Support Complaints -> How about point of sale?

[DonSchap]

Most support complaints come from issues dealing with the repair of lenses or camera bodies. You usually don't consider asking for equipment support from a camera retail store as a big deal, except when that store just happens to be the manufacturer's.

So ... my major complaint that I have been living with concerns SONY DSLRs (regardless of the model), because it is not the camera that is the problem. It is the god-awful support! There just isn’t any to speak of.

For example:

Here in the States, you go into a "SONY Style" store and ask for the camera counter.



They direct you back to a glass display containing the cameras and a few (meager) selection of their lower-end lenses. When you get back there, you expect to find a reasonably informed sales person that reasonable knows something about what they are selling.

That is mistake #1 , because in the entire store, manager included, there is not one person that can tell the difference between what an APS-C and FF can do, other than what is written on the small card in the card holder. Folks, I can read, too. There is no “expert” for the camera department, not even its manager. Most of them have not even seen a Carl Zeiss lens, other than the CZ 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 kit lens.

Going further, you would hope to be able to properly demonstrate the A900 to yourself. Mistake #2! The only lenses the local "SONY Style" stores have that are “full frame” in design are a couple of primes, the 50mm f/1.4 and the 100mm f/2.8 MACRO.



No serious zoom lens. Everything else is “DT”. I’m sorry, but if I am going to plunk down $2500 for a new camera body, I would expect you to have an equally qualified CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 and/or a 70-200mm f/2.8 G SSM lens to make it sing. It is pointless to try and examine that camera with anything less to understand its capability. In fact the rest of the section is just camera bags ... it's sad!




So, we have:

1. effectively useless support staff (I mean, this is THEIR store, not Best Buy or some such place) and
2. a severe lack of available equipment (lenses, flashes, whatnot) for the cameras.


I’m just pointing out a couple issues that are, in my opinion, “sales killers” and a real disappointment to people who have already purchased their new SONY DSLR and are now looking to add to their lens bag. Plus, other SONY-mount manufacturers (TAMRON & SIGMA) are not even carried in the SONY Style stores, so those sales and demonstrations are lost, completely.

I believe the SONY DSLR marketing plan is suffering and teetering as a complete failure, in my estimation, for a lack of vision. It truly needs to change, before everyone finds out and just blows SONY off as a “non-player.”

Invest in your future, SONY. We are waiting ...

[Mike]

Hard to take seriously, criticism printed in white on a gray background, lol. I think you have confused Sony Style stores with a conceptual Sony Photography Store. Would you be disappointed if you when to a Husqvarna store that didn't have a sales staff that could tell you how to cut down a tree and make a quilt?

Mike

[David Kilpatrick]

Sony Style - or in the UK, Sony Centre - stores in malls are franchises. There is a training suite at Sony Europe for the investors. Sony's main focus when signing up such deals is financial liquidity, order size, payment terms and bank facilities. The sign-up process is run entirely by accountants and if you have made a fortune cutting keys or selling burgers, you can probably open a Sony Centre.

You then get a standard package which includes certain ranges of audio, TV, digital camera, camcorder etc stuff.

You do not get a brain transplant for your staff

Sony ACE dealers here are the real thing - G lenses, Zeiss, etc. Specialist often old-established photo shops signed up for their knowledge and track record. Sony Centres (aka Style) are entirely different, shopping mall prime retail etc.

David

[DonSchap]

Sadly David ... there really are no third party support places for SONY, per se. If you do go to one of the two "Photography" pro shops in the area, even though they may have a couple high-end lenses, they have zero.point.none assistance for the SONY line. In other words, you are really on your own, after the Best Buy purchase of an Alpha-body and the standard couple of lenses.

I would hazard to guess, that does not represent any kind of real growth that people or even SONY can rely on. The "Minolta regulars" have bought their supplies, by now. It has been three years. The newbies are caught in the middle, between no support and no supplies, readily at hand.

My local brick & mortar would love to have SONY as one of their offering, but SONY wants some ungodly level of investment. These guys are barely making it with what they sell. SONY should be glad someone who legitimately wants to support their DSLR product, with "knowledgeable staff" ... and don't reduce it to some kind of bubble-card commodity.

I find this troubling. Anyone else? Hello? Oh my God, am I in a mine shaft?

[stevecim]

Same in Australia, The Melbourne Sony Style store, does have Zeiss lenses on display but not in stock, they get loan glass from Sony for display only and no G lenses. I don't think we have any ACE type stores in Australia.

In Melbourne we have 4 main camera stores with a few blocks and a Sony Style store. In the Camera stores all the staff just push Canon, then Nikon. they only sell sony to people who only want sony. One of the store keeps the full range of Sony bodys/lenses and at present have one complete dispaly window for the new models and inside the store Sony kit get the same amount of display space has Nikon right in the cetre of the SLR department, but speaking to the staff the new bodys are not selling. they used to sell alot of a200 and a350, I got my a350 there.

There are also 3 other camera stores in the area that only sell Canon/Nikon, they sell tamron/sigma lenses but will not order lenses in sony mount.

Sony need to work on more than just the bodies

[KevinBarrett]

Our local Sony Style Store is pretty awful, too. Their digital imaging person couldn't recognize that the 16-80 mounted on their a900 wasn't a full-frame lens, even when I prompted her to look through the viewfinder. While I have to give them credit for having more lenses and accessories than most retailers in the area, their lack of plain understanding was frightening.

I do have the pleasure of living very close to a real and competent camera store, that gives Sony a spot right by the front door...I imagine they're something like an ACE dealer. Arlington Camera has perhaps the only "G" lenses on display or in stock in this whole area, and they regularly carry the Zeiss 85/1.4, as well. Interestingly, the equipment they don't carry in the store are the a200-a380 bodies.

[bonneville]

I have had mixed experiences with ACE accredited stores; Digital Depot in Stevenage (very poor), Jacobs in Leicester (reasonable), LCE in Nottingham (fair) but they all had one common failing: "sorry but the Sony sales staff is - off today/out to lunch /on a course" (in that order).

The trick is to know what you want before going, calling ahead to see if it is stock and not relying on sales staff telling me something I don't already know (probably from this forum).

[harvey]

My recent experience with Sony Centres is that they are not at all competitive on price. Even a "trade" price on an A900 was not competitive with Jessops and they are not generally the cheapest. So either they are not getting good deals or don't want to undercut non-Sony channels.
In the past the only things I have purchased from the Sony branded stores were a TV (to get a 5-year warranty) and headphones (nobody stocked expensive Sony headphones).

One problem with some of the small stores is that the staff can have a bad attitude as if they know it all. I once had a salesman in a Hi-Fi shop try to tell me a balance control was there to affect the high notes.

Mind you it could have been worse as in this video.

[pakodominguez]

That is mistake #1 , because in the entire store, manager included, there is not one person that can tell the difference between what an APS-C and FF can do, other than what is written on the small card in the card holder. Folks, I can read, too. There is no “expert” for the camera department, not even its manager. Most of them have not even seen a Carl Zeiss lens, other than the CZ 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 kit lens.
...

No serious zoom lens. Everything else is “DT”. I’m sorry, but if I am going to plunk down $2500 for a new camera body, I would expect you to have an equally qualified CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 and/or a 70-200mm f/2.8 G SSM lens to make it sing. It is pointless to try and examine that camera with anything less to understand its capability. In fact the rest of the section is just camera bags ... it's sad!
...

This in NOT the case at the SonyStyle in Madison AVE, NYC. John "Alpha" Radovanovich is a skilled photographer (until last news, he's a Canon user) who, other than been a nice guy, knows all about the Alpha line -and some stuff about the KM legacy.

I don't know if they have the whole line "on stock", but I'm sure that, if your CC allows you, you can leave the store with a nice kit (A900 + Vertical Grip + Any flash + 24-70; 70-210 and 85 or 135 lenses)

I have no idea of what happens in the rest of the USA. But I remember this article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/busin ... 7digi.html

Regards

[DonSchap]

I realize through some members testimony, through several message boards, that there are a couple SONY Style stores, on "the coasts" that seem to do more than "KIOSK-type" support. That's great and terrific for San Diego and New York ... unfortunately, for a city the size of Chicago, we are not getting anything close. I have to tell you, I am not driving 1000+ to get that kind of service in the United States. That's a gross over-expectation of any company, in my opinion, especially one as large as SONY is. There is just no excuse for this, if they really are interested in growing the line to take on the likes of Canon and Nikon ... even in a non-professional role.

The only store, I am told (because I have not gone down there to check it out yet) that has a supposedly reviewable stock of the higher-end lenses is Fryes Electronics. I have been to the Fryes store several years ago and found that they are a multi-brand retail outlet ... certainly not the manufacturer's representative. I find it hard to believe they can offer substantive support to the SONY DSLR line or issues that exist exclusively with the Alpha cameras. Calumet Photographic doesn't even support the basic SONY lenses in their stores, and they are one of the largest camera retailers in the city. Ask for support there ... and they can't offer any.

I really do expect this from the SONY Style store, being the direct representative of the SONY company. In my opinion ... you can save yourself the trip ... because, here in Chicago ... no one is home.

What does that say about support for the 2016 Olympics to be held here? Is SONY boycotting that, too?

[Greg Beetham]

I can't say I'm surprised by the content in this thread, it's hard too maintain belief in the competence level of Sony if they don't even know the difference between a flash and an ordinary light, (that they still insist on calling a flash).
Greg

http://www.sony.com.au/productcategory/di-slr-flash

[bfitzgerald]

I wonder how well that flash light sells lol

[Greg Beetham]

I wonder how well that flash light sells lol

Not very well I imagine at the price they charge, for basically a battery box and a led ring light that is similar in performance (useless for serious macro work) too 3rd party led ringlights at a fraction of the price.
Greg

[bfitzgerald]

What about this Greg?

http://www.parkcameras.com/10909/Sigma- ... it%29.html

As you know I am not really into macro, but I know some folks are..what's a viable serious ring flash option for A mount users right now?

[Greg Beetham]

Yeah, thanks Barry,
I knew about the Sigma EM-140 DG, and it fairly recently became available for the KM/Sony system, but I haven't been able to find a review on just how well it integrates with the system...there were a couple of glowing reports with the Nikon and Canon systems. One really good feature it has is that you can regulate each of the flash tubes in fractional power from 1/1 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 or completely off.
The Sigma might be the only way of getting a macro flash that works out in the field.
There is also the Metz as well, and there also a comprehensive review would be good.
Still I would much rather have the original kit, the KM controller with both the twin flash heads and the ring flash head too use in the appropriate circumstances, then you don't have too buy two complete systems, just the controller and the two different flash heads.
As it is now that Sony screwed it up, if you want a twin flash and a ring flash you have the Sony version of course, (now only a half system and still very expensive), and you still have to go and buy a seperate complete ring flash system, and I for one will not buy the crippled Sony system, I don't see the point of wasting good money on a half system.
Greg