[Leica] Leica Dealer Behavior

[Marc Talusan <talusan@psyche.mit.edu>]

Jeff Segawa wrote
>
>I hate playing "status games", but I have at times stooped to letting it
>be known that yes, I own a Leica or Hasselblad, in order to get proper
>help pronto. Gauche? Yeah, but it works. I assume you have none of those
>things to fall back on yet, so I'd suggest that you find the store's
>"Leica person" and start talking Leica first before asking to handle any
>gear. I think if it's fairly clear that you have been doing research
>into the M system (download the M6 brochure and learn the basics!),
>they'll start pulling equipment out of the showcase for you. But if you
>walk in off the street asking to see an M6 without qualifying yourself
>or looking wealthy, that's tough.
>
The funny thing is that I did have my camera with me when I went into a
store to look at lenses. I had also done a fair bit of research on the
camera, and did in fact download the brochure. I also looked at every web
resource I could find. I think that in the case of this particular dealer,
and a couple of other dealers I spoke to, the simple fact that I was young
(and I look a fair bit younger than I am), was really a point of resentment
for them. The ones that I spoke didn't really bother to learn about what I
knew, but instead made a lot of assumptions about my knowledge based on my
appearance, and my relative unfamiliarity with the handling of the M6.

I think the dealer I spoke to when I was looking at lenses also resented
that I didn't buy my camera from him, since he kept talking about people
who look at his stuff and then buy them somewhere else. The fact is that I
would have happily paid the extra money if I was buying from a dealer that
I have a good relationship with. But I think retailers are making a big
mistake when they adopt the attitude that consumers are out to get them,
because as soon as they do that, consumers become resentful and don't do
business with them. I've actually had much better experiences dealing with
people over the phone and on the net, at least partly because they can't
judge my appearance when I talk to them. But for me, the choice was either
going with a retail dealer who treated me badly and was charging $200 more
for the Leica M, or going with a mail-order dealer that I had very cordial
conversations with on the phone and was charging less. The decision was
very easy.

Marc