Be very careful when buying from this retailer, especially if you intend to take advantage of any advertised promotions, such as "Bill Me Later."  
 
I purchased an expensive digital camera from Ritz because I was lured by their free-shipping/no-tax pricing AND their 6-month no-interest/deferred-payment promotion via Bill Me Later (BML). It wasn't until I received my first statement from BML that I realized the transaction had been put through as a regular credit purchase -- in other words, the full amount due and accruing interest from day one.  
 
I first brought the error to the attention of BML, who immediately checked the Ritz Web site, confirmed the promotion, and promised to fix it. A month later, by the time I received my second statement with no apparent corrective action, BML had changed their tune. They claimed Ritz was denying the promotional offer. Ritz took the money, so there was nothing BML could do but keep the transaction on my account as a regular credit purchase.  
 
Predictably, Ritz claimed BML was responsible for the mess-up. I didn't buy it. Ritz got paid by BML, so it was certainly in their power to work with BML to straighten out the matter. Dealing with Ritz customer support was, however, an exercise in frustration and futility. Most of the time, I found myself dealing with "offshore" (by their own admission) agents with American-sounding names but clearly non-native accents. The one agent I finally managed to contact at their Irvine, CA, office was more helpful but ultimately too low in the food chain to do me any good. I was left holding the bag.  
 
While I seek remedy through legal channels, I thought it best that I warn potential buyers about this shady retailer. I suppose it's possible BML is the culprit here or even that BML and Ritz are jointly running a scam. My advice for now is to not do business with either entity.  
 
7 July 2008 Update: With the assistance of the Better Business Bureau, this matter has been resolved. I am pleased to report Ritz Interactive has decided to do the right thing.  

This review was modified by its author, camerabuyer001, on 7/7/08 10:22 AM.

After making an order for a Rebel XTi which was listed as on sale for a significant amount off the usual price, I decided belatedly to check this site to see how the vendor was rated. I was a little worried by the negative reviews I found posted, but my experience has been quite different. I made the order and received EXACTLY what I ordered in about a week.  
 
While I understand that many of the buyers have had bad experiences, I do caution readers to consider two things when reading reviews off this site:  
 
First, people who are angry because things went wrong with their order are far more likely to write bad reviews than people who had good experience (I know this isn't always the case, but it certainly has been my experiencing in reading hundreds of reviews and ordering lots and lots of things off the internet).  
 
Second, customer service is just plain bad in a lot of companies. There are the exceptions, like NewEgg that have just been wonderful in most cases, but I have to say that even some of the more reputable places have put me in a rotten mood for their poor customer service. Unfortunately, when dealing with some of the "cheaper" vendors, the chance goes up immeasurably. So, I make all purchases now with the understanding that there is every possibility that it will go wrong and I will end up on the phone a number of times screaming at someone who could care less that I've been wronged. Oh well. I could pay the extra money and be happy every time, but I'm poor.  
 
That being said, there is only one thing that I find particularly negative about this vendor, and that is the lack of a clear statement on the homepage that they are not affiliated with Ritz Cameras. The original reason I bought the camera was because I thought if anything went wrong I could bring it back to the store. Imagine my surprise when I found out it wasn't affiliated, something that is found only by trying to locate a store (now, isn't that a bit misleading, to have a store locator for an unaffiliated business??) or by reading some of the return fine type. This is inexcusable in my eyes, and did anger me a bit.  
 
But as I got what I ordered at a fantastic price, I will still give high marks to this vendor.

RITZCAMERA ONLINE IS WACK!  
 
I have ordered a Nikon D80 for about $933 dollars INCLUDING S&H on June 8th 2008 on a Sunday. I purchased the Next Business Day delivery s&h.  
 
The next day was monday, about 3PM. I have never gotten an " email confirmation " confirming me that my order was shipped and will arrive on Tuesday.  
 
So I chatted with a representative. About 5897349 different ones in one day, due to having multiples of DIFFERENT answers for my question. " Why isn't my Nikon D80 shipped? " I complained.  
 
One representative had given me a "Free" Memory card. That card arrived Wednesday, and yet.. still no camera.  
 
" Okay, What do you want me to do with this memory card? I DONT HAVE A CAMERA! HELLLLO! "  
 
So, another representative had given me FREE s&h. So my amount charged had changed to 899.99  
 
There were other representative telling me this and that blahblah and why wasn't my camera shipped.  
 
All of a sudden, one representative had told me to call my bank. Because, they needed an authorization.  
 
I called my bank, and they had told me RITZCAMERA had been blocked on my Account. DO SO was because they had charged me multiple times. They had charged me about 5 times for the 899.99. And another 2 times, for the 933$. WOW, I was shocked.  
 
SO I CALLED RITZCAMERA and talked to one of there customer service. I couldn't understand what in the world he was saying, he was Indian or something (No offense). He told me they never charged me ANYTHING yet. HELLO! MY BANK TOLD ME YOU CHARGED ME 4789373984734 TIMES!  
 
And Yesterday night *Wednesday* Ritz emailed me telling me that I don't have enough funds in my bank. DUH, YOU TOOK THE MONEY.  
 
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD!  
 
I'M GOING TO BUY MY D80 IN STORE TODAY.  
 
WHO CARES ABOUT RITZCAMERA.COM HAVING NO TAX OR WHATEVER.. THEIR COMPANY ONLINE SUCKS!  
 
Oh and by the way, I had told them to cancel ALL of the orders "I" placed.  
 
They replied, " No. Just keep the products. "  
 
Man, WHAT PRODUCTS!??!?! YOU HAVE IT ALL! Gheez!  
 
So I had to call their corporate in order to make them cancel my order!  
 
 
ONE MORE THING!  
They offered me a 25 dollar gift card when i told them that i'll cancel my order.. Ha-ha-ha. OKAY!? What's 25 DOLLARS GOING TO DO!? Multiply 899 4x. IM SURE IT EQUALS WAY MORE THAN 25!

This review was modified by its author, Js0le858, on 6/11/08 2:20 PM.

I returned the item and as of 27th May, got an e-mail saying that they refunded the full price. One rep called me to offer a 25$ gift coupon for all the inconvenience.  
*********************  
 
I am having the same experience as dwcarvin had. I placed an order for Nikon D60 18-55/55-200 VR package that was displayed on their website on Mother's Day week. I recieved the package with a non VR 55-200 lens.Immediately I called them and I explained the situation and I was asked to send the original order request as a fax/e-mail. Fortunately I had the screen shot so I could sent that. I did not hear anything back from them after that other than an auto-reply. So again e-mailed them, and called a representative. Every time when I called, I had to explain the full story. Meanwhile, I got a response as an e-mail telling that the issue is forwarded to the billing dept (I dont know why). Now as of today, almost 7 e-mails I send, 3 times I called and I am waiting for a response from them. On 10th I saw the same deal in B&H on a bit higher price, but the 'no tax' 'no shipping charge' attracted me to Ritz and I am suffering now. Let me see what is happening now.

This review was modified by its author, topramod, on 5/27/08 9:42 PM.

Update 5/13: I have softened my stance on Ritz. Yes, they screwed up their site somehow and set me up for disappointment, but since then they have been very good about being communicative.  
 
==  
 
Absolutely Frustrating!  
 
I order a package with the Nikon D60 and two VR lenses. The basic VR kit lens and an add-on *VR* 55-200 Lens. The web page is very clear that the add-on lens is the VR version. Having some experience with web purchasing I make a full copy of the web page and save it to disk.  
 
I complete the order and receive email confirmation. The parts listed in the email confirmation include the non-VR version of the lens! I immediately email customer service about the mistake.  
 
The next day I get a shipping notice with the parts listed. The wrong lens is still listed. They have ignored my email and went ahead and shipped me the wrong thing. So I pick up the phone and call. Level one rep tells me I have made a mistake and that the web page shows the non-VR lens. I check the site and the web page has changed since I ordered. I tell him that I have a copy of the web page at the time I ordered. he says I have to fax that in.  
 
I fax in the full color copy of the web page showing "VR LENS INCLUDED" and then I call HQ in Irvine. Nice lady at HQ tells me there's nothing she can do - and I SHOULD REFUSE THE ORDER.  
 
So now I am stuck having to camp out at home and make sure I catch the delivery guy so I can refuse the order of the wrong stuff and someday get my credit card refunded. If I slip up and the FedEx guy manages to drop the box when I am not looking I will be out return shipping as well and have to go through more trouble to get an RMA.  
 
This stinks. You should either get your website straight -OR- read your customer service email before shipping -OR- make good on what you offer.  
 
 

This review was modified by its author, dwcarwin, on 5/13/08 4:19 PM.

I placed an order from Ritz Camera on Tuesday and my purchase was delivered on Thursday! No problems at all with this company. I would highly recommend them based on personal experience.

Placed order on line for two projector lamps(In-Stock)needed shipped next day. Received email few minutes later confirming but had status listed as "Reserved". I called to ask what "Reserved" meant and was told by Marcus that the item was in stock but he could not guaranty that they would ship from his distribution site today and that there was no way to contact the site. He suggested that I wait 12 hours and then check his website to see if the items had shipped.I asked Marcus to cancel my order as I couldn't wait for them to decide if they would honor my next day shipping request. I was told that he could not cancel the order but would forward a request for cancellation. Never will order from them again.

Ordered a Nikon D40 plus 200 MM zoom lens from Ritz. Everything arrived packaged well and on time. No complaints here - - nothing but good!

Purchasing from Ritzcamera.com has been, by far, the worst shopping experience I have ever had. They sell broken products. Their customer service is horrible. They are unhelpful, and they don't follow up with you regarding any issues you have with them (i.e. don't expect any emails or phone calls from them after you discuss returning a product to them. I bought a GPS system from them. I also purchased a 2-year extended warranty on the unit, which they emphatically stated that the warranty is delivered only via email. Well, of course, I never received that email (nor have I ever received any email from them). They also didn't specify that the product was not really in their stock (i.e. it was being "drop-shipped"). The GPS arrived fast and broken. I spoke to Ritzcamera.com and asked them to refund my money for the unit, and they said that they would forward my request to some department and that I would receive an RMA number in 3-5 business days. I never received any emails from them directly, however after 6 business days, I received a email from fedex with a fedex return label and an RMA number (it was a very unclear email - i actually thought it was spam at first, until i looked at the reference number and it was the same as my order number). After tracking the package and seeing that it arrived at their "drop-shipper," I spoke to Ritzcamera.com again and asked them when I will be getting my refund. They said that now they have to forward it to their shipping and handling department and I should receive a refund within 7-10 business days. In sum, beware of Ritzcamera.com. It's simply not worth the hassle. As you can see from other reviews, they sell defective products, and your issues won't usually be resolved for at least a month. And their customer service doesn't "service" you very well. Also note, they say in very small letters at the bottom of their homepage that they are not affiliated with Ritz Camera retail stores (I assumed, naturally, that because they were such a big chain, website ordering must be flawless - think again).

On 01/25/08, I pre-ordered a Sony A200 DSLR with kit lens for $699, the list price. Sony's release date for the A200 was scheduled for the end of February. Late in February, I noticed that the price on the Ritz website had been reduced to $599. I immediately emailed Ritz customer service, requesting that they give me the lowered price. My camera was shipped on 02/27, right on schedule, and I received it the next day!!! My card was charged for the full $699, but several days later, Ritz issued a $100 credit, so I did get it for the lower price.  
 
I am absolutely thrilled with both the camera and Ritz's service. I heartily recommend Ritz Camera and will definitely order from them again.

My experience, as documented below:  
 
Steve: I would either like the correct printer (Epson R280), or my credit card refunded immediately for the unauthorized charge of 90.00 for the Canon IP6310D that I did not order  
Steve: I did not authorize my CC to be billed 90.00 for a Canon IP6310D printer. I only authorized a charge for an Epson R280 printer. Furthermore, you've charged me 90.00 for a printer advertised at 49.99.  
Steve: And, you've changed my online order tracking to reflect an order I did not make.  
Leons J: Thank you for waiting.  
Steve: My credit card company told me to first try to resolve this dispute with the company, which I am now trying to do, please assist in resolving this dispute.  
Leons J: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused.I apologize for the service laps.Do you wish to return the items?  
Steve: Thank you for the apology, but I would like charge resolved immediately.  
Leons J: I shall forward a request to our billing department to check.  
Steve: I would like the fraudulant charge refunded to my credit card. secondly, I will return both the items I ordered.  
Leons J: We will get back to you as soon as we receive an update from them. You can return the item for a full refund.  
Steve: I am waiting for my charge to be resolved immediately, you can't charge my credit card for something I did not order  
Leons J: Please note that we will be able to process the refund only when the item reaches our warehouse.  
Steve: Is it the policy of Ritz to change a backordered item to a different item that the customer did not order?  
Leons J: We are sorry for the inconvenience. We have added the item because of the Rebate offer.  
Steve: I'm not sure that answers my question regarding the policy of Ritz with regards to backordered items. would you please clarify?  
Leons J: Generally we cancel the items form the order, if the item is discontinued. In this case we shipped another printer as you placed the order for the rebate offer.  
Steve: would you please clarify the details of the rebate you are referring to  
Leons J: The canon printer is having $50 instant rebate and we $50 mail in rebate offer.  
Steve: What is the price of the printer?  
Leons J: On your order the instant rebate is not applied. I shall forward a request to our billing department to give the discount.  
Steve: Could you explain why I was not given the "instant" rebate?  
Leons J: You can send the rebate form to avail the $49 rebate offer. It was a billing error. We apologize for the mistake.  
Steve: Was authorization given for the 90.00 charge?  
Leons J: Yes.  
Steve: A charge was made to my credit card for a Canon IP6310D printer for 90.00, you are saying that I authorized this charge?  
Leons J: The authorization was made by Paypal.  
Steve: Paypal authorized 90.00 to be charged for this product, specifically the Canon IP6310D printer?  
Leons J: No. They authorized for the Epson printer. That was the reason why there was a mistake in billing.  
Steve: So they did not authorize a 90.00 charge for a Canon IP6310D printer, correct me if I am wrong.  
Leons J: The authorization was not dependent on a particular product. It was made to the order total when you placed the order.  
Steve: I'm not understanding this, could you clarify what you mean "particular product"  
Leons J: The authorization is not made for any products. It is made to the order total.  
Steve: Are saying Ritz does not guarantee that the same item a customer orders will be shipped to the customer?  
Leons J: We will forward a request to our billing department to have a check on the issue.  
Leons J: We will get back to you with the details as soon as we receive an update.  
Leons J: We are sorry for all the inconvenience caused.  
Steve: It would be nice for you to answer the last question, so that Ritz's policy can be clarified for future customers and transactions.  
Leons J: Please note that I have answered this question above. We shipped a different printer as the Epson printer is discontinued by the manufacturer.  
Steve: A customer may authorize a total amount to his or her credit card, but that customer is not guaranteed that he or she will recieve the same product they ordered?  
Leons J: I am sorry; the Epson printer is no longer available with us.You can return the printer for a full refund, if you do not wish to have it.  
Steve: You shipped an inferior product (the canon prints at a lower resolution, and has less printing format capability), for a higher than advertised price, without letting me know  
Steve: without my authorization to ship this product, or charge me for this specific product, and now I am unable to immediately get a refund for the product I did not order  
Leons J: We apologize for the inconvenience.  
Steve: I definitely will return the product (as I did not order it, and was charged a higher than advertised price), but I'd like Ritz to give me clarification of their business practices  
Leons J: We can provide you a full refund.  
Steve: Can you guarantee that my credit card will not be charged in future transactions for products that I didn't order?  
Leons J: We request your earnest co-operation while we follow standard procedures. You are our valued customer. We assure you that your future interaction with us will be pleasant and will reinstate your confidence in us.  
Steve: These comments will be posted in a public forum, and I'm hoping some sort of further explanation can be provided.  
Leons J: Sure. We will get back to you with the details soon.

Ritz Camera offered a gps navigation unit for a very good price. Although I was warned about past practice of this company, promising good prices then finding someway to cancel your order.  
I decided to take a chance, well within less then 24 hrs they notified me of a payment problem.  
 
According to Ritz something was wrong with my CC.  
Since my payment was made through Google I knew something smelled fishy. I called Google and they confirmed that there were no problems with my account.  
 
I used the customer service # provided in their email and called Ritz. They informed me that the issue was something to do with the product although due to language barrier I never did quite understand what exactly the problem was or how long it would take to resolve. I asked them to cancel my order immediately and emailed customer service with my complaint.

This review was modified by its author, jormic, on 3/20/08 8:47 PM.

I am completely disgusted with RizCamera's online store. I purchased a 650$ camera from them on the 1st of March. On the 3rd they took another 650$. The first one was a "hold" for the funds, the second was the actual charge. I called to find out why I was double charged as was given that information. When I asked when it would be removed, they told me it would take 6-7 days.  
 
I don't understand why they are keeping it on for that long when they already have their money. I have been trying in vain to get this removed. I called earlier today and spoke to Jim. He informed that to get it removed I had to contact my bank and find out what information they needed to have the hold released.  
 
So I called my bank got the information needed. I called back their Customer Annoyance department to provide them with the information. All I kept getting were people who were reading from scripts and could not think. They kept telling me to give them the phone number so they could call to get the information. I sat there for 10minutes telling these fools, I HAVE THE INFORMATION let me give it to you. I swear I was talking to a robot. All he could keep saying is, give me the phone number. Then I tried their online 'help' and all the guy kept saying is it will be taken of as soon as possible and he would ask billing to take care of it. Again he would not take the information necessary to get things done.  
 
This is the last time I will ever buy from their online store.  
 
edit -3/7  
 
Well after trying for 3 days I finally got a hold of a supervisor on 3/5. Once again I got a "robot". The idiot kept reading their precious script despite what I was telling him. Give me the phone number blah blah blah..I kept telling him, a verbal authorization isn't enough, you need to send them a fax and here is the information you need to put in the fax and here is the fax number. I took me 10minutes to get the dolt to understand that. I then asked him how long it would take to get it done. Apparently it takes the morons there 24hrs to write a one sentence fax and sign it. I just looked now, well over 24hrs later and the hold is still on my account. It has been 6 days since I ordered this product and I am still being double charged.  
 
Call me crazy,but when I go to a grocery store for example and buy 100$ worth of groceries, I expect to pay 100$ not 200$! The purchase was made on 3/1 and the hold was placed on 3/1. They then put another purchase in on 3/3 for the same amount and never took over the 3/1 hold. To say I am disgusted is to understate it to the nth degree.  
Update 3/15  
Three days ago, I finally got someone I can say knew what they were doing and was very helpful. Her name was Janet and she is the Risk Assessment Supervisor. I found out from her that the people I had talked to never bothered to fwd her the information to take the hold off. Once I talked to her she had it removed within 10minutes. She was also nice enough to give me a GC for the aggrevation.

This review was modified by its author, Lond, on 3/15/08 1:19 AM.

I've read through a lot of reviews for camera world. They had the speakers I wanted at a lower price. Was skeptical about buying from them because of the huge span of reviews ranging "This place blows hardcore" to "Wow, definately will shop again!"  
 
I took a chance at shopping with them. Bizrate.com rated the store very well. I'm not at all disappointed with my shopping experience. I recieved prompt emails; one auto-reply. I sent an email asking them a question and got a very quick response. Shipping was amazing, ordered thursday morn and they shipped out same day and got my item saturday afternoon. :D I can't tell ya to shop here or not; but I'm definately happy with them and will shop again.

This review was modified by its author, Krodpai, on 3/4/08 4:53 PM.

Bought a Nikon L11 camera from Ritz as a gift for GF, and its LCD went bad in 3 weeks after no more than 4 uses, no more than 30 pictures taken!!! The LCD appeared bleeding and the Ritz/Nikon CSR claimed its from outside impact, but GF took very good care of it, she put the camera into drawer every time after it's used. If a camera can go bad in such a short time without any damage, why you waste your hard earn money on it? I've bought a bunch of digital cameras for myself and friends before, and have always been a Nikon user, this time I was extremely disappointed. Go for a Canon if you want a decent lasting compact camera.  
 
The response and solution from Ritz are very poor, they don't want to take care of what gets out of their door, even if it's still under warranty. They just "suggest" it's YOUR fault!! Look at other places!!!