What's the deal with The Camera Store (Calgary)??

Every time I've gone on their site they have all of the Oly gear listed but I've yet to find one item that I wanted to purchase in stock.

I fail to see the point of having a website listing items that you don't stock.

They post the lowest prices on pretty much everything Oly but it's all out of stock.

Anyone ever actually buy anything from these guys, did the item have to be ordered in and if so how long did it take? Do they hit your cc beforehand and then you wait?

Thanks

Bought the E3 premium kit from them in September. Olympus had their discounts at that time. Paid $1850 for the kit. They didn't have any in stock but said they might get some in. Tried to get Mcbain Camera to match the price but they said the price was too low and wouldn't do it. Gave my phone number to the camera shop to phone me if more kits came in. Was not too optimistic but they did call, so got the kit as advertised. No problems.

Hello,

I am in Calgary, and have dealt with these guys over a number of years. They are reputable dealers, and I have full confidence in doing business with them. As for their Oly status, I have no official information, but word on the street is that they have been slow to pay their bills to Olympus. This has resulted in Olympus refusing to let them sell the EP-1; in turn, the Camera Store has stopped stocking Olympus items and has dropped their prices to be cost + 3% or something, in an attempt to devaluate all Olympus items in the area. (Note that all the above is hearsay, and may very well not even be remotely accurate. Take this, and everything else you hear online, with a grain of salt!)

I have bought a 40-150mm lens from them; it took about 2 weeks to come in, and the CC was not charged before I picked it up. I would have no problem buying from them again, although I would think twice about a larger item (as special order, I don't believe that you can take the item back, although you may want to check on this.) Something you may want to do is try to get other stores to price match; I got my 520 from Henry's price matching TCS, and I know that other retailers such as Blacks will also price match.

If you want something, try to give them a call, they may have more accurate timelines for when things are coming in. If nothing else, you may want to call / email and ask them about their Oly selection; I have done this, and even though their answer is not informative at all, if enough people do this it may help them to understand that Olympus is still a viable player in the market, and ignoring them will only lose customers and profits.

Cheers

I've found them very reputable, everything I've wanted at any time, they've had in stock. I have also had London Drugs match prices with The Camera Store too. (Bought an E-510 body and a 70-300 lens at the Camera Store)
Ernie
--
http://erniel.photoshop.com

I bought the 70-300, the 40-15, and a Tamrac bag, all with great service and prices. They don't charge the cc until the products are shipped. About 3 wks ago I ordered the FL36 flash, which has been "on order" ever since. I e-mailed them a couple of days ago to inquire about the estimated time of arrival, and have had no reply.

No opinion here, , just my experiences so far
--
Bob B
http://www.pbase.com/bbernstein

Olympus won't ship them any stock because their prices are too low.

It has nothing to do with The Camera Store's paying bills, it's a case of the Canadian distributor trying to keep prices high by restricting supply to dealers who discount too much.

imageswest said:

Olympus won't ship them any stock because their prices are too low.

It has nothing to do with The Camera Store's paying bills, it's a case of the Canadian distributor trying to keep prices high by restricting supply to dealers who discount too much.

Click to expand...

Ahh, very interesting. As I said, what I had heard about them was definitely not fact-checked. What you are saying makes more sense. I apologize for posting the incorrect rumour above.

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca

imageswest said:

Olympus won't ship them any stock because their prices are too low.

It has nothing to do with The Camera Store's paying bills, it's a case of the Canadian distributor trying to keep prices high by restricting supply to dealers who discount too much.

Click to expand...

Their prices are low now...but they used to be the same as everyone else...until they had their falling out with Olympus.

It's disappointing..I like the CameraStore and they were fairly Olympus friendly until this little foodfight. I was in the store the other day and asked them "again" about it...but really no good feedback about what the problem was. Olympus was absent from their "photo event" here in Calgary....which I volunteered at. Funny enough...the stage that I volunteered at was manned by a portrait photographer who was using....an Oly 330...and he had no problem trumpeting the positives of Olympus!

If they don't fix it up....I won't be buying anything more from them. It really doesn't matter who is at fault anymore. Just fix it...or I'll buy from the other two stores.

clanmacleod said:

If they don't fix it up....I won't be buying anything more from them. It really doesn't matter who is at fault anymore. Just fix it...or I'll buy from the other two stores.

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Which is exactly what Olympus is hoping you'll do...

imageswest said:

imageswest said:

If they don't fix it up....I won't be buying anything more from them. It really doesn't matter who is at fault anymore. Just fix it...or I'll buy from the other two stores.

Click to expand...

Which is exactly what Olympus is hoping you'll do...

Click to expand...

sounds like a completely irrational marketing plan to me

--
ʎǝlıɹ

plɹoʍ ǝɥʇ ɟo doʇ uo ǝɹɐ ǝʍ 'ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ uı

caribbeansun said:

Every time I've gone on their site they have all of the Oly gear listed but I've yet to find one item that I wanted to purchase in stock.

I fail to see the point of having a website listing items that you don't stock.

Click to expand...

Drop shipping? I picture a guy with a computer and a site, sending orders directly to Olympus...

That's the beauty of the internet. What used to be bare-bulb holes in the wall with no stock are now huge warehouses, I know, I've seen the pictures...

A couple of months ago, when I was ready to purchase the E-30/14-54II combo. But I managed to get Henry's to price match. Saved over $250 CDN.
I'll do it again in the future.

Jeff.

imageswest said:

imageswest said:

If they don't fix it up....I won't be buying anything more from them. It really doesn't matter who is at fault anymore. Just fix it...or I'll buy from the other two stores.

Click to expand...

Which is exactly what Olympus is hoping you'll do...

Click to expand...

Very stupid of them. I bought my EP-1 from Vistek....and I bought it when they had the Olympus rep down at Vistek. I was quite vocal..in front of the Vistek staff no less...about how Vistek is the "least" Olympus friendly store in the city and that "thecamerastore" was pretty reasonable about Olympus products.

It doesn't matter, I'm still very pleased with my Olympus cameras. I don't know all the details about this little food fight....just think it's really unfortunate that Olympus doesn't work things out with a store that is "on the surface" fairly friendly towards the Olympus product and people who are inquiring about said product.

Saneal camera is the best place to go for Olympus friendly staff. Good people down there and their prices are as good as Vistek...usually better. I bought my Panasonic GF-1/20mm kit there in order to get the lens.

FPL53 said:

Drop shipping? I picture a guy with a computer and a site, sending orders directly to Olympus...

That's the beauty of the internet. What used to be bare-bulb holes in the wall with no stock are now huge warehouses, I know, I've seen the pictures...

Click to expand...

Definitely true, but in the case of TCS, they have a large, very well-stocked store, with lots of helpful staff. Honestly, the only problem I have with them is with their Olympus supply levels... and even then, it is just recently that it has been an issue.

About a year and a half ago I wanted to rent an FL 50 for an event I was shooting with my 300. Called them to inquire, and instead of renting, they lent (i.e., free) for a week the E-3 Premium kit with E-3 + grip, FL50R, and 12-60 lens. Truly a wonderful store!

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca

Rriley said:

sounds like a completely irrational marketing plan to me

Click to expand...

Olympus has a long history of picking losers for it Canadian distributor... nothing new here.

For a brief period, Olympus USA was handling Oly distribution in Canada, and things seemed to be going fairly well. They had an excellent marketing rep, and at that time The Camera Store was one of the biggest promoters of 4/3 gear. Since Olympus USA turned the Canadian market over to Nadel, things seem to have gone dramatically downhill.

imageswest said:

Rriley said:

sounds like a completely irrational marketing plan to me

Click to expand...

Olympus has a long history of picking losers for it Canadian distributor... nothing new here.

For a brief period, Olympus USA was handling Oly distribution in Canada, and things seemed to be going fairly well. They had an excellent marketing rep, and at that time The Camera Store was one of the biggest promoters of 4/3 gear. Since Olympus USA turned the Canadian market over to Nadel, things seem to have gone dramatically downhill.

Click to expand...

I was at a different camera store in Alberta and they also had very bad things to say about Olympus distributor.

They talked about the previous distributor as great to deal with. The previous salesperson had even lent the owner several SHG lenses including the 90-250mm to get him interested in Olympus.

They did not mention names.

--
Jon

The Big One said:

imageswest said:

Olympus won't ship them any stock because their prices are too low.

It has nothing to do with The Camera Store's paying bills, it's a case of the Canadian distributor trying to keep prices high by restricting supply to dealers who discount too much.

Click to expand...

Ahh, very interesting. As I said, what I had heard about them was definitely not fact-checked. What you are saying makes more sense. I apologize for posting the incorrect rumour above.

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca

Click to expand...

There must be some truth to what you say - the Camera Store would choose to carry the E-P1 if they could. It is not on their web page and Olympus was not at their Digital Camera Expo.

The Camera Store has always been great to deal with and they have always carried stock.

Who started the argument does not matter - they should fix it and get back to selling stuff.

--
Jon

Jon Stock said:

There must be some truth to what you say - the Camera Store would choose to carry the E-P1 if they could. It is not on their web page and Olympus was not at their Digital Camera Expo.

The Camera Store has always been great to deal with and they have always carried stock.

Who started the argument does not matter - they should fix it and get back to selling stuff.

--
Jon

Click to expand...

It was the introduction of the EP-1 that started this situation - Nadel refused to let The Camera Store sell it, and only made it available to their select "chosen" retailers...

The Camera Store is probably the highest volume photo retailer (certainly for high-end and "pro" gear) in western Canada, and for Nadel to pick a fight with them is pretty stupid.

Okay, but if they are doing drop shipping then the items wouldn't be flagged as "out of stock" or "back ordered" because they would be available via the distributor.

Back in September I emailed them about 2-3 weeks before making a trip to Calgary as I wanted to pick up the 9-18mm to use in Banff for a weekend and get the purchase done before the end of the rebate period.

TCS couldn't provide anything definitive regarding delivery dates - bought the lens and other accessories at Saneal as a result who would not price match TCS as they considered prices for out of stock product as not valid for price matching.

I'm going to try Henry's as I'm looking for the 36r flash - so the earlier post about waiting 3 weeks just isn't going to happen - new grand daughters and XMAS aren't on the schedule

FPL53 said:

Drop shipping? I picture a guy with a computer and a site, sending orders directly to Olympus...

That's the beauty of the internet. What used to be bare-bulb holes in the wall with no stock are now huge warehouses, I know, I've seen the pictures...

Click to expand...

Jon Stock said:

Who started the argument does not matter - they should fix it and get back to selling stuff.

Click to expand...

I most definitely agree with you. Games like this can do nothing but hurt a brand which already has a suffering local marketshare.

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca