I purchased a camera from Tri-State Camera & Video and a 3-year warranty for $345, with memory card and other essential accessories the total cost was about $600. This was a large investment for me and I took great care in making this purchase. I thought I was buying a quality product from a reputable and legitimate business. However, my camera broke during a trip within the first year. It was still in the warranty period, so I sent it in for repair. After paying $15 to pack, insure and ship my camera to their repair center, I was also made to pay an additional $10 for the repair center to receive my merchandise. Tri-State Camera then sent me a bill for $150 to fix the camera. This is, incidentally I found out later, $10 less than the purchase price of a new camera.  
 
When I questioned being charged for a repair covered under the warranty, Tri-State Camera then returned the camera unrepaired and wrapped up in masking tape. They cited numerous, completely false reasons for denying my claim – warranty void as of invoice date, unit returned unrepaired due to no response to the estimate, excessive force applied, need to replace lens block estimate $150.  
 
I lodged a complaint and spoke with various Tri-State Camera representatives and managers over the phone, through e-mail and the regular mail – all to no avail. Needless to say, I’m in a bind now. With the memory cards, camera case and other items, I can’t afford to lose my $600 investment. Yet, I certainly do not want to give Tri-State Camera any more of my money. I also just want the warranty I paid for honored. I did nothing illegitimate to the camera, it simply broke on a trip – most likely because it was substandard quality or defective.  
 
When I pointed this out to Tri-State Camera representatives, they just ignored me and reiterated I needed to pay $150. I wish I would have checked out this vendor as thoroughly as I did the camera I chose to purchase. Tri-State Camera & Video offers a series of toll-free numbers to order merchandise, but has a long-distance number for customer service. Various company names are printed on their invoices and company materials, which is suspicious - -Tri-State Camera & Video, Tri-State Camera Exchange, Inc., Tri-State Inc., and Mack Camera and Video Service. Tri-State clearly feels it can get away with dismissing customers once they have their money. There is certainly no level of accountability or legitimate customer services being offered. BUYER BEWARE. I am lodging complaints with numerous agencies for illegal business practices.  

Ordered a Sigma 10-20mm lens over the phone Wednesday, and received it on Friday, with UPS 2-day shipping to California from NY. Pretty good service if you ask me. The lens arrived in perfect condition and works as well as I could want. There is no warranty problem, because Sigma lenses are warrantied worldwide, and Tri-State is an authorized Sigma dealer.

My order is for a Sony - SAL 100/2.8 MACRO LENS at a very good price, $459.00. On the phone today to verify my order and credit card information. Very helpful and NO high pressure sales. Order is shipping today, 4-9-08.  
I will add to my review in about a week when the order arrives. Order arrived as promised on 4/15/08 well packed and in Sony Sealed Pristine Condition box. Absolutely recommend this seller who also has name, "Digital4Less". Jim Hathaway, Gold Canyon, AZ  
Jim Hathaway

This review was modified by its author, jhatha, on 4/15/08 5:20 PM.

I ordered a Canon RC-1 Remote controller and a Kenko 2x Optical extender. The order came in good condition and sooner than I expected.I had no problems with this company whatsoever.

Terrible service. It has now been one month and a week and I still have not gotten the vacuum belts I ordered. Let's be serious, vacuum belts? How difficult an order is this? 2 calls placed. One insisted the shipment was coming soon but the 2nd rep said he would get to the bottom of things and email me. Email said they are getting shipment from another company sent to them and will, in turn, send the belts to me... but the belts are on backorder. Ridiculous. Canceling and demanding a refund Friday, 3-28-08.

First they wanted to "discuss" the order with me... surely to try to sell me something else. On March 13th the customer service guy said it was shipping that day... on Monday 17th he said it had shipped the 13th... then I got a UPS message saying it was picked up at 4:52pm on the 17th...! These guys will lie... I hope I get the proper merchandise, because I hate to image what stories I'll get if I have to return it...

I was pretty pleased with Tri State. I ordered a Tokina 12-24mm and got it for a good price. The lens arrived on time and in good condition. The only thing I didn't like was that I believe the lens is grey market - from Japan - and they don't make that apparent on the website.

I ordered a keyboard on 1/15/08 and received an email confirmation. On 1/17 I received an email stating that delivery would be delayed an additional seven days and that I was being notified in case I wanted to make other arrangements. The next day (1/18), the charge appeared on my account. (I never see charges from other companies until the item is shipped.) Since the item never arrived, I cancelled the order on 2/3 which was acknowledged by a company rep on-line. About a week later my account had not been credited, so I called the company's toll free number, only to be told to call another number with a 347 area code. When I complained that I had to call at my expense, I was told that '347' was toll free. Not having been born yesterday, I knew that was a lie. I have called that number twice and sent at two more emails. As of today (2/17), my money has not been refunded.

I received my Tamron 90/2.8 Macro DI lens from TriState two days ago. When preparing the mail in $90. rebate application I could not find the exact UPC bar code as specified on the bottom of the box. I also could not find the 6 year warrantee slip also required. The required UPC code had been covered over by a different code. I called Tamron and was told that TriState must be a "Gray-Market" dealer and that I would not be entitled to the 6 year warrantee nor the $90. rebate that is currently being offered from Tamron. Also, that I would have to take it up with the company. After many e-mail and phone attempts to communicate with a TriState supervisor, today my calls were answered, though not with resolution totally to my satisfaction. I was told that inasmuch as it is a foreign lens, they were not obligated to offer the Tamron US warrantee or rebate. After voicing my dissatisfaction with their policy and advertising disclosures, I was made an offer of a $50.00 refund to my credit card, plus a 7 year Tamron warrantee. Also, I could return the lens for refund minus a 15% restocking fee if desired. I agreed to settle for the refund and 7 yr. warrantee. Though I am not at all happy with the whole transaction, TriState was accommodating in trying to settle the matter in a mutual best interest. Buyers just need to be fully informed as to TriState's policies before hitting the "Buy" button.

No complaints! Ordered a Samsung LN-T4661F from them on Friday. Customer support was very helpful in confirming my order. Shipping was fast, and the order was here Wednesday, which is quite good for such a large item. Very satisfied, and will order from them again in the future!

Ordered a Tamron lens because of the low price, but quickly learned my lesson. Although shipping was fast and the lens was flawless, I was deceived by this company because they had advertised a Mfr. Rebate but they had sent a grey/import item.  
 
They are a false advertiser, advertising rebates for items that are ineligible. They only offered $10 in compensation or have me send it back.  

I ordered a Canon HG10 camcorder after seeing a very low price on their website, plus the fact that they offer BillMeLater option for 6 months. I had read great reviews about them on bizrate, but less than stellar over here, so in situation of "what do I do", I took the plunge and went ahead and orderd it after midnight on the 4th of Dec (morning of 5th).  
 
I received an email from a guy named Peter to verify and confirm the order, just like other buyers over here did. I called him right away and he confirmed the order, and then went ahead and suggested a memory card and an extended warranty, both of which I declined. I was almost expecting him to say it's not in stock, but I was pleasantly surprised when he said fine, it will be shipped out today. I had upgraded the shipping to the next level from the free one, which was about 20 dollars.  
I called him again in the afternoon to verify it will be shipped and also emailed him about it. He did again say it will be shipped and that I'd receive an email from the shipping department when they do.  
Lo and behold at 6:12pm that same evening I got a FedEx email with the tracking number, and it seems to be enroute to be here on Friday, the 7th.  
Here's a snapshot from Fedex:  
Dec 4, 2007 11:30 PM  
Arrived at FedEx location NEWARK, NJ 9:57 PM  
Left origin BROOKLYN, NY 5:45 PM  
Picked up BROOKLYN, NY 4:51 PM  
Package data transmitted to FedEx  
 
I will update again once I receive the item, but so far the process and the things have been nothing but great. They will have my full recommendation once I receive the item in the expected brand new condition.

i purchased a Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR from them I then get a call from the company saying that i need to confirm their order via phone line. They tried to sell me a lens which is an import and that they will sell me the USA warranty one for much more. I find this rather annoying. I told the spokesperson to cancel my order but he said he shipped it already... which is complete BS. I will never shop with this company ever again.

I should have visited this site before making my purchase, but I have learned a lesson. It's very apparent what this company tries to do.  
 
1. I made an order for a flash unit for my camera.  
2. The company contacts me two days later saying:  
"Dear Customer,  
Thank you for your order. Please give me a call so that i may discuss and confirm the order with you.  
Thank you  
3. I call the company, and they say it's out of stock.  
4. THE REPRESENTATIVE HAS THE NERVE TO TRY AND SELL ME A PRODUCT I KNOW TO BE INFERIOR! ALSO, WAY OVERPRICED!  
5. I request a refund, and a week later, still no refund.  
6. In the end, I had to file a claim with Paypal and waste time while at it.  
 
Conclusion:  
It's clear to me that this company tries to take advantage of unknowing consumers where they try selling things you don't need and junk products. If they get the chance to upsell a customer, then they'll ship out the products.  
 
So final verdict: Don't waste your time, and don't shop with this company.

This review was modified by its author, minhimum, on 11/5/07 2:33 AM.

I purchased a Tokina 80-200 lens with a filter on-line. This lens has three generations and the photo on the website is the most recent version (which I wanted). The lens sent to me was the first generation with photocopied instructions and no warranty card (which has a different rating). Initially,I ordered it from TriState because they had the best price. Shipping was a bit high, but still affordable due to the low price. When I called to ask them why I received the older version, they told me that this lens was not generational. I requested a refund or an exchange for the newer model. The first call I made, the salesman said the lens was not generational and that I would not get a refund (too bad, he said). I questioned this and checked Tokina's website, which clearly shows three generations of the same lens. The second time I called, I let them know that the Tokina website had three generations of the same lens. The c.s. manager said that they do not know what is in the box when they ship items ou and that they didn't have my newer lens in stock. I requested a refund and was told it would be processed in a week. After a week went by, I called again, only to be told this time that it takes 10 days. Ten days has now passed and no refund. Since I kept the filter, I am not certain that I can go to my credit card company to get my refund back, but I will certainly write to POP photography, Outdoor Photography to let them know that one of their advertisers is not honest.