Quote:
Originally Posted by postcardcv
My independent local camera shop sells at competitvie price (sometimes cheaper than WHE), offers great service and a fantastic range of stock (they even hold the big primes in stock).
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I am lucky as ' posties ' local dealer is the same as mine. I have bought through Jessops at their Kings Lynn branch with very knowledgeable staff. Probably just as in any really large organisations some stores will be better than others in that respect.
Moving up to Norfolk from the outer London area was a bit of an eye opener for me. Camera stores are thin on the ground and without Jessops and Norfolk Cameras I would be totally reliant on the internet.
If I return to my upgrade from the D100. I visited Norfolk Cameras as it is 10 miles nearer than Jessops and asked to see a D200 which at the time no one had stocks of. When they had a delivery they informed me as I am sure Jessops would have done. I duly viewed it but decided that it was not for me. On this visit I took up about 1/2 an hour of the sales guys time. Having seen Foxy's D2X I asked if they had that for a side by side comparison. They did not have one but ordered one. I duly viewed and yet again at least another 1/2 hour of the sales mans time. In the end I bought the D2X from them.
Here is the rub. I could have despite all their time and effort spent on my enquiry bought through the net and saved possibly £50 - £100 with a bit of research. If enough of their customers did that then they would close down. Now if in the current position Jessops were now to close the Kings Lynn and Norwich branches we would only have one camera shop in Norfolk ( LCE ) that I have also bought from. With no shops I would for all future purchased I would be totally dependant on internet reviews. In the case of the D100 upgrade I would have bought the D200 based solely on those reviews and just put up with the lack of eye relief and full compatability with my SB80-DX flash.
I may sound like the odd one out but with great service I am a supporter of my local camera shops and in this case that includes our nearest Jessops, occasional internet purchases apart.
Don