Which shop offers a better price and good customer service?

Which shop offers a better price and good customer service?


Results are only viewable after voting.

Although it seems like there are lot's of bad experiences with John, mine was a pleasant and a fun one. I was with my photographic friend who looked on as i bought my D5000, my first ever camera purchase of my own. Bought my cam from them last year june.

Upon reaching the shop, i was greeted and asked nicely what i am looking for, how can they help. Quite a different experience as compared to major electrical shops. Upon requesting the product i wanted, they promptly show me the product and asked me to check the contents of the box. They have no clear idea whether im actually gonna buy the cam anot, altho clearly inside me i wanna purchase it from them after hearing good things about them, yet they still ask me to check the box's contents, something i have not experienced elsewhere.

While im checking the contents of the box and check out the cam as well, the guy named Terry serving me began to explain the basic specs and highlights about the D5000. After checking the contents, im happy with it and decided to go ahead with the purchase. All this happened within 30mins or so i guess, i don't remember it taking me ages to get it done with. Furthermore the shop is packed with customers as well. I also purchased a UV filter from them. Then this guy whom me and my friend presume is the boss, decided to give me some freebies upon my purchase. He said this "Terry, give him an extra battery and a SD card". Prior to my purchase, all i know is, SD card is included as freebie, not the extra battery. So that came as a nice surprise to me. He then said to me "I give you this as a token(or something, forgot what he said), but don't tell anyone". Well i let the cat out of the bag now, since its alr been a year :)

Here's the guy who gave that decision, the guy wearing the white long sleeve in the picture..
http://www.john316photo.com/John_3%3A16_Photo_Supplies/Our_Story.html

I have no idea if he is Samuel or not. All i know is he was confident of what he is doing and is serving me and other customers well. Talking to him is as if we knew each other for years. Yes they are forthright with their thoughts, i remember they said something or what, can't remember what they said. My friend and I then joke with them back and became a friendly conversation. I was never offended by them, infact i wanted to go back to the shop after purchasing my D5k. Now here come's something slightly religious, hope you guys don't mind. My experience with christians is that they are confident with what they feel about and tend to be straight forward. I appreciate this because i'm someone who is open to thoughts and appreciate forthrightness. As such i was prepared for that when i entered the shop and boy was i right. Hahaha. Sadly, not everyone can understand this and often, find this a rude behavior and often dubbed as 'proud'.

Having been working in the service industry for almost 1.5years, i feel that its true with regards to the quote "One man's meat is another man's poison". Quite a number of customers really enjoyed my service rendered to them that they placed very positive comments and even my name specially on the feedback card. Such to the extent i even had some people wanting to hire me in their own restaurants. However there are also customers who find me giving bad service, well because we are understaffed and i can't cope with so many customers and i'm feeling the strain. A simple mistake such as not even smiling, can get complained as well. Boy it is very tiring to smile for 8hrs straight on. Perhaps i have a fierce face when i dont smile wide open. :bsmilie:

All i wanna say is, John had given me great service and i really enjoyed their hospitality. It's a shame quite a number of people find their service poor. Afterall, they are also humans and since they are running a business, yes giving good service is always number one, but there are some times they had to try and make profits too. Sometimes it's not that they see angmoh they quickly run over to them and "neglect" you, but from my experience most locals do their homework before visiting the shop, whereas angmoh tend to have no clue what they wanna buy, that's when companies wanna "chop". Anywhere in sales, its happening. Its the reality. My poly friends once asked our lecturer "eh cher, you no integrity one leh". He then make a straight, harsh but realistic comment: "Integrity do not bring you rice on the table." So there it is, when it comes to service, it depends on how open you are and how well you want to be served, afterall what companies want, are profits; and for ourselves, all we want, is something we wanted to buy at the end of the day, not primarily, a great service.
 

Last edited:
For excellent customer service I vouch for John 3:16, Cathay Photo and MSColor. The first one being the highest.

Better pricing is a different story though. For me it will always be MSColor, but it's only second to our BnS section. :D
 

Last edited:
How about Miao Laan? I'm a part-timer there now by the way. Personally feel that you could get the prints fast and cheap. Whereby we have a soft spoken guy in the shop but his printing is good! =)!
 

Quite Disappointed With Alan Photo

Their Pricing Always Wanna Hiong Ppl
 

Vee Lee said:
Quite Disappointed With Alan Photo

Their Pricing Always Wanna Hiong Ppl

The price Alan photo quote depends a lot on whether you are a regular customer. Familiar faces get a different price.
 

I will say is challenger mini at funan over there. That is a different challenger since have so many challenger at sg....They have good service and quite good price..
 

I try not to go to any of these places if possible. I am one of the so-called "prioritised Angmo" and it simply is not true. There is no priority queue. What there is out there is very little quality customer service. If I am forced to buy new I will usually go straight to TK Photo at Funan, find someone I have dealt with before, and expect to be treated with respect, honesty and courtesy. If not, I will simply, to their face, tell them why and go elsewhere. Guys, there are 4 shops on the same level there. It is easy to go somewhere else around there (this is assuming they all have the same stock or goods). So far, I have not had to do this at TK Photo. They are usually as polite as retail Singaporean camera shops get.

For me, I am willing to pay a little more not to:
1) Be treated like an idiot.
2) Have someone answer my questions without being rude or pushy
3) Have them say, "I am not sure" if they don't know
4) Attend to me the entire time I am with them without them looking for the big fish
5) Not have to queue or push like in a market

That is why if I normally buy, I go to Alex Photo at Peninsula Plaza. Mostly second hand but has a decent stock of quality new lenses and, more importantly, always treats me well and lets me try things without complaint. He KNOWS I will be back. ;) $20 or $30 over the price of a normal decent lens is not worth the agony of enduring any of the points my list.

If we all decide not to put up with this or at least tell the shop person what they are doing is wrong (in a polite but firm way), this will have to change. I hope.
So, for this poll, TK Photo. J3:16 is fake and too crowded and very Canon-oriented. Alan is always pushy and miserable and Cathay... well, it's Cathay.

Sorry, I intended just to make a quick comment but I spend so much time and money on my beloved hobby that I got carried away with the post.
 

+1 for TK Photo. I admit their price is not always the cheapest but for 10-20 dollars more, you get good, honest service. I bought from J3:16 before. Got chopped on the filter. Hoya 77mm HMC filter for SGD90 :( Well, I guess all the sales people now know that we always check the big ticket item on the net properly but will ignore the smaller ticket item like filters. Just a small warning for potential J3:16 customers :)
 

hcchua73 said:
+1 for TK Photo. I admit their price is not always the cheapest but for 10-20 dollars more, you get good, honest service. I bought from J3:16 before. Got chopped on the filter. Hoya 77mm HMC filter for SGD90 :( Well, I guess all the sales people now know that we always check the big ticket item on the net properly but will ignore the smaller ticket item like filters. Just a small warning for potential J3:16 customers :)

Isn't J3:16 a staunch C shop?
 

Saw J3:16 getting stuffs from The Camera Workshop which sell some grey set items.
 

UncleFai said:
Isn't J3:16 a staunch C shop?

They staunch in what u believe in. If u are yellow, they will speak nikon. If you are red, they will speak canon.
 

Well, they r running a business anyway. So if ur business minded, then it makes sense to carry different products to boost one's sales margin. So they will sell what customers want and if it's C then it's C and vice versa.
 

****ms color is very trustworthy, price is best, they stand their word, just a bit far from my place
****SLRR is one of my fave also, very different than their same boss different shop, friendly and reasonable price
***TK is also friendly and convenient place to browse, not the best price sometimes but still ok
***Orient is surprisingly good regarding the reputation of Sim Lim Square, they're friendly and give reasonable price
**John is not bad, friendly but a bit more expensive and long queue, plus is you can have a lot of new brothers there :)
**Parisilk give the cheapest price, but they fail me once with their word.
*Alan always give me the most expensive price and the most likely ignore me, if i don't want to find anything out of stock in other places i will not come here

i never tried cathay, everytime i go there always crowded and they closed at weekend
 

Last edited:
****ms color is very trustworthy, price is best, they stand their word, just a bit far from my place
****SLRR is one of my fave also, very different than their same boss different shop, friendly and reasonable price
***TK is also friendly and convenient place to browse, not the best price sometimes but still ok
***Orient is surprisingly good regarding the reputation of Sim Lim Square, they're friendly and give reasonable price
**John is not bad, friendly but a bit more expensive and long queue, plus is you can have a lot of new brothers there :)
**Parisilk give the cheapest price, but they fail me once with their word.
*Alan always give me the most expensive price and the most likely ignore me, if i don't want to find anything out of stock in other places i will not come here

i never tried cathay, everytime i go there always crowded and they closed at weekend

If you track recent pricings, MS Color is no longer giving best price. Eg D7000 kit, most Funan shops are selling for $1819 range while MS Color is selling at $1899
 

Try technogadget D7000 is around $1400+
 

spree86 said:
That is a grey set with no local Nikon warranty

We need one victim that able to do a full reimbursement from them. Then I think their sales will need to open floodgates :p
 

We need one victim that able to do a full reimbursement from them. Then I think their sales will need to open floodgates :p

Haha I am waiting for one too, the prices are so near HK now, so attractive :bsmilie:
 

any new thread other than this? and from what i see here slrr has the best comments so far? correct me
 

just got overcharged at Funan Alan Photo. :thumbsd: S$120 for a 77mm Hoya Cir-Pl Slim. was in a rush...lesson learnt...

will not purchase from AP anytime soon...buyers beware!!! :angry:
 

Back
Top