High street K10D advice

Apologies for being contrary here, but I think MUCH of the blame has to go to Pentax. We know they do not have a large marketing budget, but if I were them I would have all my staff on the road one day per week visiting branches of any and every retailer, photo and camera clubs, local authorities and deomstrating the product, exlaining its advantages and also DEMONSTRATING CONFIDENCE ON PENTAX AND THEIR FUTURE. Not sure if this is the responsibility of Pentax or Intro 2020. If the staff are passionate, they would even do this for free. The message and passion must come from Pentax top managers.

I tend to agree. As I said in my previous post, I rang Pentax UK about the situation with one of their dealers and couldn't find anyone who was interested.

Ray.

John/Matt

Perhaps we can send a copy of this thread to Pentax or Intro 2020?

I'll see what I can do

I've only just seen the posts in this thread, and it was obvious to me right from the start it was Jessops. How many other high street chains are left? No, please don't include Currys Digital (ex-Dixons).

I have to agree with all the bad things said about them. I mentioned in a post elsewhere on this site my wife's experience when they allegedly ordered an item for her: when someone actually answered their phone after many attempts at ringing them, my wife was asked for the order number, twice, then Jessops part number, then a description of the item, twice. After about ten minutes of this my wife ended up a screaming wreck.

This was not an isolated incident, as I have had two fairly recent experiences of asking for basic 52mm Hoya filters, one in a central London store and one in outer London. In the first store the assistant clearly didn't have a clue what he was looking for, and in the second I was presented with a different one to what I had asked for.

I bought my K10D in Jessops in Kingston, and the guy in there that took my order was very complimentary about it.

He was in the middle of a training course on it apparently.

849 euros body only at Schiphol.

Staff were enthusiastic about - Pentax seems to have a bit of prominence there that you don't get at all in Heathrow. Even told me who to contact for a good price (their supplier) as and when I wanted to order the camera with a specific accessory...

I see the K10D body (the one I handled - and it needs the grip I think) is made in the Philippines. I see no problem in that, or the fact my 18-55 lens is made in Vietnam.

Is that the airside price, or also in the landside shop?

I recently asked for a 52mm ND filter in the Aylesbury branch to be told that they no longer exist.

Funny that, as I could swear that this 52mm diameter round piece of dark glass I bought from 7dayshop the following day is called an ND filter.

Landside shop had the kit with 2 lenses on display for 1450 euros which I thought was on the pricey side, because the standard kit was 950, and I think with the exchange rates being as they are not a bad price.

The shop I check most times is the one near the ABN AMRO as you head towards D and E teminals. I fly to the UK a lot so it''s no bother for me to have to go beyond security. I have no idea if there are similar deals on the B&C side (ie if you fly within continental europe).

The guys is SeeBuyFly are quite helpful - as are the ones in HAFO.

Jessops also told a friend looking at the K10D that they would get the Nikon instead because it was difficult finding lenses for the Pentax.

Has this not always been true? Every camera store I've ever seen seems to have more C/N stock than anything else - not surprisingly, I guess, given their relative market share.

It's obviously in any store's interests to be in a position to sell more gear. So if they stock C & N but not P lenses, then they could take the short term view that they'll make more money selling the stock they normally carry, and discouraging people from going elsewhere for the stock that they don't.

It's a shame, but I expect it happens all the time.

I'm just glad I happened to have a load of old Pentax-fit lenses, which made the choice of model a no-brainer when the time finally came for me to go digital.

Maybe its time for Pentax users ourselves to do something about this?

Next we want a Pentax lens or accessory we just walk into our local camera store and ask them for a price, when they say "Oh we dont stock it but we can get it" we just answer, "Oh sorry mate I need it for tomorrow, I'll just ask *insert your usual mail order supplier* to send me one next day delivery"

Alternatively anyone wanting a K10D should take their Pentax lenses along, when the store try and sell them a Canon or Nikon maybe they should let them go on and on until they think they have a sale, thats when you produce your Pentax lenses and act dumb...."can I just try these on it first?"

Until its driven home to these people they will never realise how much business they lose to mail order because of their biased attitudes and stocking preferances.

Just been reading another post from new member "petekd"
Pete relates his story of how he came to own the K10D, and he does specifically say that Jessops staff advised him against Pentax in favour of Nikon.
I dont know about you lot but to me this seems to be getting beyond a joke. I dont think I will be giving Jessops anymore of my business, I dont suppose it will bankrupt them or even affect their profits in the slightest, but it will make ME feel a lot better.

Well as I said, I went into Jessops for my K10D and the guy was very complimentary about it. I didn't give him the chance to 'advise' me so it's not really a comparable situation - but he was very positive about it, with not a hint of C/N bias. I took an M-series lens in with me to check it worked Ok, and the guy was very helpful.

As it happens, I've bought most of my Pentax kit from Jessops over the years. The Super A came from a local shop, but the ME Super, and all the lenses, and now the K10D, have all come from Jessops (second hand apart from the K10D - I don't know if that makes a difference), and they've always been very positive about Pentax.

We should probably be careful before trashing a whole chain, although I agree the anecdotal evidence is getting stronger.