I am fairly new to current technology. Last summer I purchased my first digital camera. With it, I took pictures of the short vacation I took with my son. I also did a series of fall colour photos. I enjoyed this new approach to photography, making prints at the Kodak Picture Kiosk found at our local drugstore. In what seems like another lifetime, I was a photographer using conventional 35mm and medium format film technology. I was amazed at the quality which could be achieved with an eighty-nine dollar camera purchased at the local Canadian Tire Store. At Christmas I completed my leap into the 21st century with the acquisition of laptop computers for me and my son. I connected with the internet and learned the addictive compulsions of Facebook and Gmail. I also had a place to download and play with my pictures. I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog for some time and, while out for a walk the other day, decided to try my hand at it. I trust that anyone reading this in the realm of cyberspace will be forgiving in their critique or commentary with the realization that this is a first attempt .
For my birthday this year, i decided that I wanted another digital camera. What I wanted was a compact digital camera with a conventional viewfinder. As previously stated, I am an old school photographer and about the only thing that I dislike about digital photography is the business of holding the camera ten inches away from my face to look at the lcd screen. It is a lot more difficult to hold a camera steady that way. I was taught to always hold a camera close to your body with elbows tucked in to form a sort of human tripod. The steadier the camera, the sharper the picture.
My budget would not allow the purchase of a sophisticated dslr camera and, with much research and window shopping on the net, I found that the only company making a compact point and shoot with a conventional viewfinder is Canon. (For you photo hounds out there it is the Canon Powershot A1200.) From the Canon website I linked to a local photographic retailer. A quick phone call to a pleasant young lady at the store confirmed that, while they didn't have that model in stock, they had it on order and where expecting two of them that afternoon. Thus the plans for my birthday were set. My son and I would go out to dinner at a restaurant near the camera shop and then pop over to get my gift. Simple.
Dinner was nice and, when we got to the camera shop, I found that to my dismay, I had forgotten to write down the model number of the camera I wanted. I tried to describe it to the clerk. (I refuse to call him a salesperson.) He assured me repeatedly that no one made a compact camera with a viewfinder. I repeatedly told him that Canon did make such a camera and that I was talking to a young lady this morning who told me that they would have two of them in stock. The clerk told me that he had never heard of such a camera and was sure they didn't stock them. He then took his limited product knowledge to go serve another customer. I was about to leave the store but took a quick scan of the showcase before I left. There, at the very front of the showcase, were the two cameras that the first salesperson had said would be there! I waited patiently while the clerk finished dazzling the other customer with his charm and brilliance and pointed to the cameras in the showcase. I asked him if I could look at one as I was pretty sure it was the camera I wanted. He unpacked one and put some batteries into it so we could try it out. He was somewhat chagrined as I put the camera to my eye and pointed out the viewfinder. I told him that I would take one and as he was about to pack the camera back in it's box, I told him that I would take the one that was still boxed up. I suggested that since he had store batteries in the first one, he should keep it as a store demo model. Perhaps he could learn about it in his spare time. I politely declined the offers of a case and the extended warranty and left with my purchase.
I suppose that the reason I wanted to relate this story is to make a point of how technology has changed things. Instead of making photographic images on film. I now use pixels. What used to take me hours in a darkroom, I can now do in minutes on a computer. Though far from being a tech savvy person, I could do my homework and walk into a store knowing more about the product I want and about the store's inventory than the clerk behind the counter. I had been to the manufacturer's website. I had checked out the product's spec. sheet. I had even taken a virtual tour of the camera! I guess that what caught me off guard was that in this "information age" how little actual knowledge that the clerk had. I spent a good chunk of my life working in camera shops in the days of film. I know that the number one rule is that you don't argue with a customer. If he thinks you have it in stock, check your inventory. If you don't know about a product he wants, check the catalogue. (Or nowadays check the manufacturer's website.) If you don't have it in stock, offer to order it for him or show him a comparable product. If you don't know about something, admit you don't know but offer to find out and then do it. Things may have changed, but the basic rules of good customer service are still the same.
My plan B was to simply order the camera from Canon's E store.The price was the same and they offered free shipping. I would have had to wait a day or two for delivery but that is a minor concern. Maybe things have changed. Maybe the way I do business should change too.
...more later
Thanks for posting! I look forward to your future entries.
ReplyDeleteI love connecting with people through their blogs - I think you learn more about a person and how they think than you can in any other way when you read their writing.