(And I don't mean poor as in: ''aww, bless those poor little sales assistants'' )
I've been looking at getting a video camera over the last week so on Friday I thought I'd pop into a well-known high street electrical retailers for some advice and a nudge in the right direction.
I meandered over to the camcorders and found a worryingly young sales guy to help me out.
''Excuse me'' I said. ''Do you know much about camcorders at all?'' This wasn't intended to sound sarcastic, I was just checking I had the right person.
He enthusiastically replied that he did know about camcorders, and would only be too glad to help me in my hour of need.
I went on to explain just what I wanted the camera for (bushcraft and wildlife) and gave him a few specific features that it must have: night recording mode; remote control; 30GB hard disc memory; must be able to connect to a PC via usb and be edited in Windows Movie Maker.
He found what he thought I was after and proceeded to explain the spec. He came across as very confident in his knowledge of all things camcordery.
After having a bit of a look at the camera myself I announced that I couldn't see a USB port.
This is when alarm bells started to ring...
He looked all over the camera then finally popped open the DC input cover.
He then proceeded to explain that on this particular model the DC input doubles up as a USB port
It doesn't, by the way, but this was the advice given to me. Can you imagine what may have happened if I had taken his advice as good and plugged the USB into the power input?
Actually, probably nothing but that's not really the point.
He then carried on with answering my initial questions and explained that this camera has a very good night-recording mode.
It turns out it doesn't, it just has a dirty great LED on the front which illuminates whatever you point the camera at.
Perfect for scaring away the nocturnal wildlife you're trying to film
I made my excuses and left only to return again today.
I found a different assistant this time and explained my needs as before.
This guy was the only person available so I had no choice but to ask him. He can't have been older than 16 and looked as if he was gonna burst into tears at any minute.
He did know more than Fridays child, and didn't tell me to plug the DC charger into my face so I thought we may be onto a winner.
He recommended me a Sony HandyCam which, according to him, had everything I needed and more, and was £20 under my budget. I thanked him for his help, handed over my credit card and left with a big smile.
...until I opened the box at home.
No remote control, even though I had been reassured that ''all cameras come with remote controls these days sir''.
By this point it was too late to take it back (stupid bank holiday closing times) so I now have to make yet another trip tomorrow to waste my time arguing with the moron behind the returns counter.
Why don't these shops have a system to ensure the people selling you things actually know what they're talking about?
Put one guy on cameras permanently and tell him to do some research on the items he's selling. They only had 20 or so items there and it's not difficult to know the in's and out's of 20 cameras, especially if you're selling the damn things all day
I need a lie down in a cold room...
I've been looking at getting a video camera over the last week so on Friday I thought I'd pop into a well-known high street electrical retailers for some advice and a nudge in the right direction.
I meandered over to the camcorders and found a worryingly young sales guy to help me out.
''Excuse me'' I said. ''Do you know much about camcorders at all?'' This wasn't intended to sound sarcastic, I was just checking I had the right person.
He enthusiastically replied that he did know about camcorders, and would only be too glad to help me in my hour of need.
I went on to explain just what I wanted the camera for (bushcraft and wildlife) and gave him a few specific features that it must have: night recording mode; remote control; 30GB hard disc memory; must be able to connect to a PC via usb and be edited in Windows Movie Maker.
He found what he thought I was after and proceeded to explain the spec. He came across as very confident in his knowledge of all things camcordery.
After having a bit of a look at the camera myself I announced that I couldn't see a USB port.
This is when alarm bells started to ring...
He looked all over the camera then finally popped open the DC input cover.
He then proceeded to explain that on this particular model the DC input doubles up as a USB port

It doesn't, by the way, but this was the advice given to me. Can you imagine what may have happened if I had taken his advice as good and plugged the USB into the power input?
Actually, probably nothing but that's not really the point.
He then carried on with answering my initial questions and explained that this camera has a very good night-recording mode.
It turns out it doesn't, it just has a dirty great LED on the front which illuminates whatever you point the camera at.
Perfect for scaring away the nocturnal wildlife you're trying to film

I made my excuses and left only to return again today.
I found a different assistant this time and explained my needs as before.
This guy was the only person available so I had no choice but to ask him. He can't have been older than 16 and looked as if he was gonna burst into tears at any minute.
He did know more than Fridays child, and didn't tell me to plug the DC charger into my face so I thought we may be onto a winner.
He recommended me a Sony HandyCam which, according to him, had everything I needed and more, and was £20 under my budget. I thanked him for his help, handed over my credit card and left with a big smile.
...until I opened the box at home.

No remote control, even though I had been reassured that ''all cameras come with remote controls these days sir''.
By this point it was too late to take it back (stupid bank holiday closing times) so I now have to make yet another trip tomorrow to waste my time arguing with the moron behind the returns counter.
Why don't these shops have a system to ensure the people selling you things actually know what they're talking about?
Put one guy on cameras permanently and tell him to do some research on the items he's selling. They only had 20 or so items there and it's not difficult to know the in's and out's of 20 cameras, especially if you're selling the damn things all day

I need a lie down in a cold room...