Apparently there are still some people who buy electronic and camera items in real-world-stores and sometimes they go to Ritz Camera.

If you’re one of these people, you may be interested in these cat-out-of-bag-lettings of an ex-Ritz Camera sales force member.

Even if you don’t patronize Ritz Camera, some of the tips and tactics to watch out for may apply to your other shopping excursions as well.

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So, here I am out of a job due to termination from my former employer Ritz Camera. I was a model employee I followed the dress code to the letter, always arrived promptly on time or 15 minutes earlier. I achieved the highest sales in my region twice in the 8 months that i worked there. After a short argument with a corp. manager I was terminated. So, here I am racked with guilt I am here to confess the sins of Ritz camera

1. Ritz camera employees are commissioned
Why is this number one you ask? Because you must understand what drives us as employees. Ritz employees make commission on everything in the store, we make the most money on our damage protection plan employees get 10-15% of the total cost. So if you have a Nikon D-80 and you get a two year damage plan we get 60 dollars. multiply that by a few customers and you’ve doubled your paycheck in one day. We will be your best friend while we get you a camera that you can’t afford and won’t fully understand how to use.

2. Never ever develop nudes, ever!
This may seem pretty common knowledge however some people do it anyways. Lab techs have an unwritten rule “If she’s hot make copies!” lab techs aren’t authorized to copy anyone’s photos however it does happen. So if you have some shots of your wife in a lovely nightie don’t process them or they will end up in a lab techs hands or worse, the internet

3. “Of course the damage plan covers that.”
Don’t be fooled Ritz employees love to up-sell the damage plan touting that if you throw your camera out of a car while moving if you can bring us back the serial number we can get you a new camera. That would be amazing if that was true, I drop my Nikon SLR of the empire state and Ritz will give me a new one, that will never happen. Don’t listen to the employee no matter how much he tries to relate to you stand your ground and say no. Yes, people do come in with completely destroyed cameras expecting that in 2 weeks they will have a brand new camera, I hate to tell you this but you will never see that camera again.

4. Free SLR cleanings are only for the outside
This is often used to get people to buy SLR’s often the employee will say that you can get a free sensor cleaning if you get a damage protection plan. That’s not true you get a “free cleaning” and the cleaning is defined as cleaning the outside of the camera only! No internal cleanings are preformed by any Ritz employee in location. Basically if they say “oh yeah we do sensor cleanings for free in store” that’s a lie… it’s sent to a separate company to be cleaned and that takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months.

5. Ebay is Ritz Camera’s dumping ground
Ritz often sells outdated cameras on Ebay for cheap, it states that if you have any issues you can go to any Ritz store and exchange the camera or return it. We were told by the corp. office that if anyone comes in to exchange any item we are to refer them to customer service. If you find your self in the unfortunate situation of having a broken outdated camera that you bought of RitzEbay, i hate to tell you this but you are utterly screwed. The customer service center will not help you at all. Most of the CSR’s are not able to offer any kind of compensation for your camera. if you see a sweet camera on RitzEbay just remember if it fails its up to you to front the cost of repair

Now here are a few tips…

6. Always wait for an ad to come out, this is when you will save the most and get the best deal. If there’s no ad running that week prices will be the same as best buy or any other electronics store.

7. If you’re doing a large order ask for it in an hour, we say we can do it in an hour. If we can’t and you have to wait the manager will take off 10% for the order being late.

8. Always upload your own photos never have an employee do it. I say this because of two reasons. If you need your photos quick and you leave them with the sales associate to develop he won’t. Also if you upload your photos on your own and edit them the lab tech won’t get the chance to go through your photos while he or she processes them.

— BEN POPKEN

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