Well, I must be the only person NOT to get screwed by this vendor. I was skeptical when I saw their advertised price for a camera I had been hunting down and was even more so when the sales person told me that it did not include a battery. (It's important to note here that I had not read ANYTHING about bestpricecameras.com at this point.) Once the salesman told me this, I said I knew there was a catch and I would just buy the camera for the higher price at Costco. (I needed to have the camera by the 14th of Feb.) Frank (the salesman) asked me if I'd factored in sales tax, and that with the price he was quoting for the camera w/the battery and overnight shipping, I was only spending about $20 more. To sweeten the deal, he offered me a 3-year warranty AND a UV filter. When it was all said and done, I paid well below retail for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 (in black, the color I wanted) WITH the 5-hour battery, everything that was supposed to be in the box, a new UV Filter AND a 3-yr all ENCOMPASSED warranty.
Fast forward to reading reviews on every site I could find. Suffice it to say, I did not read ONE postive review. So I called my bank, found out I would be just fine if they turned out to be fraudulent, then called bestpricecameras.com. 9 TIMES. Every time I called, while I did have to wait on hold, someone always responded and answered my questions. Frank was available every time, and at the end of the day, when I was upset that they wouldn't give me a tracking number, the guy I spoke with actually called me back 30 minutes later with the UPS number.
Short story long: I received my camera as promised with no problems, and for less than I would have payed elsewhere (internet or bricks and mortar). I am a satisfied customer.
I'm not saying that everyone else who has posted did not have problems, I'm just wondering what lucky star I was born under that my transaction went so well.
step by step guide about how they tried to screw me:
1. placed order, got email confirmation saying they got my order
2. five days later got email saying i needed to call them and confirm the order
3. called, talked to a very "sharp" and impatient man who is unfortunately also the manager
4. he first asked if it was my first digital slr camera, BIG WARNING! he is trying to see if you know your stuff and if he can pull the wool over your eyes
tries to sell filters and memory cards by telling you that you ABSOLUTELY NEED them when you may not, or at least not at that price.
the battery and charger are not included! he tries to sell those at a ridiculous rate, about 4x what every other site charges. also the warranty is not included, min. of $100 just for a 1 yr warranty. he was the most infuriating person ever, conversations go something like:
"do you have the sd action card?"
"no"
"well you're going to have to buy it"
"well i dont want it, i have a sd card"
"but you will have to buy it anyways"
"i dont want it"
"you're going to need it later so you might as well buy it now; i'm giving you a good deal"
"who says i'll need it later?"
"if you're going to use this camera to its full potential (something along those lines...) then you will have to buy the card"
and so on and so on. in addition he likes to remind you how much of his time you have wasted every few minutes. i tried telling him i would call back because this was too many options and i didnt have time and he raised his voice with me (putting it nicely) and told me i couldnt do this another time, ive wasted 10 min. of his hour, etc. so then, my total went from the $600 i had agreed to pay- and was on my order confirmation- to over $1000. absolute rip off! so then i said simply that i'm canceling my order. haha, 20% restock fee on an item i had not yet confirmed to even buy so they couldnt have possibly taken it off the damn shelf. anyways i was mad and said fine and hung up- i was late for work.
5. called him back when i had time (they couldnt ship because i hadnt yet added my street address to my amex card) i had support from the site about warranties and return policies. essentially told him that i was canceling the order and if i was charged at all for restock or anything, i would deny all charges and explain the issue to amex. he tried to explain something about how the warranty included is for the store but you have to buy the company warranty (or maybe it was vice versa?)
6. manager thanks me for wasting his time (sweet, huh?) and hangs up.
conclusion, no charges as of yet, bought same camera that included battery, charger, etc. for $30 more off amazon. shipped quick, not a problem. i'm planning on drafting a better account of this to send to better business bureau and maybe to nikon. DONT BUY FROM HERE, ABSOLUTE WORST EXPERIENCE IVE EVER HAD ORDERING OFF INTERNET. thats about all.
Infiniti Photo - Got this from Froogle. WHY WOULD FROOGLE LIST THEM AS A SELLER?!?!! BAD FROOGLE!! DON'T YOU READ THE REVIEWS? I FINALLY DID BUT TOO LATE!!!
Ordered a Nikon D50 "kit". Had to call after a few days beacuse there was no confirmation. Was informed that a battery was not included & it would cost me ANOTHER $180!!! Cancelled the order on the spot. Rep hung up on me. Not sure if order is cancelled. Will report to Better Business Bureau.
This review was modified by its author, jackson555, on
2/20/06 9:33 AM.
I ordererd a Panasonic PV-GS250 from their website and they sent me an email telling me to "call to confirm the order". I called to confirm and immediately they told me this model was stripped down and didnt have the charger. The charger-inclusive model was an extra $250. After finding the charger online for $10, I called back and told them to send me the order of the bare product without the charger. They tried arguing, saying 'but how are you going to work it without the charger?' I said I was fine without it, and they went ahead and charged me and told me it would take 3-6 weeks.
After waiting 4 weeks past Christmas with no product and my card charged, I called back again, and they said they didnt have the item in stock, and tried to switch it around like I knew this or something. Never called me or anything and they had charged me! Then they tried to switch me onto an overpriced low-grade model instead!
This company is terrible. They promised delivery of a digital camera before Christmas - no where else had it in stock so I accepted that I might pay over the odds. They added over $500 for battery and charger (which they said didn;t come with the camera but they do on all reputable sites). The camera didn't arrive and still hasn't at the end of January. I called twice to ask for a full refund having realised I had been had and each time was promised a credit in 2 days. Nothing. I realised that my voice wasn't going to be heard so took this up with my credit card company as a disputed item. Hopefully others will do the same so that the credit card companies stop dealing with these crooks.
DITTO DITTO DITTO DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was supposed to be my Christmas gift, then it turned into my Birthday present, then turned into my mid-January "surprise". Like everyone else on here, we ordered a camera, then had to "call to confirm" our order which turned into an attempt to sell us a warranty and batteries that we didn't really need. After being told the camera would ship in 72 hours and then not hearing from them for weeks. We call and have to wait for some bogus "customer service" dude who tells us its "back-ordered" till mid march! That was finally an excuse to cancel our order. After finding out that their website magically "disappeared" we can only speculate that they do this often. WHAT A RIP-OFF! DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A nightmare from start to finish, and I'm not even done yet. Bait and switch, lied when I tried to cancel the order before it was shipped because the deal smelled (they said it had already shipped when it hadn't), gray market merchandise advertised as legit., unresponsive customer service, and like pulling teeth to be able to return merchandise.
Placed order, received email requesting call for "verification" of credit card. Then told COULD NOT purchase camera at advertised price, was told that I MUST purchase a Battery and Charger, or they could not sell me the camera, at their advertised price. I believe that this is actually illegal. I cancelled the order to this deceptive, bait and switch type company.
This company is a scam. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM! I have an order confirmation for $439 for a Konica Minolta 5D. When it arrived, it came with a receipt for $699 charged to my credit card...and a box with a broken manufacturer's seal. Don't know if the camera has been used or ???? Oh, they did throw in a toy mini tripod and a $2 neck strap.
I have filed a dispute with my card company and forwarded all documentation--including all of the comments here! I will also send a letter to the Brooklyn and NY authorities (although given the previous writers' letters, I'm not sure if anyone is paying attention). Amazed that this place is still in business.
waited a couple of day .. send them infinity people a email and ask them to be very careful and include everything which is in the original box as received from Nikon ...
Anyhow... also I called them the next day after I send the email ( Now the order was there for 4 - 5 days ) ... Now I was prepared for this call and after 1 1/2 hour of waitng in line and talked to several people in between , just to be put back to hold and waiting longer .... ok finally i get that person.... and they actually find my order as well... now I ask them if they have a tracking number for me.... he gets all pissy and says your order is cancelled... darn I was suppose to have a little fun with the guys,, dont I ?
No. after 2 hours on the phone this was WAY TO EASY ... so I say a few choice words and than good buy.... here comes the highlight.... The idiot calls me back and threathens me with some outfit who regulates foul languages with mailorder outfits.. what a joke .... this is calling the kettle black I suppose... anyhow I immedeately called the credit card company and tried to make sure that those boneheads cannot do anything with my credit card...
Than i had a cocktail, relaxed and order the camera boady and a few extra accessories from B & H .. Now I have spend roughly 300 bucks more than on one of those package deals on ebay... but In all reality. I have a better tripod ( a compact one, which will fit in the bag ) more storage ( 1 extra 512 card) plus the one gig, a lens cover to protect the 18-55 nikon lense and such, a remote shutter release...... so I am not all too bitter ....
I ordered a camcorder from infinity photo on December 5, 2005. It was suppose to be shipped within 7-10 business days. On December 21, I got an email from a "best camera prices.com." I almost dismissed this as spam because it wasn't the company name I had dealt with when I recognized the order number in the header. It told me to call "Oscar" about my order. I did and could never get a hold of him, but after much waiting on hold I finally talked to a man who told me that their computers were down for 2 weeks and they couldn't access there orders but they would "rush ship my order for the Holidays." They also tried to have me buy a $200 dollar battery but I told them no. I was suppose to recieve an email confirmation that afternoon but it never came. The next day, with still no email, I spent 45 minutes on hold and finally got a hold of a human who told me that the camcorder wasn't going to be shipped by Christmas and that it wasn't going to be shiped at all because Panasonic had RECALLED the camcorder! (As of Dec. 23 Panasonic is still offering this camcorder on its website) I asked when this recall had happened and he said on the 21st of Dec. I asked him why they hadn't told me this the day before and he had no responce. I finally canceled the order. (I kept hoping it would come because it was a present for my husband. Now He won't have a Christmas present.) I think that they didn't ship it to me because I wouldn't buy their overprced battery. The one and only good thing about these people is that they hadn't charged my credit card, yet.
Ordered 3 plasma TV's, waited 4 days for someone to call me and tell me that they TV's are discontinued, sold with no warranty and generally always out of stock BUT "I can sell you a better model for $2499"...
read the reviews of other people and don't waste your time with these two cent pinching crooklyn (or brooklyn) idiots. I am surprised that the credit card processor or attorney general for NY hasn't closed them down yet.
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THEM...WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED WHEN THE SAME COMPANY HAS 3 NAMES AND EACH SALES PERSON HAS 5 NAMES (JASON, TOM, HENRY, JERRY AND MICHAEL ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME PERSON.....)
Avoid Dealing with this Infiniti Photo!!! they require you to call back days 3days later, 3 days before christams nevertheless and do a switch and bait. they said my camera did not come with a battery and I had to order one, and all sorts of filters. BS. i cancelled my order. now i have to find a camera in the next three days.
Shame on me for not doing more research on this company before I ordered a Canon 20d with lens from them. Their web price was significantly cheaper than others, but after they called to try to upsell me I found out the reason. They consider batteries, cables, etc. not part of a 'kit'. You get to pay much more for these so called add-ons. And when I declined their offer to sell me overpriced memory or filters or lenses, suddenly the ship time changed from next day to 4-6 weeks. Needless to say I cancelled my order (at their urging no less). Bottom line? Scammers, sheysters, frauds, cheats, IMHO they all apply.
This review was modified by its author, cdahlquist, on
1/4/06 7:30 PM.
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