Urk Urk Urk, You know what Urks Me?

[Janie]

I called around to every camera shop around me, looking for the UR-E4 Converter Adapter and not only were they more expensive in all these shops than they are online, but you have to order them! I was like, nooo, i'll just order it online then, thanks anyway.
Why not keep one or two in stock - people can order themselves just as easily as a store can! Urk. I want it NOW!

[another view]

The Nikon dealer here can't hardly spell "Nikon". I pretty much gave up on them unless I need something quick. Even then, it's sometimes cheaper to pay FedEx with B&H than their prices. I would support my local dealer but I've had some pretty bad luck with their attitude, consistency of their lab (which closed it's separate location early this year), and the feeling that I know more about what they're trying to sell me than they do. One of the last times I was in there, I was the only customer to the three employees. I was looking for a filter for a few minutes - checked all of the displays twice - and none of the three even bothered to say hi to me, let alone ask if they could help find something. Calumet (an hour from here) is open Saturdays now so I'll go there when I need to go to a store. OK, done venting.

Actually for something like that, I'd probably go to ebay...

[Sebastian]

Same here.

The local shop (NOT counting RItz of Wolf pseudo-stores) doesn't really seem to know...anything. There are a couple of knowledgeable guys there, but they are not always there. The rest is kind of clueless. And the prices are absurd. I have bought a couple things from them just so I have a face and name to take it back to, but that was before I discovered Calumet. Sure the hours are not the best, but they stock damn near everything and have decent prices if I need it quick. Not as cheap as B&H and I still have to pay tax, but there are times you need something NOW, and for those times that's where I go.

[Speed]

I called around to every camera shop around me, looking for the UR-E4 Converter Adapter and not only were they more expensive in all these shops than they are online, but you have to order them! I was like, nooo, i'll just order it online then, thanks anyway.
Why not keep one or two in stock - people can order themselves just as easily as a store can! Urk. I want it NOW!

Like neck straps, lens hoods, etc. from Ritz camera. But if it's something substantial, I'm checking ASAP Photo (1.5 hours from me) or ordering it from B&H. Around here, Wal Mart is the closest thing to a camera store. The only things I buy from them are film and frames.

We feel your pain!

[Liz]

I purchased my first camera from a local pro shop, and my first good lens - 28-135 IS shortly afterwards. However, every time I wanted to check out a lens after that, their prices were out of sight. For a $300 lens, their cost was $100+ more. When I mentioned that some shops met B&H prices, I was told in a nice way: "I would suggest you buy from B&H, because we can't come close to their prices." Plus when I wanted to purchase a 420EX flash they told me they had none in stock, and it would take at least 2 weeks to get it. Yikes!

I took their advice! So, I go there once in a while for the small stuff. Once I went there and they were having a huge filter sale. I think the prices on the filters were years old - and they were now about 40% off of that. I got some great Hoya filters dirt cheap ;)

Anyway, 99% of my equipment comes from B&H.......I visit there (too) frequently.

Liz

[Kokopeli]

Local shop (Foto Hall) about 4 minutes from my office. All the people there are pretty up on camreas and related equipment and their lab does damned good work, however, their prices are high and they aren't willing to bend, even for those of us that frequent the store and on top of that, I have to pay sales tax.. Because of their prices and the tax on top of that, I almost always shop with B&H. I do, however, make sure to purchase a few items from Foto Hall a year just so they remember me and I get most all my color prints done there as well.

Good topic Janie. It gives us all a reason to vent!
~Brian

[Janie]

It's a shame these stores don't wake up and stock some stuff and provide excellent customer service - they will be the first to boo hoo when they go out of business because of the internet! Service... now that is another post!

Local shop (Foto Hall) about 4 minutes from my office. All the people there are pretty up on camreas and related equipment and their lab does damned good work, however, their prices are high and they aren't willing to bend, even for those of us that frequent the store and on top of that, I have to pay sales tax.. Because of their prices and the tax on top of that, I almost always shop with B&H. I do, however, make sure to purchase a few items from Foto Hall a year just so they remember me and I get most all my color prints done there as well.

Good topic Janie. It gives us all a reason to vent!
~Brian

[paulnj]

liz, ON A SIDE NOTE.......

ALL CANON DEALERS PAY THE SAME FOR GEAR........ ALL

The way B&H gets slightly cheaper shipments is "CHECK WITH ORDER" instead of 30/45 day grace period ;)

SO..... those people LIED TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

[another view]

I bought a Gitzo tripod a few years ago, and wanted to buy it from a local place (the other one, not the one I complained about above) that used to have a great lab. They now print digitally so all bets are off...

Anyway, I had the model number I wanted and knew they would have to order it. I knew what B&H would sell it for and he showed me his price sheet (his cost). It was the same price - B&H sold it for cost. They obviously get something extra at least on Gitzo, maybe a year-end rebate or something. In the business I'm in, that's not uncommon. Everybody wants the best deal they can get, but those kind of incentives favor the big dealers (who get bigger). Makes it harder for the smaller places - maybe that's part of the whole problem too.

[Mig]

I can't complain at all - I've got a local camera chain that I absolutely love. There's one shop 10 minutes from my apartment and another across the highway from my job. I normally go to the one near my apartment because that's the biggest one and it houses their B&W/Custom lab, so I get next day service. They also just started selling Crumpler bags, so I'm quite excited since I love me some Crumpler.

Even though most of my equipment has come from B&H, I went to the local place for my 10D because I just couldn't wait. They had it for the same price as B&H, the guy sold me a 256MB CF card at cost, and after he put a spare battery in the camera to let me demo it he said, "we'll just forget that's in there." Most of the time their equipment does sell for more, simply because they can't match the volume of internet sales, but this time I made out. Plus, they're really good about service!

Danielle