I'll be needing one of your kidneys as well.

[Dave1982]

Just as I am about to leave for the day (late because Ms Overstepping Her Nonexistent Authority was late coming in to relieve me), I got to deal with that "one last customer" who of course turned out to be an SC.

He was standing over the display of digital cameras when I came over to see if he needed any help.

SC: Yeah, cna I out my own memory card in here so I can take a test picture?

Me: You don't need a memory card to take a test picture. That model has some internal memory, so you can take a picture right now.

SC: No, I need to compare them. Can you take this off this stupid base? (That "stupid base" being the alarm box).

Basically, he wanted to compare several cameras by bringing in his own SD card and taking one or two pictures with (he claimed) 2 or 3 different cameras (which probably meant he wanted to do at least half of the models on display, and we have 20 on display) then take the card home to compare the quality of each picture.

Now, setting aside for the moment the fact that:

1) The overall quality of all our digicams are largely the same, witht he main difference being the number of megapizels (yes, I am aware that the photoreceptors in each camera are different and that they play into quality, but these were not cheap pieces of crap he wanted)

2) there's no way you're going to be able to take a truly representative picture under the harsh fluorescent lights

and 3) at least one of the cameras he wanted to try didn't take an SD card


....there was the one overriding problem with his request: the cameras would have had to be taken off alarm for him to do this. This would mean tying up a manager (only they have the alarm keys), pulling the camera from the alarm base (a major PITA), keeping someone stationed there to prevent him from making off with the now unsecured camera, then putting the things back on alarm (also a PITA). All so he can conduct a very impractical test.

I forwarded his request to the MOD, who flatly refused it, citing all of the above reasons.

After arguing with the MOD about how that's the ONLY way to compare a camera (wrong) he played the card we all HATE to hear:

SC: Well, Office Depot will do it for me. [We are Staples]

to which the MOD replied

MOD: That's fine. Good luck.

And then went back to what he'd been doing before!

OK yes sir, we'll bend over backwards until we snap for you. Do you need us to donate a kidney for a family member on dialysis while we're at it? I mean come on! If he were buying a film camera, would he expect to be able ot put a roll of film in each camera to try them out first? Or take home three different lawn mowers to see how well each one cuts his lawn?

Or.....how much are you willing to bet that he was playing us for fools and intended to steal the cameras the moment they went off-alarm?

[earl colby pottinger]

Nope, he really could be that stupid

He really meant to test them. But without a fix mount and lighting plus a test pattern card I don't see what good the comparison would be.

If hand-held he is more likely to cause more variation between shots than the camera's optics, and unless he already know a model inside/out how does he know the best setting for a particular model?

[lordlundar]

I wonder if he had an accomplice nearby to make a grab-and-dash when the alarm was off.

[Spiffy McMoron]

Or.....how much are you willing to bet that he was playing us for fools and intended to steal the cameras the moment they went off-alarm?

Or, a third option. I've often wondered how often people purposefully ask the impossible, just to fuck with us. It would be an interesting statistic to look up...

[Boozy]

Spiffy might be on to something...although I think this guy may just be one of those people who like to make staff fall all over themselves to serve them in order to feel big and important.

I mean, what an incredibly time-consuming way to comparison shop. Why doesn't he just do five minutes of research online?

[justZu]

He really meant to test them. But without a fix mount and lighting plus a test pattern card I don't see what good the comparison would be.

He sounds like one of those know-it-all types. He doesn't do the research, but thinks he knows enough to make an informed choice. There are so many different sites online that review cameras, lenses, etc, I guess he knows more than all those experts.

[Reyneth]

I mean, what an incredibly time-consuming way to comparison shop. Why doesn't he just do five minutes of research online?

Or why didn't he bother going to a real camera store and talk to experts in person? Heck, we even had samples printed out from many of the popular models at my old store!

[journochick]

Gah, I remember that TOO well - used to work on the camera counter at a PC shop.

Some people would come in and actually want to look at and try out every. Single. Camera. And compare one model to another. Then that model to another. So on and so forth until they spent about two hours with me, testing my patience and not actually buying anything at all.

[Becks]

Why doesn't he just do five minutes of research online?

I'm going with my usual "If it makes sense, it's not allowed"™®© reasoning.

[tendomentis]

The only thing I can think of is that he wanted to use his own card because he was going to take photos of himself (I'm thinking for an ID photo, maybe a passport?). He didn't have a camera of his own, and didn't want to pay a CVS to do it, so thought he would take advantage of the sample cameras the same way people take advantage of sample lotions.

Stretching, but maybe.

[Rolling Star]

The only thing I can think of is that he wanted to use his own card because he was going to take photos of himself (I'm thinking for an ID photo, maybe a passport?). He didn't have a camera of his own, and didn't want to pay a CVS to do it, so thought he would take advantage of the sample cameras the same way people take advantage of sample lotions.

Stretching, but maybe.

That might be the case... people are such cheapskates these days, it
s unbelievable.