Photoclubalpha

Why does Sony have a "contact us" link on their web site if they never have any intention of giving a reply? I've sent numerous emails via their site and never once got an acknowledgement, let alone an answer! In desperation I rang them. Wow, what a farce that was. The person on the other end of the phone didn't even seem to understand my questions; it was as if we were from different planets! Example: when I asked why neither the twin macro flash nor the ring light were shown on the UK web site, yet were on the far easten ones, I got the following reply - " These items are not compatible with the A700 sold in the UK because cameras for our market have a different specification than those sold in other markets! Now I've heard of some cameras being given slightly different names in other markets; but different specs? When I told this young lady I found this hard to swallow she then preceded to explain that the Japanese buyers are more sophisticated than us, because they're more used to all the technowledgy. To which I replied that I didn't think we were that daft!

Anyway, luckily, before I lost my sanity I found this forum and so I'm saved!

Sony is a massive corp and unless you find the right person, it's not easy to use their corporate 'response system'. In the UK, they do retain the services of Bernard Petticrew, who used to work for Minolta UK - but he's there as a consultant to their own staff, and his contact with the public is voluntary. It's possible to get in touch with Bernard via http://www.thephotostore-uk.com, and he may be able to relay requests for items to be imported. So may Adrian Paul, who runs the Photostore, and has a Sony dealership (Adrian was admin manager of the Minolta Club for 15 years).

David