A friend in Calgary sent me this story recently. It affirms my feelings about National Camera, a local merchant dealing in photographic gear and optics for birding. My experiences at its Golden Valley store have always been positive, the merchandise I've chosen excellent, the information offered during the purchase conservations always helpful. I've recommended National Camera to many friends and acquiaintenances. Here is one reason why.
The Calgary birder wrote: "Five years or so ago I went to National Camera Exchange in Golden Valley and talked to Kevin Smythe, whom I'd known casually for years. Asked him how I could get a quality pair of binos for less than $1,000. He strongly recommended the Nikon Monarch model at $300US. I compared them in the parking lot with my old Zeiss, was very impressed, and took home a pair. Further, I was so pleased with them that I "sold" maybe 10 or 12 pair to Calgary friends over the next couple years. (At the time they cost over $400Can in Calgary). BTW I got no commission, just gave friends Kevin's phone number -- or in a couple cases hand-carried them from Golden Valley to Calgary.
"As I mentioned to you a couple of years ago, we were hugely dissatisfied with the repetitive breakage of the eyecups on our (three pairs) of Nikon monarchs, along with the obligation to have these repaired at Nikon in US not Canada, the reluctance even then of Nikon to back up their warranty, the need to use villainous (I don't use the word lightly) UPS each time we shipped them down, the endless border hassles each time, and on and on.
"I finally phoned Kevin a couple of months ago in desperation, to see if he had any suggestions. After discussing the situation, he offered to refund our money, even though we had used these binoculars as our primaries for three years, and our backups for a subsequent two. I was dumbfounded, but after jumping through a few more Nikon-imposed hoops (he was initially confident, far more than I was/am, that Nikon would replace them for his store) we have received a full refund as of a few days ago. At that point Nikon was still jerking him around, but to his everlasting credit he went ahead and stood by his offer. I certainly hope Nikon does indeed come through as he thinks.
"But of course that is not the point…Kevin was more than fair and honourable, and I want to spread the word."
Happy to do so. Cameras, lenses, and birding optics almost always represent large investments. It's comforting to do business with people you can trust.
