too cheap to pay a decent living wage to knowledgeable people'.

And finally, if people don't feel they're being paid enough to be civil, perhaps it's better that they say so, rather than knuckling under to greedy employers and even greedier customers. It's worth being fired for!

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Lee Shively]

Nothing wrong with wanting a good deal. When I go to Walmart--and I do shop at Walmart--all I expect is a good price. I accept that no one will be there to help me with good advice and I will have to wait in line with 18 other people for each one of the 4 checkers manning the 64 checkout lines. I don't expect anything but a good deal on what they have to sell.

Ever heard of "you get what you pay for"? That goes especially well for service.

Half-price, off-brand stuff can be perfectly servicable for some people's requirements. The camera bag I ordered from Adorama probably would have been fine for the majority of buyers. But, at the time, I was working as a newspaper photographer and I went through about one well-built professional camera bag a year. The Adorama bag was not a good deal because it was worthless for my requirements.

 

[roteague]

I know that last year they lost a $2000 sale from me (new lens), because of their service. I had ordered a Fuji QuickLoad holder from them, because they were the only ones that listed it as being in stock. After ordering it, I was informed it was on back order. After waiting two months for something that was in stock when I ordered it, I finally canceled the order. When it got time to buy a new lens, they and B&H both listed it in stock, and even though B&W was higher priced I ordered it from them, because I lost all trust in Adorama and their stock listings.