As I've seen more and more shots from the K20D posted, I decided that I would like to at least put my hands on one and have a good look see. So, my wife and I went to the local Wolf Camera in the Mall.

I asked the clerk if they had a Pentax K20D in stock.

To my astonishment, the clerk replied. "No Sir, Pentax doesn't make a K20D, you must be thinking of the Canon 20D."

I said,

"No, I'm thinking of the Pentax K20D that just came out in March."

He said.

"Pentax doesn't have any new cameras." "The newest camera Pentax has is the K10 that came out last year." "It's not a very good camera, but I can show it to you, if you like."

I said,

"No thanks, and left the store."

My wife asked me,

"Do they have any idea what they are doing?"

I just shook my head and said,

"Apparently not."

At this point in time, I have no intention of buying a K20D. I'm still trying to learn to use what I already have.

But, it would seem that a company as large as Wolf Camera would have sales people who are, at least, familiar with what's new in the Camera market.

[séamuis]

the smaller 'mom and pop' camera stores are much better, that and wolf camera sucks as much as any other major store. as for this guy.... thats just sad. I mean really now that is SAD.

t's not a very good camera, but I can show it to you, if you like."

I would have said: and your not a very good sales person, and I can go somewhere else if you'd like.

So, my wife and I went to the local Wolf Camera in the Mall.

I made that same mistake when I decided to by my K100D.



The guy at the Wolf Camera in Savannah kept saying to me something to the effect of "Yes, it does do that but let me show you what you really need." Then he pulled a Nikon D80 off the shelf.

Fortunately for me, we have a local store and they were more than happy to show me the Pentax camera and explain all of its features.

The local guy got my business on the K100D and the K20D.

[Peter Zack]

This is the sort of thing that Pentax needs to be aware of. You should send an email to the USA office with details of your experience. Otherwise how will they know what's happening in the marketplace. It's one thing to have a Canikon bias (that happens all the time) but to have no understanding of the brand or an outright lie is unacceptable.

I'd Cc a copy of the letter to Wolf's HO as well.

[J.Scott]

Rare indeed is the camera store that promotes or is even knowledgeable about Pentax. I did a quick check and Wolf Camera has K20D's in stock. The local, small town camera shop that I used to deal with has the odd Pentax but the guys there know where their bread is buttered - Nikon and Canon! I'll forever do my Pentax shopping on line from now on.

[little laker]

I'm with Peter here.

I'd sure like to know about it if I was involved in any way with Pentax.

If the K10 isn't very good everyone here must be a camera god.
Since we've all taken amazing photographs with the K10D or inferior cameras



Plus the K100D Super is a newer model than the K10D

[Venturi]

I'm not shocked at all to hear this about Ritz/Wolf.
The thing you have to keep in mind with this company is that they are and always have been a "mall store" and as such their sales staff pulls from that pool. Chances are high that the sale person you are accosted by was working the counter at Orange Julius just a couple days prior.
The only reason I would ever even go into a Ritz/Wolf store is if I needed something "today" and already knew exactly what it was I was going for, and they were the only option available.

[monochrome]

This is the sort of thing that Pentax needs to be aware of. You should send an email to the USA office with details of your experience. Otherwise how will they know what's happening in the marketplace. It's one thing to have a Canikon bias (that happens all the time) but to have no understanding of the brand or an outright lie is unacceptable.

I'd Cc a copy of the letter to Wolf's HO as well.

Send it directly to Ned Bunnell through Michelle Martin
Michelle Martin, michelle.martin@pentax.com
303.728.0224

[squarerigger]

Unfortunately, this type of sales knowledge is becoming typical in many places of business in the US. Manufacturers and businesses spend hugh amounts of money to get you into their stores only to have the whole buying process tubed by minimum wage sales folks who don't give a hoot about anything but what time they get off work.

[Buddha Jones]

Wolf/Ritz is not a camera store. They are Canikon drone reproduction shops. To my core, this is my belief.

[ftpaddict]

I've heard enough stories on this and other forums to back up Buddha's claims. It seems that this recent news only adds to my certainty.

Same experience at the local Ritz last summer. Went in to try the K100 and K10. I was debating if I wanted to spend the extra on the K10d or get some lenses with the K100. The salesperson was with another customer so they got the K10 and K100 out and I got to play with them alone for a few minutes. I decided that the K100 with a couple of lenses was the way I was going to go.
The person came back and immediately began to tell me why the nikon d40 was the better choice as an entry level DSLR. They had one and it was "hands down the better camera" By this time I had done a lot of research and knew of the lens compatability issues with the D40. When I said I was not interested in the D40 because you could not use older style lenses with it. The salesperson told me that was not true, that the D40 could be used with any lense Nikon had made since 1985... I argued for a minute and then thought what was the point.

I said I wanted the K100 so I could use old lenses and have them be Image stablized in the camera body. They then said the in-body stablization was not very effective and that it was really more of a gimmick. So I asked what Pentax lenses they had and "none" was the answer.. they could special order one for me if I wanted one. "That's the other problem with Pentax they said, No lenses, No Flashes, everything has to be special ordered"
I said thanks for your time, and left.

I called the manager the next day and explained how his sales staff had tried to talked me out of the camera I wanted to buy and in the process talked the store out of sale. He said "well they were right, we do have a lot more accessories for the Nikons and Canon cameras, but come back down and buy the pentax you want, and I will give you a 10% discount on any Pentax lens you special order."
I ordered my K100d kit and DA 50-200 from Beach Camera that afternoon.

I guess if you just want a Canikon kit, they are the perfect sales staff...

[vizjerei]

If I got something like this, I will ask for the manager, if the manager is like that too, then I will write a letter to the main office...

[Buddha Jones]

I bet they are on commision and are getting major kick backs from Nikon and Canon. The Wolf by my house actually had a Pentax user work in the store. I don't think he lasted more than 6 months, he probably got weeded out because they couldnt assimilate him. Poor guy. He did show me the employee discounts hs got tho.. it is def worth it to get a job there.

[stevebrot]

For what it's worth:

Wolf = Ritz = Camera World = Kits (same company, all Ritz)

And also, for what it's worth:

The clerks at the Portland, Oregon area stores (Wolf, Ritz, and Camera World) are well aware of the Pentax products and enthusiastic about selling them. Their major complaint has been the shortage of stock to show potential customers. When I was shopping for my K10D last spring, there was not a store in Portland that had the body in stock. I made my purchase based on the public specs for the K10D coupled with the handling characteristics of the K100D that they had in stock.

Steve