Which shop offers a better price and good customer service?
- Thread starter brandon93
- Start date
Benosaurous
Senior Member
Best service, John 3:16,
Best price, MS Color.
Most variety of goods, Cathay Photos.
Bags, I prefer TK.
With the new price revision, John is still around 5-10% higher than MS, cathay being the highest of all right now.
If you know what you want, and want to get a bargain, i will suggest MS color. If you need advice and looking around, go John 3:16.
Cathay photos is really too costly now, after being quoted 10% more than John for most of the lens i asked. :nono:
Best price, MS Color.
Most variety of goods, Cathay Photos.
Bags, I prefer TK.
With the new price revision, John is still around 5-10% higher than MS, cathay being the highest of all right now.
If you know what you want, and want to get a bargain, i will suggest MS color. If you need advice and looking around, go John 3:16.
Cathay photos is really too costly now, after being quoted 10% more than John for most of the lens i asked. :nono:
garfield4444
New Member
I just bought a Panasonic DMC-FS6 from Alan Photo. It is also the last time i will visit this shop.
I ask the sales person for the pricing and he quoted me $335 which i thought was ok
because i been surfing their website for the lastest offers, i also didn't bother to
memorise all the pricing, link http://www.alanphoto.com.sg/pdf/PanasonicPromo.pdf
After returning back to office and i checked their online pricing again was quite
shocked to see it was posted as $269. I called them up and clarified. It was entertaining,
the sales person rebuked that the difference ($335-$269=$66) was for the 4GB memory card.
I told him i do not need that extra 4GB card, then he said that they will refund me the balance.
However, he claims that the online pricing is not inclusive of GST, fine, i will pay for the GST.
So in the end i paid a final price of $287 after a refund of $48 and returning them the extra 4GB
memory card.
I ask the sales person for the pricing and he quoted me $335 which i thought was ok
because i been surfing their website for the lastest offers, i also didn't bother to
memorise all the pricing, link http://www.alanphoto.com.sg/pdf/PanasonicPromo.pdf
After returning back to office and i checked their online pricing again was quite
shocked to see it was posted as $269. I called them up and clarified. It was entertaining,
the sales person rebuked that the difference ($335-$269=$66) was for the 4GB memory card.
I told him i do not need that extra 4GB card, then he said that they will refund me the balance.
However, he claims that the online pricing is not inclusive of GST, fine, i will pay for the GST.
So in the end i paid a final price of $287 after a refund of $48 and returning them the extra 4GB
memory card.
.Hack
Senior Member
So best to print out the pricing and when they deny, just show them the true hard fact to shut them up.
Anyway, i would patronise AP after numerous negative remarks on them.
.Hack
Senior Member
I went to John 3:16 two weeks ago to get my first DSLR.
Heard they have good service, i went there. it was totally wrong.
This guy came forward when I asked for a 450D. beginning, i thought his service was quite good indeed, as he took out a 450D for me to test. because before i went to Alan photo and the guy did not even bother to talk to me. okay, so being a newbie, i wanted to ask questions, but that guy who served me ignored me and kept on interferring to other's conversation and answered their questions instead. i had to tell him off that i was in a rush before he came back to me. after, i thought for a long period of time before deciding to get the camera. he took out a new set and went off to serve other customer. he hadn't wrote the bill for me and he just ran off to another customer. (maybe that customer was his friend or what but he should have finish serving me first.) i signalled and then he said his colleague will help me write the bill. his colleague never did. i had to tell another guy to write the bill for me instead. such an irresponsible man. at least finish your job first before moving on to the next. i won't bother going there again. thinking of it makes me furious!
Heard they have good service, i went there. it was totally wrong.
This guy came forward when I asked for a 450D. beginning, i thought his service was quite good indeed, as he took out a 450D for me to test. because before i went to Alan photo and the guy did not even bother to talk to me. okay, so being a newbie, i wanted to ask questions, but that guy who served me ignored me and kept on interferring to other's conversation and answered their questions instead. i had to tell him off that i was in a rush before he came back to me. after, i thought for a long period of time before deciding to get the camera. he took out a new set and went off to serve other customer. he hadn't wrote the bill for me and he just ran off to another customer. (maybe that customer was his friend or what but he should have finish serving me first.) i signalled and then he said his colleague will help me write the bill. his colleague never did. i had to tell another guy to write the bill for me instead. such an irresponsible man. at least finish your job first before moving on to the next. i won't bother going there again. thinking of it makes me furious!
ggodetucsamoht
New Member
sometime too much customer will make the shop and its sales people more disorientated. i used to kena such scene by them too but not to the extreme, i think is still ok in such a many customers circumstances......
firefoxfirefly
New Member
The younger one :thumbsd:
engrmariano
Senior Member
J3:16, CP, & OP for me.:thumbsup:
had a bad experience with TCW thou.:thumbsd:
had a bad experience with TCW thou.:thumbsd:
nicknicksin
Member
I had a bad experience with TCW too.
:thumbsd::thumbsd:
:thumbsd::thumbsd:
Cathay used to give good prices; now, one of the highest around Peninsula and Funan.
John prices vary by 20+ dollars, depending on when quote.
I will avoid shops selling grey sets...had much trouble returning for service or replacement. From the list, I would strike out such shops (for obvious reasons, cannot name them).
John prices vary by 20+ dollars, depending on when quote.
I will avoid shops selling grey sets...had much trouble returning for service or replacement. From the list, I would strike out such shops (for obvious reasons, cannot name them).
Unpleasant experience with this shop too!
AP Sim Lim: bad experience before, so have never gone back again.
After buying G9 from them, the guy told me he makes very little from the deal, so he cannot spend more time (as I wanted to know more functions, and I wanted to tie the strap to the camera; he took from me, tied the strap [the wrong way]..this was after paying the guy the money!!
AP Funan Center: very good service though! dont understand why??
Since then...never stepped into the Sim Lim shop!
After buying G9 from them, the guy told me he makes very little from the deal, so he cannot spend more time (as I wanted to know more functions, and I wanted to tie the strap to the camera; he took from me, tied the strap [the wrong way]..this was after paying the guy the money!!
AP Funan Center: very good service though! dont understand why??
Since then...never stepped into the Sim Lim shop!
Lords camera offers the lowest possible price for cameras compared to all others in the list.
But their service wasn't that good!
They dont have patience.. When you ask them how to use certaIN functions of the camera, they'll just point at the manual.
When on the phone, they say the camera comes with free 8gb SD card, on the spot they say they are only selling the camera body.. I felt very conned so went back to confirm with them, and then they willing to give the free card!
After that I realised that camera bag was not given too!!! Called them and they ask me to go back to colect it when Im free..
Honesty, I dont feel much secure buying from Lords Camera coz sometimes they might really con people.
Raymond is the most trustworthy person in lords camera so be sure that he is there before you pay your visit to the shop.
jamestcwong
New Member
I had a good shopping experience with Cathay Photo recently. Through a referral, I met one of their senior staff Steven Ng. As a newbie, I naturally asked lots of questions and Steven was very helpful in answering to my needs. Subsequently another staff Duncan Lim (also very helpful) took over and concluded the sale.
Prices vary from shop to shop. Cathay Photo is a shop I can trust and enjoy patronizing. It's the human touch that counts!
Prices vary from shop to shop. Cathay Photo is a shop I can trust and enjoy patronizing. It's the human touch that counts!
I too had a bad experience with John 3:16. I will never visit the shop ever again.
I'm new at buying camera equipment and went to John 3:16 after hearing good reviews from friends. I went there yesterday looking to buy a skylight filter for my nikon kit lens. I was told it was sold out but they would have stock today. Being inexperienced, I only asked the price and availability, and not the brand.
So I went down again today (8/4) and the guy who attended to me yesterday ('A') recognised me and asked me nice to wait, and that started my hour plus wait in the shop for nothing.
I waited for service, and when I don't seem to be served I asked the other bespectacled chinese guy ('B') for assistance, he told me 'A' was getting the filter from somewhere. I asked 'B' what is the brand of the filter, he said he didn't know. After a long while, 'A' come back with the filter and instructed 'B' to attach it on my lens for me. That took more waiting as 'B' was attending to other customers.
The filter cost $30 and was of a brand I did not recognise. I was only familiar with Tokina and Hoya and I asked how it compared to this brand, I was not given any proper straight answer. When I asked if there were any other better filters, 'A' recommended a B+W filter at $95. I told him it was out of my budget, but he took the $30 and asked me to compare it with the B+W one, at that point 4 other customers joined in to say the B+W was definitely better, they could see so much difference and urged me to buy the B+W. The major difference I could see with the naked eye was the $30 filter had very visible reflection, but the B+W didn't.
I had to repeat myself many times that $95 is out of my budget and I had to tell them that no matter how they try to make me buy, I will not buy it because I cannot afford it. 'A' retorted to say poor people do not use Nikon. I felt I was subjected to hard sell tactics.
I had brought along a camera with a Tokina skylight filter attached and I compared the $30 filter with it. My Tokina filter looked better as it did not have reflection. When I finally asked for if they had Tokina or Hoya filters, 'B' told me there were out of stock, stock coming in on Monday. I asked how much they cost, and he said Tokina $35, Hoya $55.
So they had Tokina and Hoya filters which I believe is a grade better than the $30 one, and only a bit more expensive, but they would not mention them at all, instead they tried to sell me the $95 B+W filter.
When I said I would probably wait the Tokina filter, 'B' had the cheek to suggest that I buy the $30 FIRST. I told him straight, that I would rather wait and use $35 to buy a Tokina.
Apart from that the sales people were trying to sell me random items on the counter top. One suggested I get the d700, when I said I have a d90, he said I should upgrade. When I said I just got it, he still suggested I upgrade. I told to tell him straight that I won't even pay for a $95 filter, no way I would buy a new camera. I was tiring to have to repeat myself like that to fend off their selling tactics.
Also in the shop was a man who wanted to buy a d90 for work purposes, he has been waiting for the shop to find him one for a few weeks, and he needed the camera for work the next day but the shop still cannot get one for him. 'A' was busy making one phonecall after another to try to find an available d90. A few times, when this man wanted to leave, 'A' would ask him to wait as he make another phone call to try to find stock of the camera.
Before I was in John 3:16, I was in a shop a few floors below which had the d90 in stock and it was priced slightly cheaper. I did not tell that man as I did not think it was nice to do it in someone else's shop. But I hindsight I wish I did.
I felt that 'A' kept his customers waiting and hanging, even if he had no stock and he could not find stock. Camera shops in the area close early, 730-8pm, while John 3:16 closes at 930pm. After about an hour in the shop, I left the shop empty handed at 805pm, and that man was still hanging around the shop, and 'A' as still making phonecalls. If 'A' had simply told the man, sorry we do not have stock, perhaps that man could have walked around and gotten himself the camera he needed for work the next day. It would not add to his income, but it would have been the right thing to do.
If I had been served more promptly or if I had been wise enough to leave earlier, I would have found suitable skylight filter for my lens.
With only 3 or 4 staff, John 3:16 cannot handle the large number of customers patronising them. They are friendly in the sense that they try to greet and capture even one who walk in to their shop, but in fact all they are doing is making their customers wait ridiculous lengths of time to be served and assisted. They cannot and do not give dedicated assistance to customers, instead, you're fighting with others and forever waiting in, not in line, but in a crowded mess, to be served. Business seems so good that things are forever out of stock and you always have to come back another day to get what you want.
This shop is only for those who has the patience to wait for what the want to buy, those who have time to spare and likes to spend that spare time standing around in the shop, mingling and chatting with the staff and other customers.
I do not have that kind of time to spare, I would rather walk into a shop get what I want, and spend my time taking photos.
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