On 16/11/08, Boris Liberman, discombobulated, unleashed: >Bill, here in Israel the following is very common practice. You walk >in a store and ask for something. They walk away and return with the >box which they put on the counter. You ask to open it and actually try >it before you commit your money. They respond that by doing so they >risk so many shekels worth of goods. You parry by saying that you >cannot buy something that may not work. They respond in turn that >whatever is the problem you will have it resolved by the warranty and >that they'd be happy to assist you should invocation of warranty >become necessary.
I can see both sides. I once went into a well-known photographic shop in London with the intention of buying a lens (I think it was a Canon 24mm f 1.4 IIRC) and it was not cheap. I had made my decision and marched in. I asked if I could please see (said) lens as I would like to buy one (eg - I made my intention clear). I was stunned when the proprietor refused and said I would have to pay first before he would even open the box. I tried to make him understand that I was fully intending to purchase there and then. He explained that he could not take the chance that I would not buy the lens once opened - and he certainly would not mount it on a camera (I had my 1DmII with me). He said that 'people were ever so anal and wouldn't buy a lens if it had been handled or mounted already', and that 'people come in and try things out and then go buy them on the internet...' I explained that the idea of a camera shop was so that customers could indeed try before buying, rather than purchasing site unseen on the net. He still would not open the box! At this point I had decided on a matter of principle not to buy from him. I informed him that as he was indeed emulating an online web store by not letting me see my intended purchase first, that I would indeed wait and use an online store instead and save another 60 quid in the bargain (we're talking about 900 GBP here). He was unrepentant, and I left the shop. My only thoughts were that I would not enter a camera shop again. I would seek out a colleague or acquaintance in future to 'try out' a lens. I would buy from an online dealer in future. I have not changed my opinion. YMMV. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
