Anyone have any stories from the world of retail about people doing or saying dumb things? (From either side of the counter)

I sell cameras, and I have the opportunity to talk to many newbie photographers out there. My boss might not agree with it, but my primary goal in this job is to educate. People come to me to learn and sometimes they bring some very strange beliefs and misconceptions with them. I am happy to hear them. They make my day.

I was once describing what VR does to stabilize the image in Nikon cameras to a customer. I tell her to try a handheld shot with and without VR turned on. So she takes the display D90 and 70-300 lens. She holds it out at arm's length and swings it wildly as she presses the shutter. Ok then! I politely describe to her what VR is and is not capable of.

I've also had alot of strange responses when mentioning third party lenses, such as Sigma's excellent 10-20mm. People often ask things like "But that won't work on my camera though, right?", or "I don't think I would trust someone else to just guess the shape of the mount in my camera". etc, etc. It's weird.

Then there's the slew of strange mispronounciation of names and brands. I kid you not, these are some of the fumbles I've heard:
Nikron, Nixon, Neekon,

That's why you get the big bucks.

Wow, that is one great model there on your website!

I am sure those stories could be traced in every business. Sure keeps life and jobs interesting!
Good for you, being the educator! That's why I keep going back to the same salesman at my camera store: He's beyond sales; he's helpful!

Sorry, my post ended abruptly there. I became very suddenly ill and had to head out. You guys got the gist of my post though, I'm sure.

DubiousDrewski wrote:
Sorry, my post ended abruptly there. I became very suddenly ill and had to head out. You guys got the gist of my post though, I'm sure.

Hey, if there is more...let's hear it! But be gentle, you should have heard the first time years ago I tried to pronouce "Nikkormat."

And what they heck was that to mean anyway...put in film and it comes out clean?

...Kodiak camera, Fiji Camera, Scandisk cards...

-"Where can I get a Canon card for my camera? I don't want one made by Sandisk or anything" (Er...)
-"Do you guys have that Avril Lavigne camera" (In regards to a Rebel)
-Megapickle (So common, you guys have no idea!)
-"I want to buy a camera with at least ten pixels" (My response is to bite my tongue very hard. "I'm sorry sir, none of our cameras have more than ten pixels")
-"Nikon? I've not heard that name before. Do you guys have anything as good as my Kodak Easyshare was?"
-"Do you know if there's such a thing as a bipod?" (Not kidding. That was a real question.)
-"Can any of these cameras do video?" (It's been a standard feature for years)
-"What's the best camera you guys have?" (I LOATHE this question, because I always have to respond with "Well, best for what? What do you want to use it for? If you just want 'the best', then would you like to spend a few grand tonight?". The customer who asks that is usually looking for the cheapest camera we sell. They often walk away with a Nikon L20 equivalent.)

A customer comes into the store with an old Panasonic FZ2 or something (At least three years old). She sets the camera and box down on the counter and says "Hi there. I'd like to return this". I respond with "Do you mean, repair?". "No. I just don't want it anymore. I've got the box and receipt all here". The camera was in moderate condition, but I'd like to see any store refund a camera from that many years ago. I was sad to have to send her away, but she was naively accepting of the situation. She really thought she could return items for a refund after having used them for years! That would be awesome if stores could do that.

!

The guy wanting the bipod most likely had Winchester in his truck in the parking lot.

Megapickle! Don't want to go there...hope it was a female that asked.

Hang in there...

Actually a bipod is not all that ridiculous. It would be steadier than a monopod, but lighter than a tripod. Essentially the user would be providing the third leg.

She really thought she could return items for a refund after having used them for years! That would be awesome if stores could do that.

Wonder if she'd take a dress or jeans back to the store for a return after wearing them a few years?!

I've known several people (with DSLR's) who thought 3rd party lenses would fit any camera mount (alas, I miss the old Tamron Adaptall II)

I also know ALOT of people who no matter how well I explain (with sample images & shallow DOF) can understand conceptually why anyone would use a large (DSLR) camera when you can take the 'exact' image with a pocket P&S. I once took what I thought was one of my best portraits ever & while proudly showing it, was asked, "Why is the backgroud all blurry?"

Omar

omarlyn wrote:I also know ALOT of people who no matter how well I explain (with sample images & shallow DOF) can understand conceptually why anyone would use a large (DSLR) camera when you can take the 'exact' image with a pocket P&S.

Oh don't even get me started on this one! When I was much newer to photography, I called The Photo Forum my home. But after this thread, and a few others along the same line, I decided that maybe I needed to go to a place more populated with people who knew what they were talking about. Hence why I'm here at FM.

In case you don't want to read the whole inflammatory thread, it can be summed up as people arguing about whether SLRs are really needed in the photography world because Point and Shoots can take the same picture.

The tendency is to immediately disagree with someone who happens to have Down Syndrome.

Alright. I need to vent. I thought this old thread would be the place to do it.

A customer just came in asking for a UV filter.

She said "I'd like a UV thing for my 50D, please"
I said "Sure, for which lens?"
She replied "For the 50D"
I curiously retorted "You mean a filter for the lens, right?"
She responded with "Yeah, do you have them?"
I resisted the urge to forrow my brow as I said a bit more clearly "Well each lens has a different diameter. I need to know the size of the lens you need this for"
She started to get agitated "Well I told you, it's for the Canon 50D. You sell it right there on the shelf"
"I know we do, yes. But you see. Look at this lens...."

.....

It went back and forth like this for a couple of minutes until I finally sold her a 58mm filter, because that's Canon's standard filter size for low end lenses. Who the hell knows what size she actually needed, but she didn't come back!

EBH

mkweaver wrote:
She really thought she could return items for a refund after having used them for years! That would be awesome if stores could do that.

Wonder if she'd take a dress or jeans back to the store for a return after wearing them a few years?!

Have you ever been to an REI? They have a 100% guarantee on all their items as long as you have the receipt. They have "Scratch and Dent" sales where you buy items people returned. I went to one and saw a backpack someone had returned after using it for a few years. It was busted up too. But that's their policy.

LOl goes with the Salesman at Best Buy. I went in to look at a 50D geez I had to show him how to turn it on He didn't even know how to mount a lens much lees operate any DSLR. Yep he was the only one in the camera department .... No I do not buy any camera gear from BB I find all that I need and more online.

Has demand for lens caps slackened?

irispatch wrote:
LOl goes with the Salesman at Best Buy. I went in to look at a 50D geez I had to show him how to turn it on He didn't even know how to mount a lens much lees operate any DSLR. Yep he was the only one in the camera department .... No I do not buy any camera gear from BB I find all that I need and more online.

When I sold cameras for Ritz some years ago, we had a PhD who was allegedly well-renowed in bird photography. He would brag about his exploits & photographs. he came in one day asking about shooting birds from a boat in South American waters. He then asked us what was the best slide film to use , ASA wise, and was serious.

I asked him "Huh? if you are this well versed in bird photography, you should be telling us what to do insead of the opposite!"


An East Indian dude came into Wolf camera griping about his Rebel Digital camera not working well in Sports Mode. I asked why and he said " When I wanted to freeze my son's pic jumping off the couch, it turn s our blur! He insisted it was defectve and I calmly told him how it worked and his belligerence sank him slowly to eat crow.

last, I sold a projector fr a photo sales person who had no real clue what a slide viewer was.

Chain stores, Best Buy, Circuit City (when they were still around), YUK!

My wife and I were in a Circuit City a few years back when a woman came in and began looking at some P&S camera's. A kid came over to help her and she stated loud and clear that she wanted to spend $100 to $150 for a small camera to take some family snapshots. It had to be small enough to fit in her purse and easy to use. I overheard most of her conversation and it was obvious she had little to no clue about photography.

After the sales push this kid put on her she left with a Canon 40D kit, a 70-300mm Canon IS lens, two Sandisk 8GB cards, a Canon starter kit bag with filter and extra battery, a 3 year warranty and a new CC Credit Card probably maxed out! I could picture her sitting at home, opening the box and wondering how to attach the lens! The pile of items she had on the counter at the register would be enough to overwhelm anyone with a P&S resume'.....

I wasn't sure whether to feel bad for her because she really got taken for a ride or feel sorry for her that she could be talked so easily into dropping in the neighborhood of $2500+ when she was prepard to spend $150 My wife says I should have spoke up and prevented her from purchasing something so extravagant... I don't know, if people are that clueless is it my job to save them from themselves?

Not retail related but I was amused by a couple of comments I heard from onlookers at en event where the QE2 paid a visit to the river of her birth. I was using my 70-300 and I overheard one guy next to me exclaim "Oo, look at that big binocular lens"

At the same event I saw another photographer operating his Nikon F4 (it was a while ago) with a cable release. Very commendable, I hear you say. He was handholding, no tripod.

The managing director/head of department of a company I once worked for (doing survey photography in the telecoms industry) couldn`t understand why a Minolta lens wouldn`t fit on a Nikon camera.

J_Glowacki wrote:
Chain stores, Best Buy, Circuit City (when they were still around), YUK!

My wife and I were in a Circuit City a few years back when a woman came in and began looking at some P&S camera's. A kid came over to help her and she stated loud and clear that she wanted to spend $100 to $150 for a small camera to take some family snapshots. It had to be small enough to fit in her purse and easy to use. I overheard most of her conversation and it was obvious she had little to no clue about photography.

After the sales push this kid put on her she left with a Canon 40D kit, a 70-300mm Canon IS lens, two Sandisk 8GB cards, a Canon starter kit bag with filter and extra battery, a 3 year warranty and a new CC Credit Card probably maxed out! I could picture her sitting at home, opening the box and wondering how to attach the lens! The pile of items she had on the counter at the register would be enough to overwhelm anyone with a P&S resume'.....

I wasn't sure whether to feel bad for her because she really got taken for a ride or feel sorry for her that she could be talked so easily into dropping in the neighborhood of $2500+ when she was prepard to spend $150 My wife says I should have spoke up and prevented her from purchasing something so extravagant... I don't know, if people are that clueless is it my job to save them from themselves?




I would love to have been able to push a sale like that when I worked for Wolf camera!

I had a guy come into the shop this morning with his Canon digital Elph, the conversation went something like this...

Guy: The center of my image on the lcd is soft, I was wondering if you could take a look at it?
Me: (after a quick look at the camera) It's soft because the lens is fogged. What happened to it?
Guy: I was cleaning the camera and I think some water got into it.
Me: Water? What...were...you...cleaning...the...camera...with?
Guy: Soap and water.
Me: ...
Guy: was that wrong?
Me: ...

DubiousDrewski wrote:

Then there's the slew of strange mispronunciation of names and brands. I kid you not, these are some of the fumbles I've heard:
Nikron, Nixon, Neekon,

Interestingly enough there has been considerable discussion elsewhere about the correct pronunciation of "Nikon". While here in the States we pronounce it "Nike-Con" in other countries it is called either "Nee-Kon" or "Nick-Con". If I am not mistaken the Japanese pronounce it "Nee-Con".

One of my favorites is when I show someone a picture on the rear LCD screen, and they ask if my camera is digital!

DubiousDrewski: You have a really nice selection of pro caliber photos on your website. Too bad you are stuck in a camera shop trying to educate the public, one person at a time. Dumb questions are endless, life is short.