Shocked by Olympus Canada..

erichK

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This is the continuation of a thread that I started with a stupid typo that makes me cringe every time I look at it.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&thread=34233301

It expresses the strong concern some Canadian Olympus users feel about the continued viability as Olympus as a choice for serious photographers after a shocking statement one of the country's most respected pro shops.

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erichK
saskatoon, canada

http://erichk.zenfolio.com/

http://www.fototime.com/inv/7F3D846BCD301F3
 
This is the continuation of a thread that I started with a stupid typo that makes me cringe every time I look at it.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&thread=34233301

It expresses the strong concern some Canadian Olympus users feel about the continued viability as Olympus as a choice for serious photographers after a shocking statement one of the country's most respected pro shops.
I agree that the loss of The Camera Store is a big deal for Olympus customers, and I agree that Oly's Canadian distributor is not doing what is best for customers. I have asked this before, and will repeat myself - what can I do about this? I am very willing to send my opinion to someone who has the ability to change things, but I don't know who, or how to get in touch with them. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers
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--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca
All images (c) unless otherwise specified, please ask me before editing.
 
I agree that the loss of The Camera Store is a big deal for Olympus customers, and I agree that Oly's Canadian distributor is not doing what is best for customers. I have asked this before, and will repeat myself - what can I do about this? I am very willing to send my opinion to someone who has the ability to change things, but I don't know who, or how to get in touch with them. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca
All images (c) unless otherwise specified, please ask me before editing.
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ShelliDawn wrote:

For those who may be interested in contacting Olympus Canada and expressing their displeasure at this situation, John Forristal is the Canadian Sales Manager for Olympus, he can be reached @

[email protected]
*********************************************************************

Further contact information (which I have not yet verified...but taken from corporate news when he was appointed in 2006)

John Forristal,
Regional Manager for Canada,
Olympus America, Inc.,
Two Corporate Center Drive,
Melville, NY
11747

Toll free 1-800-645-8100
extension 6682
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erichK
saskatoon, canada
 
This is not a good thing for Olympus. Living close to Calgary, I've purchased stuff at The Camera Store and have always found them very helpful and courteous. A couple years ago, they let me take an E3 out for a spin for a week. Decided it wasn't my cup of tea, but I thought it was pretty cool that they'd do that. About the same time, I remember they had another promotion for another dslr (maybe the e4xx series?). Anyway, whatever they are fighting about, having such a store drop your merchandise can't be good for long term business.
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Marc
 
The E-3 "free demo" kit was courtesy of Olympus, and other stores were offered the same gear for no-charge demo purposes. I believe this promotion was instituted prior to Nadel taking over the Canadian distributorship... though I could be wrong.
 
The name and email address were provided to me by The Camera Store staff when I asked who I could contact at Olympus about this issue.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/shellidawn/
Thank you for both your initial provision of the information and this post that indicates that Mr. Forristal, who was initially appointed in 2006, is still in charge.

erichK
saskatoon, canada
 
********************************************************************
ShelliDawn wrote:

For those who may be interested in contacting Olympus Canada and expressing their displeasure at this situation, John Forristal is the Canadian Sales Manager for Olympus, he can be reached @

[email protected]
*********************************************************************
Thank you very much. I have just sent an email to John; hopefully if nothing else, he will see that Olympus customers miss TCS. I hope that this issue will eventually be resolved in a manner beneficial to Olympus customers...

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca
All images (c) unless otherwise specified, please ask me before editing.
 
This is not a good thing for Olympus. Living close to Calgary, I've purchased stuff at The Camera Store and have always found them very helpful and courteous. A couple years ago, they let me take an E3 out for a spin for a week. Decided it wasn't my cup of tea, but I thought it was pretty cool that they'd do that. About the same time, I remember they had another promotion for another dslr (maybe the e4xx series?). Anyway, whatever they are fighting about, having such a store drop your merchandise can't be good for long term business.
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Marc
Thanks Marc,

Other comments on this thread (and especially on its embarrassing predecessor - see first post) suggest less than excellent - or even fair - distribution practices may, indeed, be the main problem. While The Camera Store may not be perfect - what human institution is- they certainly seem to have impressed a lot of us with their integrity and service.

And, ironically, in my experience as in yours, they did an excellent job of marketing Olympus cameras.

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erichK
saskatoon, canada
 
Either from Forristal or from Nadel?
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erichK
saskatoon, canada
 
On the way home tonight, needing some file folders, I stopped by London Drugs. I was glad to see that they did, for a change, have a few Olympus items, in a small corner much overshadowed mutliple by shelves stocked with Canan, Nikon and Sony cameras, and even a much bigger range of Pentax products were an E-620 and an E 520 body, and 2 or 3 lenses, the kit ones and a 70-300 on display and a E Pen-1 .

This -in light Nadel's apparent refusal to supply Pen products to The Camera Store - certainly reflects a bizarre distribution strategy!

While London Drugs does seem to treat both its employees and its customers better than most mass-marketers, its level of knowledge, service and support is nowhere near that of a good camera store, and certainly not a pro-shop like TCS. And their prices, btw, are also considerably higher ($799. for the E-620/14-42, which I' bought for $609. for example).

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erichK
saskatoon, canada
 
Canadian Federal Government....its just that obvious.....no response, no action :)

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Best Regards;
L. John K.
 
I also picked up the magical E-620 camera for this magical price.

Perhaps the pricing is a clue to Oly Canada's behavior wrt TCS; in the "bad old days" of Canadian distribution, there was a tendency for many distributors to flog any vendors who went below certain pricing margins. Perhaps London Drugs complied and TCS did not? Perhaps we'll never know, but it makes for an interesting thread.

My own experiences with both Oly Canada and TCS have been first-rate, so I hate to see such a good marriage break up.
On the way home tonight, needing some file folders, I stopped by London Drugs. I was glad to see that they did, for a change, have a few Olympus items, in a small corner much overshadowed mutliple by shelves stocked with Canan, Nikon and Sony cameras, and even a much bigger range of Pentax products were an E-620 and an E 520 body, and 2 or 3 lenses, the kit ones and a 70-300 on display and a E Pen-1 .

This -in light Nadel's apparent refusal to supply Pen products to The Camera Store - certainly reflects a bizarre distribution strategy!

While London Drugs does seem to treat both its employees and its customers better than most mass-marketers, its level of knowledge, service and support is nowhere near that of a good camera store, and certainly not a pro-shop like TCS. And their prices, btw, are also considerably higher ($799. for the E-620/14-42, which I' bought for $609. for example).

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erichK
saskatoon, canada
 

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