They had the best price by far for the Canon Vixia HV30 refurbished camcorder. It was in a sealed Canon box and included a 60 day Canon warranty. Perfect condition. Shipped fast by way of FedEx. Signature was required upon delivery. No funny business like some of the other online camera shops. However, there was no email to inform me that the camera had shipped or to inform me of the tracking number. But it got here so fast that I didn't have time to worry about the lack of a shipping confirmation email. I am very pleased overall.

This review was modified by its author, Starman99, on 6/15/09 12:18 PM.

In LA (or anywhere I can think of) there is no peer to Samys camera. Wether it be a simple point and shoot to the highest end digital Sammy's has got you covered. Great service before and after and a good price to boot. Always my first choice!

Great and responsible service. The stuff is friendly and helps with any questions - even on items you have already purchased.  
Hard to beat prices!!!

Bad service. Overpriced. Terrible attitude.

This review was modified by its author, photophan, on 3/30/09 6:51 PM.

Fantastic customer service! Very knowledgeable staff. Shipped within hours.

I can't say enough about how great Samy's service is. I've been using them for over 5 years and they've never failed to go out of their way to help me out. Fantastic service.

Really terrible experience. My camera's been in for repairs for over a month and a half. I can't get anyone to return my calls to tell me when it will be ready and what is causing the delay. When I call, I get the repair counter voicemail. Messages go unanswered. When I have spoken to someone, they've told me they would look into it and call me back. No call back. I even spoke to the store manager, Carlos, and he told me he would call me back within 20 minutes. 2 days later, no call. At my wit's end. Would NOT recommend going there.

I purchased a nikon d60 kit from samy's retail store in santa barbara and was very satisfied with the service and price.the employees know anything you could want to know about your camera, and are very helpful in finding the right product for you. when i bought my camera it also came with a dslr class for free at samy's. this class was very informative and taught by a professor from nearby brooks institute of photography. i will definitely return to samy's.

I have reviewed consumer ratings for Samy's in here and took a chance and went in with eyes wide open. I went in the store during their Father's Day No Sales Tax event and purchased "Non-electronic" accessories such as manfrotto tripod ($25 rebate), monopod and a couple of heads, as well as a backpack. Oh yeah, and an additional 8GB sandisk extreme IV ($50 rebate). All transactions went through smoothly. I came prepared with prices from their website and know exactly what I'm looking for. The guy on the counter matched the website prices and never hassled me with other stuff, he was calm, helpful and friendly. Eventhough, I made him go back to their warehouse more than a couple of times.  
 
The only minor issue I have was about their inventory system; system shows they have it but warehouse says no, OR warehouse says they have it but the system shows no. It's no big deal though, because I always have an alternative choice (better price).  
 
I would normally buy from B&H PHOTO and the likes but I have to pay shipping. In the end the "No Tax" deal was a whole lot better, plus, I get the products as I pay.  
 
Overall, I'm happy with Samy's specially with the guy who helped me. I will always look for him in the future when I buy a new dslr system on their next sale event. We'll see how that one will go - review update to follow.

I have made three separate online purchases from Samy's over the past three years. These have included the Canon Twin-Light Macro Flash, the Canon Remote Timer, and the Canon 100-400 mm zoom telephoto lens. Each time the order arrived promptly and without any problems. I will continue doing business with them.

Samy's is crooked. They advertised a great price on a Cartoni tripod so I ordered one. A few days later they contacted me and told me "That particular model is no longer being made, and we don't have any left". I knew that was not true and confirmed with Cartoni.  
 
Like so many other crooked online retailers, Samy's advertised an extremely low price to get buyers in the door, so to speak, and then failed to deliver. Avoid them!

After reading alot of good reviews about Samy's, I decided to go ahead and order a Nikon D200, SB800 Flash, and MC36 remote control. I placed the order this morning with Jody, gave my credit card info and was contacted this evening - the call got cut off and she did not call me again. I called 20 minutes later to find out she had gone home. I then spoke with another lady who advised me my order was in "verification" status - whatever that was. She then placed me on hold for a few minutes while she investigated. She came back to tell me I had to pay with either a wire transfer or check - which is absolutely ridiculous. The only people who ask for this type of payment are scam artists - and there are plenty of those - add Samy's to the list. My credit card is a platinum card with no debt on it - I have excellent credit and have ordered tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise through the years from Amazon.com, Buy.com, NewEgg.com, etc without a problem. This is the first time I've ever encountered something like this. After my initial outrage, I cooled off for a few minutes, contacted them again and spoke with someone different who again investigated and advised me that since this was my first time ordering from them, Samy's management would not authorize my purchase! What? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around where the credit card company is supposed to authorize the purchase (which they did)? This is beyond stupid! Stay away from Samy's and avoide the headaches - moronic and frustrating as you can't escalate your conversation to anyone in "management".

I recently bought a Nikon d70s refurb from them since I didn't want to spend too much.. I paid 899.00 for the refurb and the salesman gave me a few items for free. Needless to say. It was a 1gb generic memory card, a slk-sdv20 tripod ($20), a jumpstart DVD, a medium sized camera case that was too small to hold anything. Then he added a Rear Lens cap for 11.50 on my bill without telling me and overall charged me with tax 1044.33 which included the 49.00 Helio UV filter since I only wanted the best..not knowing the GG was so dirty behind it. Now After I waiting to take the free Nikon class..which was great...I went out to shoot today just to notice that behind the ground glass that there was so much dirt that it got into my pix. Now I have to go to Nikon Service Center to get that cleaned up and wait 3 days for that to happen. Who know how much that will cost..but I found out that there is no warranty for even 30days for refurbs. I hate commission sales people. I will now just stick with BH Photo in NYC..so much better...Overall for Samy's customers...Buyer beware.

This review was modified by its author, smithy, on 3/23/07 5:02 AM.

Service and selection is pretty good. Their online prices matches other well known competitors in NY. Their store prices seems to be $40-50 more than their online price. I bought a battery grip for my XTI. Online at Samys.com was $140. At the store, $180. I also bought a Canon EF 24-70mm the past weekend. Online was $1150, and at the store $1200. They also seem to "guess" or range the prices. The fixed "overhead" price is acceptable on things you need now. But if you can wait, probably buy it online at a more well established Website.

I have been using Samy's for past 2 years for all my gears upgrade after I moved to LA. This including F6, D200, D70s, 18-200 DX VR lens, D80, couple tripod and some other parts and gears.  
 
Samy's is not a discount store, you may find a good deal once a while but mainly the price here is pretty much what a retail store should be. (PS. I did get my the Nikkor 18-200mm DX VR lens order at $699 right after two month of its release, which is a great price.) Be noticed their online price is always 1%-3% lower then their store price due to the store overhead.  
 
I like Samy's is because the good customer service and a place that I can bring my gears back if ever need help. People in pro gear section are very knowledged and willing to help. I find no pushing on sale here, they advice you to get the item you need.  
 
The locations of Samy's I used are LA main store at Fairfax and Santa Ana Store at Bristol. A lot time I do call in order and they get the items I need and place hold for me to pickup. They do this for any item and any amount. I had order run as small as couple dollar, and this save me time.