New Camera Fail....Again?

I threw it out on Twitter a few days ago that I knew deep down I would never be happy, at least as far of photography goes, until I was the owner of a shiny new DSLR. Anyone who knows me well knows I am very ridiculously particular about the quality of the photographs that I take and while I have had great experiences with the Olympus I owned I am ready to take this camera business to the next level.




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Apparently the universe has other plans for me.

First it started with the camera I chose not being in stock even though the online inventory stated that the store had that model available. Customer service fail numero uno.

Today I called the store and after waiting on hold, being transferred and being hung up on I finally got through to a sales associate who physically went and checked the stock again and put the one camera they did have on hold for me.

Or so I thought.

When I arrived at the store I was told that there was no camera on hold, that they didn't know where it was and that someone else would help me. Ugh oh, not a good start to the second round at attempted camera purchasing.

When the sales associate that I had spoken to sheepishly ducked into a staff-only room behind the customer service desk with his manager I knew there was definitely something up.

Lesson number two about me; I am customer service drill sergeant. I expect a high standard because in every service oriented job I have ever had, that was expected of me. And the way I see it, if someone is going to spend their hard earned money you'd better show some appreciation through the service experience. Is that too much to ask? I don't happen to think so..

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Things were not looking good for me or this store tonight.

The sales associate finally made his way out of the back but the look on his face spelled trouble. He looked nervous and that worried me.

"Umm...we have a problem"

Great! As it turned out the model that had been put on hold was the wrong one and the only available camera was an open box (as in it had been returned) He quickly explained that the camera was in perfect condition, that I would be fully covered by the warranty and return policy and that I would get an additional discount for all my trouble.

Hmm...maybe some running around was proving to be worth it??

Guess again.

After excitedly checking out the camera itself I paid for my new gadget and left with a smile. I now owned a DSLR and could continue my beloved hobby. All was right in the world again, or so I thought.

After running a few more errands I came home to play with my camera and discovered that while the box contained the camera and the lens, it did NOT contain anything else. No cables, no charger, no software.




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Ahh!!!

And to make matters worse I had sold my Olympus on to a very friendly person from Craigslist. Other then my point and shoot I have been rendered camera-less and very, very, VERY annoyed!

Deep breath.

Customer service mistakes happen. I get that. But this many over the course of two days? That's just not right! The worst part is that I will unfortunately have to devote more of my time tomorrow to resolving this little debacle and but looking to the bright side I will hopefully be in possession of a DSLR for the weekend.

Wish me (and the store manager) luck!

It's time to watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy and then head to bed. Its been a long day and I'm wiped!

So tell me, how picky are you about customer service? Any stories you want to share?