Some companies seem unaware of Google and the Web as tool for the consumer. This December, body and rear lens caps for the E-mount (used by the popular NEX cameras and lenses) arrived at the North American Sony stores. Sony.com advertised the caps at a price of $5.99 US each while Sony.ca offered them for $11.99 each - TWICE the price in spite of our dollar being at PARITY with the greenback over the past 12 plus months!
Think of it - our Canadian branch of Sony feels it is necessary to sell the same bit of “made in China” plastic for DOUBLE the US price to make a profit.
I wrote Sony Canada Customer Service an email and received a very polite personal response. Unfortunately, it offered the usual bromides about the cost of doing business in Canada - high taxes, small market, regulations, rental costs, lower volume than the American Sony, hence smaller price breaks, etc., etc. I considered suggesting it is time for Sony to reorganize and eliminate the various geographic fiefdoms. In the end, I decided it was not worthwhile to get into a debate with customer service at this level.
Instead, I went online, Googled “NEX body caps”, and bought TWO caps from FotoForEasy in Hong Kong at a price of $7.21 Canadian including shipping...
