Outrageous Orchard Road photography shop!

[anka]

actually i dont like cathayphoto also.. here is a real life re-enactment

me: "Hi, can I check with you the price of D2x and if you have stock at the moment. "
CP: "ya I have, last piece"
me: "ok, so what's the price?"
CP: $7000, (then says hi to another customer)
me: $7000? serious price lah, for singaporean.
CP: $7000. want? (then says hi to ANOTHER customer)
me: you sure you got the price right?
CP: $7000. want? (and types out 7000 on the calculator to show me)
me: I can bring in 10 pieces of D2x at $6300 from nikon direct. want anot? (MY nikon mah, still direct from nikon) I said this while walking out. said it quite loud.
CP: excuse me, EXCUSE ME!! where did you get it from?
me: why? realised I can it $700 cheaper than you ah?


it's like wtf, I had the cash in my wallet, I was ready to buy the camera.. even at $6700-6800. their attitude never changed.

 

[madmacs]

nowadays u go there, even if they are standing there without any customers, they will purposely not look your direction, ask them for lowe pro items, they just say, its all on display, have have, dun have dun have... even making payment for lens case they also shun, like its not worth their effort, was standing over their cashier counter, few guys standing there dun even wanna come over, made few eye contact & wave, no response... til a fren shout at 1 of them... anyway, only a few good 1, like chris in tripod section, others cmi liao...

:think: my experience different...usually when i go the bags section to browse, someone sure pop up and hang around there. when i ask about a bag, they will help to dig around. but quite true...apart from chris, michael and the 2 stevens, i dont feel comfortable dealing with the others.

anyway,

ms color - friendly service, prices may not always be the cheapest but usually quite close.

john 3:16 - friendly service. but usually very crowded and samuel dun have time to serve all the customers.

lords - also quite friendly service - the owner mr chua (?) quite nice.

tk foto - so far ok. but a bit out of the way so i seldom go there.

alan photo - skip. heard so much negative feedback that i rather not step in even to view.

 

[redstone]

MS and John are quite famous for having cheap prices! :thumbsup:

 

[redstone]

How (in)famous is Alan Photo? :dunno:

 

[schon]

How (in)famous is Alan Photo? :dunno:

depends on who you get I suppose. Steven Lim (no, not the insane eyebrow plucker) was pretty ok when I was there.

 

[Lawyon]

I would walk off when I heard the first question.

The photography shop at Midpoint Orchard's B1 floor (where you need to go down short flight of stairs from the footpath) has disgraceful service.



Man: "What do you want?"

Me: "Excuse me, how much for a 1 GB SD Card?"

Man: (says price)

Me: "Oh that's quite expensive.... how much for a 512MB card?"

Man (says price)

Me: "What about 256MB?"

Man: (says price)

Me: "Er, let me think"

Me: "Pardon me, how much for a 256MB card again?"

Man: "Do you have a budget?"

Me: "No. Pardon me, how much for a 256MB card again?"

Man: (irritated) "Do you have a budget?"

Me: "No, I need to know the prices so I can decide. How much for a 256MB card?"

Man: "You don't have a budget?! After you have a budget, come back again and we'll talk about price!!!"

_____________________


The shop directly above it has an Indian man at the counter, and he's the direct opposite of that Chinese guy. The Indian man's nice, courteous, smiles and gives me all info I needed.

Never encountered such an attitude, be it in pasar malam or shopping centre.

In neighbourhood shops nevermind, but in a tourism area???? ;(

He rude to me, I be rude to him.
I just walk off without saying a word suddenly.

 

[Germinc]

I would walk off when I heard the first question.

I think the thread starter deserved it.

 

[redstone]

:dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

 

[student]

........and any of those in Lucky Plaza,

There are really only four shops in Sg that are worth looking into (in no particular order):
Cathay Photo
MS Color
John 3:16
Alan Photo

I am not so sure such extremist comments are justified.

Lord's in Lucky Plaza seems very good, giving good prices and services.

On the other hand Alan Photo had received bad comments from CSers. I had not bought anything from MS Color, but the prices they quoted for an equipment appeared inflated.

 

[JediForce4ever]

John 3:16 gives the best service IMO...but then again..all CP staff are behind the counter...These two are the ones I always go to...

 

[Deadpoet]

I go to CP, worked with the same salesperson every time, and the prices she gave me had been very competitive. CP is definately not the cheapest, but definately the most professional, and they do have a wide range of products.

 

[hazmee]

Whenever I enter any shop, I would try to chit chat with the salespeople. If they're not keen to talk to me, then I wouldnt even bother to ask any further. I've had the same experience as Anka when I am at Cathay Photo Peninsula. I have a feeling that I'm just too brown for them to even bother about my presence. But on most occasions and experience with any shop, I always try to have a small conversation first before asking any prices. Its good to know a few salespeople who you can chit chat a bit.

 

[oceanxp]

John used to say " As a friend, i will give you $$$"

If you decided to go for John, call him to book a timeslot for one-one shopping experience.

John 3:16 gives the best service IMO...but then again..all CP staff are behind the counter...These two are the ones I always go to...

 

[hpi3evo]

[i think those camera shop at orchard road only know how to "kato" ang mo tourist,sporean than dun even take a second look......

 

[powerpuffmum]

just got here
*waves to everybody*

I have the same experience with the topic starter
But when I walked out from that shop I said I'll make sure everyone I know would never go to that shop, ever :bsmilie:

The guy in that shop turned red

Uh oh, btw he was rude to me because I asked about 2-3 questions but didn't buy anything from him. I guess that was really pissed him off
tsk..cranky guy.

 

[solarii]

nowadays u go there, even if they are standing there without any customers, they will purposely not look your direction, ask them for lowe pro items, they just say, its all on display, have have, dun have dun have... even making payment for lens case they also shun, like its not worth their effort, was standing over their cashier counter, few guys standing there dun even wanna come over, made few eye contact & wave, no response... til a fren shout at 1 of them... anyway, only a few good 1, like chris in tripod section, others cmi liao...

Haha personally I'd rather not be bothered/harassed when I enter a shop. If I need assistance, I'll ask. Else I'm just browsing. I kinda like Ikea's model of doing business. Don't pay people to bother customers => Pass the savings on. Just hire enough to provide friendly help when asked for.

But yea the attitude you described above really sucks. Sounds like they have too much business.

 

[redstone]

just got here
*waves to everybody*

I have the same experience with the topic starter
But when I walked out from that shop I said I'll make sure everyone I know would never go to that shop, ever :bsmilie:
.

One thing's for sure I'll never ever go back ever again.

And I've also posted in another forum about this shop. :devil:


This is a disgrace. Very rude.
Does he think he's king or something.

"Wait til you have a budget, come back and we'll talk about price"
He said that. And he expects customers to actually go back?
Just need him to repeat the price. So simple, cannot do?
Really wonder how that shop survived in the middle of Orchard Road, somemore facing the street, very visible to every single person walking by.

Asking 2-3 questions without buying and he gets mad?
What if there's someone looking for a new DSLR?
DSLR even more complicated, ask tons of questions.

 

[Big Kahuna]

:Evil mode is on:

Why not every CS member go and ask 3 same questions whenever we pass by? I think that should make them busy for a while :devil:

:Evil mode is off:

 

[powerpuffmum]

Big Kahuna : you're a genius:bsmilie:
after sometime he'll get nervous breakdown and he's totally deserves it!

Redstone : I guess the shop survives on the money they get from conning (is that the word?) lots of tourists and helpless customers stuck in the shop, intimidate them and probably throw some insults (eg : do you actually have a budget?) and the customers ended up bought something they don't really want :thumbsd:

I forgot to mention, when I said that I would make sure nobody I know will go to that shop ever, some of their staff, all men, surrounded me and throw dirty looks.
*shudders*
No, I didn't shuddered cos I was scared, I shuddered cos I have to fight the urge to throw up.
they were unbelieveable

 

[catseye]

Just bought my KM5D from Harvey Norman during Sitex ... I must say they come a long way in terms of service since the Pertama days. They are friendly, showed flexibility, can bargain .... :thumbsup: