My Negative Experience at TK Foto Today.

[duskman]

Let me share my experience. I patronize TK foto very often, bought a lot from them too. Most of their staff are nice people actually. But there's this one time, I went down to purchase a manfrotto video monopod. If anyone goes there often enough, theres a display model at the corner of the shop. So I asked one of the sales man to get me a set as I already knew that I'm there to purchase one. So he went into the store room and helped me check for stock, he came out with a new box and showed me the accessories that came with it. To my surprise, he took the display set at the corner of the store (which is beat up as hell and looks abit rotten) and started peeling off the price tag that was on it! I was wondering why is he doing that, cause he did not say that they were out of stock and that's the only one left. When I saw his actions, I immediately clarified with him and said that I'm not going to take that set. Worse of all, if I were to actually purchase it, theyd still be charging the full retail price for that old, beat up video monopod which has been touched by god knows how many people. Immediately went over to Cathay for a real new set.

So lesson of the day, no matter how trustworthy a store is, must always see and check what you are buying.

 

[bllimus]

Just move on, everyone has good and bad experiences with camera store...
If you have good experience with recent purchase, probably you will go back again next time. Otherwise, you will skip that store.
There are many reputable camera stores here, TK is one of them.
Do your homework, know your stuff and pricing, view and test, agree on price and pay. If not, walk away to next store...

 

[donut88]

have you tried j316?

J316 is talk too much liao

 

[donut88]

Ok, despite all the bad comments about TK, I must say something fair about them.

They are the probably the only shop that displays prices on the items.

This is really v comforting and assuring to customers. U get what u pay for exactly. No BS price from the salesman.

 

[Airekris]

Unfortunately yes. They also see face 1. You might not experience it or seen it. But I definitely have.

 

[rhino123]

Sorry to say hear this happened to you TS. However just to get things straight, our salesmen in singapore are just horrible. Every single store I visit they are all very unwilling to help let alone approach you to assist. I dont care if they are having a bad day or not, its their job to know the products they are selling and assist. Worse thing I have noticed and experienced is they eyeball people as if the person has no ability to purchase the items at the store.

Funny... You experience that in Singapore only? Most of the time, I don't experience that except for a few times... Maybe I looked rich to average Singapore salesman or with carrot written all over my forehead.

As to John. They treat me very well, they offered me the best price for my Canon EOS 7D at that time and they remember what I got when I visited them many months down the road with my brother. I never feel what you felt. Instead, I have my fair share of bad experience in Australia and China, but I also have very good experience with some of these overseas shops too.

 

[Miao]

J316 is talk too much liao

Talk more than like friend friend and easy to close deal. Thats a sale strategy in my opnion.

But I like to shop there, they might not offer the best price but they sure entertain u regardless if u are buying or not. Kind of miss the old shop before renovated. New shop seem too posh for me ... haha ...

 

[ricohflex]

have you tried j316?

Have and it is bad service by the son. Actually not keen to buy anything from them. But timid friend wanted me to accompany him to check out some item in their shop. I have known the father before he set up the shop. I also dislike any shop name that has religious hooks.

 

[edutilos-]

Ok, despite all the bad comments about TK, I must say something fair about them.

They are the probably the only shop that displays prices on the items.

This is really v comforting and assuring to customers. U get what u pay for exactly. No BS price from the salesman.

You mean prices that they keep to, no matter who you are...

I think Cathay also got price..

 

[An drew]

You mean prices that they keep to, no matter who you are...

I think Cathay also got price..

The good/bad thing about TK is that they give you about the same price whether you are newbie or regular.

Cathay price tag is for the unwary shopper.

 

[edutilos-]

The good/bad thing about TK is that they give you about the same price whether you are newbie or regular.

Cathay price tag is for the unwary shopper.

Yar.

Anyways, everybody got different expectations of service.. That's why every single recommended shop in CS got people complain and praise them. :bsmilie:

 

[eleveninth]

Unfortunately yes. They also see face 1. You might not experience it or seen it. But I definitely have.

don't know I don't shop there.

 

[An drew]

Yar.

Anyways, everybody got different expectations of service.. That's why every single recommended shop in CS got people complain and praise them. :bsmilie:

Yes. TK is one of the few shops that I will recommend to my friends and relatives if they are new to photography as they will not get chopped (so far not yet). But passing an AFD lens as AFS is bad. Even Cathay you have to know the prices first.

 

[shmuckerz]

Thank you for all the comments guys. It's good to hear the good side and bad side too.

Personally I don't live in Singapore any more as I am studying in New Zealand, I was visiting. Perhaps I have become accustomed to a higher level of customer service. I too work (part-time) in an industry where Customer Service is vital in order to make sales and I suppose in a way I set myself as a benchmark.

What I truly dislike however is being judged based on my appearance. It is a very materialistic perspective that causes people to use an individuals appearance as a indicator of the level of their wealth and therefore how they should be treated. Perhaps if I had shown him the Mercedes-Benz car key in my pocket it would have made a difference? Perhaps carry around a print out of my bank statement for them to see. Either way it is disappointing, but I have witnessed it enough to understand it is the reality.

All I was trying to do when I started this post was to allow people to read about my experience. I dislike the fact that the shop could try to do something quite terrible like that and have no repercussions. As of this moment over 2000 of Singapore's most enthusiastic photographers have read the story and will be more aware. In my books, that's a success.

So thank you .

 

[alwaysjerricky]

Tk may not be the best in customer service, but their prices are one of the most competitive in prices. I recently went there to purchase a tripod and when I enquired about certain models, one of the salesmen also gave me a "want buy then buy, no money but then go out" look. It was only after I said I wanted to get a tripod, then he took out the tripod and started explaining to me the things that I want to know. Sometimes I go to Cathay too because the staff are generally more friendly. However, every shop has it's advantages and disadvantages. You cannot possibly go to any shop and expect that it will be excellent in customer service and the prices there must be cheapest in town. There has to be a compromise somewhere. So sorry for TS to have such a bad experience, but I don't think all the staff in TK are like that. Maybe just a one or two who feel sick and tired about their work.

 

[ricohflex]

What I truly dislike however is being judged based on my appearance. It is a very materialistic perspective that causes people to use an individuals appearance as a indicator of the level of their wealth and therefore how they should be treated.

This is getting worse in Singapore. However the model for this depraved behavior is Hong Kong. It is so bad there that Sam Hui, a famous singer has composed a song in 1980 to lament this situation. He used the Mandarin saying as the song title.

先敬羅衣後敬人

[video=youtube;NmfFULwnz74]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmfFULwnz74[/video]

 

[daredevil123]

Thank you for all the comments guys. It's good to hear the good side and bad side too.

Personally I don't live in Singapore any more as I am studying in New Zealand, I was visiting. Perhaps I have become accustomed to a higher level of customer service. I too work (part-time) in an industry where Customer Service is vital in order to make sales and I suppose in a way I set myself as a benchmark.

What I truly dislike however is being judged based on my appearance. It is a very materialistic perspective that causes people to use an individuals appearance as a indicator of the level of their wealth and therefore how they should be treated. Perhaps if I had shown him the Mercedes-Benz car key in my pocket it would have made a difference? Perhaps carry around a print out of my bank statement for them to see. Either way it is disappointing, but I have witnessed it enough to understand it is the reality.

All I was trying to do when I started this post was to allow people to read about my experience. I dislike the fact that the shop could try to do something quite terrible like that and have no repercussions. As of this moment over 2000 of Singapore's most enthusiastic photographers have read the story and will be more aware. In my books, that's a success.

So thank you .

The funny thing is when I first patronized TK, it was when they just moved to Funan. I walked in with slippers, with T-shirt with holes and bad hair. And they still served me very well.

BTW, there is no AF-S 80-400 VR2. It is called AF-S 80-400 VR. So there could be some confusion when you mentioned VR2.

 

[shmuckerz]

Tk may not be the best in customer service, but their prices are one of the most competitive in prices. I recently went there to purchase a tripod and when I enquired about certain models, one of the salesmen also gave me a "want buy then buy, no money but then go out" look. It was only after I said I wanted to get a tripod, then he took out the tripod and started explaining to me the things that I want to know. Sometimes I go to Cathay too because the staff are generally more friendly. However, every shop has it's advantages and disadvantages. You cannot possibly go to any shop and expect that it will be excellent in customer service and the prices there must be cheapest in town. There has to be a compromise somewhere. So sorry for TS to have such a bad experience, but I don't think all the staff in TK are like that. Maybe just a one or two who feel sick and tired about their work.

Thanks for the comment.
However I have to disagree with you on one point. TK does not lose anything by having good service. I can understand shops not being able to lower prices, they need to earn money to survive and cover overheads.

However shitty service is a choice they make, not a compromise.

 

[shmuckerz]

The funny thing is when I first patronized TK, it was when they just moved to Funan. I walked in with slippers, with T-shirt with holes and bad hair. And they still served me very well.

BTW, there is no AF-S 80-400 VR2. It is called AF-S 80-400 VR. So there could be some confusion when you mentioned VR2.

Perhaps it was because I was brown? Does that make a big difference to the service I am offered?
Yup good point about the lens, my mistake. However offering the old one they had at $3300, they probably had an inkling of what I was really after.

Oh well what's done is done. No harm, no foul. I am content with the lesson learnt here

 

[daredevil123]

Perhaps it was because I was brown? Does that make a big difference to the service I am offered?
Yup good point about the lens, my mistake. However offering the old one they had at $3300, they probably had an inkling of what I was really after.

Oh well what's done is done. No harm, no foul. I am content with the lesson learnt here

I patronize TK a lot. The funny thing is, in the past few months, I never once saw a 80-400 AF-D in the store. I did see the new 80-400 in the store though.