Bad Experience at a certain shop in Sim Lim

[Terence]

Hi all,

Thought I should post this to warn anyone intending to patronise a certain "reputable" photo supply shop in Sim Lim Square. Located on the ground floor, I'm sure most of you know of this place which is awfully crowded at times.

I had gone in to purchase to 2 lenses (a Canon and a Sigma). After ascertaining that was stock available, I inspected the 2 lenses and haggled to an agreed on price. Left the store with my purchase and about half an hour later, I decided to take the lenses out for another look. The Sigma lens contained everything in its box but I discovered that the Canon lens did not come with a warranty card.

I called the shop back immediately and spoke to the salesman who attended to me. He informed me that I had bought a grey market lens and therefore there was no warranty! At no point during the negotiations did he indicate it was a grey market lens. I had bought items from the store in the past and it was understood that the products came with local warranty. I would assume a grey set, if beind sold, should be made know to the buyer from the very start. I told the salesman that I am coming over right away.

Upon my return to this store, the salesman told me if I wanted a local warranty, I needed to "top up" the purchase price. I was apalled because the price he sold me at was only $30 less than a quote I got from CP! I fully expected a warranty with a lens and I asked him why did the Sigma come with one and the Canon did not. He did not reply. I told him if he cannot give me a warranty, I would like a refund on both lenses. He grudgingly agreed to the warranty at no extra cost after I brought up the question of a refund. He became very rude after that and started ordering me to fill out warranty card immediately (so no free warranty period). A typical "Ah Beng" attitude. He basically chased me out of the shop after I settled the warranty card.

I caution everyone to be wary when buying from this store. I generally find most people in the shop quite rude and lacking in their technical knowledge. They are out there to sell to us and only have $$$ in their minds.

I later went to TCW after this episode and found out I could have saved almost $90 (and service with a smile too) if I had bought my lenses from them. Real arse luck but it's a lesson learnt. I hope all of you can benefit from my rotten experience.

 

[morganoh]

A reputable shop starting witht the Alphabet ?

 

[devilcup]

Hi all,

Thought I should post this to warn anyone intending to patronise a certain "reputable" photo supply shop in Sim Lim Square. Located on the ground floor, I'm sure most of you know of this place which is awfully crowded at times.

I had gone in to purchase to 2 lenses (a Canon and a Sigma). After ascertaining that was stock available, I inspected the 2 lenses and haggled to an agreed on price. Left the store with my purchase and about half an hour later, I decided to take the lenses out for another look. The Sigma lens contained everything in its box but I discovered that the Canon lens did not come with a warranty card.

I called the shop back immediately and spoke to the salesman who attended to me. He informed me that I had bought a grey market lens and therefore there was no warranty! At no point during the negotiations did he indicate it was a grey market lens. I had bought items from the store in the past and it was understood that the products came with local warranty. I would assume a grey set, if beind sold, should be made know to the buyer from the very start. I told the salesman that I am coming over right away.

Upon my return to this store, the salesman told me if I wanted a local warranty, I needed to "top up" the purchase price. I was apalled because the price he sold me at was only $30 less than a quote I got from CP! I fully expected a warranty with a lens and I asked him why did the Sigma come with one and the Canon did not. He did not reply. I told him if he cannot give me a warranty, I would like a refund on both lenses. He grudgingly agreed to the warranty at no extra cost after I brought up the question of a refund. He became very rude after that and started ordering me to fill out warranty card immediately (so no free warranty period). A typical "Ah Beng" attitude. He basically chased me out of the shop after I settled the warranty card.

I caution everyone to be wary when buying from this store. I generally find most people in the shop quite rude and lacking in their technical knowledge. They are out there to sell to us and only have $$$ in their minds.

I later went to TCW after this episode and found out I could have saved almost $90 (and service with a smile too) if I had bought my lenses from them. Real arse luck but it's a lesson learnt. I hope all of you can benefit from my rotten experience.

TCW?
wat that?

 

[blurblock]

TCW?
wat that?

TCW = The Camera Workshop located at Pennisula Shopping Centre.

 

[ZAQ]

TCW= The Camera Workshop

It is located at the ground floor, Peninsular Hotel annex.

 

[e_liau]

Hi all,
I caution everyone to be wary when buying from this store. I generally find most people in the shop quite rude and lacking in their technical knowledge. They are out there to sell to us and only have $$$ in their minds.

I think it just might be you who has the attitude problem. You yourself didn't make it a point to check. Always check, check and check! It takes two hands to clap.
Sorry. You can't blame others except yourself.

 

[SNAG]

Hi all,

Thought I should post this to warn anyone intending to patronise a certain "reputable" photo supply shop in Sim Lim Square. Located on the ground floor, I'm sure most of you know of this place which is awfully crowded at times.

I had gone in to purchase to 2 lenses (a Canon and a Sigma). After ascertaining that was stock available, I inspected the 2 lenses and haggled to an agreed on price. Left the store with my purchase and about half an hour later, I decided to take the lenses out for another look. The Sigma lens contained everything in its box but I discovered that the Canon lens did not come with a warranty card.

I called the shop back immediately and spoke to the salesman who attended to me. He informed me that I had bought a grey market lens and therefore there was no warranty! At no point during the negotiations did he indicate it was a grey market lens. I had bought items from the store in the past and it was understood that the products came with local warranty. I would assume a grey set, if beind sold, should be made know to the buyer from the very start. I told the salesman that I am coming over right away.

Upon my return to this store, the salesman told me if I wanted a local warranty, I needed to "top up" the purchase price. I was apalled because the price he sold me at was only $30 less than a quote I got from CP! I fully expected a warranty with a lens and I asked him why did the Sigma come with one and the Canon did not. He did not reply. I told him if he cannot give me a warranty, I would like a refund on both lenses. He grudgingly agreed to the warranty at no extra cost after I brought up the question of a refund. He became very rude after that and started ordering me to fill out warranty card immediately (so no free warranty period). A typical "Ah Beng" attitude. He basically chased me out of the shop after I settled the warranty card.

I caution everyone to be wary when buying from this store. I generally find most people in the shop quite rude and lacking in their technical knowledge. They are out there to sell to us and only have $$$ in their minds.

I later went to TCW after this episode and found out I could have saved almost $90 (and service with a smile too) if I had bought my lenses from them. Real arse luck but it's a lesson learnt. I hope all of you can benefit from my rotten experience.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your bad experience at that particular shop.

Well, this is not uncommon amongst shops in Singapore. On your part, you should check whether the product that they sell you is a local/grey set before you transcact.

I don't think it's a good idea to just assume that they will give you a local set, as they had never explictly stated that you would get the local set at that bargained price right? Their "strategies" may seem a little shady, but after all, they are running a business. As the saying goes, "You think, I thought, who confirm?"

IMHO (no offence here), but the buyer should keep a lookout for such things (ie, grey warranty, missing items, DOA items) instead of trusting the shop on such items. Even if you go to a very reputable store, standards may change, and that the best bet to safeguard yourself would be for you to look out for such stuff.

Always make sure that your questions are fully clarified and answered before flashing your cash/plastic. Check your purchases for a final time as well prior to payment to prevent "bait and switch" tactics as well (although this tactic is not that common in supposingly more reputable stores.

Under such circumstances, you'll be able to safeguard yourself whenever you go. I've had my bad experiences at the "other reputable store" as well, but that doesn't deter me from buying my stuff from them.

It's also a combination of the salesman that you are dealing with as well.

Note: I'm not affiliated with that particular store in anyway, just giving my 2 cents worth.

 

[blurblock]

I think it just might be you who has the attitude problem. You yourself didn't make it a point to check. Always check, check and check! It takes two hands to clap.
Sorry. You can't blame others except yourself.

hmmmm ..... I did see how those guys are one of the famous shop in Sim Lim Sq behave before ....... trying to sell me a lens with deep scratches on the body when I ask tell them there is scratches on the body of the lens and can I take a look at another one, he told me that is the last piece. Take it or leave it..... However, there are quite a few boxes of lens box on the shelf .... those can't be empty boxes, since he took the lens from that same pile of boxes too.....

 

[weihui]

I think everyone knows who you are talkin' about. I on the contary, have had very good experience with one of the sales person. It all started long time ago when I purchased my first N50. Let's not talk about too long ago.

Couple months ago, I bought a Nikon 24-85G from them. During our chit chating, I complained that there were no free gifts or promotion at the time I bought the D100 and now it comes with all the freebies. He instantly asked me whether or not my warranty is filled. Luckily, i don't have the habbit of filling up warranty card. So he offered to write me a new receipt and asked me to claim the freebies from Nikon. At that time, my camera was half a year old already. Not only I got the freebies, I have the warranty extended by half a year.

Not long ago, after selling the 24-85G, I decided to get 24-120G VR from them. Because of the lens exhibits soft corners when shooting at wide open, I decided to test the lens as people have been suggested in the forum before I buy it. The same person who serves me always, brought out 4 lenses for me to test. He didn't show any impatience at all while looking at the results from my notebook which I brought along to test the lens.

All I wanna suggest is, don't go at peak hours where there are too many customers and you can't sit down and talk to the person. Some of the sales persons are relatively new which I didn't see them before.

PS: Almost forgot there was one time, I passed by their booth outside of their shop when they were doing this promotion, he saw me and gave me a Nikon cheapo tripod when I said hello to him. Really a nice guy even though not many smiles.

 

[morganoh]

I think everyone knows who you are talkin' about.contary,

All of you knows,but I don't know

WHO????

 

[mpenza]

want to mention the name of the nice guy?

 

[taker]

As a Canon authorised reseller, they should not sell grey items. Anyway, if anyone does meet the same situation from authorised reseller, just need to email Canon or Nikon etc, and you are garanteed a warranty card in your mail box in no time.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Lesson learnt? Never be too trusting with any retailer even if you are regular (unless they are your relative) . You just have to be on your guard.

 

[Parchiao]

So much talk, but no names. As good as not having mentioned anything at all.

 

[ninelives]

So much talk, but no names. As good as not having mentioned anything at all.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51284

 

[cnt]

I also don't know which shop it is but I'm quite surprise that there are people saying it can be the buyer's fault. I agree that it is better to be careful but it is ridiculous to check for every details everytime you want to buy something. It is the responsible of the sellers to be honest and should not blame the buyer for his carelessness even if he is.

 

[SNAG]

As a Canon authorised reseller, they should not sell grey items. Anyway, if anyone does meet the same situation from authorised reseller, just need to email Canon or Nikon etc, and you are garanteed a warranty card in your mail box in no time.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Lesson learnt? Never be too trusting with any retailer even if you are regular (unless they are your relative) . You just have to be on your guard.

Hmm.
I didn't know that it is actually 'illegal' to sell grey products if you are an authorised reseller.

If I'm not wrong, some other bigger authorized resellers do sell grey products as well.

Can someone confirm this?

 

[Terence]

I think it just might be you who has the attitude problem. You yourself didn't make it a point to check. Always check, check and check! It takes two hands to clap.
Sorry. You can't blame others except yourself.

Hey bro, don't be so harsh on me la. I admitted at the end it was a lesson learnt on my part too... and that lesson was to check, check, check. I'm not blaming others for this incident but my point is that if an honest store were to sell something to you, they would lay out the facts plain and clear from the very beginning. If it's a grey set, I fully expect them to tell me so... especially if they are selling the lens at the same price of one with local warranty.

Not all buyers may be as sharp as you, so don't go juding everyone to your perfect standards.

 

[Terence]

All I wanna suggest is, don't go at peak hours where there are too many customers and you can't sit down and talk to the person. Some of the sales persons are relatively new which I didn't see them before.

PS: Almost forgot there was one time, I passed by their booth outside of their shop when they were doing this promotion, he saw me and gave me a Nikon cheapo tripod when I said hello to him. Really a nice guy even though not many smiles.

I actually had a positive experience with the same store when I first purchased my camera. That was the reason why I decided to go back for the lenses, and I spoke to the same salesperson too. I could not believe his change in attidtude after this experience. Don't they know that all it takes is one lousy incident and no one is going back to them?

 

[Simon]

As a Canon authorised reseller, they should not sell grey items. Anyway, if anyone does meet the same situation from authorised reseller, just need to email Canon or Nikon etc, and you are garanteed a warranty card in your mail box in no time.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Lesson learnt? Never be too trusting with any retailer even if you are regular (unless they are your relative) . You just have to be on your guard.

Where did you get the information that authorized reseller do not sell Grey Items?

For your Info, All authorized resellers in Singapore sell Grey Items, and their Grey Items come directly from the manufacture.

Grey Items are mean for Export or Tourist or Those who do not want to pay for the Warranty.

 

[Foveon]

Hi all,

Thought I should post this to warn anyone intending to patronise a certain "reputable" photo supply shop in Sim Lim Square. Located on the ground floor, I'm sure most of you know of this place which is awfully crowded at times.

I had gone in to purchase to 2 lenses (a Canon and a Sigma). After ascertaining that was stock available, I inspected the 2 lenses and haggled to an agreed on price. Left the store with my purchase and about half an hour later, I decided to take the lenses out for another look. The Sigma lens contained everything in its box but I discovered that the Canon lens did not come with a warranty card.

I called the shop back immediately and spoke to the salesman who attended to me. He informed me that I had bought a grey market lens and therefore there was no warranty! At no point during the negotiations did he indicate it was a grey market lens. I had bought items from the store in the past and it was understood that the products came with local warranty. I would assume a grey set, if beind sold, should be made know to the buyer from the very start. I told the salesman that I am coming over right away.

Upon my return to this store, the salesman told me if I wanted a local warranty, I needed to "top up" the purchase price. I was apalled because the price he sold me at was only $30 less than a quote I got from CP! I fully expected a warranty with a lens and I asked him why did the Sigma come with one and the Canon did not. He did not reply. I told him if he cannot give me a warranty, I would like a refund on both lenses. He grudgingly agreed to the warranty at no extra cost after I brought up the question of a refund. He became very rude after that and started ordering me to fill out warranty card immediately (so no free warranty period). A typical "Ah Beng" attitude. He basically chased me out of the shop after I settled the warranty card.

I caution everyone to be wary when buying from this store. I generally find most people in the shop quite rude and lacking in their technical knowledge. They are out there to sell to us and only have $$$ in their minds.

I later went to TCW after this episode and found out I could have saved almost $90 (and service with a smile too) if I had bought my lenses from them. Real arse luck but it's a lesson learnt. I hope all of you can benefit from my rotten experience.

You cannot trust any retailer in Singapore, even though they are "reputable" photo supply shop. I've ever encounter one case that a sales representative in CP offer me a Gitzo tripod head which is only a display set, but he never mention to me that set is a display set at all and is in heavy wear & tear until I found out myself. I'm asking for a new set, then he reply no stock (because he has quote me lower than market price before hand).

Another "reputable" photo supply shop, MS Color sold me a broken grip 300D (which sound when apply force), and a grey market battery grip (without mentioned that is a grey market product as well).

I have given up to buy any photographic equipment from any Singapore Retailer. It is better to buy them from US like BH or Adorama, in some cases, they are much cheaper even include shipping charge. :thumbsd: :thumbsd: :thumbsd: