I wanted to switch over to digital and was in the market for the Canon 5D. Another photographer forwarded me an email from a friend who said that Express Camera was selling the 5D for $999. WOW! So as a typical photographer looking for the best deal, I placed an order online. I was left messages on all my phones, saying that I needed to 'confirm' my order by phone with them. After waiting forever on hold, my salesman asked if I wanted the plastic body or the magnesium. I wanted the magnesium. He said, "How about refurbished camera that is really not refurbished? There was a company that went out of business and had to send back their Canon cameras. When Canon receives that, they have to, by law, put on stickers that say 'refurbished'." I told him, I don't want those. Give me new ones, because I am not comfortable with accepting ones with stickers. He said he understood. (Wish I had been as intelligent as one of the earlier posters who recorded the conversation) I also wanted a Canon 70-200 IS lens and he said, "Why do you want that one? The Sigma lens is a much better lens." and I said, "I would never buy a lens that I haven't tried out yet. Would you buy a car over the phone?" and he dropped that. Then he moved on to telling me that there was this 'new' 70-200 DIGITAL lens, and he was going to 'throw in' the hood and tripod collar. I said these weren't extras. (Honesly, if I had been paying attention to my internal warning system, I would have hung up by this point) I, too, was given the lines, "You need this", "Surely you want that" and by the time is was all said and done, the price was $7640! Holy cow, I thought I was only going to spend a couple thousand on two bodies. I asked him to break this down and I called him back because frankly, I felt raped and changed the order to just two cameras. He said okay, and my out the door price was $4763.93. I thought, well, these are supposed to be brand new, so this should be okay.
Unfortunately, they did not accept American Express (and after reading every page of this thread, I know why), and so charged $1500 on my MC and I had to pay a cashiers check for UPS COD for the balance. And do you know how they wanted the name to be on the check? "Photo". Again, another red flag. I should have been paying attention. So no, I have no recourse with my credit card company for most of it.
I received this on 4/4, I believe. Unfortunately, my father-in-law had died two days before and I could care less about the box. Today (4/17)was the day that we opened the box. Guess what? Both cameras have 'refurbished' stickers on them! I called them and again, after lengthy wait, was told by my salesman that I said clearly that I understood about the stickers. This is a flat out lie. I asked for my money back after he offered me a five year warranty for free and was forwarded to 'Customer Service'.
I was told the same thing by them, 'sorry, you're past the 7 days and besides, it's not a film camera, it's a digital'. No matter what I said, nothing made a difference. The only thing he could do to make this better was to send me an extended 5 year warranty on the cameras. Are they any good or are they for another country where I don't live? Are these cameras grey market? I have no idea. I said I would accept it since this was my only recourse, but have a feeling they are meaningless.
The camera (despite the stickers) appear brand new and have the plastic on the screen. But how hard would it be to put something like that on?
BTW, it was only the next week after ordering the cameras that I was at WPPI, and asked at the Canon booth about the 'digital' 70-200 and was told that this story was a crock. They only have two versions of this lens. Then I passed by the B&H booth and wished I hadn't been in such a rush to get a deal.
I have no idea if New Jersey will actually DO anything to these people. What if they decide to just disappear and reappear with a new name, new location and the same 'great' ethics? It won't be the first time.
I hope that as many people as possible find this thread and our words will make some impact.
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