Author Topic: Sydney camera shoppers charged $30 'explanation fee' (Read 770 times)

Em5 Pete · « **on:** November 30, 2011, 03:59:04 PM »

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/cameras/sydney-camera-shoppers-charged-30-explanation-fee-20111130-1o5lu.html

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2011, 04:53:02 PM »

$30 to handle it in the shop? I'd let them handle something else for a bit less....

peterb666 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 30, 2011, 05:45:09 PM »

What a very strange story. Note I am a Sydneysider and the last time I went to JB HiFi, they didn't charge an explanation fee; if they did, they would soon go out of business. Note that the article doesn't say they do.

JB HiFi itself has now got itself into grey market selling and the story sets out by Nikon, Canon, CR Kennedy (Pentax, Sigma, Metz, Leica et al) indicating that warranty will not be honoured by the local distributors (and in the case of Nikon and Canon, these are owned by the parent company) and the cost of warranty is of course used to justify the excessively high wholesale cost of goods in Australia which have not fallen as our dollar has risen (or at least not enough).

JB HiFi which has mainly storefronts and an online site as well is now into selling direct imports bypassing the wholesalers. Not big news here.

If you click on the link in the article from the SMH, it goes through to an article about retailers charging fees for providing what they see as a service. This was a "story" about 3 months ago. Very strange as this story is in the Daily Telegraph (Rupert Murdoch's News empire) and SMH is part of his competition.

The one camera shop in Sydney (a population of around 5 million people) that has (or had) a "service fee" for advice is Camera House in Caringbah, a southern Sydney suburb. Guess what, that little mickey mouse store that claims to charge a fee for handling high-end stock didn't have anything I would consider high-end stock when I was last there some 9 months before this fee was introduced. Their service was terrible then and I had trouble finding anything to spend the $100 gift voucher that I had been given from that particular store. The rest of the Camera House chain are fine and some of them have excellent on-line services and great prices. Not so the Caringbah store. Note that Camera House are individual franchisees so the level of goods stocked and services offered differ from store to store.

adash · « **Reply #3 on:** November 30, 2011, 11:46:33 PM »

Quote

Note I am a Sydneysider and the last time I went to JB HiFi, they didn't charge an explanation fee; if they did, they would soon go out of business. Note that the article doesn't say they do.

So it's again a media manipulation and/or a cheap sensation seeking?

asterinex · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2011, 01:08:23 AM »

In a way I can understand this.
I know people who go to a store. Listen for hours to advice. Go back. Listen again hours for advice and then buy it somewhere else where it is cheaper.

That is frustrating. Good advice costs money.

adash · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2011, 01:18:13 AM »

Quote

Good advice costs money.

Building a stable customer - seller relation is something that you have to give money for, not charge for it. The moment someone asks for money for a presentation, I turn around. Period. The same happens when I see a dummy model instead of the real camera. Or a camera with a discharged battery. Sorry, but if you want to sell, you have to do better. Else what distinguishes you form Huang Chang Lee, who sells anonymously cheap goods over ebay? At the end it is me who helps the seller's business, not the opposite.

peterb666 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 01, 2011, 05:02:46 AM »

Quote from: adash on November 30, 2011, 11:46:33 PM

Quote
Note I am a Sydneysider and the last time I went to JB HiFi, they didn't charge an explanation fee; if they did, they would soon go out of business. Note that the article doesn't say they do.
So it's again a media manipulation and/or a cheap sensation seeking?

Basically, you take a bit from one story, add a bit from another and keep building it up and you have something sensational for a slow news day.

RT_Panther · « **Reply #7 on:** December 01, 2011, 07:13:14 PM »

Since I do quite a bit of shopping at my local brick & mortar store, I understand exactly what these guys are doing. Folks go in, handle an E-P3, shoot some test frames, then go out and buy it online....If I were the store owner, I'd feel ripped off too!

voyager · « **Reply #8 on:** December 01, 2011, 09:44:41 PM »

What if you already know what you want?

asterinex · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2011, 11:29:46 PM »

Quote from: adash on December 01, 2011, 01:18:13 AM

Quote
Good advice costs money.

Building a stable customer - seller relation is something that you have to give money for, not charge for it. The moment someone asks for money for a presentation, I turn around. Period. The same happens when I see a dummy model instead of the real camera. Or a camera with a discharged battery. Sorry, but if you want to sell, you have to do better. Else what distinguishes you form Huang Chang Lee, who sells anonymously cheap goods over ebay? At the end it is me who helps the seller's business, not the opposite.

I think those times are over. Advice is found over the internet. I am mostly better informed than the salesmen.
Cheap and fast and correct service is what counts.

peterb666 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2011, 11:53:34 PM »

Quote from: asterinex on December 01, 2011, 11:29:46 PM

I think those times are over. Advice is found over the internet. I am mostly better informed than the salesmen.
Cheap and fast and correct service is what counts.

Charging for a service that is normally provided to enable a sale is just plain stupid in a competitive market.

It is just a good way to accellerate your downfall by applying vindictive charges on your potential clients. As long as there is more than one local retailer, you can bypass this sort of thing and still get full service. The real issue in Australia is the excessive wholesale pricing of goods.

RT_Panther · « **Reply #11 on:** December 02, 2011, 09:37:08 AM »

Quote from: voyager on December 01, 2011, 09:44:41 PM

What if you already know what you want?

Then IMHO, you do NOT need to touch & handle it in the store.....

peterb666 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 05, 2011, 02:28:03 PM »

Quote from: RT_Panther on December 02, 2011, 09:37:08 AM

Quote from: voyager on December 01, 2011, 09:44:41 PM
What if you already know what you want?

Then IMHO, you do NOT need to touch & handle it in the store.....

Very much agree.

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Sydney camera shoppers charged $30 'explanation fee'