WARNING: fotoconnection.com

[abundantlife4me2]

This was a very useful comment. I appreciate all of the info on the other company names that these thieves use.
I purchased the Nikon D40X package and got the same "battery story". I went ahead and ordered the "extra" battery figuring I'd then have 2 batteries! But only one was shipped and they called it an "upgrade".
Then I noticed that there was an extra $60.00 charge on the invoice, and when I called about getting a credit on my card for the "overcharges" they told me I had also been upgraded to "glass lenses"!!! I had never had a conversation about the lenses, glass or otherwise!
You are right about them being scammers and they should be put out of business.
I did purchase the 3 year extended warranty and was upgraded to the 5 year warranty at no extra cost. AND they are actually USA warranties, so at least I made out ok on that portion.
BUYERS BEWARE! These people will take your money and not deliver what you expect.

[chiro2007]

Wow... this has been a learning experience.

I've been buying and selling on eBay for a few years now. I've seen plenty of scams and usually steer others away from them. I know most of the tricks... at least on eBay... at recognizing scammers.

A few days ago I started looking for an inexpensive digital camera... really didn't want to go over $250. I wanted a camera that had a quick shutter speed, and did a lot of research comparing them. I found the Sony DSC W90 to be one of the quickest... I have a three year old daughter and speed is the name of the game, otherwise I miss the shot.

I found the camera at Amazon for $229 shipped and ordered it. I then did a search on goggle and found the same camera on fotoconnection.com for $222 shipped PLUS a bonus kit of a case, tripod and cleaner (a $79 value)... so I canceled the Amazon order and bought it.

Today... three days after placing my order, I get an email telling me to "confirm my order". I thought it was a little odd, but then thought maybe they are just looking out for me... and want to make sure I'm the true owner of the credit card.

The guy answers within two minutes, gets my order number and disappears. I'm then on hold for 16 freaking minutes... just to confirm my order. The guy then asks me what kind of battery do I want to buy with this camera. I say, I just want the one that comes with the package. He plays stupid, like it doesn't come with one. I say, it doesn't come with one? He finally says, "Well, yeah, it comes with one, but it's junk and doesn't last more than 15 minutes." He then continues to pressure me... "So which one do you want... the 2 hour battery or the 5 hour battery?" I'm like... "How much are they?" He then spouts off two ridiculous prices like $69 and $79. "I'm like, no thanks." He then starts insulting me. "Oh, this has to be your first digital camera then, because anyone that has one knows they need a better battery." I say "No, I know that if I need a better battery, I can go on eBay and buy one much cheaper."

He then starts trying to get me to buy a couple year warranty... which is usually $199 but he'll sell it to me for $99. I tell him no thanks.

I then inform him that all I want is the package and the bonus kit that comes with it and I'm not going to buy anything else. He continues to discount his prices and I keep telling him no. Finally, after at least three minutes of this, he gives up.

This guy gave me the feeling of those pushy people that we've all seen in the mall... you know, the salespeople that bug you every time you walk past their kiosk. "Excuse me maam/sir... could I see your hands for just a minute??? I need to show you something." Ummm... no thanks, you've already asked me the last 50 times I walked past.

I can only imagine that if I try and cancel the order, it will come anyway. The bigger problem I have is I used a debit card. I didn't have enough credit on my credit card to put it on there... I'm nearly maxed out just before Christmas. So, if they screw me, I don't know that I'll have much recourse except for filing complains against them to the BBB.

I'm thinking of contacting my bank tomorrow and having them try and block the transaction. If they can, I will then inform these scammers to not even try. I figure if I contact them now, it will only guarantee they will expedite the charge to my card so they can get a 15% restocking fee.

I can only imagine what I'm going to get in the mail... probably a crappy import version that's already been open... and not new/sealed.

I'll be updating again when I actually get this camera... all I can do is hope for the best now.

Eric

[chiro2007]

After "confirming my order" yesterday (Nov 26, 2007), and having to say NO, NO, NO about a hundred times during the VERY aggressive upsell from the salesman, I checked out the reviews for Fotoconnection.com.

I cannot believe these guys do the same thing over and over... and somehow get away with it. Even though I stood my ground and didn't buy anything more, I knew that I was going to get scammed... as all of you have. I wasn't about to give the camera as a gift, when it most likely would have been used/open and a "grey model" to boot. When you give a gift, it should be new... at least, that's how my fiancee looks at it... she would be like "What, I'm not good enough for new?" And if I told her that I paid for "new", she would have told me to send it back... incurring a 15% restocking fee.

Last night, I thought hard about calling and canceling the order, but I figured that would just make them expedite my payment so they could either charge me a "cancellation fee" or make me ship it back and charge me the "restocking fee". So I didn't call... and hoped that they wouldn't run my debit card by this morning.

I called my bank as soon as they opened today, and explained the situation. The woman at the bank told me that if I had authorized the charge, then there was nothing she could do. She said that if the charge ended up being more than what I authorized, THEN I could launch an investigation against them. I told her my debit card needed replacing anyway, and continued to tell her about all the reviews against these criminals. She finally came around and said... "Even though they haven't charged you, I can see how you'd be worried about fraud." So she canceled the debit card for potential fraud.

Fotoconnection did NOT get my money in time. YES! -- game over... I win!

I then sent a very nasty email to Fotoconnection and basically told them to stick it. I told them, "Cancel my order... actually, you don't have a choice because I canceled my debit card this morning. You people are horrible... I've read all the reviews about you.. and you do the same thing over and over. How you people aren't behind bars is beyond me.

I then closed with: "Burn in hell a$$holes."

I also said: If you would like, you can call me; I'll put you on hold for 20 freaking minutes to explain that you won't get one red cent from me.

It felt really good, knowing I beat them to the punch... thanks to all of you.

They just sent me an automated response... Your order has been canceled. Thank you.

[kbresell]

The guys are criminals, and I don't understand why they are allowed to operate in such a blatant manner.
I've already written about them to NY SA consumer fraud division and to mail fraud division of US postal service.

(they sent to me a used camera instead of new one, and without manual, strap, A/V cable and factory warranty, - in a package with home-printed labels.)

What is also interesting, is that I've got an automated e-mail from them right now, minutes after registering on this site...

Anyway, I am going to pursue this issue will all legal means possible

[nurseinsc]

I too just got cheated by Fotoconnection.com. I came upon this company in the Nextag website for cost comparisons. I had no idea Nextag doesn't monitor who they allow to post price comparisons! They definately should if they don't want their names drug through the mud along witht these Fotoconnection slugs. I wanted to purchase a camera. After I agreed to an original price, "Tom" told me I needed a battery, he said the one in it was a "trial battery" that would only last 2 or 3 times. Then he went on and on from there until my 329 dollar camera was now 629.00. When I wouldn't agree to these hundreds of dollars of upgrades, they got mad and rude, I asked them to just cancel my order which I had refused to confirm by way of an email reply although they had sent over 3 request for me to do so. Each one a "better deal" than the one before. Each one coming after I would decline their offers. When I decided to decline and actually hung up, they called me back and asked me if I would accept managers coupons and apology. I declined again and they said Ok, well we will handle this differently then: they said they had me on tape verbally agreeing to the order before! Therefore they intend to charge my credit card 15% processing and handling fee of the total price they were trying to get me to agree to! They accused me of "playinig games" with them! They are very bad news. I certainly hope this posting helps someone else! My credit card company will help me watch for their unscrupulous and unlawful charges!

[josephvt]

PLEASE DON'T GET CARRIED AWAY BY THE PRICES THAT YOU SEE IN THIS SITE. THIS PEOPLE ARE CHEATS.
I JUST HAD A VERY VERY BAD EXPERIENCE WITH FOTOCONNECTION.COM. PLEASE PLEASE BELIEVE MY WORDS... THESE PEOPLE ARE CHEATS.

I ordered a Camcorder during the Thanks Giving holidays. The prices were really less ($495 when compared to the actual price of $699 at standard stores for SDR H200). They promised a starter kit along with it. I read reviews of this site but I couldn't find many bad reviews at that time. So I went ahead and placed the order. On the next day I got an email to contact one person. I called him up and he asked me whether I want a 3hr batter or a 6hr battery along with it. I was just given an option to say YES or NO. I said that I don't want any batteries. So that guy said that he is going to ship what ever I have ordered to me. I was checking the status of the order daily in their site and it was still kept as 'processing'. Out of curiosity after 4 days I called them up again. Then one guy explained the technical details to me thinking that I am a fool who will take what ever he blabbers. He asked whether I am going to use the camera in US. I said YES. Then he said, the one that I have placed order doesn't work in US!!! It will work in Europe. Its an HDD camcorder and he explained me if you plug it to any US television you are going to see black and white. Then I asked that person it should anyways work with any computer. He said that you have to buy a software worth 2000$ if you want to do something like that. Crap!! Crap!!... He asked me whether I want to make the order for a higher price.. I said NO and I asked to place the order on hold. I did some research and found that none of his argument is valid. I called him again and enquired. He then was very rude and said he doesn't want to talk more. He said that he is a professional photographer and a videographer and knows everything about this. Why should he be here explaining all the crap to me, I don't understand.. I asked him to cancel the order.
Why should they accept my order at first place for a non compatible version, if I am giving a US address. They should have confirmed me the first time I called.

PLEASE DON'T TRUST THIS SITE. PLEASE DON'T SPEND YOUR TIME WITH THESE GUYS. THESE GUYS ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY.

[gbotwick]

Over a week ago I had ordered a GPS (as an xmas gift) and their website indicated that it was "in process". I, too, found it odd that when they sent a confirmation that they didn't list the price and I had to call them so that the order would be processed. I don't know any other websites like that. I called a couple of times today before reaching a real person and when she looked up my order, I was told it was on back order. They did not send an email or anything to let me know. Highly unprofessional. At that point, I cancelled my order, seeing enough on here to know that they are bad news. Was able to get the same item thru Walmart at an even better price today (they have a special on it)! I usually check out places I order from but this time I missed doing so. No harm and I'll make sure that they didn't charge my credit card when I get my statement.

[srlarsen]

Thanks for the warning about fotoconnection.com - I only found this website AFTER making a digital camera purchase from them. I received 3 e-mails from them that made me suspicious and verified my suspicions on this thread. I called to cancel my order, they were extremely rude and tried to throw in a free 3-year warranty, and a larger camera bag if I didn't cancel. When I told them I wasn't comfortable doing business with them, they were so rude!. I'm going to call my cc company tomorrow just to make sure they didn't post any charges. In fact, I may just cancel the card altogether. VICTOR told me his "manager" had already approved the transaction (mind you, this took all day - what's the big deal? just send out the order) so I didn't need to cancel. I stayed firm and made them cancel anyway. Thanks again for the warning!

[RhondaMustard]

Not to sound like a broken record, but I, too, have had a TERRIBLE experience with FotoConnection. I purchased a digital camera and five additional accessories which arrived in a single box. When my daughter unwrapped the box at Christmas, the battery pack and charger were missing. After several emails to them that went unanswered, I called Customer Service. I was told they show the item "was scanned," and that they "shipped it, that's for sure. It was sent to you." I corrected the man and reiterated that the item in questuion was NOT shipped. He then said they could send me another if I would pay shipping charges of $19.99. I said that I didn't think that was a fair resolution. And then he had the audacity to snap at me "Well, you shouldn't have lost it." In a terse tone of voice I told him that I didn't LOOSE the item, it was never shipped to me in the first place. He asked "Are you yelling at me, 'cause I'll tell you, if you yell at me NO ONE in this company will help you, EVER!" Stunned at the treatment, I had to conclude that they must do things very differently in Brooklyn, New York, and that here in Texas any self respecting, legitimate business would do the right thing and send the missing item to the customer promptly. Then this prim little southern woman did something she has NEVER DONE BEFORE IN HER LIFE: I told him F___ You! I'll NEVER do business with this company ever again and slammed the phone down.

[venomxx]

I placed an order via their web site for a Canon A570 IS camera for $137 plus shipping on 1/1/08. Soon afterward I received an email stating that I had to call to verify my credit card info. I replied stating that if I had wished to place a phone order that I would have done so and to go ahead cancel my order. Over the course of the next two weeks I was bombarded with harassing emails on almost a daily occasion regarding verification. All of which I went ignored by me as I had already cancelled the order twice and believed no order would be placed without my consent. On 1/16/08 I received a phone call at 5:30AM Hawaii time from "Eddie" who wanted to question me further regarding my now two week old non existent order. I angrily told him what time it was here and hung up. The next day I was sent another email, this time with a link attached to it leading me to a site where I could agree or disagree to verify the order. I once again disagreed. The following day 1/18/08 upon arriving home from work I received another email notification stating that my package had been shipped. Not only had my cancelled order shipped but now they had "upgraded" my purchase to include a longer life battery at the additional cost of approx. $25. My new balance is now $171.97,which has been charged. Is this not theft? Processing my initial order, however unlikely, might be attributable to a mistake but to modify the order at a cost that was never disclosed is criminal. That is credit card fraud is it not? I contacted fotoconnection on Tuesday and was shuffled around from sales person to sales person hearing explanations that varied from hidden shipping fees and insurance costs, to longer lasting batteries, to alternate countries of origin. None of which was disclosed on thier site nor authorized by me. Feeling I had not gotten the answer I was seeking I made another attempt today and was able to get ahold of customer service where our conversation quickly escalated to a shouting match that ended up with me threatening to file a claim with the BBB, being told to go ahead quickly followed with an F-U and she hung up. I've since filed a dispute with my CC and will take whatever action necessary to make these criminals known