camera scams on the web, I fell for it

Tutti-frutti · #1 2007-03-25, 7:52am

My dilemma with the "get a better price" on the www. has really turned out to be an interesting learning curve on scams by several camera selling companies.
So far I was lucky to cancel the last on which was ExpressCameras,Wisetronics,and Photonation.
all can be found on ebay or browse. Most of them will quote you a cheap price and before actually placing the order they get back to you on the phone, trying to sell you anything else, but what you wanted. these 3 places i had actually ordered online, but I called several more to get some product info. seems there are a lot of these places out there. From now on I will read up on anything I can get my eyes on before ever ordering again.
That just tells yiou if it sounds too good it;s probably not good.

Katja

chrisdd · #2 2007-03-25, 10:37am

That sounds an awful lot like bait and switch, which is illegal.

pipyr · #3 2007-03-25, 3:50pm

Oooooooh yeah!! There are TONS of places on-line that will scam you with this stuff!. If you want just the camera, they will try to sell you kits that they put together with a bunch of extra stuff that you probably don't need. Then if you tell them you just want what you ordered, they will tell you it is on back order and that the kits are available right now. If you still just want what you ordered, they will tell you it is on backorder fr some crazy amount of time. Then (because they have already taken your money!) they make you wait a month and a half to refund your money or if they do send something, they send something other than what they advertised. Please check on any camera company you are planning to do business with! There are many good ones, but the bad ones are bad!! There are good deals to be found, but check into them before giving them your money!! Luckily, when this happened to me, I was able to put a stop on the payment because they hadn't charged my card yet...I found out on-line that they were a scam company an hour after placing my order. After putting a block on my card, I called them to cancel my order and was passed around to about a thousand different people because they wanted to charge me a 20% re-stocking fee!! They hadn't even received my order yet! lol. Finally they gave up and canceled the order, but what a pain!!

smutboy420 · #4 2007-03-25, 6:45pm

ah man that sucks to here.
Camras seem to be a big scam item. I rember way back in the day befor all this internet stuff. Camras were a hard item to buy mailorder with out getting scamed and bait and switched from some of the camera Co.'s that would advertise in photography circles.

It seems some times the more things change the more they are the same.
I had a heck of a time tring to find a new cd burner on ebay. th 4th time was the charm. But 3 times in a row I bought a Cd burned on ebay and got ripped off and had to wait to get my $ back from paypal. But because I waited to get my $ refunded each time after waiting and waitng for each one. before trying my luck again. This started out thanks giving day and I just finely got the one delivered 2 weeks ago.

I wish I had just went to the computer store and just paid $30 more.

wnbresn · #5 2007-03-25, 8:55pm

A word of advice. Before you do ANY buying of ANYthing online check out the company by just doing a simple Google search. Usually if they are a rip there will be someone or lots of someones bitching about them. Tutti-Fruitti if you had run a google search on any of the three companies you had mentioned you would find lots of people bitching about them.

Tutti-frutti · #6 2007-03-26, 8:25am

Let me tell ya I sure found them now.
Katja

BlueBetween · #7 2007-03-27, 12:10pm

Oh... I made that mistake last year. They called me back it was dinner time, the kid was having a melt-down, they asked what I was using it for and then said they were upgrading to a macro vs. what I had ordered... blah blah blah... I said ok... the price went WAY up.... it wasn't until after that the "oh cr$p" realization hit me.

So it came three days later, the whole time I was stressed out and called them up and they said just wait until it all arrives, check it out and if I'm still unhappy, call them then... and so I waited and then I called and reamed them out. I told them how the prices they quoted were outrageous compared to real prices, that it wasn't a macro at all that they sent me, that I'd been ripped off, bait and switch, I was returning the whole thing (even though it was going to cost me $100 to ship it all back) and in the end they gave me a refund for about $300 and sent me an extra gig memory card.

In the end, it still wasn't a good deal, but it was a fair deal. But next time - it won't go that way again - I'll buy it locally at a camera shop with a good rep.

Alaskalinda · #8 2007-03-28, 1:59am

I'm on my 3rd digital camera. I've been happy with each one, but I bought them local. I decided after I grew out of my first one that when I bought the next one I wanted to "test-drive" it in person to make sure it would be what I wanted. First camera was a DC-215 zoom Kodak, 2nd was a 400 Stylus Olympus and I'm using the 800 Stylus Olympus now. Bought all camera's new in box local. Now I need to adjust me, the user, to get decent pictures.

Cosmo · #9 2007-03-28, 6:52am

Another problem with those places is that they sell gray market equipment. Only USA models come with a warranty. If you buy a European or Asian camera, it comes with a warranty, but you have to live there for them to honor the warranty.

My favorite place to buy camera stuff is either www.beachcamera.com or www.bhphotovideo.com. Both are very reputable companies, and when you call, the employees of both places know what they are talking about.

lldesigns · #10 2007-03-28, 9:13am

My story is somewhat similar in that I got the camera I wanted at a great price. The problem came after I ordered it. I got an email saying I had to call the company to verify that I was the person on the CC before they could process it. Before I could call them, they called me. The guy on the phone was as slick a salesmen as I've ever come across. It was clear immediately that he wasn't interested in verifiying anything. The reason they can offer camera's at such a great price is because they try to get you with all the extras! He tried his darndest to sell me everything from a battery and memory upgade to a 3 year extended warranty. I just kept saying no until he actually got pissed! He stopped short of calling me an idiot and I finally got him off the phone by getting another call. Didn't bother me in the least...I got a great camera at an awesome price!

joebirder · #11 2007-03-30, 8:59am

I second www.bhphotovideo.com . I have bought 5 cameras from them and I always get great service and the best legit price you can normally find on the web.. much better than retail. They do also offer factory refurbished items and stand by them 100% ... they have never tried to sell me anything but what I wanted...

Tutti-frutti · #12 2007-04-02, 7:59pm

I am back, a new camera by my side and an outrageous lens wow, nothing like my old nikon,
anyways found a good price and service only 1 phonecall to tell me I have to sign for package. They told me it would show up today and it did.

sooo happy

Katja

joebirder · #13 2007-04-03, 6:35pm

So what camera and Lens set up did you get..????

Kalera · #14 2007-04-03, 6:53pm

I have been very happy with BH also, and they will always be my first choice for mail-order camera equipment.

Hayley · #15 2007-04-05, 5:00pm

I have ordered from BH, they are very knowledgeable, professional and give good customer service - the prices are very competitive as well. Other outfits I have purchased from are cameraworld and crutchfield.

I never purchase camera or electronic from eBay - not saying that there are not honest vendors there but you can't really know for sure.

Tutti-frutti · #16 2007-04-06, 10:57pm

Hey Joe

I went back to Canon, the XTi, since i had a few lenses, but broke down and bought a 2.8 EF 100 Macro Lens. The pictures were shot at dusk outside. I am so happy.
I got them from 17th Street Cameras out of New York. At the time they were cheaper than BH.

Katja

CO_Phantom · #17 2007-05-03, 1:02pm

I had similar issues with Cambridgeworld.com. I wanted the EF-S 65mm f/2.8 1-5x macro lens from them (5x magnification!!!) and they were the ONLY place at the time that I could find that lens. So, I place the order. Their website has it advertised at $779 and change.

After about a week, I hadn't heard from them, so I called them to find out when it was shipped. I got some dude who sounded like Apu on the Simpsons (VERY hard to understand on the phone!!) and he went on and on about how they couldn't ship me the lens because I had to buy the warranty....SO that roped me into another $100. And I was mad because "sheesh, the website said nothing about having to buy warranty for it" and I'd been told as a general rule the warranty for a lens really isn't worth it so I didn't want the warranty anyway. But I played along since I really wanted the lens, and they were the only place that I could find that had it.

2 weeks later, the Apu dude calls me again and says "oh, there's no way we can get it to you for that price...it is more expensive than that.." And he shoots me a price. And I told him that's higher than I had anticipated spending, since the price on their website was x dollars. Then has the balls to go so far as to ask me how much I would be willing to spend! Still, I really want the lens, and they're the only people at the time who have it....so I quote him a number. Oh, I'm going to be losing money on this deal, but we'll do it. Whatever.

A week after that, I still hadn't seen it. So I called again to find out what was going on. "Oh, they are still backordered....there is nothing I can do." Well, you know what buddy? You suck. Cancel my order. Then I called my credit card company and told them there'd better not be any charges from Cambridgeworld on there. EVER.

Now, TONS of places have the lens, and I see that BH has them for very close to what Cambridgeworld had them for! So, it appears that I will get my lens afterall. Just a lot later than I had originally hoped for (this was all back in December/January).

Scary...

-Amy

wnbresn · #18 2007-05-03, 4:49pm

Do a google search for Cambridgeworld.com. You will see lots of unhappy people writting stuff about them even though places like Amazon deal with them . When doing business on the web I never buy from places that list the lowest prices especially when they are much lower than anyone else. That should set off all sorts of alarm bells in your head. Another warning should have been the fact that they had something that no one else had and they were willing to sell it cheaper then what its worth. The law I live by is when something looks too good to be true then it ALWAYS is a con. Its a rule thats saved me over and over in my 51 years

CO_Phantom · #19 2007-05-10, 11:04am

Well, the good news is that NOW tons of people have the lens. I had no idea at the time whether or not that price was the cheapest because it was the only place I could find that had it. Of course, when he started turning what should have been a simple sale into negotiations....yeah, that was it for me.

-Amy

Griffin Dove · #20 2007-05-11, 7:28am

Great link (BH), there's a monitor I'm eyeing that was substantially lower priced! Thanks!

Deanna

MistyCherie · #21 2007-06-07, 8:34pm

I've had good luck with beachcamera.com Awhile back I needed to order a camera for my job (they wanted a camera for the dept) and I got it from them. I also got my own camera from them not too long ago. Good prices, fast shipping. (For those who are looking at this thread wondering about good camera shops.)

I've heard a lot of good things about BH as well.

Also, I like to check out camera reviews at dpreview.com

=)

mary1_$ · #22 2007-06-24, 6:16pm

Before I knew about digital camras I see on on the net. It was very,very cheaap so I ordered it. $20 something bucks. Well it came and I almost fainted. It was the size of a small box of matches and was a total piece of junk. I keep it to remind me how stupid I was. I have seen the same ones on the net for $4-$5 bucks.