1/5

posted Jul-26-2010

"I ordered a Canon T2i and 15-85f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens from here. The next day I received a call to "confirm" my order. Typical upsell phone call which I expected. I agreed to the extras, battery,SD card,filters. A few days later I received the box.

A couple things raised red flags to me about my order. Nowhere on the memory card did it say what speed it was and the box for the lens was suspiciously all white. I went to 42's website and found that if I had shopped around a bit on THEIR website I could have found a better deal on the memory card than I got from the salesman I talked with. So I checked the internet and found better prices yet for the card. It was only $20 so I figured no big deal, but then I checked the web for prices on the battery and filters I bought. The battery and filters were $20-$40 at other sites. 42 St. charged me $80 for each. You spend $1500 for a camera and lens and you get ripped off on the accesories.

So I posted a negative review here. A short time later I got a call from the sales manager, trying to explain capitalism and how everyone has higher prices on some things. He offered to send me a free memory card to make me a happy customer, AND remove my negative review. I changed my review.

A couple days later I got the card. 8GB class 4. A class 6 is recommended for my camera and this was supposed to make up for the $100 that they ripped off on the battery and filters. I wasn't happy, but I agreed to the deal, so I was going to suck it up.

I'm happy with the camera, so I decided to buy a couple more lenses, but from a differant store this time. Both the lenses come in red and white boxes this time and they both have warranty cards with them. The lens I bought from 42 St. DID NOT have a warranty card with it. I didn't agree to that when I accepted the free memory card so here's my review!

I also looked at the rules for ResellerRatings. Merchants are NOT allowed to contact people to ask them to change or remove negative reviews.






"

This review was modified by nee cogda on August 07 2010 05:08:46 PM

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1/5

posted Oct-12-2008

"I have to agree with all the dissatisfied posts I've seen. I was in NY on business last week and had the worst shopping experience I've ever had. These guys would be shut down by the regulators or consumer watch dogs in most countries due to their sharp practice, but the survive by exploiting unsuspecting honest customers. Just before I was due to leave for the airport, I searched on the internet for prices on a canon rebel xsi (450d in Europe). 42nd street were the cheapest by about $40 so I decided to call in. I should have read the honest reviews from previous customers first as I would have gone to a mnainstream provider instead. Anyway - when I arrived, and asked about the Canon, the guy behind the counter was completely disinterested. Once he realised I was serious, his scamming skills came to the fore. With all such products, you need to buy a memory card (overpriced here), a carry case (over priced here), and perhaps a second battery (at least 100% dearer than anywhere else and un branded). My $650 camera soon became a $$850 dollar purchase. I still felt OK, but then came the killer punch. I was originally offered a wide angle lese retailing at $500 for $350. I refused. Just as I was about to leave, I was offered the same lense for $240. i don't know anything about lenses, but a 50% reduction had to be good. They already had it on the bill when I was about to pay !. Stiupiditly I agreed to buy it (my fault I'm not normally an easy tough). Went back to the office to find that the Digital Optics lense he sold me for $240(originally ($500) was actually worth $50 ! I also dicovered that the camera he gave me was not the US Rebel xsi, but one called the kiss x2. Checked this out and they are in fact the same camera, but this is obviously a grey market import as it is the Japanese model (but in fairness, the same as far as I can tell). When I went back, I asked for a refund on the lense (willing to write the overpriced other good off to experience) - the lense was unopened and unused. He pointed to the wall to show me their 'no refun' policy which actually says 'No refund. Exchange with in 7 days' They have the full stop blocked with a cable so it reads as if there is a refund withing 7 days. Anyway they point blank refused a refund and offered exchange only (bear in mind I was back within an hour. I asked if the did ipods, but he said they did but they weren't apple ones ! If its not Apple its not an iPod - is it legal in US to ell counterfit goods. I hope my cannon is a cannon ! Anyway eventually exchanged reluctantly for a casio compact camera which I know is a 2 year old model and probally worth less than $100 compared to the $240 I had to pay, or the $300 price tag he had on the box. The price tags are another scam - they go behind a screen in the shop to get you a boxed model before. they tell you the price. I'd be certain they put a new price tag on reflecting what they think you will pay. When I was in the shop, a guy came in and was quoted $60 more than I was for an identical camera. When trying to find something to exchange the "$500" lense for, I asked to switch it for a Sony camera (that another work mate had just quoted $199 for), and he told me it was $350. These guys give NY a bad name as a place that sells dodgy goods from prime Mid Town locations to unsuspecting tourists. These guys make money by conning people. You get no guarantee material, they keep the packaging (in case you see something on it you don't like), the receipt isn't itemised and they are agressive and rude. I plan checking these guys out as I suspect their practices are illegal. They are in every other civilised country so should be in the US. My advice - buy in circuit city or a well known camera shop. After you buy the essential extras, it won't be any dearer and at lest you won't be ripped off and insulted byt aggressive staff who actually tell you they don't refund because they work on a commission basis. "

This review was modified by oolart11 on October 22 2008 02:22:06 PM

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1/5

posted Sep-26-2010

"I ordered a Canon lens from them. I normally order from B & H or another store but they were closed for religious holidays and I needed the lens sooner than they could deliver.

The site said the lens had a 1 year US warranty which implied it was a US lens. The store was closed and I needed to order it right away so I ordered it online.

Other stores disclose on their website if the product is gray market, but there was only 1 option listed and it made no mention of it being imported.

It came in a plain white cardboard box with a label that looked like someone made it on their computer. All my other Canon lenses came in Canon boxes in the past.

There was no warranty card in the box.

While I don't know for sure if it is gray market, it is not acceptable to me that it came in that box and also that it had no warranty card with it.


I called and tried to speak to someone but they were rude and arrogant and then put me on hold for so long I finally hung up. I don't have time to fight with them about it but I will never order from them again. I have no option but to use the lens and hope it's OK.

I called later to ask about a lens hood. When I asked about the price, the salesman harrassed me about being cheap when I told him I was going to buy it elsewhere for less. Very rude.

Do yourself a favor and spend the extra money to purchase from a reputable dealer.

"

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1/5

posted Nov-29-2010

"I don't believe all of these positive comments are actual purchasers. This is the type of store that doesn't just process your order. Instead, after you order they call you and try to get you to buy junk at rip off prices. So you may be happy with the initial price of your item. But then they try to sell you memory cards, or "filters that you must have." I ordered a lens and was told I had to have the "filters" for the lens to work right. Jack at 42Photo told me he would sell the filters "below his cost." Come to find out the filters he sold me for $199 are sold on Amazon for $20. You can get a good price from 42Photo on some items. But don't get suckered into buying anything extra from them. If you are like me and don't want to waste your time fighting off these types of aggressive sales tactics then go to the numerous other Camera dealers with good prices that don't do this stuff (like BH Photo, for instance). "

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1/5

posted Dec-03-2010

"Very negative experience.

The price was the best on the web, ... BUT...

The day after my order I received a call from "Mark" who attempted to upsell me several things.
* "You really should get this extended warranty"
* "That memory isn't fast enough, for an extra $400 you can get a faster card" (although in fact, it is more than fast enough)
* "You didn't order a UV filter for your lens, you should get one to protected it" (I know, I already have a set of lenses)
* "You should get our high quality lens cleaners"
* etc.

It arrived quickly, but had the wrong lens.

I called about a return and was told that I could only work with Mark, the salesman.

I called a total of five times leaving messages each time. I sent email to both "mark" (mark@42street.com) and his boss (jonathan@42street.com), and again receiving no response.

I sent another message threatening to deny payment on Visa, and they called almost immediately.

They would not exchange it for another new product (yours is already open...) and wanted to charge a restocking fee if I returned it ("We want you to be satisfied with our products, we can exchange it for another opened package, but if you are returning it without reason we have this policy")


I will not work with them again. They had the best price on Google shopping, but it was a bait-and-switch, upselling in their "confirmation" call, and complete failure to return messages or emails for customer service until I stopped payment."

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1/5

posted Aug-31-2010

"Shady business practices...avoid this store...I will not shop with them again. Placed my order on a Tuesday to ensure we'd have it by Labor Day weekend (1.5 weeks), and hoping it could be the weekend before if they shipped it the day I ordered. Learned 4 days later they had called to "confirm" the order, but didn't get the message until then. Checked the order status on the site, it said shipped, so I did not call back. A week after ordering they called my wife, the lens still had not shipped. The lens is replacing one that I dropped on a ocncrete surface and broke. The 42photo rep convinced my wife the broken lens wasn't working because we had no UV filter, and sold her a $30 filter with the lens we ordered. Clearly the old lens was not working because I dropped it from about 5 feet up onto concrete, nothing to do with UV filter. When the package comes, I will be returning the filter, and not doing business with them again. The lens should have shipped when I ordered it, not a week later. And not after they sold my wife something we didn't need. Shady business practice...avoid this store."

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1/5

posted Aug-06-2008

"I called today to order a Nikon D300 (body only). Ahead of time, I told the sales person I had 2 questions (one of them whether the product was an import or covered by a USA warranty). Even before I could phrase my questions, he initiated a verbal tussle whether I wanted to ask 1 or 2 questions! I then ask him whether he was going to answer my questions or whether I should take my business elsewhere? He then said please make my day and hung up. It was certainly not a confidence-building exercise. I will not buy from this store."

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1/5

posted Dec-23-2007

"Stay away, far far away! Don't let the low prices dangled in front of your face entice you, They will be yanked away faster then you can say #%*@.
They do have many "very Satisfied" reviews here but I'm suspicious after my experience, Most are by single reviewers and I'm convinced they are posted by 42 photo. Read all the reviews before purchasing from this company. The last page is full of Dissatisfied customers, I believe that's when 42photo realized they have to put up fake reviews.
I purchased a Nikon D300 from this store, Like always high pressure sales tacits to up-sale. I don't blame them for that. I do not like the "Bate and switch" game they're playing, Advertised on their site for $1799.97, my wife called to order it for me for Christmas. She was told there is only a 30 day warranty, "we can add a three year warranty for $199 or 1 year for $149". My wife, not being wise to the shysters in the NY based electronic sales world chose the 1 year.
I called later to inquire about extra money for warranty, I informed them that Nikon provides a year of warranty with all USA models. I was told "$1799.97 was for the International (Grey Market) camera". "The USA model is $1949.99". That's $149.99 over retail. Unfortunately it had already shipped or I would have canceled on the spot.
They also offered free shipping. The catch, 7-10 days. We all know ups will get a package from NY to CA in 5 days using ground service. So they basically hold you package several days before shipping. To get it shipped out immediately will cost about $20, So much for free shipping. My wife wanted to make sure it would be here by Christmas so she chose 3 day select at a cost of $28.86 (I admit that's fair) It showed up 5 days later and was shipped ground!
Bottom line this camera retails for $1799.99, the classic "Bate & switch" got an extra $149 from an
unwitting housewife and it's dishonest people like this, why I love this (resellerratings)site to expose this scum."

This review was modified by Micallef on December 23 2007 02:53:48 PM

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1/5

posted Dec-02-2010

"Do not order from this company. Several days after ordering, they called my wife and convinced her to add overpriced filters and batteries to our order, and charged us more than they claimed. Not an honest business!"

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1/5

posted Jun-13-2007

"THIS IS A TERRIBLE COMPANY.

With all of these “great” reviews, I’m suspicious they aren’t real customers. Please read ALL of the reviews

Here’s my waking nightmare:

I ordered an HV20 camera with a “pro shooter” pack, plus an extra set of "Tokina" lenses. Ralphy tried to up sell the lenses and a battery charger. I told him no on the lenses and that I wanted to look locally for a charger and he said ok.

The lenses I received were "Merkury" and I also received a $15 "Merkury" battery charger, which I was charged $89.99 for. I wanted to return them and get my money back.

I researched the return policy and they give you 10 days from when it arrives to return (and pay a 20% restocking fee). You have to call and get an RMA number. Since they arrived on Thursday that gave me until Friday or Saturday to have it shipped back. I wasn’t able to call until Sunday to get an RMA number. And when I did call, I got my sales rep guy, Ralphy again, who told me he wouldn’t be able to give me an RMA then, and I’d have to call back Monday. But this was customer service and after I explained what I wanted to do he still told me I’d have to wait until Monday to receive one by email. Not only that, he told me that I had indeed ordered the charger. What a liar.

Monday. No email. As soon as I got customer service and gave them my invoice number, I was routed to Ralphy’s voicemail. No return call. But I did get his direct extension.

Tuesday. No email. I called in the morning and left a message with Ralphy again. No return call. In the afternoon I did get hold of him. He said for being “such a great customer” he spoke with his manager and they were going to give me a $200 rebate and I wouldn’t have to send anything back. I agreed simply because I wanted them to have as less of my money as possible, even if I would have gotten more back from them from simply a return. ( I should have received $380 back even after the ludicrous 20% stocking fee). I asked for an email confirmation and he simply said that it was being processed and not to worry.

And guess what day the refund would be showing up on my credit card? Friday.

Did it show up? Even on the following Wednesday? No.

And when I call back to Ralphys direct line, I immediately get disconnected.

THIS IS A TERRIBLE COMPANY.

p.s. When I originally ordered the pro pack, it comes with a tripod and carrying case. Since I already had a tripod, I asked what I could trade for. Ralphy said he’d send a very nice upgrade case. The tripod I bypassed sells for about $70. So, I would think that an included case and a bypassed tripod might come out around $100. They sent me a $30 case.

When I called them, still thinking innocently of them I thought they may have messed something up and so I thought maybe they could send me something else and I had been looking at microphones. Before I could finish my sentence I was told that they were sold out. Sold out of every microphone because of a rush the Memorial weekend before (they have 21 of them). I was pretty floored by that statement. He could only offer to send me the original tripod.

I don’t know what I was thinking by not comparing prices. Every accessory is terribly overpriced and I have paid for it.

Please don’t lose your money to them.

UPDATE. BUYING ME OFF

Concerning the $200 refund I was promised but never came. This past Sunday I received a voicemail from Ralphy with an apology for not calling back and to call him about it.

I called yesterday about it and he was friendly at first and wanted to know why I posted such a bad review. He insisted that the refund had been credited on the day promised and even had a transaction number for it. He started to get a little belligerent, asking if I had “called” my credit card company about it and then when I asked for this transaction number, he then began to bargain with me.

He would only give me this number if I removed my review. I told him that I would only edit out the part about the credit.

Then he began to get really angry. Telling me how awesome he was (if you want an idea of what he thought of himself, read the message 2 posts above from “robertpenn17”, or should I say “Ralphy”?). He also told me that he wasn’t going to refund the money…which is funny since he told me that it already went through. That I was a bad customer and finally when I tried to interject anything into his tirade, he simply said “I don’t have to listen to this Sh*t” and hung up on me.

I was stunned.

Here’s my advice to Ralphy, 42nd St. Photo and your service.

1. You give people what they pay for at fair prices, nothing less and nothing more.
2. You respect them and do what you say you’re going to do. If they want to return an item, then let them. 3. Don’t ignore their voicemails and try and buy them off with a promise of a refund which you NEVER intended to give me, and still wouldn’t, had I removed my post.

It’s called ethics and why I’m posting these reviews."

This review was modified by dan1000 on June 20 2007 07:55:40 AM

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