We’ve all seen the ads, a just out DSLR listed for hundreds less than almost every other retailer. If you’ve been around the forum block you know that it’s usually a classic case of bait and switch. Common variations on the scam go something like this.
- You order the cheap camera thinking you just got a deal.
- Then you get the phone call or email, they want to sell you the charger and the battery and the kit lens that all came with it in the box.
- You turn down their offer politely and say just send me that bargain of a camera body. Then they never complete your order or just cancel it entirely.
- Or if your order does make it, the item might be “grey market” or completely different than advertised.
- Try to return the item and they would hit you with exorbitant restocking fees.
Basically you were toast and the deal as they say “Was too good to be true”. Cnet reports that the New York Attorney General has taken 40 online retailers to task. Forcing some to close, some to pay fines and some to promise to change their ways. Among the names are some you may recognize including: Broadway Photo, 86th Street Photo, Camera Whiz, Foto Connection and Sonic Cameras.
While we can hope that things will change as a result of this latest attempt to squelch internet fraud we can still rely on sites like reseller ratings to help protect us while shopping online.
via|cnet
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3 Comments at "Online Photography Retailers Busted for Bait and Switch"
Believe it or not, you can play these people if you hit the right buttons.
I bought my latest camera body from an outfit in NYC and told them I was thinking about getting some additional glass, but needed to check some numbers first. I placed the order for the camera body and kit lens w/ included case and ‘extras’ (total junk) for well under retail, and told them I’d call back within a day to reaffirm the order or possibly update it with the additional lenses.
They verified all the stuff it was going to come with, and you can imagine the uneasiness when i did a quick review check after the phone call and saw all the instances of what was described in the article above. I guess they decided to try and not scam me when there was a couple hundred more bucks in the offing if they kept me coming back.
Obviously, I wasn’t about to trust them to give me good glass, so that transaction never happened with them, to the dismay of their service rep. on the phone.
I call it a reverse bait’n'switch on them. Turn about is fair play, right?
I tried purchasing a USA Warranty Canon 5DMKII from one of these operations earlier this year, only to be told that shipping from NYC to OH is $286. What the !@#$%? Caveat Emptor.
That’s actually the way most of the “ligit” idiot retailers work – the shipping. No law against excessive shipping markup. When you’re done with shipping, it usually ends up being at or above B&H.
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