Customer service stories are hilarious, especially when they come from those who work with DSLR cameras.
We've all been the bright-eyed photographer or filmmaker walking into a camera store for the first time. We wandered in like a kid on the first day of school, gently picked up floor models like precious artifacts, and pretended to inspect them like we knew what all the numbers and letters meant.
The clerks that work at these camera stores can spot the n00bs from a mile away. They know you're not really deciding between the DSLR with the higher ISO and the one with a larger sensor; they know you're like, "Yep, this is definitely a camera. Oh look! So is this." Fortunately, they are there to help customers pick out the right camera for their needs, but sometimes, the customer doesn't make that process very easy.
Just take a look at some of the customer service stories from photographer Michael Flores. He's been working in a camera store for about a year and a half and decided to share some of his most hilarious experiences helping customers with PetaPixel. We've shared a few of our favorites from his article down below.
Only the best
Customer: What’s the best camera you have here?
Flores: Well, there is no real answer to that, it depends what you’re doing.
Customer: Yeah, I get that, but like what’s the best one?
Flores: What are you taking pictures of?
Customer: Mainly my family and vacations.
Flores: Well, for travel we have the Sony a6300. That would do good for you.
Customer: But is that the best camera you have?
Flores: …Yes…Yes, it is.
No way!
Customer: I need a new battery for my 7D II.
Flores: Yeah that’s the LP-E6, they’re right here.
Customer: Thanks, I just wish I didn’t have to buy a new battery every few weeks when the other dies.
Flores: Sir, you can just recharge them…
Customer: Wait…What!?
W.W.C.D. (What Would Casey Do)?
Customer: I need a vlog camera.
Flores: We have the Canon G7xii and the Sony RXV here that are pretty popular.
Customer: Which one does Casey Neistat use?
These exchanges might make Flores' customers seem pretty clueless about the medium they're about to invest in, but I think we can all relate at least a little to their thought processes, like just wanting to know which camera is "the best one," wanting the same camera as our favorite filmmaker (because that of course means our films will look just like theirs), and just being completely unaware of how the simplest things (like batteries) work.
I remember back while shooting a short film for a college class, one of the students who was doing sound on my crew asked me when to say "speed." I said, "Oh, whenever you hit record," to which they replied, "Yeah, but doesn't the film have to speed up first or something?" We were using my Zoom H4n.
But again, we've all been there and said and asked more experienced filmmakers the dumbest things.
If you want to read the rest of Flores' hilarious customer service stories, check out his post in PetaPixel.
What are some of the funniest n00b moments/customer service conversations you've had? Let us know down in the comments!
Your Comment
10 Comments
though not retail...
"can you email me all the footage from last week?"
May 30, 2017 at 3:57PM
This right here...
May 31, 2017 at 7:54AM, Edited May 31, 7:54AM
I worked for Adorama Rentals for a year and half.... I can confirm that these are actual customer experiences.
May 30, 2017 at 4:43PM
The Battery one killed me!!! ha ha haaaa
May 30, 2017 at 11:10PM
I had a kind of opposite situation, because when I was buying my very first camera (I was like 11 yo) I went to the camera store and asked the guy (just for kicks, I knew everything about that camera) if the point'n'shoot (one of these with long zooms) that I wanted had an optical viewfinder like a DSLR. The guy looked at the camera and said something like "of course, viewfinders are only optical"
May 31, 2017 at 12:56AM
How bout in 2009 when I went to a camera store wanting to buy a 5D MKII for video and was told by the expert "you can't use this to make videos, it's a gimmick, get a video camera". HA
May 31, 2017 at 6:42AM
It also happened to me! lol
August 27, 2017 at 8:14AM
My experience is usually the opposite at almost every camera store.
I'm also sure the majority of this website's users are almost always the opposite.
I think somehow experienced consumers' dialogues with store clerks would make a good twitter account.
June 3, 2017 at 10:49AM
Once I had a sensor dust and gave it to the Canon Service Center. When it was being delivered I could still see a tiny spot at the corner. I showed it to the front desk lady and she in turn took the camera to the engineer inside. The engineer came out (pretty annoyed) and told me that he can't see any spot. He showed me a few shots he took against a white sheet to confirm.The shots were taken at around f8. So I told him that the spots are visible at a lower aperture. He was furious now, and told me to lower the aperture, take a shot and show him. As I was turning down the aperture and reached around f16, he gave a wicked smile and said "Hello sir... are you sure you are lowering the aperture?"
June 4, 2017 at 1:13AM, Edited June 4, 1:17AM
And you were right! lol the lower the aperture, the higher the aperture number... e.e
August 27, 2017 at 8:17AM
If I am the sales clerk, I will just sell what the customer wants as the top priority. It doesn't have to be the 100% right one. Cuz either you lose a sale when you giving advice to a clueless customer or end up argument potentially. It's not good for health for both sides. If they ask what Casey Neistat use, Google it, answer the customer. Let the customer make the decision if they want that particular model.
Although I know if you are real camera professional, you may totally disagree with customer's clueless opinion and choice. And you can make probably the straight line answer as the best for money and value to your customers. From my sales experience, every time I try to help a clueless customer to help them choose the 10-0% right product in the best value, more than 50% time the customers were thinking I was doing something to take advantage from them. (Me: WTF!!!!) and I could lose sales from that. Not good for the business. So now, if customers want something specific, I will sell it exactly what they want.
April 14, 2019 at 10:46AM