Anything but the D40, or How camera salesman are sneaky

[carbonmotion]

So I took my friend to Ritz to get a feel for the Cameras there today and some aweful smelling nerdy looking camera saleman tried to make a case for anything but the D40. Now, I told her to look at the D40 or the K100D since she's easing in to DSLR photography from P&S. Some of things the guy said was true, yes the D40 does have three AF points or as he points it, "my mother has more AF points than the D40." But other things are plan false, like the K100D has more lines of resolution on the LCD than the D40, which is false. I noticed that he tried to push a bigger and more expensive camera on me, because I guess he thought I was buying by appealing to my sense of masculinity. Common, be a man, if you spend the same 600 , you should get the bigger D70s body, it's way better than the D40 + that crappy little lens. He also said D40 can only use Nikkor lens, which simply isn't true. I then noticed that he was trying to sell me more expensive cameras and/ or more expensive out dated cameras that his store was probably trying to get rid of. All in all, the guy didn't have a beginner's interest in mind. He was mad pushy and made a huge ass out of himself. This is certainly no way to treat customers.

 

[compuwar]

So I took my friend to Ritz to get a feel for the Cameras there today and some aweful smelling nerdy looking camera saleman tried to make a case for anything but the D40. Now, I told her to look at the D40 or the K100D since she's easing in to DSLR photography from P&S. Some of things the guy said was true, yes the D40 does have three AF points or as he points it, "my mother has more AF points than the D40." But other things are plan false, like the K100D has more lines of resolution on the LCD than the D40, which is false. I noticed that he tried to push a bigger and more expensive camera on me, because I guess he thought I was buying by appealing to my sense of masculinity. Common, be a man, if you spend the same 600 , you should get the bigger D70s body, it's way better than the D40 + that crappy little lens. He also said D40 can't use none Nikkor lens, which simply isn't true. I then noticed that he was trying to sell me more expensive cameras and/ or more expensive out dated cameras that his store was probably trying to get rid of. All in all, the guy didn't have a beginner's interest in mind. He was mad pushy and made a huge ass out of himself. This is certainly no way to treat customers.

You should call up the store and ask to speak with the manager. Those sorts of tactics shouldn't be tolerated, and it may not be known that it's happening. Also, if you write to corporate, you're likely to get a response (and who knows, maybe even a discount.)

 

[b0tt094]

my local ritz treated me great, they let me try anything. Gave me they're advice for the glass I choose and offered me better ones but when i said no, they backed off.

maybe yours is more on the aspect of money not the enjoyment of the customer.

But w/e (a sale is a sale if you agree with it or not)

sorry to hear your experience was so bad

 

[carbonmotion]

You should call up the store and ask to speak with the manager. Those sorts of tactics shouldn't be tolerated, and it may not be known that it's happening. Also, if you write to corporate, you're likely to get a response (and who knows, maybe even a discount.)

The guy also said that the K100D kit lens had a bigger zoom than the D40 and was also of much better quality because of its all metal construction. I was like what the hell? I looked at the label on the Pentax, 18-55mm then the D40 18-55mm.... how do you pass bullsh*t like that off to your customers? Granted the D40 is 550 at ritz while the K100D is 650, so I understand the need to make some profit, but I think this is going too far.

 

[compuwar]

The guy also said that the K100D kit lens had a bigger zoom than the D40 and was also of much better quality because of its all metal construction. I was like what the hell? I looked at the label on the Pentax, 18-55mm then the D40 18-55mm.... how do you pass bullsh*t like that off to your customers? Granted the D40 is 550 at ritz while the K100D is 650, so I understand the need to make some profit, but I think this is going too far.

Sales people are motivated, incentivized and measured on sales. Management is motivated, incentivized and measured on customer satisfaction. While not all sales people are slimy, a fair portion are. That's why you need to make sure them and their practices are brought to the attention of management. Call the store and write the company- that's the only way you have a hope of getting the problem fixed. There's no guarantee, but it's the best chance.

 

[Passante]

The Ritz camera chain is a joke that only exists to process film and prints. If you buy a camera from these stores you almost certainly paid too much. Shop at B&H, Adorama or Sammy's camer.

 

[freebooter]

Ha!
Good story, in a way.

On a similar note:
My sister emailed me for advice before Xmas re: a DSLR purchase. I recommended the D40 as choice #1, the Pentax k100d #2, and the Canon 400D #3 (or #1 if she wanted to spend the big dollar on a body + an L-class lens).
Guess what the camera guy talked her into--a frickin' Konica-Minolta God-Knows-What! Oh well, "good enough" I suppose. But it frustrates me that the heartlessly unscrupulous can so mislead the vulnerably ill-informed.

ps: I was the manager of a camera store for much of the 80's and early 90s. I always tried to sell the customer the equipment that best matched their needs.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Sorry for your experience,not all of us in photo retail are the same.

As to the Nikkor lens issue. For AF you need to use AF-S lenses. These lenses have the motors built-in like Canon does. Only Nikon AF-S and some Sigma HSM lenses currently work on the D40 in AF mode.

Some may say, who cares? But there is a great number of non-AF-S lenses out there used. And it is a shame to limit yourself at this point IMO. But as long as this limitation is known and accepted - then the D40 is a great choice.

For me, when we had the D70s in stock at the end of its life - it was a better value IMO. I would offer both the D40 and the D70s to my customers and let them make their choice.

 

[Sdashiki]

The Ritz camera chain is a joke that only exists to process film and prints. If you buy a camera from these stores you almost certainly paid too much. Shop at B&H, Adorama or Sammy's camer.

i applied to work at one, and am a better person for it.

they asked if I could hard sell, if I could push things on people who only wanted to look. if i could feel what someone wanted and then know what I could push them into.

they made it a point to say, we have days where we must sell X number of Y model, because we are getting newer ones in. so you have to push these out the door, dont listen to the customer, just sell.

i was like, are you serious? im a photographer not an a$$hole. ill never work in a chain camera store.

 

[carbonmotion]

Sorry for your experience,not all of us in photo retail are the same.

As to the Nikkor lens issue. For AF you need to use AF-S lenses. These lenses have the motors built-in like Canon does. Only Nikon AF-S and some Sigma HSM lenses currently work on the D40 in AF mode.

Some may say, who cares? But there is a great number of non-AF-S lenses out there used. And it is a shame to limit yourself at this point IMO. But as long as this limitation is known and accepted - then the D40 is a great choice.

For me, when we had the D70s in stock at the end of its life - it was a better value IMO. I would offer both the D40 and the D70s to my customers and let them make their choice.

for a cute korean girl transitioning from a P&S, D70s is too much of a camera. It's also more expensive, 550 for body at ritz, they told me. Huge! Which means she would've had to sent alot more for less optimized technology...albiet the image quality is the same and the D40 has alot of features missing and so on and so forth but still... the point is, we have a price range for beginners, I already told him that, its not cool for him to pressure us to spend more money

I mean the D40 has its charms and its limitations but I also threw the K100D in there ...you can find it for about the same price and it has way more features than the D40. But I think at the end of the day, its really about how a camera feels in your hand, which no review can tell you.

Plus he explicitly said that the D40 only works with Nikkor lenses, which is a bold face lie amongst a **** load of other lies he told me. Never lie to your customers. Never. Every place that I shop at, Apple Store, Macys, The Lacoste Store, heck just about everywhere that has a sales rep knows to treat a customer with a lot of respect. When the guy tried to muscle me, my first reaction was.... "who the f*ck do you think you are?" I was very offended by the geeky, I'm a camera god you know nothing attitude. So I guess in summation the Ritz in my town is definately not very ritzy as they treat their customers like turd. I will never buy anything from them and I will never recommend my friends to buy anything from them.