Passport Photos Colonial

I hate to give a local business a negative review, but I am tired of being treated like I am an idiot by the staff a Colonial Photo and Hobby whenever I have a question or concern regarding photo equipment. When I am spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on photo equipment, I expect to be treated with some level of respect, especially when trying to return an item that is obviously defective.



I recently purchased a new lens from them and kept having problems with the consistency of the auto focus. I have several other lenses and I have never had a problem like this with any of them. I ran several focusing tests that clearly showed that the lens was back focusing. This particular lens maker has some issues with quality control, so I was not totally surprised. So, after ten days of owning the lens, I decided that it needed to be returned.



When I went to return the lens, I explained the situation to them and got nothing but attitude. Instead of just asking what I wanted to do, they took the lens out of the box, put it on one of their cameras and proceeded to take pictures with it. They said it was working fine. I explained to them that you can’t see the focus problems on the small camera screen and that this is one of the reasons I was so frustrated. The pictures looked good on the camera but not when viewed on a computer monitor.



They then asked me if I had any pictures that demonstrated the problem. I figured that they would demand proof, so I had my memory card with me. I had several test pictures that were taken under controlled conditions that clearly showed the lens was having focus issues. Even with this, the employees were still very standoffish and got completely indignant when I suggested that the lens manufacturer has a reputation for quality control issues. So after 35 minutes of trying to prove to them that I had a legitimate return, the staff member finally went to the manager and asked if the lens could be returned. After some tense minutes he finally said “if the lens is not working for him, just do whatever you need to do to make him happy!”



At that point I had made my decision never to buy anything from them again and asked for my money back. That required another five minute discussion with the manager, but finally they agreed to take the lens back.



The sad thing is, I was going to spend an additional $400 to buy a more expensive lens, but ended up walking out with nothing because of their attitude. I immediately ordered the more expensive lens from amazon and ended up saving more than $100.



In this day and age of overnight shipping and hassle free returns with amazon, Colonial Photo and Hobby needs to get off their high horse and start providing attitude free customer service. I for one will never buy anything from them every again, which is sad since I have been going there for three decades.

As a photographer, I was pleasantly supprised with the vast selection of products that Colonial Photo offers. The staff, while they come off as the Photo Nazi type, are actually very friendly and helpful, but seem a bit suspicious of the younger crowd (probably with good reason, photo supplies are worth their weight at any place you go) but their prices are pretty reasonable. For the everyday hobby photographer I'd stick with wal-mart for your typical film and digital camera needs as you'll save a dollar or two on the film you can find just about anywhere, but if you're really getting into the buisness, this is definalty the place for you.

My old camera shop had closed so I had to look for another. Upon a recommendation from someone, I visited this shop and was instantly taken back by the attentiveness of the staff. I needed a good camera cleaning and information on a few lenses I was looking to get. The associate I spoke with was very knowledgeable with cameras, lenses and what was coming out new. What impressed me the most is he did not upsell anything but actually talked me out of a lense for something smaller, a lot cheaper, and that did the same thing as the lense I was going to pay thousands for. He also cleaned my camera for me at no charge and provided a few tips and tricks to get the pictures I need. I felt right at home there and the traffic to get there was worth it. I will be using them from now on for all of my camera needs.