Can *anyone* help? Need a Nikon battery charged- now sorted!

[odysseus]

Hi all,

I need a favour, if anyone is willing to help out a relative newbie.

Three days ago I bought a Nikon D40x from a store that shall remain nameless (for now). I checked through the contents of the box when I got home and the charger was missing. It's the Nikon MH-23. Called the store and they couldn't find it, didn't have any more cameras with a compatible charger in stock, and can't get one in from Nikon 'til January.

I've been calling friends who are into photography (all Canon users, it seems--dammit), and am now calling other camera stores to see if they want to earn my undying gratitude. I want to take photos of my kids on Christmas Day! (see http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=35193 for why).

I'm desperate. Is there anyone near Thornleigh who would be willing to charge the battery for me, or even lend me a compatible charger?

[aim54x]

If you can run the battery out to USYD in the next 2 hours I can put it on charge with my universal charger.

Not the closest option, but I thought I would offer it to you since I am in the office today. Well until 2pm.

[gstark]

Called the store and they couldn't find it, didn't have any more cameras with a compatible charger in stock, and can't get one in from Nikon 'til January.

None of which is your problem.

What is your problem is the fact that this store has (a) through their incompetence, lost the charger that would have been included in the camera's original packaging which has resulted in (b) them selling to you a $600 paperweight.

You now need to impress upon the store manager the significance of this unsatisfactory outcome, as well as the extreme anger, frustration and disappointment you are feeling as a direct result of the incompetence of his staff. You need to do this urgently, but quietly, and in a reasoned, professional, but assertive manner.

Emphasis that this is causing you significant inconvenience.

Emphasis that this is causing you significant distress.

Impress upon the the store manager that he needs to, urgently, come up with some way to remedy the situation. The battery is the same as in the D40, and, I expect, the D60. What other models share this battery? Which, of those models, do they have in stock? They should, having (apparently) cannibalised your box to satisfy some other person's needs, should now be prepared to similarly satisfy your needs.

Given that this is a large chain, they have other stores nearby, absent other suitable stock, they should be calling their sister stores in order to source your charger.

And given that this has now been ongoing for the best part of a week, they also now need to further compensate you for your trouble, inconvenience, and distress. I would consider something along the lines of a Sandisk 8GB to be suitable ...

4GB too, but start at 8.

[odysseus]

I called the store again (about the fifth time now), and insisted on speaking to the manager, and refused his efforts to pass me off to floor staff. I emphasised that getting a charger in January was not what I was looking for.

And well, jiminy, what do you know! It turns out they had a charger all along! And it's there waiting for me to pick up! So loft a glass of Christmas cheer, good members, for it's a heartwarming Christmas miracle!

[/sarcasm]

[gstark]

for it's a heartwarming Christmas miracle!

No.

It's just a customer insisting upon being treated with a little bit of respect, and refusing to be dealt with as a PoS.

Good for you, and well done for standing your ground.

...

...

As it happens, I had a minor "incident" in one of this chain's stores yesterday.

First of all, we need to understand that I had radio commitments that dictated my departure from Bondi by around 10am yesterday. I wanted to buy a couple of presents, including an iPod Shuffle, so I got myself up to Bondi Junction at a little after 8:30, wanting to take advantage of the extended Christmas trading hours.

Well, that's a bloody crock. The only store opening early is Myers. Everything else: no, not 9am, but 9-bloody-thirty!

As it happens, Myers carry the Shuffle, so after a cup of breakfast, I wander up to their electronics department, and yep, there it is. So all I need to do is just wait for a sales person.

So I wait.

And I wait.

And I walk out!

J&B 9-bloody-thirty opening ... there's the Shuffle, in the display case, with a sign saying that they're available for purchase at the counter. So I wait in line at the counter; fair enough, a couple of people were there before me.

And there's a number of different iPods there, in the glass case, at the counter.

My turn comes ... I ask ... I'm told, by a very surly order-taker (no way was this turkey a salesperson) that I need to "go to the counter". "oh, huh? What's this?" I ask. "The other counter" I'm told, and summarily dismissed.

Great service? Not a bloody clue!

So ... I wander up to Hardly Normal, where I look around for a few minutes, but cannot locate any Apple products at all. So I find a salesperson, on the phone. So I wait.

And I wait.

And I walk off!

Tricky Dickies ... within a minute a salesperson informs me that they're out of stock.

[odysseus]

for it's a heartwarming Christmas miracle!

No.

It's just a customer insisting upon being treated with a little bit of respect, and refusing to be dealt with as a PoS.

Hey - that whole "Christmas miracle" shtick was sarcasm. As denoted by the bogus html tag at the end of it.

As it happens, I had a minor "incident" in one of this chain's stores yesterday.

{snippage}

Yeah. Pretty much every major retailer except DJs .. that's impressive. Or unimpressive, depending on your PoV. Those guys have to ask themselves what people have to lose by buying online, if their service is like that.

[odysseus]

Oh, and the whole point of the post, which I forgot to include .. I have the charger in my hot little hands, and an extra battery for my troubles. Ginu-wine Nikon. So I came out of it with something for the hassle.

[gstark]

for it's a heartwarming Christmas miracle!

No.

It's just a customer insisting upon being treated with a little bit of respect, and refusing to be dealt with as a PoS.

Hey - that whole "Christmas miracle" shtick was sarcasm. As denoted by the bogus html tag at the end of it.

Yes, I was aware of that. I just felt the point needed to be emphasised. Too often I find that some people are intimidated by the process of standing up for their rights, of demanding to be treated with respect, when that should be the minimum level of service proffered.

And excellent news that you have your charger, and an extra battery.

Well done. Now go and shoot the cat!

As it happens, I had a minor "incident" in one of this chain's stores yesterday.

{snippage}

Yeah. Pretty much every major retailer except DJs .. that's impressive. Or unimpressive, depending on your PoV. Those guys have to ask themselves what people have to lose by buying online, if their service is like that.

Unimpressive. I refuse to accept shoddy service. I refuse to be treated like shit.

It's amusing to observe the reaction when one responds to a so-called sales assistant with "Yes, I'm rarely wrong" to their totally inappropriate "are you right?" question.

[odysseus]

Well done. Now go and shoot the cat!

Actually, I was planning to shoot my kids ..

[gstark]

Well done. Now go and shoot the cat!

Actually, I was planning to shoot my kids ..

No ....

You marinate them, and put them on the barbie.

[odysseus]

You marinate them, and put them on the barbie.

You're a sick, sick man Gary. I look forward to meeting you someday. Perhaps over a nice bottle of Chianti ..

http://www.templeofthedemon.com/images/lecter0103.jpg

Edit: gstark: Removed direct link to third party image.

[gstark]

You're a sick, sick man Gary.

Guilty as charged.

And proudly so.

I look forward to meeting you someday. Perhaps over a nice bottle of Chianti ..

Only one?

[odysseus]

Only one?

OK, maybe two, and a good Margaret River cabernet as well. And perhaps that surly order-taker from Bondi JB, nicely broiled with fava beans and mash on the side .. ?