I will buy from JandC in the future as a last resort. If I am going to be treated so contemptuously: no response to emails, no phones answered, no idea when or if products will be available -- why should I, or anyone patronize such an operations.
No response is not really an act of contempt (attitude of despising), but rather, perhaps, an air of indifference.
My response, however, just
might be contemptuous.
J&C warned that they would be incommunicado for a period of time. When it became apparent that the period of time would be extended, they posted such information on their website.
I will patronize J&C because they have always done right by me. They have provided products that others have not. They have listened to suggestions from customers and acted on them. Their prices are favorable. They are interested in providing their customers with the widest possible range of products. They are willing to stick their necks out to provide new products. They are genuinely interested in photography. Their customer service has always been top notch (the current, previously announced closure not withstanding). They have stood by their products. They have been an active participant on this forum. Although I have never met, or even talked with their owner directly, I feel he has been an upstanding member of the photographic community.
I, for one, am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Abandoning or badmouthing someone who has obviously worked hard to provide his customers with what they want, just because of some disruptions is, to me, despicable and thus worthy of contempt. Such attitudes are why we have Walmarts (and their low wages and crappy products) across the country instead of mom and pop shops, or even local chains that pay half-decent wages. Personally I'd pay a little more to get a better product from someone whom I feel deals with me and his employees honorably. I'll eat in a local restaurant over a chain because I have a better idea where the money is going.
Contempt? Perhaps. But not from J&C.
