Buyer’s Remorse

[Mike Farley]

The period of doubt after pressing the “Buy” button and receiving the e-mail confirmation when wondering whether it was actually a sensible purchase.

That was something I experienced last weekend, after opting for a Fuji X-E2 which was on sale at an attractive price. While it is a superseded model, there is very little difference compared to the X-E2s which replaced it. Mainly that is due to Fuji generously releasing a firmware update which added most of the new features found on the later model. Having considered it for a while, I had convinced myself it would be a worthwhile addition. I have been enjoying the images from my X-Pro1, but it has some handling issues which I thought that the X-E2 would banish.

Through good fortune, I had inadvertently stumbled a website which caters for the remorseful buyer, as it shows items as being in stock when they are not. Let’s hear it for Calumet Photographic.

Uncertainly is part of the remorseful buyer’s psyche and Calumet caters for that magnificently. It has a level of customer service which veers towards the Rhett Butler end of the scale. Had the company followed the schedule described on its website, the camera would have been dispatched on Monday for delivery on Tuesday. Heroically it waited until late in the afternoon on the Tuesday to inform me that the item was not really available. Waiting in for a parcel which is not going to arrive? Paradise for the remorseful buyer.

If that is not good enough, it gets better. Calumet should have known on Monday morning at the latest that it was out of stock of the X-E2. Yet it anticipated the needs of the remorseful buyer by leaving it on the website for a full three days afterwards, removing it only this morning (Thursday). I was able to add not just one, but 100 units to my basket. Which made it all the more frustrating that I do not have a credit card with £35k available on it and could not complete the transaction. Just think of the relief when that purchase does not go through.

Calumet Photographic. The company which delivers by not delivering. The friend of remorseful buyers everywhere.

[davidb]

Mike

You forgot to add the £2,400.00 for the 100 SD cards for the 100 cameras

[Mike Farley]

You forgot to add the £2,400.00 for the 100 SD cards for the 100 cameras

There's £5,200 for the backpacks in which to put the cameras in as well.

Fortunately, as a remorseful buyer, I do not actually want any of these things. Just the vicarious thrill of ordering of stuff which does not get delivered. That's a market which Calumet uniquely serves.