UKC

Went into Comet yesterday and was looking at camcorders. An assistant came and asked if he could help me. "Yes please, Could I see what the quality of the playback on that camera is like".

(Lad get camcorder out of cabinet)

"Sorry, the battery's flat but it's a nice camera. You can have a look at it"

He seemed rather gobsmacked when I said I didn't see much point in considering purchasing it if I could see the quality of the playback.

Surely it's not unreasonable to expect a demonstration and such shops should ensure that at least some batteries are kept charged up. Bit like wanting to test drive a car but you can't because the battery's flat.

In reply to mypyrex:

You are asking people who don't care about the product and don't care about the customer's custom to care about a better service?

If you want this to change contacting head office would be the best bet, but don't expect a change to soon methinks!

In reply to mypyrex:

Did he impress you with his skills of being able to read the card beside the shiny bit of kit?

In reply to mypyrex: rubbish,but I sadly expect little better unless I seek out one of the few remaining independent specialists as I would do for hifi or biking needs.

In reply to David Hooper:

I sympathise. But the problem is for better setrvice you'd have to pay more....

In reply to mypyrex: ive had a few laughs in currys as well, which is pretty much the same shop, when asked if i needed any help when choosing a camcorder i asked a few in depth questions, after a period of deep contemplation the sales assistant replied well my sister has the panasonic and she thinks its great.
also when browsing through the fidge freezers a young assistant tried to sell me on one and i said i didnt want one that reqd plumbing in, he assured me several times it wasnt the kind that needed connected to a water supply, when i showed him the manual from inside he said that it was the wrong manual, when i showed him the plumbing in kit form inside he said it was probaly from another fridge freezer and had been left there by mistake.
best to do your research online and then buy what you want as the standard of knowledge is pretty dire.