Locked Into That Argument

(I work in a shop that sells equipment for professional-level cameras, and we mostly deal with filmmaker freelancers and companies. A customer bought a gimbal, which is a piece of tech that stabilises the camera and lets you move without the camera juddering, for his phone. He calls up to say it doesn’t work, and my coworker asks him to come in and have us look at it. Firstly, he used it for five hours and is shocked that it’s out of battery. We wait for it to charge, and explain that it has up to six hours of battery.)

Coworker: “So, what’s wrong with it?”

Customer: “When it’s in lock mode, and I turn around, it doesn’t move with me.”

(Lock mode is when it locks into place and you can move the handle around with the camera staying in the same place.)

Coworker: *testing it* “It seems okay; it wasn’t doing this?”

Customer: “Yeah, but you’re not walking. Walk.”

Coworker: *walks over nearer me* “It seems okay now.”

Customer: “No, but you need to turn around. It was when I turned around.”

Coworker: *turns around, so the locked position is pointing towards him* “Yep.”

Customer: “No, look, now you can’t see the screen. It doesn’t turn with you!”

Coworker: “Yes, the lock setting stops it from turning, so you can—“

Customer: *interrupting* “No, I want it to follow me!”

Coworker: “Okay, there’s a follow mode—“

Customer: *interrupting* “No, that moves too much. I want it to follow my movements in lock mode!”

(AI had to leave the room to laugh. According to my coworker, he continued to insist it was broken and that it should “follow” in LOCK mode and move less in FOLLOW mode. Also, there’s a conspiracy that the companies making camera equipment charge more for better quality items and keep bringing out new technology. My coworker spent an hour placating this man, and all over a ~£100 phone gimbal. The other gimbals we sell are for the same cameras used to make blockbuster films and start at ~£1000.)