Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/05

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Subject: Attitude adjustment......
From: "BIRKEY, DUANE" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 10:20:44 -0500

>Similar attitude I have noticed when you go to the professional 
section of
>our local Wolf Camera store in the 14th street.  Some of those guys 
treat
>you like you are an idiot.

I used to work for Wolf doing commercial sales in the Chicago area.   I 
would suggest you fill out a Customer service/complaint card and tell 
Chuck Wolf about how you were treated.  That kind of treatment really 
isn't very professional and is a poor practice for any retailer.  As a 
former assistant manager, I can tell you we would fire anybody who 
treated customers as idiots.

I'm not defending their actions but, I can tell you that a lot more 
idiots come to the professional department than professionals.  I found 
it hard at times to keep a straight face with some of the "Pro's" 
questions and watching them mishandle equipment or not knowing how to 
change lenses on their Nikon or Canon .  After you've worked a store 
for a while you know all of the pro's in the area and assume anyone you 
don't know isn't one.   Besides that a lot of people want professional 
discounts (on one roll of film?) and professional service on repairs 
(I'm going on vacation)  and will claim that their being asked to take 
pictures of the park district soccer games qualifies them a 
professional.  

We had lookers who never bought anything from us, but handled 
everything in our store and of course bought mail-order to save a 
couple of bucks.  We had talkers who would tell us their life story, 
questioners who asked everything, impatienters who got extremely 
frustrated if they were in line behind a looker, talker or a 
questioner.   Counter contemplaters that took forever to make up their 
mind and once in while we had buyer who did enough homework to know 
what he needed and wanted to buy.  

On the other hand, at most of the stores I've been to, the idiots were 
behind the counter rather than in front of it.  There are 
make-it-up-as-you-go salesman who have never read the instruction book 
of any camera.  3 vs 4 element techno-freaks who discuss irrelevant 
facts, figures and specifications and can't answer a simple question.  
The non-user salesman who responds to the difference of Kodachrome and 
Fujichrome as being "one comes in a green box and you can't really see 
that much difference in the prints................   (OH......  you 
wanted slide film????)"   and I could go on and on..... 

Anyhow I think a lot of people in this world need an attitude 
adjustment,  (most of whom, by the way, seem to work in retailing or 
perhaps art circles...)  Everyone is competing with each other to be 
better, smarter, prettier, wealthier,  happier or whatever.  It's often 
an if you are not equal or better than me on some level I choose...... 
than get lost attitude.  So many people are stuck on themselves and the 
world would be a better place to live if people weren't and instead 
would follow the golden rule and put others first. 

Hey where did this soap box come from?????

Duane Birkey
HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador