Arlington Camera — Local services in Arlington

Let me start by saying I was very excited to check this store out - every time I remembered to swing by, it was on a Sunday and they were closed. Weekdays are hard for me to come in since they close at 5 and that's typically when I get off.

I finally found some time to stop by and check out the place in anticipation for an upcoming trip - I knew I wanted a Peak Design backpack, but I needed to get a feel for the different sizes to decide which one I needed. When I walked in, I was greeted by a middle aged guy who asked if we needed any help - the backpacks were directly to the left when I walked in, so I politely declined and began looking at the bags with my lady. After looking through them for a minute, I glanced over at the register where the man who greeted me had been and there was now a younger guy standing there and he was just staring at me. I shook it off and continued looking at the bags - found one that was good for me, and my lady found a different bag she wanted to get for our gimbal.

We had some extra time, so we took a second to look around the shop, as it was like we were kids in a candy shop at this point. While I was looking around the left side of the store, I noticed the same guy staring at me from the register. I shook it off again and continued looking around. I got around to the lenses on the right side of the store and was checking them out to see if I could compare some of the prices they had listed - after a second, the same guy walked around to that area and just kept staring at me again.

At this point, it's important to note that he never once introduced himself or asked us if we needed assistance, he just kept following me around the store and staring at me, but when I would look over at him, he would avert his eyes. I started feeling extremely uncomfortable. I was ready to purchase the bag and leave.

In order to avoid the person who had been staring at me the whole time, I walked to the register at the front (where he was no longer standing since I was coming from the lense area, so he was now near the other register). An older man was standing there adding up some numbers on an old calculator. I politely let him know we were ready to check out and he looked up just barely from the calculator and kind of just stared at me for a second... which prompted me to continue with, "if you're able to...? Or if I need to ask someone else, just let me know..." He told us to check out at the other register where the guy who had been staring at me the whole time was at.

We went over to the other register to check out and, at this point, I had to say something about this man staring at me the entire time I was in the store. I placed the bag on the counter and said, "I really don't appreciate you staring at me the whole time I'm in here looking around."

The whole time I'm checking out, there's no eye contact from this man. He doesn't respond to me. He doesn't apologize or explain himself. Silent as a mouse, just punching things into the register. A man came in from the back to watch over our interaction at this point. I said a couple other things along the lines of, "this isn't the best way to maintain customers." I ended up putting back the bag we were going to get for the gimbal, as it was just something extra and at this point I didn't want to give them any more of my business.

No one ever said anything in response to my concerns. Everyone was silent, no one was helpful. The only person that was helpful the entire time was the person who greeted us, but he was never seen again after that initial encounter. I have no idea what happened to that man, but I really wish he would have stayed around.

I'll never go back to this store again. I've never felt as uncomfortable in a place in my entire life...

Been here twice and will never go back again. Both times, when I walked in, nobody offered help, asked how I was or even acknowledged me. There were a bunch of guys hanging around the counters but nobody gave a carp I was there. At least, not until I had to fend for myself and start opening boxes of tripods to figure out what everything was, seeing as how I had zero help. The only one who did help me was a nice woman who was the only good thing about the place. Pleasant and helpful. Whoever the other dudes are that work there, they were too busy chatting up area photographers and folks they already knew. I was glared at and ignored. A man came in they knew by name and he was greeted warmly even though I had been there for several minutes already. I ended up spending about $385 but you'd never know it judging from how they treat new customers. Despite the fact that the woman who was helping me was so polite, she never told me they had used equipment. I only needed a 1.4/50mm lens that I could've bought online for 1/4 of what I paid at this shop. She even told me not to buy used equipment. I didn't realize they sold used items until I came home and read the REST of the reviews. That's what I call "sheisty". If I didn't need this stuff for class, I would've returned it ALL already. This is why I'll only buy online from now on. I'm beginning to think maybe photographers are bitter that their pseudo-art form is no longer some exclusive boys club with the advent of digital photography. I'm not some snot nosed kid who thinks they are a photographer because I can take pics with my smartphone. They will never get another dime from me. So much for supporting local businesses. Hard to do that when they have no concept of customer service. Maybe this is why print photography is DEAD-- crabby, cantankerous, inflexible old fogies who aren't receptive to change....

RENTING EQUIPMENT POLICY (What they don't tell you) -The first time I visited their website, I noticed you could rent a lens, so I decided to give them a visit a few months back to see what the shop was like and to inquire more about it and found it would be really useful to rent a lens to test it out before buying. I ended up having a shoot one day and go in a couple days early to rent one out. They asked for my driver's license and if I had a major credit card. I handed them my debit card to cover the day rental, but they don't accept anything that says 'debit' or 'checking'. Why? In order to rent out equipment, they take out a DEPOSIT for the equipment you are borrowing. You can't pay in cash either (unless you can buy the camera/lens then and there.) They give it back. However, at no point was this mentioned to me via person beforehand, and it's not written anywhere on the website. I would say do your research first, but it's something that you couldn't research. Hopefully this helps other photographer's like me who are just starting out in photography. (I understand the reasoning behind it and it would've been better if this was written SOMEWHERE in fine print. But seriously, it's counterproductive to business because most of the people who test out/rent lenses are the ones who can't afford them, so it's moreso used for portfolio building to get a better paying...