Alan Photo... :-(

[Ahbengphotographer]

Originally posted by ckiang



To paraphrase what a friend always like to joke to me, you know, one of those "If I am rich...." things.

Go into the camera shop. Ask to look at any cheapo camera. Take a close, hard look. Then tell the sales person there. "This indeed looks like a piece of crap. Ok, apart from this, I want every other camera in your shop. ". Then take out your gold card. See their reaction.



Regards
CK

very Interesting, dont think your gold card can buy all the cameras.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by Ahbengphotographer


very Interesting, dont think your gold card can buy all the cameras.

When you are rich enough to do that, you don't need gold card. You give them cash.

Regards
CK

 

[Ahbengphotographer]

Originally posted by ckiang


When you are rich enough to do that, you don't need gold card. You give them cash.

Regards
CK

Good on you, buy the whole shop, hire new salesman, give us consumer better service. Thank you very much.

 

[Goondu]

Originally posted by StreetShooter


A valid point indeed. The sticky bit is: which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do you pay, and then get good service, or get good service, and then pay? If I make enquiries as a customer, and you're willing to give me good service without any guarantees that I will buy, I will be happy to buy from you, even though you charge a bit more than the next guy.

The problem here, of course, is that everyone will take advantage of this. They will try this and try that, ask this and ask that, make their decision, THEN go round comparing prices and buy from the guy who gives the lowest quote. The one who attended to all their queries gets nothing. Is this fair? How many have gone to John 3:16 and done exactly that, but not bought anything?

On the other hand, mylau has ALREADY paid for future service through his purchase of the 1D, and there is a good chance he will buy more stuff, given his track record, so of course the AP people let him try everything. But of course not every customer is in that position.

I'm personally quite "price-sensitive" myself, ie I DO shop around for the best price. I see nothing wrong with that. The salesman's job is to win me over with BOTH price AND service. If your attitude stinks, I won't give you the satisfaction of taking my money, even if yours is the lowest price. My fortunate experience with AP is that they have satisfied me on both counts - their prices are one of the best in town, and their service is pretty good, at least where I am concerned.

I agree with StreetShooter. Imagine if you are the salesman. You provide the best services but still people do not buy from you. It may be the shop owner who have already set a price policy and the salesman can do nothing about it. How would you feel if 10 people do not buy from you? Can you still maintain your composure all the time? I seriously doubt so.

What about shops like Harvey Norman, Courts etc? Their prices are more expensive, sometimes services are also left much to be desired, AND people still buy from them. WHY?

On the other hand, SLS, Peoples Park, etc are quite notoriously known for their bad services, but not all of them, people are still flocking to these places to buy their stuff. WHY?

IMHO, even if 1 shop offers the best services and prices, there is still a tingling feeling at the back of your mind that there might just be 1 more shop which is better than this?

Someone was mentioning that even different salesmen in the same shop offer different service standards. I can dare say that even the same salesman do not always give you the same standards all the time, be it good or bad.

Just my thoughts only.

 

[919956g]

Hello, mr Triston, I have just posted some new photo...please feel free to take a look, do drop some comments, (Colour of your world)...wah u and ur friends often update each other about camera, did u take photos? cos i didnt see them on ur post?

 

[Kiwi]

i think there's nothing wrong with letting people try things and enquire prices but not buy in the end. As a consumer u got the right.

It's only perhaps in Singapore and maybe some other Asian countries, people always think in terms of "what benefits" can I get. Everything we do, we must get something in return.

In my frequent travels overseas, I find Ang Mohs/Japanese are more down to earth in the sense that sellers and consumers are are sincere in their business. They sell bcos they want to satisfy their customers. And the latter buy bcos they are really interested in photography and good service.

Over here, shop owners tend to think: You want to see, make sure you buy. Cos they must gain from their time spent with customers. It's the old sickening Chinese/Singapore custom: I must gain something from the other person. Else I'll lose out. Not in terms of money then in terms of my time and energy. If not, then at least my saliva!!!

Very sad culture...

 

[Wai]

OT : this post is more than a year old!

 

[weg]

Originally posted by Wai
OT : this post is more than a year old!

haha i was reading reading,,... then realised the dates of the posts are last yr.... :bsmilie:

 

[zekai]

I only talk to Steven at AP. He consistently give me good service and price that I told my friends and relative to get only from him.
Some of the other guys honestly are quite f***** up.


CP also not bad, you must talk to them in hokkien and make them believe you are a regular... I went in blur blur and waited for a salesman. He must thought I was his regular and talk to me very nicely in hokkien.

 

[denizenx]

but the skinny ****er with the hatchet face is always like this... attitude macam like boxx

 

[hlminolta]

The first time I bought camera at AP, I was served by that skinny guy too. After paying ... then I felt that I kana cheated.
Since then, I never bother to look at him when visiting AP.
I always talk to Peter who always give me good price. And since then I have bought several items from Peter.
I will keep visiting AP ... but as much as I can, will always look for Peter.

 

[ydanz]

anyone got a snap shot of peter?????

 

[Klause]

If you don't want to get rip-off, you probably can try anthony Good and friendly guy, esp if u tell him u get recommandation from clubsnap

Hard a few experience with him, so happy with his service that I bought 4 friends along to buy 4 cam from him @ one go.

And I do agree.... AP have a few salesman who needs real marketing course.... Previously had a bad xperience with one of them but have since only approach Anthony.

 

[vince123123]

Moral of the story?

ALan Photo is both good and bad...bad if you donno whats goign on, and generally pple have a bad opiinon. GOod when you know who to find cos prices are very competitive.

So for those people who are just starting out, just look for those pple that have been recommended by the folks here, and if the guy suits ur liking, then stick to him for ur future purchases - ie make the best of both worlds

cheers

 

[finkster]

I got a feeling the 'skinny' guy some guys mention here is actually refering to Anthony. I dun recall any other AP salesmen who can be considered as skinny, as the rest are somewhat.... er... rounder?

I agree that he can sometimes be a bit aloof, especially if you dun know him. But as time went on, chit chat here n there, he seems to be the best around. Now I always try to deal with him, if he's not around, I go to Sam, another nice guy. He's quite short with a bit of a tummy.

 

[kindred]

OT: harlow, i am skinny also okay but i worked in SLT

i dun really like the skinny one too...his prices is much more higher than what SAM quoted me...SAM is a nice guy (kinda short/plump) He offers good service and after sales services for me.

:thumbsup:

 

[Retro]

Been reading the posts.....

Hmmm ... I usually look for a skinny guy at AP (name withheld), and no such problem for me. In fact, he was more than helpful with advice on what to get.

It is true that they should be 'nicer' as they are in the service industry, but if you are a 'nice' customer, then you should already have done some researching to know a bit about what you want to get, or get someone who knows to go with you.

Sometimes it can be rather irritating to have people ask you very minor things constantly .... hence leading to percieved bo chap attitude of salesperson. How would you feel if your neighbour kept asking you "today the postman come already or not?"

Be fair to the salesperson too. Yes, he or she is supposed to offer you their services, but hey ... they don't owe you anything, so don't expect them to wait on you.

Take it as a bad experience, and just hope that you don't get it again.

 

[newuser]

Aiyah, AP, CP or MS Color what ever...

Every shop has it's good and less-than-good staff, Just like every one of us in CS has got a different attitude.

CP has got so many staff, Kelvin, Michael....etc, Can't really say that ALL the staff will treat ALL customers (local or otherwise, rich or not, dressed up or not) the same ALL the time.

Similarly to AP, know a few of the staff there myself, Anthony, Sam, Tom...etc
However only bought from Sam and Anthony.

Ususally always go back to both of them, if they are on Leave, I would rather come another day, or call in advance before going down.

Agreed that AP's prices is not always the cheapest, MS Color and CP's e-quote can be quite competitive.
Sometimes I tell AP, about the prices I get from the e-quotes in CP and MS Color and he tries to match their prices for me.
So not an issue.

MS Color, yet to try their service, though pass by their shop once in a while.

Service is more about the individual rather than the Shop.

The shop may have a good service policy and customer service training. If the staff is either a someone with an attitude problem or boh-chap attitude then the customers that he serves will bring a negative image to the shop.

My advice is DO not comdemn a shop based on a single encounter with a single staff.

You feel that the staff in this shop does not give you good service, ask for their name card politely (so you can know theur name) and try a different salesman the next time around.

I encountered some unpleasant salesman in CP too, but I still visit them but this time I try a different salesman and I got a different experience.

 

[E1g3]

Originally posted by finkster

I agree that he can sometimes be a bit aloof, especially if you dun know him. But as time went on, chit chat here n there, he seems to be the best around. Now I always try to deal with him, if he's not around, I go to Sam, another nice guy. He's quite short with a bit of a tummy.

You mean we as customer have to get close and be nice to salesperson for attention? I though it's the other way round? Looks like they choose you rather than we choose them.

 

[oceanxp]

Originally posted by JerChan
Went down to Alan Photo this afternoon after my lessons to enquire for the price of a Minolta Dimage 7i but was given the "I don't think you can afford it" treatment by this skinny guy who was way too engrossed in his newspapers to even bother to answer a customer's enquiries.

As I walked into the shop, the skinny sales person was so busy reading his newspapers that he ignored me when I asked him the price difference between a Dimage 7 and Dimage 7i. After browsing for a while, I saw a Pentax ME Super and enquired about it.

This sales person just glared at me and went back to reading his newspapers. I had to walk up to him and catch his attention before he gave me a very reluctant reply to my price enquiry.

However, when I enquired about the ME Super, he told me that it was not for sale and ignored my other questions by telling me to contact Pentax if I want to know more.

This is not the first time I had such a respond from them. Previously, when I was with another friend who was interested in getting a Fujifilm S1, we were told that we can only see the camera if we buy it. Else, we can only look at an empty box.

Is there some kind of a dress code that one must adhere to when patronizing Alan Photo? Cause I was in my school uniform when I patronized the shop.

i see ... facts of life, dun be sad ... next time just look for steven will do ... usually, i dun care about other salesman... i am always talking to the same guy, buying from the same guy ...

singaporean need to reflect on their service quality ... sigh