Unfortunately, I live in an area that is less than stellar when it comes to local camera stores and the nearest larger pro stores being at least an hours drive or more. So when it comes times to make the journey to one of these stores, I always call to make sure they have what I want in stock. Enter Samy's Camera...
For the last couple years, I have been a big fan of Calumet Photographic. They have large, well laid out stores that have a huge assortment of gear and a very knowledgeable staff. Biggest downside to them is that their closest stores are in downtown LA or Irvine, both of which are a 2+ hour drive in any sort of traffic. Samy's camera has a Pasadena store which cuts at least a good 45 minutes off of that drive and since I have never been there, I figured it would be a good opportunity to check them out since I was needing a few pieces of gear. I called them at noon and made sure they had the items I was looking for; A Black Rapid RS-5 strap and a roll of 9' wide pure white seamless paper. The lady on the phone assured me they had plenty of both in stock so I loaded myself up and made the trip.
Upon arrival, I could not even find the place. Its in a very busy area of downtown Pasadena and because I was so involved trying to keep up with traffic, I did not even notice as I passed by their store because it was well past dusk and they did not even have the store name on the front of the building lit up. Strike one... After getting frustrated, I called and they directed me where to go which and I eventually found it. Upon finding the building, the next obstacle was finding parking. There is a tiny lot to the left of the building that will park about 20 cars. Mind you, this is downtown Pasadena so every spot was full and other than a couple of spots on the curb out front, that was the full extent of their parking. I ended up parking across the street a couple blocks over. Strike two...
After getting parking situated, I entered the store and was honestly shocked at how small it was. Piles of gear strewn about, things laid on top of each other and a layout that was difficult to find what I was looking for. After poking through their neck straps for nearly 10 minutes, I was finally greeted by a sales person which I asked where they kept their Black Rapid straps. She informed me that they were kept behind the counter because of theft of small parts off of them. No problem, so we ventured to the counter where she started digging through more piles of gear trying to locate what I was after. She came back and informed me that they did not have the RS-5 in stock. Strike three, your out of there!! Should have cut my losses and walked...
At this point I was starting to become a bit annoyed. It was already 4:30 and no way I would be able to make it to Calumet in time and I really had no desire to make the long drive again, so I settled on a lower model, RS-4 as it does the majority of what I wanted the strap for in the first place. I also told her I needed a roll of white seamless paper and she said thats not her department and I needed to go to another counter for that. Seriously? The store is the size of a quickie mart and you can't walk over there and get me a roll of the paper? Whatever.
As I was standing at the "other" counter waiting for my paper, I overheard a conversation that one of the sales people was having on the phone with a customer who was calling in asking questions about a Nikon camera. The sales person was being incredibly curt, sarcastic and just plain rude to the person on the phone and I was very tempted to rip the receiver out of his hand and show him a thing or two about customer service because he obviously was lacking any sort of those skills. I really have no idea what was happening on the other side of the line but regardless, that is no way to treat a customer.
On the long trek back to the truck, mind you wielding a 9 foot long cardboard box, I had plenty of time to reflect on and grumble in the back of my mind about my experiences at Samy's Camera. Small, poorly stocked, terrible parking, bad location and horrible customer service sum this place up in a nutshell. I will not be returning anytime soon and will gladly deal with the traffic and extended drive times it takes to get to Calumet.
