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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:59 pm 
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Amateurs can go to BestBuy and Future Shop, but it doesn't mean Vistek can't have good customer service, which they apparently don't. I really hate having to go there because of that, and I am sad there's not that many stores in Canada that offer competitive prices with ones South of the border :roll: nothing you can do


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:06 pm 
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dcsang wrote:
That said, I wonder, people talk about customer service wrt Vistek - but here's a question for you lot: Would you be willing to pay "a bit more" for effective customer service?

For example, take the same item (Lens, body, what-have-you) and it's sold at store A for $2000, store B for $1850 and store C for $2100. Store A's service is "ok" but far from "great" - they try to upsell you, they don't really know the product etc. Store C's service is "excellent" and awesome - they don't try to upsell you, they know the product and they spend time with you explaining anything you want to know. Store A's service is "horrible", they talk down to you, they don't care if you want the product you came in for, they want to upsell you etc.


you have a point here but Vistek isn't best known for low prices. It's on par if not higher with other camera stores in town.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:12 pm 
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They price match though .. I got an sb600 pricematched there with Blacks


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:34 pm 
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I just go to Henry's and get them to price match. Never had any issues at all.


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mikefellh wrote:

Well I was shopping around for a high-end projector >$5000 AND I had made an appointment in advance.

I had to wait almost 1/2 an hour for the particular rep to be available (he didn't make provision for someone else to look after me), and when I was finally directed to the projector room it was far from adequate as there was an uncovered window in the room letting in bright sunlight.

Hardly professional service.


Honestly, Vistek is the last place on earth I would ever go shopping for a projector. I have an audio/visual supplier that puts on a tradeshow twice a year showcasing the latest in projection technology. They are expensive, but have pretty good customer service.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:56 pm 
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radup70 wrote:
you have a point here but Vistek isn't best known for low prices. It's on par if not higher with other camera stores in town.


That's not my point.
My question was regarding paying more for better customer service.

Based on what we see here - and this is a small sampling of all the potential photographers within Toronto - Vistek bites when it comes to customer service - so, if they did change their service model, would it prompt you to shop there given that their prices are, as you say, on par or higher than other camera stores in town.

To me, and this is a general statement, price is not everything. Sure it does sway some but knowledgeable staff, being treated "nicely" (I don't expect to be be treated like I'm some big spender/wheeler/dealer but with common courtesy), and having staff suggest alternatives regardless of price (not necessarily just upselling) go a long way when you're only talking $150 difference on a $2000 item.

Cheers,
Dave


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:27 am 
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lxdesign wrote:
Honestly, Vistek is the last place on earth I would ever go shopping for a projector. I have an audio/visual supplier that puts on a tradeshow twice a year showcasing the latest in projection technology. They are expensive, but have pretty good customer service.


Vistek was only one of the places we went to, and it did include places that do professional projector setups, and have theatre sized screens for testing.

My purpose of posting my experience as "a professional customer spending big bucks" was to show it's not just the low $ sales who get stiffed by Vistek staff.


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Vistek took an advertisement out in on the last page of the January issue of Photolife, it shows their beautiful store, a customer standing there, and no staff in site. The image is titled appropriately: "The Vistek experience".


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mikefellh wrote:

Vistek was only one of the places we went to, and it did include places that do professional projector setups, and have theatre sized screens for testing.

My purpose of posting my experience as "a professional customer spending big bucks" was to show it's not just the low $ sales who get stiffed by Vistek staff.


gotcha..... frankly, not surprised.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:56 pm 
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The staff at Vistek are total snobs .. condescending sums it up perfectly.
Henry's on Steeles Ave. West gets my business. Helpful and nice.


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rhommel wrote:
I think they can tell if a person that goes there is 'going' to buy, or 'looking' to buy.. 'Looking' to buy means, they would have to convince the client first.. which could mean more work for them :)


I picked up a BXRi kit from Gary (downtown) as well, reserved by phone. Call was great however the unit was faulty once I used it (not his fault). Gary told me to just come in and exchange it however they were closed when I arrived. Swapped the unit in Mississauga.

The experience was pleasant... the only thing I would have liked was a follow up call from Gary since I didn't show up to switch it, but that's just the icing on the cake.

Vistek is great when you know what you're looking for, unfortunately their staff usually leave much to be desired. That said, they have a fantastic website, do your homework before you go and avoid that empty feeling!


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:48 pm 
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Ok, so who is going to send them an email now with all of the quote's from this thread? I think someone should do it, just to show how much most people avoid having to deal with them. Maybe it will make someone realize how much their customer service sucks.


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lxdesign wrote:
Ok, so who is going to send them an email now with all of the quote's from this thread? I think someone should do it, just to show how much most people avoid having to deal with them. Maybe it will make someone realize how much their customer service sucks.


Most customer service issues stem from the top. Since the problem is so widespread you'd be wasting your time. It's cultural at this point, you need change at the top to ripple down and old habits die hard. Short of getting new customer service centric managers and directors hope is all we've got... and our wallets.


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lxdesign wrote:
Ok, so who is going to send them an email now with all of the quote's from this thread? I think someone should do it, just to show how much most people avoid having to deal with them. Maybe it will make someone realize how much their customer service sucks.


Probably a good idea. The owner should know. If i owned a store and there were issues with customer service from the dedicated market audience, i would want to know.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:02 pm 
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lxdesign wrote:
Ok, so who is going to send them an email now with all of the quote's from this thread? I think someone should do it, just to show how much most people avoid having to deal with them. Maybe it will make someone realize how much their customer service sucks.


This is Holly Thomas' account (Customer Relations) :
http://twitter.com/vistk

I've dealt with her and she's very nice.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:09 pm 
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where are we supposed to look? I don't see what you are talking about.


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rhommel wrote:
nice! i've been thinking for the last month whether I should get this kit or the Profoto Kit.. But Elinchrom has much cheaper modifiers than the profotos...

how are the bx's?


I like them a lot, but the softboxes in the kit are pretty lame... did you get the softbox or umbrella kit? I'm curious what the umbrellas are like.

I was also on the fence between profoto and elinchrom but decided the modifiers and skyport system was a better value... no PWs here.


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Too bad Elinchrom uses 7mm shaft umbrellas since most are 8mm shafts. Kinda makes you have to buy the Elinchrom ones.

I saw the softboxes in the Elinchrom kits. Not too impressed by them. In order to use a modifier, you need to buy a softbox extension. That and no grids for their beauty dish. But gotta say I love my monolights. I'm thinking of getting a Ranger Speed AS kit. I heard mixed reviews on the Quadra system.

Go figure, Vistek is THE only Elinchrom retailer in Canada.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:21 pm 
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rhommel wrote:
good stuff! can't wait to get a hand on those bxri's!


You'll love 'em! I only have the BX series (the RI's weren't out then) but looking at getting a couple BX500RI units. The RX are just a bit too pricey.

The Photoflex softboxes are pretty good and not too bad on the wallet.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:48 pm 
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I just recieved a call from holly I will elaborate on more once I get ho
e and off the iPhone.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:40 pm 
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Greetings all from Customer Relations at Vistek. My name is Holly Thomas and I work at Vistek in Customer Relations/Social Networking. Idid speak with Mr. Walczak today to discuss his post and I


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it appears vistek customer relations has joined the group. our voices have at least been heard.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:22 pm 
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[quote="Vistek-Customer Relations"]Greetings all from Customer Relations at Vistek. My name is Holly Thomas and I work at Vistek in Customer Relations/Social Networking. Idid speak with Mr. Walczak today to discuss his post and I


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:28 pm 
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So to elaborate more on the convo .. Out of the blue I checked my phone and saw that she had called and left a message. Mainly saying who she was and she would like to discuss my post on here. I assume my name was on the Vistek records and took my name from here or Flickr? Anyways I called back and we spoke .. She was very nice and seemed concerned of the issue which is nice to see the initiative. I explained the situation as I did in my initial post and she apologized and so on. I do appreciate the fact she took the time to find me personally and call me about the issue so I hope that this thread as well as others experiences will change something over there. Although they do say you can't teach an old dog new tricks I have many doubts for some 3rd floor employees. If only they had the mindset of those of the other floors or Holly the business would be booming :)

Thanks for everyones input!
Looks like we might have made a change? or atleast an attempt.

Cheers
Tyler


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:51 pm 
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Go on ya Tyler. In this day and age of economic uncertainty I see the "smarter" retailers reaching out to keep and expand their customer base. As photographers, I think most of us prefer to buy from brick and mortar establishments, even if you have to pay a bit more, but in return we expect some decent customer service at the very least.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:54 pm 
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My challenge has not been with the customer service per se... I've generally been able to find a rep who will talk to me when I'm ready to be talked to... My issue is that the vast majority of the time that I talk with someone, they don't know about the products they carry.
Last weekend I was in (Downtown) to look at Ring Flashes. The Rep I spoke with didn't even know that they carry non-Canon brands that support TTL. Only after I pointed out to him that I wanted to look at some of these others that were IN THE DISPLAY CASE we were leaning on, did he clue in, and then his answer was "you don't want those... you want to keep brand-name Canon otherwise your warranty on your 5D mk2 will be invalid".

BuZZZ - WRONG ANSWER!


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:18 pm 
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Kudos to Holly for being the face of Vistek on TPMG. Now can this leopard change its spots? For those reps that have been there for quite some time and have gotten away with and become used to offering less than stellar customer service, can they change their attitudes? What's to keep then from becoming disgruntled employees if they're lectured to about shaping up or shipping out? Unfortunately for some, a rude awakening is required to get them to realize that they need to change. Holly's got her work cut out for her.

I think in the digital age that we're in, major retailers and double that of those who have online stores would be crazy to pass up the opportunity to reach out to potential customers AND get free feedback to help better their business. Heck, even Adorama is doing this as they have a presence on FredMiranda and they're doing whatever they can to assit their customers. Just by helping a few customers with their issues alone has given them quite an audience and I wouldn't be surprised if their sales are increased just by being online and giving potential customers a sense of security knowing that a rep is always probing the forum.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:57 pm 
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I think it's great that Vistek has been responsive to the issues raised by members of TPMG. I think members should be encouraged to report their positive and negative experiences with Vistek, Henrys and other vendors. However, Vistek Customer Service should be reminded that TPMG has a strict business interests directly on TPMG.

Terms of Use:

http://tpmg.ca/forum/tos.php


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:58 pm 
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in regards to everything said here i will completely agree with most of it.

I DO however shop at vistek frequently and as rhommel stated Henry Zankowicz is the man to see. If you want to develop a personal relationship with a store i find the the pro centres are the only place to do that and really only Henry or Gary at Vistek really know anything.

Merkle is great and Henry's is great. All of the different stores have their own downsides though with Vistek's obviously being their general customer service. I personally have never had a problem with Henry or Gary at Vistek but i do agree that unless you get talking to any of them on a personal level they do start out a bit arrogant and snobbish.

I am only a student which generally = someone generally seen as not having lots of money to spend on things. which is absolutely true. I DONT. but once talking and buying things slowly from the same person over and over i now get the same deals regular pros get on the same equipment (I have checked with a few pro's who also regularly shop there to get a comparison on their price as high spenders and my price as an regular but low spender) and always Vistek will give me the best price.

Maybe I am just nice to them.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:11 pm 
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Vistek-Customer Relations wrote:
I hope you will continue to connect with us for your imaging needs. I'm here to assist and listen anytime.

Regards,


416-365-1777 x3337 hthomas@vistek.ca


50% off camera equipment to members would be nice!

Ok, we'll settle for 15%.

:D


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