WARNING: fotoconnection.com

[Peter Cornstalk]

I tried to order a Sharp 52" LCD from them. I suspected they would try to up-sell me on something and were possibly fraudulent from the reviews I have seen about them. I thought I would give it whirl anyway.

I probably should have looked and saw that they had a P.O. box for an address and their WHOIS information has proxy information so you can't tell what their real address is.

Sure enough, "Sam" tried to up-sell me on overpriced warranties and accessories and when I refused them, they told me I had to upgrade my shipping for $220 more or they wouldn't ship it. The $179.99 shipping they claimed had no insurance and it had to have insurance. I asked him where on their website it points all of this out, and he wouldn't answer me. Of course it says nothing about this on their website about any of this.

He was also rude and condescending.

I spent the $220 extra with someone that was reputable and honest.

[Peter Cornstalk]

There are some pictures of fotoconnection.com store front here along with other shady Brooklyn stores:

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/

Here is fotoconnection's BBB report:

http://www.newyork.bbb.org/reports/b...age=1&id=79450

Here is a PCWorld article about shady Brooklyn electronic store practices:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,10...1/article.html

[thx4forum!]

I actually placed an order for a camera with fotoconnection, also got an email asking to reply immediately to complete sale and agent tried to UP SELL. When I wasn't buying extras, he became terse and said GOODBYE, I interrupted to ask when camera would ship and he said, right away, then hung up. That kind of careless and rude treatment had me wary, so I called today to see if order had shipped, new agent said no, i had ordered an import model and they're backordered, wanna cancel?

WHAT, not one word on site that this was an import model, or that it wasn't available immediately. In fact, it said ships in 24-48 hours. New agent said, oh, if you scroll to bottom of company policy link, it'll tell you that sometimes they substitute import models. WHAT? Read the fine print on an obscure page, not having anything to do with the order process??????

BUYER BEWARE!!!! You won't have any warning that this company is bogus until you hit the BUY button and they jerk you around. Anybody have ideas about how to complain loud and long online about them, other than here? I found them on one of those price comparison pages. I wanna put them out of business, the scammers!!!!

[Peter Cornstalk]

Those guys need to be cut down a peg or 2 that is for sure!

[amaroq3]

One way to cut their advertising down would be to have a nice chat with who ever is hosting their site. I may have to do that with the company that tried to steal from me; Memory Suppliers.

[Davidnclearlake]

Go for onecall.com or cameraworld.com
Both are very highly rated and NOT in NYC or anywhere near there!
Camera world is in Oregon and OneCall is at 229 N. Ella Rd Spokane, WA 99212
I've purchased many items from both including a 42" Sony Vega Plasma HDTV back in 2002 from OneCall and had absolutely NO problems at all! At that time the plasma retail price was $7500 (!!!!) and I got it from one call delivered to me in Houston for $5900! Strapped to a pallet and all was OK!
NYC/NJ dealers=bad news scammers!
Both are straight shooters and will cut you a deal IF you do want to buy some accessories with your purchase.
Give 'em a call!
F**K NYC scammers!

[weepy]

All owned by Zaki Saideh according to BBB. They are only out to steal from you any way they can. They have 447 complaints to BBB!

They prey on your hopes of getting a good deal from a low overhead operation.

I wish I had checked them out BEFORE ordering from them.

I, too, thought my credit card would protect me. Wrong!
They can charge anything they want, ship whatever they want and then say, "It's our word against yours."

You will spend a lot of time and waste money if you order from these companies.

The BBB list the following names used by this company:
Best Stop Camera

Century 21

Digital EBuys

Hello Camera

Infiniti Cameras

Infiniti Photo

Infinity Cameras

J&K Cameras, Inc.

Mr. Accessory

Regency Camera

Regency Photo & Video, Inc.


And, the following websites:
Website: www.bestpricecameras.com

Additional Websites: www.infinitycameras.com, www.infiniticameras.com, www.mraccessory.com, www.regencycamera.com, www.hellocamera.com, www.beststopcamera.com, www.jandkcameras.com, www.eastcoastdistributor.com

[joshuagrin]

I can only commiserate with the other posts about fotoconnection.com.
Had to wait over two weeks to be told that an item wasn't available. Was offered an alternative which I accepted (with misgivings). Several days later I was emailed that the order had been cancelled. When I called for clarification, I was told that the item was no longer available. Just a huge waste of time. Big mistake.

[ping99cc]

I HAD SAME EXPERIENCE TODAY.
WORST CUSTOMER SUPPORT / CHEATING WITH THE PRICES /CHEATING WITH USA WARRENTY RELATED.
BEFORE PLACING THE ORDER THE SUPPORT PERSONAL SAID AVAILABLE STOCK BUT AFTER PLACING HE INSISTING ON PURCHASING SOME ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT ETC AND USA WARRENTY,WHICH I REFUSED. THEN HE IS SAYING THE PRODUCT SHOULD COME FROM CHINA AND WILL TAKE 4 WEEKS TIME TO PROCESS THE ORDER. THIS IS BIG CHEATING I EVER SEEN HERE IN USA. I CALLED PANASONIC TO CHECK THE SPECIFICATIONS THAT NORMALLY MANUFACTURED PACK, THEY SAY THE BATTERY/CHARGER THEY SUPPLY WILL LAST FOR MORE THAN 2 HOURS. BUT THE SALES PERSON SAYS IT LAST FOR 20 MIN AND HE WILL UPGRADE FOR ADDITIONAL AMOUNT ETC.
THIS IS BIG CHEATING. I DONT KNOW HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS ALLOWING BUSINESS LIKE THIS

[MATTR7]

I HAD SAME EXPERIENCE TODAY.
I ORDERED A NIKON D80 AND WHEN I CALLED TO CONFIRM THEY SAID I NEEDED TO BUY A BATTERY AS "THIS MODEL I SELECTED COMES WITH A BATTERY THAT ONLY LASTS 15 MINUTES". I TOLD "SAM" THEIR CUSTOMER SUPPORT THAT I WOULD CALL NIKON USA TO SEE WHAT CAME STANDARD WITH THE CAMERA. HE WAS REALLY RUDE AND HUNG UP ON ME. ALSO HUNG UP ON ME WHEN I CALLED BACK. FINALLY HE ANSWERED THE PHONE AND TOLD ME HE WAS SENDING AN UPGRADED MODEL AND THAT WAS IT, EVEN THOUGH I SAID I DIDN'T WANT IT. WHEN I RECIEVED THE EMAIL THAT IT WAS BEING SHIPPED THEY HAD CHARGED ME AN EXTRA $100 SENT IT BY GROUND MAIL (I PAID FOR 2 DAY EXPRESS).
I CALLED THEIR CUSTOMER SUPPORT AGAIN AND THE MANAGER "PETER" TOLD ME IF I DIDN'T LIKE IT I COULD CANCEL AND THEY WOULD CHANGE ME +$200 FOR SHIPPING AND RE-STOCKING OR PAY WHAT THEY CHARGED AND WHAT THEY SENT EVEN IF IT WASN'T WHAT I ORDERED OR AGREED TO PAY.
THESE GUYS ARE REAL CHEATS.