ButterFly Photo / outlookaq.com

I placed an order for a Samsung Plasma TV much like a previous reviewer appeared to do. Initially I received fantastic response from them. They provided me a order # quickly and kept up the online status very well. I received the TV in about 2 weeks which was great. I paid for the additional delivery option (inside and unpack) and glad I did. The box was in great shape but when we opened the box the screen was cracked. This is where it became a nightmare. I called Butterfly within about 30 minutes and the support person said they would contact claims immediately. I didn't hear anything for a couple of days so I called back and found out that according to their systems nobody had logged anything. So the support rep was going to contact claims and call me back. No response in 24 hours. I called back and was given a new order # and said it would go out that night or the next. I checked on the 2nd night and no update. I called that following Monday and was told that distribution was backed up and it would go out that night. Next day I called again and found out it didn't go out and they don't know the status. They kept blaming whomever was sending the TV for them. I told them it was their problem because I paid them and I found it hard to believe they couldn't get an update from a supplier. I left a message for the Customer Support Manager (Danny). He has not called me back for 4 days. Today I received a TV but it was the same exact TV that was sent 11 days earlier. I called my credit card company and filed a dispute. No more purchasing from this vendor. If they would be upfront it would go along way.

I order a samsung plasma and the first it came cracked.At first I was worried with 2300 bucks on the line but read up on the internet and most everyone had good things to say about exchanges.Its taken about 2 months now and a whole lot of BS but I just got a replacement today.And guess what?Thats right,the screen is cracked....so I refused the tv...and here we go again....

This review was modified by its author, romeo2, on 8/27/10 8:47 PM.

Awful customer service. Got repeated sales calls from them at 6:40 a.m. my time. When I did answer and stated that I did not want to buy anything more and that it was 6:40 in the morning where I lived, they continued to ramble on and on about longer lasting batteries and offers that I couldn't get once the camera was delivered to me. I hung up the phone and immediately cancelled my order. "Service" like that shouldn't be rewarded. Ended up going with B&H, where I spent a little more but had a LOT more peace of mind.

Bought a Nikon D90, paid about $70 less than I would have at retailers I typically deal with. The camera arrived within a week with free shipping. The only potential complaint I have is that I'm mildly suspicous this is a refurb, which it was not labeled as anywhere on their site, because the manual is clearly not new and the box was a bit wrinkled/bent up on the lid around the tab where you open it. If it IS a refurb, I paid about $70 more than a refurbed D90 would have cost me locally, but there are no signs of use or refurbed-ness on the camera or accessories, so I can't prove anything and can't complain too much. Just so long as it really DOES have the 1 year Nikon warranty it allegedly came with -- hopefully I never need to find out...

This company is a con. I ordered a lens and got the email about verifying the order and special discounts etc. I wrote to say I didn't want any other offers, just wanted my lens to be shipped. 9 days later, no reply. I called them. Sorry, no stock they said. Rubbish. They try to upsell and when they can't, they don't ship. Don't buy from them.

AWFUL, AWFUL experience - if Samsung didn't step up and finally help (after a long chain of calls) I'd have filed the Small Claims court filing by now - long story short, the TV they sent me had a tiny dent in the back, barely noticeable but enough to block a screw from being removed. Before they shipped it to me, they made it very clear that I should call Samsung directly with any issues with the TV - full warranty. When I turn it on, half the screen is blurred/scrambled, and this goes on and off all day. I call Samsung the next morning, but it took them more than a week to get a tech onsite. He discovers the dent, can't open the TV, and Samsung disowns the TV due to 'physical damage'. Butterfly then tells me I'm out of luck and they won't help me at all - even going as far as to say that I should tell Samsung that the damage must have happened in the factory (they inspect all units before boxing them up). My strong gut feeling is that this 'acquisitions' company bought a bad set/lot of bad sets, and figured they could unload it on someone and get away with it being called in for shipping damage or something similar - regardless, I would consider them to be the worst vendor with whom I have ever done business. Buyer beware - they'll be happy to prove that one to you.

Hi,  
I placed an order on Jul 11th for Sony camcorder with expedite shipping. the next day (mon) I called them and enquired about the delivery. they mentioned that it would take 2 days to process the order. I called wed and they mentioned that they would send by thursday and I would receive it by friday.  
I called them on thursday for tracking number. they said that they have 200 deliveries and they cannot track it on thursday.  
Finally on Friday they mentioned that they lost the tracking number. package was picked. they don't know about carrier also.  
I needed it for Sunday actually for my son's 1st b'day party.  
I had to borrow from my frnds finally. if they have told me on wednesday, then i would have ordered somewhere else with 2-3 days business shipping.  
Don't Buy here

The previous review suggested that Butterfly sold them a damaged TV knowingly, I too received a broken plasma screen, and am stuck with it. Amex is fighting them now, and I am told that I will recoup my money, but then again, I have been told a lot of things that haven't panned out by Paypal, Amazon, Butterfly Photo. This company is dishonest, you can't be 100% sure that you will have better luck if you purchase from them, in fact, if you read enough of these reviews, you'll find out that the chances of getting tangled in their BS, is pretty strong.  
 
Now here's the real issue, Butterfly Photo's main office address is 1764A New Durham Rd, South Plainsfield, NJ. 07080 (I memorized it because I have dealing with these bastards for months now, still no resolution,) and connected to this address are over 150 different URL addresses with different business names. Choose any one of those randomly and type in "complaints," and up will come just as many people who feel cheated. This is a huge company that deliberately defrauds the public. I called the FBI Cyber Crime Division, so far, they haven't done sh!t...

This review was modified by its author, cheatedthistime, on 8/1/10 11:51 AM.

I do not usually write reviews and my transaction was a couple of months ago but it's still on my mind so I need to get this off my chest. I was drawn in by the lowest price on the internet for a camcorder that I had planned to buy. I went for it without reading any company reviews first, unfortunately. However, I did call first and speak to a sales person who told me that my camcorder was in fact in stock and since their website stated that all items ship out within 1-2 days - I thought, What could go wrong? Well, after placing my order I got an annoying sales call, trying to sell me more stuff. He said my order should ship out the next day, that they would email me the tracking #. This went on for about a week, me calling to see if it shipped, them telling me it will ship tonight, should get the email tomorrow. Never happened. Then I was told that it's shipping out from their warehouse...What happened to it being in-stock??? Then I read the customer review and knew I had to get out of this transaction. So, I called to cancel the order. They assured me that it was already shipped. Next day, no email w/tracking #. Called again to cancel, they said I could not cancel. What?! You can't tell me I can't cancel my order. If it had in fact shipped I would in fact have a tracking # but since I don't = it didn't ship = I'm cancelling! Nope, they wouldn't accept my cancelation. So I put a stop on my credit card and ended the transaction myself. Oh yea, that night I got an email with a tracking # of a package that went to CA. I live in NY. NEVER AGAIN. Do yourself a favor - Shop elsewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This review was modified by its author, NYS Consumer, on 7/23/10 8:12 AM.

Ordered a Canon SLR camera last night, and I've already received one e-mail with about "coupons" AND a sales call, trying to sell me a "better" battery, extended warranty, expedited shipping, etc. The salesperson was polite enough, but he sounded like a robot going through the motions, and he nothing of real substance to say.  
 
I will update this review appropriately when my purchase arrives in a timely fashion and in working condition (let's hope), but I have to say that so far, I'm not impressed with the pushy sales behavior. While some customers might appreciate the extra offers, I find it unprofessional and annoying. If I wanted all that extra stuff, I'd inquire about it myself. I buy online to AVOID salespeople, and now they're calling me at home! I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a hassle. Please prove me wrong, ButterFly!  
 
OK - now to update the review. The camera arrived as described - new in box, etc. It works perfectly. Shipping took a full week, which was expected (I'm in WA, camera was shipped from NJ). After the initial sales call/e-mail, I wasn't bothered by ButterFly again. So, I'm relieved that my experience was a good one. I still think the sales call was lame, but that's my only final complaint. Otherwise, this was a good transaction..

This review was modified by its author, Fuzz72, on 7/20/10 10:44 AM.

I have never written a bad review ever. But buying from Butterfly Photo has got to be the worst experience I have ever had. I would suggest you not do it unless you have the patience to wait as long as it takes for your order to arrive, if it even arrives at all that is.  
 
I placed an order for a camera on Monday and paid extra for 2 day express shipping because the camera is for someone who is going out of the country permenantly on Friday. When I decided to check on Wednesday whether my order has shipped (it was promised to arrive on Thursday) there was no confirmation that it has been shipped and my debit card had not been charged. This is when I thought maybe something had gone wrong with the billing information since I only moved recently. So just to make sure, I called them. There was a shipping/billing error, however, I immediately asked billing department whether they can sort it out and still have the camera arrive by Friday. I told them that if it is not possible then I would like to cancel the order since the camera would be no use to me afterwards. The person I spoke to assured me it would arrive on Friday. Immediately afterwards, my card was charged for the full price of the camera.  
 
Friday came, and NO CAMERA. But what did came was a confirmation email saying that the camera has been processed and JUST picked up by Fedex and it will arrive next Tuesday. I'm not sure if Fedex works on weekends, but promising 2 day expedite shipping usually means any day of the week, not just business days. And usually it includes processing time too. If I wanted to wait 6 days for my order to arrive I would have just ordered free shipping. Even a normal free shipping from Amazon only takes 3 business days for me. I tried calling on Friday immediately to cancel my order. But their customer service is closed, at 2pm Eastern Time. I live on the West Coast, that's 11am here, before Fedex even makes their daily deliveries. After that, I continuously tried to call their customer service, but I only get either they are closed (when it should be hours before they are closed) or they are busy and put me on hold indefinitely then abruptly hangs up on me.  
 
What makes me the most upset isn't that their customer service close hours before they are suppose to, or that there is no communication if there is a problem with your order, or even that they put me on hold for 15 minutes then hangs up on me. It's the fact that they lied to me just so I wouldn't cancel a order. If they told me that I needed to add more money to have it shipped by Friday, I probably would have done it. BUT, they just lied and told me it would be there, but instead didn't even bother shipping it until Friday. Now I have a camera that I don't need because the person it's for has now left the country, AND I paid extra for 2 days shipping but instead received it a full week later.

This review was modified by its author, raspberry, on 6/28/10 6:14 PM.

Paid extra for 3-5 day shipping (9.95) and after 2 days processing it shipped with UPS showing a 9 day transit. Customer service said that would be bussiness days which is not what the site said. Very deceiving and a lot of money to pay extra for what appears to be normal shipping.

After ordering a new, US d90...a import model was shipped. After calling them, the informed me the could give me a extended warranty for free as well as the US charger instead. No thanks!  
 
After shipping back the camera (which they handled very nicely....they have ignored all other calls and emails about sending the replacement). So what are my options? I will be reaching out to their local AG, cancel the purchase with Amex (I love their friendly customer server!), and contact my brother-in-law at a worldwide tech review site where he is the sr. editor. This has been a horrible experience. Spend $25 and go with a different company. (this review will change if they rectify the situation....but I doubt they will)

I too ignored the negative reviews on this website thinking my experience would be different.  
 
On May 28, 2010 I ordered the Canon Vixia HF S21 from Butterfly Photo. Although they had gotten some poor reviews on this site, they had the cheapest price--$1239.99 and their website showed that the camera would ship in 1 to 2 days. Shortly after my order, I got an email with the following message:  
 
Thank you for shopping at Butterflyphoto the destination site for all your electronics needs! Butterflyphoto prides itself on the overall positive consumer experience – from order placement to final delivery.  
We have found coupons associated with one or more products included with your purchased that have not been redeemed. Please contact Victor S at 800-339-9960 ext 236 , to review these new promotional offers and retrieve the coupon code(s) that best suite your purchase! Please have your order number handy to expedite the call.  
As a member of the Butterfly Photo Team, I take pride in making sure all orders are processed correctly and takes advantage of all promotional offers available to you . Thank you for your order and shopping at Butterflyphoto.com!  
Sincerely,  
The Butterfly Photo Team.  
 
This seemed odd given that they already had the lowest price around. Nevertheless, I called and left a message asking to please forward any promotion details by email. I never heard back. About 2 weeks later, I called to check on the status of my order. In the meantime, the price of the camera went up to about $1259.99. It is now $1269.95.  
 
When I asked about the status of my order I was told that they would receive the HF S21 model in the next day or two and because of the delay they would ship it to me using "next day" at no extra charge. At the very latest, I would receive it on Monday.  
 
Of course, it did not come on Monday. Tuesday, I called again. And again, I was told that they would get the camera in a day or two and ship it right out. This time, I told them that I needed the camera for an event on Friday. They took note of it.  
 
Not having heard from them, I called again on Wednesday. This time, I spoke with Sammy. The status was still the same--in 1 or 2 days they would receive the camera. I let him know that I needed it by Friday and that if they couldn't deliver it by then they should cancel the order. I also indicated that it had been pending for 3 weeks without any updates from them. He did not seem bothered by this at all and said he would cancel the order if they weren't able to get the camera to me by Friday and would send me a cancellation confirmation.  
 
Of course, the camera was not sent nor did I receive any notice of cancellation. Oh, and the website still shows that the camera is in stock.  
 
Never again.  

This review was modified by its author, gxe, on 6/21/10 7:42 PM.

I ordered an Electrolux canister vacuum for my new hardwood floors. My order was processed and received quickly. I am happy with the quality of the product as well.