Mike's Camera | Menlo Park — Attraction in Menlo Park

After seeing a Mike's Camera flyer in the newspaper, I went to this one which was the closest to my home. Big mistake. Another user wrote: "I am confused do they want my business?" Based on my experience, they do not.

First, the display. Unlike most electronics stores - trust me, this is how these stores are categorised these days, none of items in the counter cabinet and behind the counter bear any indication of price. In this day of free information flow, the store gives a very uninviting first impression.

But the worst was yet to come.

On this Sunday afternoon, one of two clerks behind the counter was engaged in a long conversation with the only other customer. "What kind of camera are you looking for?" asked the other clerk. I explained that I was looking for a point-and-shoot for my child, that I did not have an exact model or even feature list. All depended on a balance between price, my budget and everything. Like a mosquito smelling blood, he pounded like a car salesman. "What is your budget?" I asked to see some cameras that I eyed on first, and check the price. (Isn't this the whole purpose of going into a brick and mortar store?) The clerk reacted very reluctantly. And boy, wasn't the store system stupid. For every price check, he spent about two minutes on the computer, another minute to unlock, pull a camera from the cabinet, wait for me to hand back, put the display unit back, lock the cabinet. So first, the store has no price display. Second, the clerks have no idea what the merchandise cost. This clerk also lack the peddler' skill - or perhaps not even the knowledge to peddle. Do you want to shop there?

But the worst was yet to come.

After a couple models and some chitchat about camera "make" and model, he returned to the car salesman routine and asked "What is your budget?" Clearly he had no interest in serving information, and little knowledge about how customers buy cameras - in fact not much real knowledge about cameras. So I gave him a hint by sharing how I did not even reveal my "budget" in a car dealership. He got the message. But instead of apologising, he gave the excuse "It is just that you (meaning the customer) mentioned 'budget'." So the communication was broken, and it was my fault.

But the worst was yet to come.

By then I had lost appetite in this blind bidding game. So I moved away from the counter, and began to browse a display of tripod - which did have price tags on. It just so happened that I was also in the market for a tripod. If I already drove ten miles to the store, I might as well make it worthwhile. As I was comparing features and price on the rack, the same clerk approached and demanded "What are you looking for?" I say "demand", not inquire, because this person has no conversational skill.

When I shop, I use chitchat to gain information and learn about products from sales clerk. Where I have informational advantage, I also pretend ignorance to assess truthfulness of information. The salesperson, meanwhile, wants to trade his/her knowledge and other information for my trust, and use his informational advantage to gain in negotiation. Not this clerk. Every sentence he uttered was a direct reminder that I owed him a transaction, now. As I ignored his impertinence by continuing to engage him with chitchat, not only did he show no product expertise, but he quickly lost patience and said (nearly verbatim): "What exactly do you want? Look, I showed you cameras. And now you ask about tripods."

Priceless, I said to myself. Can you get any ruder? (Remember: He walked toward me. I didn't even ask. Besides, this entire time the store had only two customers.) Before I lost my last shred of dignity, I walked quickly toward the door and calmly said: "OK. I am leaving since it is clear that you don't want my business." (I wasn't quoting that customer comment. That was how I genuinely felt.) Whatever he mumbled behind me, it wasn't apology.

You be the judge. But I will never return...

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day has been ruined by visiting this camera store! I came in today looking for help with purchasing some film and a sony 70-200gm lens. I waited for more than 20 minutes, which I do not mind, they were busy. However, what DID bother me, was that when someone was finally able to help me, they were rude and very rushed. I was helped by an older Indian gentleman. I asked him what film he would recommend for a beginner, and he said "it doesn't matter, just get a 35mm film". However, with the little research I have done, I know that not all film is made the same. So, I asked him again what he would suggest, and he turned around and reached the first thing he could grab and loudly placed it on the counter and said "it's 7.99, do you have money". I was taken aback by this comment as I have never been questioned if I have the ability to buy something, much less something of merely of 8 dollars. Furthermore, I asked him if he could show me the 70-200gm lens as I had cash in my wallet to purchase it (it's a $2,500 lens). Again to my disappointment, the employee rudely asked me "are you ready to buy" and points me in the direction of a different person.

Overall, I will NOT be visiting this store as the one interaction with that staff member has left a bad impression of that store. This simply interaction with this one employee caused them to loose over $2,700 in my business. I guess I'm just better off buying off amazon where I dont have to deal with rude employees questioning my abilities to...

I went in for cleaning dust off the focus screen. First the guy that spoke with me, no name tag so maybe the manager, and said they can clean the sensor, well I don't need the sensor cleaned. I mentioned it was either the pentaprism or the the focus screen, he said they didn't clean those but could clean the body or the lens. I didn't need either of these done so I said thanks but no thanks

At this point he proceeded to berate me for a good 3-4 minutes about how wrong I was for not using a UV filter on my 28-300 lens. I've done some research and found this really wouldn't help and made the decision to not use a UV filter on my lens, I've got insurance if something breaks I don't need another piece of cheap glass in the way if I'm trying to take a picture. I tried to say okay and walk away and he said no, it's not okay, it's wrong to not use a UV filter, it was very rude. He claimed to be a wedding photographer and he used a UV filter on all his lenses.

I don't know if he was just a pushy sales person or more likely someone who believed they were right and anyone contrary was wrong, but it was an experience that led me to not wanting to go back to that Mike's Camera. YMMV and I'm sure they have good events and fun activities, but I don't want anything to do with...