"Another fool has ordered from this fraudulent company.
The reason for ordering was that I had successfully ordred a Tamron lens from them last year, with no problems at all!!
On september 10 I ordered a big Sigma Zoom lens for Nikon AF, together with a lens filter. The order was confirmed by mail, and $870 were paid through Pay Pal. I was out travelling for a couple of weeks, but when I came back, no parcel had arrived, but I had received a mail telling me I had to call "Timothy". So I called, and was passed over to "Rick" who advised me to pay another $160, to upgrade the lens to one with a "D-chip" (special for Nikon), and get a original case. I found it strange, but paid the amount, and started waiting for my lens. Nothing happened. I started mailing the company, but got ultra short answers as: "You'll have it some time next week", or "We're looking into it. We'll come back to u soon". Unsigned, naturally. Now I started getting worried, and called Sigma Corporation about this lens and the "D-chip". I got a polite answer telling me that this was all wrong information. No Sigma lens was produced without this Chip!! AHA!! When I brought AAA Camera face to face with these facts, they simply stopped answering my mail. I could not get through on the telephone either. Then I (far too late) started reading ratings such as the ones on this site and it surely is shocking reading! No I felt that I had nothing to lose, and I told them in a last mail what I meant about such criminal behaviour. They have stolen my money ($1030), and after years of selling and buying, I have never experienced anything even close to this!
I tried getting my money back through Pay Pal, but they don't accept claims older than 30 days!!! BEWARE!! Now BBB in New York is working with my claim, and I still hope, but choose not to have too great expectations. Then a possible refund is a bonus for me.
To all of you out there reading this: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVEN CONSIDER BUYING FROM THEESE GANGSTERS! How can they go on like this, and get away with it???"

"AAA Camera are cheats. I live in England and ordered online from them a Pentax lens hood to fit a Pentax lens. They did not tell me there were none in stock. Instead, they sent me a tatty box with "Kalimar Rubber Lens Hood" on the outside, which was not what I wanted. Inside was something completely different. It was a budget lens filter, not a hood, with no brand name. No invoice was sent. My Visa card was debited $50 for this rubbish, $26.95 was for the item and the bill was rounded up to $50 to include postage. The actual postage cost was $3.20. AAA Camera do not respond to e-mails and their fax number is not in service. I have contacted both PayPal and my Visa card company and told them what has happened. I do not accept the rubbish I was sent, and want my money back in full. AAA Camera did not have what I wanted so they should have cancelled my order. I hold them responsible for the full amount, as I do not accept postage costs for an item I did not want.

Some advice: Never buy from AAA Camera.

11th December 2003 an update:

I've got my money back. I telephoned my Visa company today and they said my account has been credited with the full amount. I'm just glad I got on to them straight away rather than trying to deal with the thieves who call themselves AAA Camera. Just remember to tell anyone you know who is looking on the Internet for camera gear NOT to use the dishonest company knbown as AAA Camera. And that goes for Cambridge World also. I think they may be connected."

"I ordered a light meter from this vendor on October 21, 2003 and this began a series of unanswered emails, delay tactics and lies that resulted in me having to get PayPal involved to get my money back after almost a month of struggling. It was finally determined by the vendor that the product I ordered was unavailable from the beginning and I feel they knew this but they kept informing me that the item was shipped and I would receive it shortly. After repeated attemts to get a UPS tracking number I finally got PayPals involved and got my money back. This was a nightmare. Do not under any circumstances order any merchandise from this vendor."

"I wanted USA Warranty Nikon equipment, the seller told me the equipment was USA Warranty, and charged a price that is comparable with goods that are USA Warranty.

When the goods got here, there were no warranty papers. I was suspicious and called Nikn, and they confirmed that seller is not an authorized dealer and cannot sell USA Warranty goods.

I returned the fkasg immediately, and filed a complaint with Pay Pal to reverse the transaction.

Pay Pal would not give me my money back as seller told Pay Pal he delivered the goods. (Essentially Pay Pal will not get involved if the goods are not as promised.)

I am now trying to get my money back from my credit card. It's been over 30 days since I returned the goods and the seller hasn't made any effort to give me my money back.

A reputable seller would not have lied about the goods, and a reputable seller would not have fought my complaint at Pay Pal. A reputable seller would have posted a prompt refund."

"I purchased a pair of Pentax binoculars from aaacamera.com on 8/29/03. The same scenerio happend as with many other customers. I received an email stating I needed to call aaacamera. When I did I spoke with Timothy who claimed the webpage was incorrect as the price listed was for an international warranty. I upgraded and payed through paypal. I felt uneasy about the purchase and found resellerrating.com and checked on aaacamera and when I found their ratings I was sick to my stomach. I immediatly called and canceled my order and asked for a refund. That process took 4 phone calls (the next day) with Mark, Bob, Mike, and Timothy whom all sounded like the same person. Very rude and was hung up on all 4 times I called. I immediatly called them back and when the same voice answered the phone I would address him with the name he had given me. He would state the that person had just stepped out, give me another name and ask how could he help me. Each conversation ended with them saying don't call back and hanging up. They did refund my money later that day though thorugh paypal.com and have yet to pull anyother tricks. Sounds like I was lucky. I have checked daily with my credit card company since the incident. I have since established an account with resellerratings.com and intend to check each company before purchasing as well as using paypal. My experience is not nearly as horrific as some but would still classify it as poor and will never again do business with aaacamera.com regardless of them refunding my money. Salesmanship is sneaky and customer relations is extremely poor. Friendly when taking your money and will hang up on you when you want it back. "

"Ordered a CANON Flash in June, did not get it weeks later, complained, allegedly being shipped, never arrived, they deducted $40 more from my credit card than bill said; mid of August still have not got the flash; you can not reach anybody there.

Peter"

"Whayne, et al. You have almost mirrored my experience with AAACamera, incluing 'USPS lost the order', 'the insurance number is...', 'replacement will ship any day', etc. I ordered a pair of Zeiss binnoculars on 05/27. Today (08/07) I called both AAA to cancel and alert my credit card company to seek reimbursment. Unfortunately, being greater then 60 days, that may be impossible. Shame on me, however ironic it was that the conversations with AAA around the 55th day were promising. What can be done? I've filed a complaint with the BBB of NY (www.newyork.bbb.org). In the last 3 years, 238 others have as well. Lastly, I'm hoping the manufacturers of the items AAA carry will show concern once I explain how they're handled by this company. I would encourage others to so as well. Filing with the BBB can't hurt also. Hopefully we can regain something."

"Ordered two lenses from AAA in April. Was told they would arrive 8-10 days after payment. Well after they said they shipped items on 14-05-03 yet could not give me tracking number. After a further 3 weeks they said it's shipped should be coming within a week. Well you know the story, after phoning every week on the 27-06-03 I was told USPS had lost the order and they were shipping another. Well two weeks later I get a different person on the phone and guess what he says they never ever shipped the order as they were waiting on a Thai built lens (I ordered from Australia). I told them why did they say it shipped and said I want my money back. I have faxed them my details and they say it will take two weeks to refund my money. I am sure it will probably take dozens of phone calls and another 3 months to get it back.

What I can't understand doesn't the USA have consumer protection laws. This is criminal behaviour and surely AAA should be shut down. It makes me sick that there are a large number of these crooks operating in New York and the scary thing is AAA doesn't have the worst rating.

I know people here are talking about the Attorney General, but why can't the Police get invloved?"

"Don't know if these guys are a 'front' for the Mafia or what but they sure know how to take your money. You might want to follow my lead a file a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office and with the NYC BBB."

"Ordered Leica Apo 77mm telescope and zoom 20-60x lens. Neither delivered to date. $1300 paid. May never see this again. Hope it doesn't happen to anyone else. Trying my best to advertise their appalling service."

"Ordered digital camera 07/20/2002, they were fast to charge the credit card, but now almost 12 months later, still no delivery. 12 phone conversations to the date, have tried to cancel the order or get it delivered, but in vain. Beware this company!"

"I am convinced there is fraud surrounding this transaction. I have ordered a month ago, was charged, and haven't received the order. Many phone calls have gone unanswered or false information given. I plan on contacting the authorities next week."

"Ordered a Canon binocular IS 15x50 for $689.69, payment was confirmed by email on 1 june. On 23 july I asked for a shipment confirmation and was told that the model I ordered was not available yet. This went on for more than half a year until I agreed to pay another $200 for an "american" model on 9 april 2003. On 5 may 2003 I was assured that the binoculars were shipped, but they did not arrive to this day (14-jun-2003), a whole year later!! This is criminal behavior."

"Ordered Sigma lens on 3/10/03. As of 6/10/03, I have not received the lens. Because of the terrible follow up on their behalf, I asked for a refund. They have contined to give me a date that the lens will arrive yet it never does. Finally I demanded a refund yet they seem to not understand simple written English as I said several times that I have never received the lens. Horrible company. DO NOT TAKE A CHANCE HERE."

"Basically, these guys stole over $250 from me. You can read all about it here:
http://www.legatofamily.com/aaa_camera_stole_my_money.htm
They never sent an exchange item and during my last call to them they even said, "Don't call back sir". When I asked about the money they owe me he hung up."