 Just wanted to share some of these lighter moments of running a stock photo agency.
Because most of our sales are generated through online searches it does tend to result in a number of misunderstandings in terms of what we actually sell online. Some people tend to think that if they see a picture of something on your site, you must actually sell that item. Others assume that if you show a picture of something you must be the utmost expert at that particular item. Of course, maintaining professionalism at all costs is always the priority, however sometimes it's hard not to snicker at some of these requests. Where possible we attempt to help out the "customer", except where there is obviously a risk of revealing information which should not be revealed. Most times they are appreciative, not always. We've actually had people yell at us because we weren't able to help them with their somewhat bizarre requests.
Admittedly, some of the confusion comes because of our name, World of Stock, which some draw parallels to big box discount retail stores or online stockbrokers. The name was meant to represent the fact that we have photographers supplying images from all over the world, but maybe that's not clear enough.
One lady actually was really angry with us because she had copied (i.e. stolen) a copyrighted watermarked web image from our site and now it was installed as her desktop background and "how could we do such a thing without her permission..." and "what are we going to do to fix it?" A simple right-clicking misstep on her part led to this seemingly life-threatening problem. I had to explain to her that a) "Uhhh, you see that little copyright notice below the picture" and b) "We don't automatically install our copyrighted pictures on people desktops every time they view one".
Here are some excerpts from other inquiries we have received over the last few months. While these are not word for word and we've removed any specific references to preserve privacy, you'll get the overall point.
"My daughter wants an Orangutan, how long will it take to ship the cute baby one in the picture" (yes, that really happened)
"What exact color of paint is that on the window sill in that picture? I want the exact same color for my house"
"I have a client who wants a fire truck for his collection, is that a 73 SuperPumper Mark IV by chance?"
"How did I get in that photo in front of the Louvre? I've never been to Paris. Oh hang on, maybe that's not me after all, sorry" (maybe in another life?)
"My son just bought me one of those new fangled digital cameras but the manual is only in Spanish, can you explain how it works?" (uhh, have you tried flipping the manual over?)
"What's the address of that house in the picture ABC1234? I want to go and visit them" (Yikes!)
"I am a starving artist, please send all of your pictures free of charge to ...." (Uh OK, you want that FedEx or UPS?)
"Can you put personalized lettering on your table napkins?" (...uuuuuh?)
"How can I get a message to the model in that picture" (Double Yikes!)
"When's the best time to go to Nepal?" (umm, I think mid-winter, yeah, that's it.)
"Which stocks are the best ones to buy right now?" (Enron, definitely...)
And my favorite...
"Are you guys affiliated with World of Bass Fishin?"
(c) 2006 Steve Smith, World of Stock [Contact] [Bio]
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