I'm a first time customer, a satisfied customer. I got HotBuys Electronic's name from Smartguider.com.  
 
I would like to personally thank you and your company for the exceptional service I received when I bought a Garmin Nuvi 660 with Map. You made the complex process of ordering very easy for me. My package arrived on my door step the next morning - no fuss.  
 
I cannot explain to you how much I appreciate the service you rendered. I'll tell friends to check your website for products before they go for other companies. I'll come back again and again for products. Thanks a lot and have a wonderful day.  
 
This is Clement

I ordered a pair of canon 10x30 IS binoculars from Hotbuys on the recommendation of a colleague. The price was going to be about half of what I would have had to pay to order them in Australia. After I provided passport and credit card information, Hoybuys declined to accept my credit card (a foreign one) I made a bank transfer which was promptly acknowledged, and shortly afterwards a USPS tracking number which worried me because of a long delay on a mail item sent to me by USPS two or three years ago. However, the delivery arrived in excellent order on 18 August, in the Canon box, and the glasses appear to be in excellent order. At all stages I have had courteous messages from Hotbuys though I have not spoken to them by telephone.  
 
I have read some of the very dissatisfied reviews on this site and if those experiences have been typical, then I have obviously been lucky. However, I prefer to believe that they are an unfortunate minority, and that my experience is more normal.

I ordered a scanner from this company on January 26, and then did the search for reviews - so I expected to be ripped off. Instead, my package arrived sooner than promised, the product is complete and brand new. Although the box had been previously opened, none of the sealed plastic bags were opened. And, to date, my credit card has not been charged. I made one phone call which was promptly answered by a poorly trained person who promised me an email the next day with the tracking number. I did receive an email a couple days later but no tracking number. I sent a nasty email but the next day, the scanner was delevered. I probably would not buy anything else from them based on their sloppy business practices, but at least this one customer has had a good expereince.

Beware… I ordered a Sony HT-6800DP home theater system on line and was quoted $463.34 for product, shipping and handling and insurance. I also printed a copy of the invoice. Good thing I did. I received a call from my credit card co. on the next morning Sat. stating that there was suspicious activity on my account and wanted to confirm the charges. I said ok what are they. One charge for $200.00 and another charge for $300.00 even. I immediately canceled my credit card and called them early Sunday and asked them why they billed my card for the wrong amount and why they billed my account twice and told them as a result I had to cancel my credit card. They told me that I was over drawn on my account and billed smaller amounts as a curticy to me I said if that was true you would not be able to bill it at all and you have to call me back to confirm second billing by law. Try again. Then they said it did not go threw the first time. OK what about the over charge. They told me I agreed to the amount that I was quoted wrong for the shipping and I agreed to the additional shipping charges. I said cancel my order. They said that once the card has been billed that the order cannot be canceled, I could not be leave what I was hearing. I said stop shipment and pull the box out of shipment and they would not do it the told me to come down there and pull the box myself. They shipped it and form what I read form others now I will not be receiving Box at all. I have reported the company to my credit card co. and they are doing an investigation.  
 
PLEASE READ DON’T BE FOOLED  

This review was modified by its author, Smashingbuck, on 12/14/04 12:54 AM.

I ordered two Sigma Lenses from HotBuys, including UV filters, for delivery to New Zealand. After comparing prices with two well-known online retailers, I chose HotBuys for the price. I placed my order over the internet and waited. The following day received an e-mail to call and confirm order, at which point was given the whole "plastic mount/metal mount - international warranty/US warranty" pitch. This sounded a bit "dodgy" (plastic mounts on this level of lens?), but the price quoted over the phone was still cheaper than the others, so I confirmed the order, including price via UPS to NZ.  
I decided to check this web-site (hadn't heard of it until then) and was alarmed that I may be getting ripped off.  
[start PANIC mode]  
Called CC company and verified billing information - no worries there.  
However, after a week (I am not totally happy with the way UPS handled the delivery at the destination end - but it is the other side of the world!), I received EXACTLY what I ordered in PERFECT condition and the goods were VERY WELL packaged. As stated, International warranties were provided.  
[end PANIC mode]  
Whilst I do not agree with the way the goods are advertitsed on their website, I cannot complain as I had discussed the products over the phone, and had researched the prices.  
Overall I am satisfied with my products. The service was a little blunt but generally polite and helpful, and my worries after reading reviews were unfounded.  
I cannot make any comments on after sales service, but international orders are always going to be difficult, and I have my international warranty.  

I placed my order online late on the 30th of March.  
The next morning I received a clarification of order call from a sales representative and was told the order would be shipped very soon. I received the product (Tamron Macro Lens) on April 3rd in good condition. No problems. Everything is fine.

I just bought a digital camera Fujifilm S7000 from this seller through ebay and I can only praise !  
 
The delivery was done within 10 days (on 01/06/04), all accessories were included, as well as the camera (of course !) and everything was brand new.  
 
I played will all the features, took pictures and registered to Fujifilm for the manufacturer one year warranty.  
 
At the end of the day, it seems to me that the rating system on ebay is reliable, maybe more satisfied customers should provide their inputs to this website.

Good price, rapid shipping, right product. Most NY retailers will try to upsell or add on accessories. HBE tried but was not too high pressure about it. I am happy so far!

I ordered a Sigma flash online. Got a call from them asking what mount I needed. I told them. They shipped the flash. It arrived at my door and it works great.  
 
Very happy.

I've made many purchases from them and other then the brusk NYC attitude, I've had no problems.  
 
They do have problems with telling the difference between plastic mounts and metal mounts but I overlook this bit as the overall price is still much less then other companies.  
 
I've never had to return anything so I can't say how they are on returns.  
 
I once received the wrong printer at the UPS office. Called them from the UPS office, returned the printer and they immediately sent the correct printer. The confusions was, printer sent, Canon's S9000, printer sent, Canon's S900:-)  
 
We all make errors.  
 
Can't say anything about anybody else's experiences but my experience with Sidney has been excellent.

Good Experience. On a friend's recomendation I ordered the new Pentax Optio S over the phone, Harry charged $20 extra for a USA Warranty (it says they will charge this in the website policies) but he cut me a deal on the memory card. The item was shipped the same day and received a day before it was promised. Great Camera and great deal. Their attitute is gruff and NY salesmanlike, but they performed.

I purchased a Minolta Digital Camera from this company over the telephone with a credit card. The camera came in 3-4 days by Fedex. When it hadn't come in two days, I called and asked about the order and was given a tracking number, which was accurate. No complaints. The transaction was just fine.

After reading some of the comments about this vendor I had some trepidation about ordering from them but I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the promptness of the merchandise received and the politeness of the staff. I did call and tell them that one piece of merchandise was defective and they immediately gave me an RM # for exchange. My main priorities were satisfied...getting exactly what I asked for and at an excellent price. I was put under no pressure BTW to trade up. I will definitely do more business with them.

Well I found this site after looking for a while. I had dealt with bait and switch places before and I was very weary because of the low price of the D300. I called to confirm that this was in fact a USA product with a USA warranty and I was reassured that it was.  
 
I went to call them back on the phone on Jan 30th to place my order and was told to place it over the internet because it was easier. I've never gotten that before usually you would turn away $1500 worth of business. I placed the order that day and chose the standard shipping for $35. I later found out that that was the standard shipping and it took 7-10 days to process and ship. I called back on friday about 30 minutes before they closed and Frank told me to call him back on monday because they werent going to be able to ship it out that day anyways. I called back on Monday and asked to speak to Frank. I told him that I wanted to upgrade my shipping to 3 Day because it was only $10 more. After some waiting on hold he told me that he would get that done for me and I would get a phone call from them when it ships. I did this at 10 in the morning and by 3 I still hadn't received anything. I called them back and he they only asked for my zip code and he said when do you need the product by, the end of the week? I said yes because it was now monday afternoon and they still hadn't shipped out my order. He finally said that he would have it to me by the end of the week. I didn't make any attempt to contact them on tuesday but I didnt receive an email or a phone call. On Wednesday I decided to call them to see what was going on. I asked the first person I spoke to on the phone what the status on my order was and I gave them my order number. I was then placed on hold for about 5 minutes. Another person answered the phone and didn't know what i was looking for, so I had to explain my situation once again. He then proceeded to tell me that some of the cameras come from over seas and don't come with USA warranties. I told him that I made sure to check that it did have a USA warranty with it. He then put me on hold for about 10 more minutes. He came back and said the lens I had ordered (Tamron 17-50 f/2.8) was a non-US product and he had no problem upgrading me to the two day air shipping. The only difference between the US and non-US was the warranty and the US version has a metal mount. He then proceeded to tell me that the US version was $50 more (which there is nothing listed on their site about anything like that). I told him that I specifically ordered the US version and they quoted me at the same price. He said okay and then said I would have my stuff by Friday. He didn't give me any sort of tracking number or anything. I was seriously doubting that they would ship my products by this weekend. This morning at 8 am I received an email from Hot Buys Electronics (the place I got charged from as well) say that my order had shipped via DHL and then they listed the tracking number which was clearly a UPS tracking number not DHL. I put it in UPS' site and sure enough there was my order. It was shipping 2 day air and it left Newark, NJ at 7:59 am EST and arrived at DFW airport at 11:37 am CST. I was going into this expecting the worst but if all go as planned and I get everything that I ordered I am going to be a happy camper. The trick is that you have to stay on top of them and make sure you let them know you're not going to be pushed around. I think dealing with all this crap was worth the $600 off of the camera but if you dont want to put up with their non sense then I suggest looking else where such as B&H, Adorama, or Amazon.  
 
***UPDATE***  
 
I received the camera and lens when i was supposed to. I checked it to make sure that everything was in tact and sure enough everything was there, including the warranty card.

This review was modified by its author, khphotography, on 2/7/09 6:57 AM.

Well, I ordered a Yamaha A/V receiver from these guys last week. It was $625, as opposed to $900 everywhere else. I called, placed the order, and gave the rep my email address to send a confirmation (which he didn't ask for, I suggested it). Shortly after ordering the unit, I came across this and other sites that scared the crap out of me with the horrific reviews. As a reality check, I saw what people had to say about Buy.com, which was similar. Since I've ordered from them a few times and never had a problem, I was hoping for the same here. I am quite happy to say that I received, well, the receiver and all is well! Besides the fact that I had to call a couple times to get the tracking number (no email was ever sent), I had no problem with these guys and saved a lot of dough.