Since we all have to purchase our equipment & supplies somewhere, it should be from a vendor who is friendly, cooperative & knowledgable. Unfortunately, in this world of the "fast buck," those types of photographic stores are few and far between. My home town has a population of around 400,000. About 20 years ago, there was a professional photography store (not just a camera store) where you could go to look at new equipment, talk about technique & even get a free cup of coffee. The store was owned by a husband & wife. When the husband died, the widow continued the business for a while & then decided to retire. It was a great loss to the photographic community in Tulsa. One of the employees of that store moved around over the years, but ended up at a Wolf Camera outlet in town. I can go into that store & receive the same type of service I was used to before...except for the selection of professional equipment & supplies. There is another store across town that offers the professional equipment, but not quite the same quality of service. Unfortunately, the owner of that store likes a healthy profit & therefore makes it difficult to want to buy there. There is a third, privately owned shop in town. It reminds me of all of the bad experiences I've been reading about on the digest. The employees in that store are condescending, rude & could care less about offering service. I decided to give them a shot at processing a black & white job for me while my darkroom was under remodeling. Out of 28 rolls of TMax 400, they ruined about 40% of the exposures through some type of chemistry problem. They did offer to give me 20% off of anything I wanted printed from that job. I also tried them for E-6 processing on three separate occasions. They promise two hour turn-around on E-6. On all occasions, I dropped off the film the night before & when I drove out there to pick them up, they weren't done. On two of the occasions, they hadn't even checked their drop box. The lab manager chewed on the girl behind the counter on one occasion; blaming her for the problem. When I complained to him about the poor service, he said, "We're not perfect!" To top it off, they don't even offer new camera equipment! It's all used! The extras, like reflectors, lighting, cases, etc., are new, but that's it! They've got a relatively new N90s for sale for $850 USD! When I told the owner that it was way overpriced, she said that someone would buy it at that price. I'm sure she's right, but it sure won't be me! I have since written her a letter explaining my dissatisfaction with her & her store. I informed her that I would not be back. I haven't heard a thing back from her. Sorry for the long post, but I feel that those that provide products that we buy should want our business. It's obvious that most stores really don't care about the professional or serious amateur these days. I do long for the old days when it comes to service. ___________________________ John Wilkinson Wilkinson Fotografix Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA http://home.earthlink.net/~jrwilk
