Reviews of camera shops in Singapore -- sharing time !!


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radi9red

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Jun 25, 2003
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Hi anyone who had experienced bad experiences from camera shops in singapore ?? .. Let me start first . Here'e the few that i've went and experienced.. ** just cut and paste and add on to this list if you want to give your comments thought or reviews !! ** ** The shops names have been slightly changed not to result in any hard-feelings. **

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(1) Peninsuler 2nd floor kay13 marketing - :thumbsd: The dad is fine but the son's whos seems to be the righful owner is extremely unfriendly regarding queries.. Some product prices quoted are higher than standard market rate :nono: You ask a few more questions and he seems to get irritated ... Every tried to sell me a 85mm contax lens for close to 1K. Much higher than TCW.

(2) TCW - :thumbsup: Good service generally. Friendly shops staffs. Shop can be quite packed at times so if you have enquires , you have to wait patiently.

(3) Fotogrohpic marketing (lucky Chinatown) -> :thumbsup: Experienced and friendly uncle. Good shops for mounting convertors and accessories. He sells a handful of manual camera stuffs .. Good sales etiqutte and not a hard-seller.

(4) Alexs' phodo (peninsuler 2nd floor) - :thumbsup: Boss is very "ching chai" and easy going .. most of his stuffs are manual camera stuffs, but price is also very reasonable.

Feel free to contribute !!
 

One of the CS member had nasty experience with Alex Photo. Try to dig the thread.

Personally, I never had any problem with Alex, and so far, I rate his shop good too.
 

One more shop that I rate good is Ron's, at adelphi.

Got some stuff from him, at bargain price and very good condition.
But then, his collection of Nikon stuff is very limited :D (i'm using Nikon)
 

Not sure if this is supposed to fit in the Consumers Corner but I guess we'll soon find out.

Anyway, some bad experiences to share:

Dynasty Audio & Cameras, SLS, 2th storey. Went in to check if the camera on display was a Dimage A2 which I was intending to get. When I asked if the camera was an A2, all I got in reply was "ya". Before I could ask to try, the salesman just waved me off. Note that the shop was essentially empty.

A friend of mine went to this shop at Burlington Square (beside the entrance) just the day before this. He asked to try the E300 Evolt and the salesman basically told him off, saying that he couldn't afford a DSLR.

Mind you, we didn't dress up in slippers, singlets and shorts when we walked in. We've had way superior service in other shops selling different (and way more costly) products.
I've walked into Atlas Hifi (local Bose distro) and enquired about their top-of-the-line audio cable costing over $1.3K/ m and had more than 5 sales staff attending to me before I even uttered a word.
Ditto with my other friend buying $1K+ headphones from another audio shop in Adelphi.
None of us dressed in A|X or some expensive clothes. Just normal OP, Giordano or Billabong type of clothing when we visited all these shops.

For reasonably good service, I'd say go to AP or CP (if you don't mind paying a bit more). Same clothing, vastly different experience. The sales personnel will entertain you if they're not super-busy.
Even if they're busy, they'll bring out the demo set for you to try before entertaining other customers.
 

When i was new to photography , Got ripped off at adelphi basement shop (Not the one at the corner selling leica's), its the centre one .. sold me a slave flash for $120 when TCW is selling an identical same one for only $60++

freaking mad when i found out .. thats not the ethical way to jack up the price so much ..
 

i dont like ron's place because he very attitude :thumbsd:
 

i not gonna say anything bad about anyone but here's a list of shops that i bought things from before and liked the experience.

Cathay photo- they can be very busy but if you go at off peak hours, most of the staff are very friendly and the prices are good. the chap in the tripod section is especially helpful. some of them can be pretty short with you when they are busy but then they are only human. just be patient and ask nicely.

Ron's- friendly chap and knows quite a bit about cameras. Had nothing but good experiences with him. Only problem is that sometimes he a bit random one. sometimes i go then the shop is closed... never found him attitude but he can perhaps be a bit opinionated.

John 3.16 - only bought small (cheapo) stuff from them and they know it. but even then, they are still very friendly when i go there. their stuff is priced above CP and many other places, but then their rental probably higher. found the service pretty good.

i miss fotoguide :dunno:
 

John 3:16 is very friendly, whether u buy or don't. They themselves are photographers and they are honest... so pay a little bit more, it is worth it!
 

Here's an updates of the reviews so far :

(1) peninsuler 2nd floor kay13 marketing - The dad is fine but the son's whos seems to be the righful owner is extremely unfriendly regarding queries.. Some product prices quoted are higher than standard market rate You ask a few more questions and he seems to get irritated ... Every tried to sell me a 85mm contax lens for close to 1K. Much higher than TCW.

(2) TCW - Good service generally. Friendly shops staffs. Shop can be quite packed at times so if you have enquires , you have to wait patiently.

(3) Fotogrohpic marketing (lucky Chinatown) -> Experienced and friendly uncle. Good shops for mounting convertors and accessories. He sells a handful of manual camera stuffs .. Good sales etiqutte and not a hard-seller.

(4) Alexs' phodo (peninsuler 2nd floor) - Boss is very "ching chai" and easy going .. most of his stuffs are manual camera stuffs, but price is also very reasonable. One user has an nasty experience with him. Not sure what happened

(5) :Ron's, at adelphi.


Got some stuff from him, at bargain price and very good condition.
But then, his collection of Nikon stuff is very limited (i'm using Nikon)
Anther guy says : :thumbsd: i dont like ron's place because he very attitude

(6) :thumbsd:
Dynasty Audio & Cameras, SLS, 2th storey. Went in to check if the camera on display was a Dimage A2 which I was intending to get. When I asked if the camera was an A2, all I got in reply was "ya". Before I could ask to try, the salesman just waved me off. Note that the shop was essentially empty

(7) Handphone cum camera shop (entrance of Burlington)
:thumbsd: A friend of mine went to this shop at Burlington Square (beside the entrance) just the day before this. He asked to try the E300 Evolt and the salesman basically told him off, saying that he couldn't afford a DSLR.

(8) Adelphi - basement Centre shop

When i was new to photography , Got ripped off at adelphi basement shop (Not the one at the corner selling leica's), its the centre one .. sold me a slave flash for $120 when TCW is selling an identical same one for only $60++

freaking mad when i found out .. thats not the ethical way to jack up the price so much ..

(9) Cathay photo (peninsular level 1)

Cathay photo- they can be very busy but if you go at off peak hours, most of the staff are very friendly and the prices are good. the chap in the tripod section is especially helpful. some of them can be pretty short with you when they are busy but then they are only human. just be patient and ask nicely.

(10) John 3.16
only bought small (cheapo) stuff from them and they know it. but even then, they are still very friendly when i go there. their stuff is priced above CP and many other places, but then their rental probably higher. found the service pretty good.

- Another guy says he is good and worth paying a bit more at his shop
 

Alex is ok. Service is not bad. Friendly and forthcoming. The earlier bad report looks once off - bad hair day affair.

K13 - the elderly man is very good indeed as a salesman. I rate him very highly. The younger son has yet to learn the fine art of salesmanship from the old man - a pity indeed as the treasure is right in front of him everyday. Even some ang mohs forums recommend the shop and speak well of his service and pricing.

Cathay - Another fiftyish man in charge of selling bags is also very patient and kind in selling his bags.

But many honest Singapore sale-persons are very willing to serve us well. Their skills are improving over the years. On the other hand, as a customer, we must also know what motivates them to give us their best service and best deal at the same time. Books and harvard do not teach us this.....
 

tOGGY said:
Alex is ok. Service is not bad. Friendly and forthcoming. The earlier bad report looks once off - bad hair day affair.
Don't want to repeat again: I personally had THREE bad experiences with Alex, do a search......in the past there were more people having bad experiences too, that was in the days of asiaphoto.com..........
 

user111 said:
i dont like ron's place because he very attitude :thumbsd:

Same here, wierd guy. Ask for a bellow so I can modify it, just what, after asking me what system I using, he told me it is not possible and refuse to let me have a hands on look at the bellow. Already told him right from the start I know the mount is not compatible, but I have machine workshop where I can mod the bellow.

Next, tried to sell me pentacon 6, 500mm f5.6 lens @ $800, when market price for this lens of same condition is $400 or less.

Very bad.
 

for me i had problem with ZOOMPIX in Funan IT Mall
poor service, cheats :thumbsd:
 

Firefox said:
Dynasty Audio & Cameras, SLS, 2th storey. Went in to check if the camera on display was a Dimage A2 which I was intending to get. When I asked if the camera was an A2, all I got in reply was "ya". Before I could ask to try, the salesman just waved me off. Note that the shop was essentially empty.

A friend of mine went to this shop at Burlington Square (beside the entrance) just the day before this. He asked to try the E300 Evolt and the salesman basically told him off, saying that he couldn't afford a DSLR.

Mind you, we didn't dress up in slippers, singlets and shorts when we walked in. We've had way superior service in other shops selling different (and way more costly) products.
I've walked into Atlas Hifi (local Bose distro) and enquired about their top-of-the-line audio cable costing over $1.3K/ m and had more than 5 sales staff attending to me before I even uttered a word.
Ditto with my other friend buying $1K+ headphones from another audio shop in Adelphi.
None of us dressed in A|X or some expensive clothes. Just normal OP, Giordano or Billabong type of clothing when we visited all these shops.

They're probably assuming that having the wrong skin colour means that probably you can't afford the cameras.

I don't agree on the expensive clothing part. Most of us photographers don't spend money on anything else other than equipment!

I stick to Cathay 99% of the time. Their prices are reasonable (not ridiculously cheap) and you can spend 1-2 hours chatting and learning a thing or two from some of the salesmen. My favourite are the guys at the tripod/darkroom section since its less filled with tourists when I'm there and they have more time for you.
 

hongsien said:
Don't want to repeat again: I personally had THREE bad experiences with Alex, do a search......in the past there were more people having bad experiences too, that was in the days of asiaphoto.com..........

Thanks for repeating. 3 bad experiences is very indicative. Your are an old bird here. I trust your comment. Alex did handled me well though for some minor sales.
 

How about MS colour in Ang Mo Kio? I find their prices and services are good. I had a few good experience with them.

I have good experience with these shops:

1. Cathay Photo
2. TCW
3. MS Color: Best price.
4. Parisilk in Holland V also sells cameras, third party lens expecially Sigma, prices are good.

I know that some of you might be able to get special prices from some shops. But for any general public who walk into a shop without any connection and trying to buy camera/lens, I strongly recommend the aboved shops.
 

brian said:
They're probably assuming that having the wrong skin colour means that probably you can't afford the cameras.

Or they know that they cant cheat locals so they dont want to sell to you..
 

reno77 said:
Or they know that they cant cheat locals so they dont want to sell to you..

Either way, they have questionable business and more likely personal ethics (if any at all).. To be avoided.. Just found out that the shop at Burlington Square stole StreetDirectory.com's map to print on their namecards.. I wonder how well they'd respond to a $10k fine.. =P
 

How about BestCam Funan? Any experience there?
 

bestcam funan... didnt buy anything from them, only enquired about step-up rings. the staff there are younger chaps. the experience there was not bad as they answered my queries w/o showing attitude and even called to ask their other outlets for stock.
 

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