Bad experience with Alan Photo-Funan

[john281]

I sort of agree with this. It's like you go to Ion Orchard to ask the price of a LV bag, then after knowing the price. You tell the sales person, "But Changi DFS selling cheaper wat!". What do you want the sales person to say? On the other hand, if you go to Bangkok "Chatuchak" (dunno how to spell). You can always tell them "piang" and try the walk away. They will ask you to come back and give you the "LV" bag at your price. Sometimes it is also how you say it, where you say it, who you are saying it to and what are you talking about that matters.

Also, can you tell the difference if the other party hang up the phone nicely or slam the phone down? What constitute the action of being rude? didn't say "thank you for calling, bye." or "cheers mate!" ?? Surely you are not expecting the people at Alan photo to say that . I have bought a few things from there. My experience is they are street wise sales people. You have to know your stuff and looks sincere to buy. Be a bit assertive (not aggressive) when negotiating. Use a bit of hokkien and you can knock a bit off the initiate price.

Can you tell the difference if someone pats you on your back or gives you a tight one on your face? Can be a difficuilt one, isn't it? Thought as much...
Information is to be shared...and so I did...I knew my stuff, maybe I didnt look sincere enough to buy...next time I will do a wire transfer before calling them...

 

[ManWearPants]

Can you tell the difference if someone pats you on your back or gives you a tight one on your face? Can be a difficuilt one, isn't it? Thought as much...
Information is to be shared...and so I did...I knew my stuff, maybe I didnt look sincere enough to buy...next time I will do a wire transfer before calling them...

I have hung up my conversation with you.

 

[john281]

I have hung up my conversation with you.

Job well done...time to collect the dough now

 

[ginsberg]

Giving poor service, rude and they are still around. This tells me they make their money from tourists. Local is not their target customers.

I was there in AP Funan last Thursday, and I am tourist. I asked the lady with the eyeglasses if she could give me a quotation for 3 lenses (all Nikon f2.8's) but she told me rudely:thumbsd: to just send them an email. I told her that I am not from Singapore, then she replied rudely again that she is busy but took my list anyway. After a few seconds of banging the pen on the paper, she wrote a price for one of the lenses then rudely pushed the paper back to me and said that, that's all they have. I was never ever treated that way in my life!;( So I hurriedly went out of the store before I lose my cool.

I went to Lords in Lucky Plaza (after passing by CP Peninsula) and I was greeted by a smiling Raymond who politely asked me what I needed. I showed him my list and he gladly put in his figures. After a few moments of haggling, we closed the deal and I ended up buying all the 3 lenses from him.

I am definetely coming back to Singapore to buy my gears and enjoy the place I love:thumbsup:, but I am definitely NOT coming back to Alan Photo in Funan:thumbsd: ever again!

 

[canon9ers]

I had a share of bad experience with AP Funan as well. The guy was really very impatient and I could see that he got really irritated when I started asking for some details on the camera that I wanted to buy. I really think that it's normal to ask for details like how many mos warranty and what sort of free items they're giving away but what happened was he turned my back on me and entertained the caucasian who got in.

I ended up buying from John 3:16. It was my first DSLR purchase and eversince I always go back to JO to buy stuff. Sometimes I would agree that their prices is not the cheapest but I don't mind paying a bit high for such a good service. Sometimes, customer relations matters most!

 

[obfuscate]

This thread is silly, why would someone call AP, of all shops, and ask about the price of a lens and then start to quote from some website from some anonymous person buying a lens at a lower price which may not even be true? I'd say that any shop is entitled to think that it is a prank call and the TS deserves the type of response.

I'd say that AP is entitled to post a thread about prank calls if all this was true.

 

[ginsberg]

but what happened was he turned my back on me and entertained the caucasian who got in.

I guess the reason why she was rude to me in the first place was because I am not a Caucasian, so to her I am not a tourist, and probably, because I was in simple shirt and jeans only, she must have assumed that I do not have money and that I was only there to window shop and waste their times. But then, that is not an excuse to treat potential customers.

AP Funan badly need the re-introduction of the basics of salesmanship.

 

[maxtheevil]

hmm... reading from your posts, looks like you really have bad experiences with most of the camera shops here in sing... :sweat:

yes, caused most of them are manned by people who can't speak english to save their lives...

but no,

i go to 1. cathay photo, 2. the camera workshop (look for don, he knows his stuff), 3. ruby photo for camera-related purchases if u seek for good knowledge of what they sell

go to 1. ms color, 2. alan photo, 3. any other shops in orchard (lucky plaza), if u are hunting for lowest prices and couldn't care less about the ah beng trying to pronounce "man-foto tripod huh? wan orr not?"

go to john 3:16 if u love high prices with a smile.

go to online shops after u realise the above three waste your time, petrol, bus fare and u are more / better educated by users' reviews than the salesperson professional knowledge which can be limiting (as we can't expect them to know everything)

but surely, we can expect a good attitude right?

wrong... that's the way the biz climate is in this part of the world...

we still have a developing nations mindset...

 

[maxtheevil]

"I guess the reason why she was rude to me in the first place was because I am not a Caucasian, so to her I am not a tourist, and probably, because I was in simple shirt and jeans only, she must have assumed that I do not have money and that I was only there to window shop and waste their times. But then, that is not an excuse to treat potential customers."

AP Funan badly need the re-introduction of the basics of salesmanship.

yes yes, the locals here still suffer from the 'white men big, coloured people small' symdrone...

had a classmate who treated a white man to lavish dinners, just because he's white... but ended up, the white man did not rent the property from him.

while the same classmate is extremely nasty to indians or other coloured races (he's chinese)

being from the same school as him, i am ashamed of his behaviour...

preached to me about god and goodness (somemore)... WTH... these (self-proclaimed) evangelist should just get a cactus up their S

 

[maxtheevil]

This thread is silly, why would someone call AP, of all shops, and ask about the price of a lens and then start to quote from some website from some anonymous person buying a lens at a lower price which may not even be true? I'd say that any shop is entitled to think that it is a prank call and the TS deserves the type of response.

I'd say that AP is entitled to post a thread about prank calls if all this was true.

sorry, what he did is market practice.

call gain city and tell them to match court's prices, they would. can't fault him for wanting to spend less for same product.

 

[pokiemon]

You have to see who is serving you behind the AP counter. If you still dont know what I mean, go to John 3:16 (on the 4th floor).

 

[maxtheevil]

4 threads worth of ranting indicates that most of the sales people in AP are failures when it comes to

1. sincere service,
2. product knowledge

had it not been that they low-ball in terms of selling prices, they would have gone the route of the dodo...

no?

 

[synapseman]

I agree with TS that Alan Photo is not a good shop to go to, be it at Funan or SLS. They'll never get a cent from me and I fail to understand why some people continue to recommend them. This, based on my non-objective opinion, of course.

However, I also think TS made a bad move by questioning their pricing policy over the phone by using CS (or any other source) as comparison. If I were the salesperson, I'd be pretty irritated as well, so in this case, I'd actually empathize with the sales rep. When you make a call for price enquiry, that's should be just that. Ask about price, and maybe ask whether include GST or not, and stop there.

Whether or not price too high, you leave it to your own discretion and make your decision after the call.

Honestly, if I were AP staff in this scenario, I would've reacted in the same way (but hey, that's just me)

 

[maxtheevil]

I agree with TS that Alan Photo is not a good shop to go to, be it at Funan or SLS. They'll never get a cent from me and I fail to understand why some people continue to recommend them. This, based on my non-objective opinion, of course.

However, I also think TS made a bad move by questioning their pricing policy over the phone by using CS (or any other source) as comparison. If I were the salesperson, I'd be pretty irritated as well, so in this case, I'd actually empathize with the sales rep. When you make a call for price enquiry, that's should be just that. Ask about price, and maybe ask whether include GST or not, and stop there.

Whether or not price too high, you leave it to your own discretion and make your decision after the call.

Honestly, if I were AP staff in this scenario, I would've reacted in the same way (but hey, that's just me)

hmm, i don't think it's a bad practise that our friend did.

cause there's always a sales potential... he is a consumer afterall.

i have called shops, asked them for prices and taken a trip down just to get the item from them too. camera or non camera related.


if even answering the phone, the sales person have a 'want or not' mindset, they will pissed off a significant % of potential customers.

not just AP per se, but the truth is, tele-sales stands for a certain % for people who can't be bothered to compare prices too!

it's another sales channel as viable as online sales!

 

[synapseman]

hmm, i don't think it's a bad practise that our friend did.

cause there's always a sales potential... he is a consumer afterall.

i have called shops, asked them for prices and taken a trip down just to get the item from them too. camera or non camera related.

There is nothing wrong with asking for price over the phone. I do it all the time, too. The AP sales rep did oblige with a quotation.

However, to question the pricing (especially by using CS) over the phone is not good form. I don't feel that the sales rep is obliged to entertain the caller in this regard. Any such discussion, (IMO) should be done in-shop face-to-face.

 

[john281]

I agree with TS that Alan Photo is not a good shop to go to, be it at Funan or SLS. They'll never get a cent from me and I fail to understand why some people continue to recommend them. This, based on my non-objective opinion, of course.

However, I also think TS made a bad move by questioning their pricing policy over the phone by using CS (or any other source) as comparison. If I were the salesperson, I'd be pretty irritated as well, so in this case, I'd actually empathize with the sales rep. When you make a call for price enquiry, that's should be just that. Ask about price, and maybe ask whether include GST or not, and stop there.

Whether or not price too high, you leave it to your own discretion and make your decision after the call.

Honestly, if I were AP staff in this scenario, I would've reacted in the same way (but hey, that's just me)

"Me: Has the price increased? Its mentioned in clubsnap that you were selling it for 175 earlier"
Not a comparison with CS or any other shop. The inquiry was if the price has increased from what they were selling earlier. No reason to get irritated here. That's a very low tolerance level to have in sales business (but hey, that's just me)

 

[Shen siung]

Orient Photo @ Sim Lim Square

Went to this shop and found that their pricing for lenses are cheaper. And the Chinese sales seems to be ok..

Any comments?

Read other positive thread in consumer corner about OP.

 

[maxtheevil]

like it or not,

in sales, it's like a taxi, u get all sorts of potential buyers.

to close the sales, the last thing u want to be is to diss off the potential buyer and turn the person away.

it's the nature of the trade.

there can be many different forms of buyers, ranging from nice (like me) to not nice (like when i am cheesed off),

the fact still remains, selling means the ultimate winner is the sales which is done.

that's why we go through the **** of entertaining buyers in the most polite form that we can, unless it's plain rude.

and using my guideline, the TS was and is not rude, he / she is just trying to get a good price, which follows the laws of physics, buyers want lowest sell price for the same item where possible.

but AP did not employ intelligent conversant, progressive salespeople to take on such enquiries and resulted in 4 pages of rants against them...

if i were the management, i fire off all those non-skilled ah bengs and placed a

"progressive ah-beng salespeople wanted"

speak in english / singlish / chinglish, i don't care,

but must be sincere (because people don't fault u when u are not-informative, we are humans too, u can't know everything... but a sincere, honest answer is deemed close to a professional answer, compared to a "wan to buy orr not, huh?" sales pitch)

 

[john281]

Well said Max :thumbsup:

 

[maxtheevil]

Well said Max :thumbsup:

i have my fair share of fans

hehe, thanks.