B&H Brick and Mortar rude disappointment

[HDNitehawk]

So this week I am in NYC on a one time vacation. NYC is not really a destination that would be on our list twice, even though it has been enjoyable.

For years I have read how marvelous B&H brick and mortar store is and how they have everything.

I knew I had to go see the store. I have thought repeatedly about adding the 600mm F/4 L and from all the reports B&H is the place that has everything.

This morning I went to the store, and worked my way up to the Canon lenses. I asked to see the 600mm and was handed a lens that was dinged up and worn and the focus ring was about worn out from people playing with it. It was a bare and naked lens.

So I ask the clerk if he has the hood so I can see what it feels like. (Really the main reason I came so I could get a feel for the 600mm.)
The clerk tells me that they do not put the hoods out. I asked if he could get one, and he gets rude. He tells me if I want to see what the hood is like on the lens I would have to buy one.

WTH, every brick and mortar camera store I have been in would have unpacked one for you to look at. Even the one behind the counter had one with it when they got it.

Anyway, once he got rude B&H dropped several notches in my book. I took three hours of my families vacation time to go and it was a waste.

[M_Six]

Sorry to hear about that. Bad customer service is never good news.

That said, I've been there a half dozen times and have never received anything but outstanding customer service. Last time I went in, I went to the Fuji section and asked to see an X-T1. The rep had to walk all the way to the far end of the counter and into the stockroom to get one for me to check out. I felt guilty for making him walk that far since I had no intention of buying it. I told him so when he got back. He pleasantly brushed it off as business as usual.

Your experience, while certainly regrettable and inexcusable, is probably also a rarity.