Extremely disappointed. Ordered an underwater housing for a canon 850is camera. In a couple of days, noticed that the credit card has been charged for the full amount but I had not received a notice of shipment. Called customer service and after some initial confusion was told that the item is in back order and they have no idea when they will be able to ship it. Customer service told me that it is their policy to immediately charge for back order items and that in general they don't notify customers that the items are back ordered. Had I not made the call, I would not have known about the back order. Which means, I would not have been able to order the housing from another store and would have been forced to go on vacation without it. And all this, while my credit card was charged.  
 
The disturbing thing is that this is their policy, not an isolated incident. Other reputable stores tell you that the item is on backorder and charge you only when they ship. Will never be able to trust Unique Photo.

This review was modified by its author, valkanov, on 10/14/09 3:33 PM.

Ordered a tripod online, they took my money and never got back to me again. Called 2 weeks later to find out that it was priced wrong on the website, no explanation as to why they took my money then ignored me. It is now into 3 weeks with still no satisfaction and no return credit to my card. Owners will not get on the phone and they have no explanation as to why my card has not been credited yet. Spoke with owners son who would not return my money or give me the product I had paid for. Had to call my credit card company to stop payment. I was a repeat customer but will never go back again, I,m adding this place to the long list of the other scammers out there. Stay away from this place, others, especially in NYC, are legit and much better to deal with.

This review was modified by its author, Den2, on 12/27/08 6:49 PM.

EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED-I placed an order for inkjet paper, and received the wrong product. UniquePhoto made a mistake on their website. After twisting arms, they picked up the order but failed to credit the shipping charge along with the purchase price on my credit card.  
 
Federal Law requires that where a vendor ships defective or the wrong goods or items, the vendor is responsible for shipping both ways, and NOT the customer. Unique attempted to beat me out of ten dollars!!!! Stay away from these people unless you want to receive the wrong order and also want to get stuck for return shipping!!!!  

After placing an order and being charged for everything, they sent a partial order and said one item was on backorder. After two weeks of trying to determine when the item would ship they told me the price had changed and they needed to charge me an extra $35 for a $150 item.

I ordered a camera part which they supposedly had in stock. I have not received the item, my credit card has been charged, my phone calls were not returned, and the only response I received was "This item is still on backorder. We do expect a shipment in soon. I will keep you poster."

I placed an internet ordered for a Nikon Circular Polarizer filter from this site, with a second day delivery option. Got a confirmation number for the order and seemingly everything went well with the order. 3 days later, when I did not get the order, I called them up and they told me they don't have any information about my order... Apparently there was a glitch during my order order placement and it did not go through. Ok, I decide to give them another shot and re-order. I get my shipment 2 days later, as promised, but... they send me a wrong product - a different brand filter.  
 
I get on the phone with them and try to sort this out. I'm told that they're going to email me an RMA number to ship the wrong product back and redirected me to the orders department to place the order yet again. I'm told that they're gonna have to charge my CC one more time, until they receive the wrong filter, at which point they're going to reimburse my CC for the first charge.  
 
The very next day I receive the package and YAHOO! it's the right filter. So now I just wait for the RMA number to return the wrong one and get reimbursed. Well, 3 days later I still don't have the RMA. They don't answer the emails and I get voicemail every time I call. I'll keep trying....  
 
Bottom line: I DON'T think those guys are crooks, but their operations are not, by any means, smooth.  
Please make your own conclusions here...

I have been pleased with the sales of Canon items I have purchased from their Fairfield store. I will probably continue to shop there for various items. However, I must say that this is the first opportunity I have had to voice my displeasure at the purchase of a class offered June 29, 2009 on Canon Digital Flash photography. I am a proud owner of a 5D (original) and two Canon 580EX units, including a Canon ST-E2 transmitter. I came with my equipment, notepad and a voluminous amount of interest! I and a dozen other attendees was/were squashed almost instantly by the instructor because he wasn't going to go into the unit that worked with our camera, he was only delving into the 5D Mark II and newer flash units. While he tickled our questions with short, "don't bother me" kinds of answers, it was a totally deflating evening. I spent $45 to absorb information that I never received. Oh, wait, I was given a $20 gift card....so I threw away ONLY $25 - my mistake.  
 
I shall NEVER take another course offering from Unique again. I firmly believe they misadvertised this offering. There should have been a clear, concise disclaimer that this course was ONLY dealing with the newer camera body and newer flash unit. I sat there for 60-minutes with my blood boiling. I was going to complain to management that evening, but by 7pm I had to get the hell out of that place or I was going to explode. I was much, MUCH to angry to address anyone that night.  
 
I know it is far past due, but even if I were given a refund it would not have taken the bitterness out of me. I lost a tremendous amount of trust in Unique for taking my money and wasting my time by providing an instructor that was less than helpful with the number of questions offered that night by 5D owners.  
 
Never, never again.

After speaking with the Store Manager, my problem had been addressed and rectified.  
Thank you,  
Lorraine  

This review was modified by its author, shirtlady, on 11/11/09 4:11 PM.

I order a Canon 5D Mark II with a 28-135MM F3.5-5.6 IS USM EF Lens along with some other accessories. I got every thing in 2 days except the lens which was on back order which I already payed the bill in full. It is now over 2 weeks and I am not sure when I am getting the lens as they have not updated me to when i will receive this lens. I am hoping to get it by November 11 as I was planning on using this lens to photograph a wedding.  

Update: Unique Photo has made a good effort to correct my recent bad experiences. I have received most of my order and what is missing is a back ordered lens from Nikon. I will chalk up the problems to one small mistake leading to another. At least their recent response has been what you would hope for from a good company. Horrible experience. Bought about $10k in gear with one major item out of stock. On Nov. 5, I have yet to receive even a single item. However my credit card was billed immediately. I have called numerous times and have been promised call backs--none received. I have asked for the in stock items to be shipped--still waiting. In this same time period I have made two orders to a competitor and received all of the items within three days max and daily emails with status updates. I have purchased from Unique Photo for years without problems but this is unacceptable. Shame the rest of the company is not as fast as the billing department. By the way, I was promised a call back today. I am still waiting.

This review was modified by its author, bigwayne, on 11/11/09 3:10 PM.

They were one of the first retailer to have Fuji S5 in stock in the US. (even B&H had them in stock a day after). Having never heard of unique photo before, i first checked here at resellerratings to check their rating. They had good ratings but only a few reviews and i was quite skeptical. I called to verify the stock and ordered through the sales person named Sam. He was easy to deal with and never even tried to push me to buy accessories like memory card. I ordered using next day air and it did arrive promptly next day. Awesome service. Only little downside is that they don't offer free shipping =(

This review was modified by its author, dxerg3770, on 1/2/08 11:29 AM.

i ordered a hard-to-find product from this store. there was some confusion about whether the item was in stock or not,sales rep told me on the phone that it was in stock but i later got an email from the store saying it was out of stock...it turned out they had it in stock and shipped it the next day.

This review was modified by its author, miro, on 12/22/05 9:26 PM.

These guys are reputable, their customers largely professional, and for the most part their prices are as good as you're going to get from a real retailer with a real address with real employees who use their real names to your face. I'm a professional and I've been buying gear and supplies from Unique for several years and have always been treated right.  
 
The only downside, and the reason I no longer buy serious equipment here, is their return policy - which is store credit only, and store credit which expires in 6 months, regardless for the reason for the return. Compare this to the no-questions-asked policies of the established Manhattan photo retailers.

This review was modified by its author, magisterludi, on 12/28/05 7:38 AM.

I found Unique photo through a google search, and figured I would give them a try. I'll be ordering again very soon. They have all the things that make for a good website and good business. Everything on the site is easy to find. I can tell if the product I want is in stock before I even order, right on the website. They claim to ship same business day and they did. Everything arrived the next day, and was exactly as described. This is how every business should be run!  

Just getting back into photography since my film days. Purchased the Cannon T1i from Unique. The camera can do it all. They were very patient and answered all of my questions. Would definately recommend them to anyone.