"I ordered a Sony VX2100 for $919 plus shipping and received a confirmation and instruction to call an 800 #. The sales person immediately tried to switch me to a "US Version" that cost about a $1000 more. He told me the one they are advertising is made in China and is not as good, etc. etc. When I said I wanted it anyway, he tried to upsell me accessories, which I declined.
After I said I wanted the camera anyway, he ended the conversation and seemed to take the order.
I had no further communication of any kind.
Later when I clicked on the "check order" portion of my original confirmation, I found the order had been cancelled, for which I am grateful.
It appears to me they do not really have any of these cameras for sale at the advertised price and this is a classic bait and switch.
I found you can file an online complaint with the New York State Attorney general and would encourage all to do so."
"This is a bait and switch operation. Advertised low price on camera. Required me to call to "confirm" order. When I refused to add items to order, said would take 6 to 8 weeks to ship. I canceled order."
"Terrible scam! I ordered a Panasonic AGHVX200 for $1949.00 plus $99.99 shipping for a total of 2048.99. Once you complete your order you have to call them at 1-***-***-**** ext 201 to verify and complete your order. The man who answered was quite aggressive and mocked me for thinking that was the final price, even though it was what they advertised online. Screaming at me, he was ordering me to get extra lenses, batteries, and extended warranty. I said I only wanted what I had ordered, and he got furious and screamed even more because I was supposedly waisting his time. I asked him why he was so rude to me, and he replied that I had to order the extra items or cancel. I told him then to cancel the order since I was not getting what they had promised, and also for being so rude. I also told him I would report him to consumer reports, to which he replied that I could do whatever "the hell I wanted, if I canceled I had to pay a $150.00 cancellation fee". I told him I would not pay a cancellation fee for an order that was not completed and I hung up. I was able to call my bank and cancel my credit card, before getting charged, and yes I did report this horrible company with a consumers advocate agency. "
"I made an online order for a Nikon D200 DSLR at a great price. When attempting to confirm my order, I encountered rude sales people on two separate calls. Each attempted to force accessories on my order than I did not need nor want. I finally learned from the third sales person that the Nikon D200 DSLR I ordered was a non-USA product that was "fortunately" on back order. I was then offered an excessive price for the USA version. I canceled my order, never to do business with this SCAM Company again."
"Best Service ever. I don't care what you all say, I like this company. No problems at all, and really good, and friendly customer service. I would recommend them to everyone."
"Completely fraudulent advertising. They won't sell the products they advertise if you refuse to be upsold. I tried to purchase a Canon Digital Rebel Xti which was listed for $339.00 and unbelievably low price. I called before to check stock and was told the camera would ship immediately. After placing the order through their website, you have to call in to confirm the order. I did this, and when I told them I didn't want to purchase overpriced batteries and memory cards I was berated and told the camera wouldn't ship for another 4 weeks. This is the same camera they had told me just minutes before would ship the same day. "
"You all are going to HATE me as I am going to give this company their only "good" review. I honestly view my transaction with them as positive. Not because of the experience, but because of the PRICE--that was all and is all I care about. I have read your reviews and agree the experiences others have had, but I disagree with their opinion about it. Let me explain.
I ordered from this company over 2 years ago and just called them again today to place another order. Yes, they did try to upsell me, but I simply said "NO" and stuck to that. They can't "make" you buy additional stuff! I use to sell cars, so I know these tactics, and these guys are as good as it gets, so be prepared. Hey, they are sales men who are in business to make money so I don't fault them on this. I am out to "save" money, and with them I have.
Yes, they do strip down their stuff so don't "assume" you are getting the battery, charger, software unless they say that. And certainly DON'T buy that stuff from them as that is where they get you. Instead, order that stuff from ebay--more work, but you'll get a killer deal. Batteries and chargers you can get generic brands for just a few bucks from eBay. Final total bill will be much still be less.
No, you probably won't get a warrentee, but the camera I purchased was 1/3 the retail price! I'll set some of my savings aside to fix it if it breaks.
Yes, they will call you back trying to continue with their sales pitch if you don't buy, but just say no or don't pick up the phone or insist they sell you only what you want.
Yes, they will "claim" that what you want isn't available and you must upgrade, but just say NO. Determine what you want and stick to it. Don't listen to the excuses they give you about why you should get something different.
Yes, much of their stuff is from the European market, but I travel alot, have purchased electronic stuff overseas, and I can never tell any difference between European stuff and stuff for the American market, and this company has MUCH better prices than anything I've seen overseas even.
Also, one more thing to note is that I mailed them a MO, I didn't pay via credit card. So, I probably missed out on their credit card games--glad they sent the camera though as wouldn't have been much I could have done if they hadn't! However, they did send it later than they claimed, but it got here and I ended up paying 1/3 the price! I'm ordering 2 more cameras from them now so I'll give you are report about how this goes once they arrive."
"Be prepared to get ripped off. I placed an order for a Canon PowerShot S3 IS camera on the 20th of Feb. On the 21st I recieved calls from the store wanting me to purchase numerous additional items which I declined. I was told the camera would be sent that afternoon or the next day. Eight days later after not recieveing the package I sent an email asking for a tracking number. A number of hours later I checked my credit card transaction log. They charged my card an additional $110.91. I then contacted the credit card company, filed a complaint and sent them another email canceling the order. The following Monday after not recieving any replys to my emails I called them and canceled the order. The camera arrived. After checking the tracking number and running it through the UPS web site I saw that the package had not been sent until 3 hours after I made my first complaint to the credit card company. I sent another email asking for an RMA number since the camera was in an opened package and they had fraudulently charged my credit card an extra $110 dollars for items I didn't order. After a few days with still no reply I called on the phone to get the RMA number. After being shuffled around and spending about 10 minutes on hold I finally talked to the manager. When he continued to try and sell me additional items and I kept insisting on a RMA number I was told to "Shut the freak up". If after reading about all the other problems most of the other customers have had - If your stupid enough do business with this company you deserve to do business with this company."
"SCAMMERS! UPSELLERS! Poor and rude Customer Service! I ended up paying $500 more for my order! I did cancel it and sent them back because they sent my these cheaper lower quality lenses and flash unit for an unbelievably high prices. I said No..and RONNY still tried to explain that those lenses are top of the line! what a scum! (pardon the language..got upset everytime I think of these sellers) ...anyway...DO NOT EVER BUY ANYTHING from THEM..report them to BBB or Police. if you ended up paying too much for what you were supposed to pay...dispute the difference...only pay what you've ordered + shipping. win your money back!
"
"Buyer beware! Wish I had checked out this company before doing business. I've ordered so many things successfully online I didn't bother to check their credibility, and I paid the price for it. BIGGER PROBLEM: they got away with it because the credit card company was sending so many letters saying they're charging me, they're not charging me, they're crediting me some money, they're not doing anything, that I didn't know til year end that they got away with charging the full amount and my credit card, Citi Cards, was unable to help do anything about it. I bought a camera, Olympus SP-50 from them, and thought I had a great deal but ran into the similar problems listed in other people's reviews. They told me to upgrade to the US version, which I discovered later that Circuit City had the same package for about $25 more, which I should have just ordered. Stupidity took over, and I bought from CCI and got charged for a package deal that I never ordered. They substituted for products that I wanted, and sent me stuff I didn't order. Then they screwed up my digital card and sent me an "M" XD card instead of the upgraded H card. They said they would exchange it, but I sent it back, paid the postage to return it yet, and they kept it. When I yelled at my credit card, they said that I needed to return everything in order for them to do anything. CCI said they would not accept the return without a return number and they refused to allow me to return it. They said they had been nice about it and that they didn't have to do anything else. I was still waiting for my XD card, so I didn't say anything. Then I finally figured out they didn't plan on sending me anything. So I overpaid a lot of money for my camera, tried to exchange something they did give me a return number for, and didn't get anything back. So I paid $499 for something that cost $250 at Circuit City. All the other charges I got hit with, because the credit card wouldn't protect me. As soon as I finish paying it off, I'm dropping my card. And I had a 20 year relationship with them. too bad. You think 20 years would have counted for something. So double whammy here. Don't count on Citi Cards to be of any help. Don't believe anything these CCI guys say, and whatever you do, if you can just deny accepting the package, that's the only way that CCI will take the package back, and that the credit card will have to acknowledge. If you've never signed for it, they can't charge you for it. Don't just send it back to CCI, or you'll be out the money from them, and your credit card. Or eat it. but don't try exchanging or returning it. You won't see it. And they'll say they didn't get it, and your credit card won't be of any help unless you return it all back to them unopened, proving you didn't do anything to the package. I'm trying to post this everywhere I can, and noticed someone said they filed a claim with BBB. I'll go there too. We need to warn others of these shiesters.
Do business with internet companies who have their addresses and all contact info on their contact page. Do not rely on e-mail. CCI does not respond and does not send out confirmations on phone orders. PHONE ORDERING is worse. There's no electronic tracking on a verbal agreement, and as everyone has stated, these guys are rude and condescending, and the worst company I've dealt with in years."
"You listed a Nikon D200 (Body Only) for $569. I have call the store each month for the past four months. Still no camera in sight or will there ever be one. Why sell or offer something you have no intention of honoring. That's how it seem on this end. It would be nice to have the camera before I'm Dead."
"Hey,
I am sorry to report the same kind of stories with my purchase of a Canon 5D. Through the call back thing they seem to do to everyone, they ended up convinving me to buy a $3000 package in place of my $1600 order (body + lense) explaining to me the difference between the so called USA and import model, the "8 hour battery" and the need of UV filters and so on... I was then charged $3899, that is the price not including the canon rebate of $640 + and $250 of what they call shipping and handling. I called them a day later to cancel because I was not happy with spending all that money and the fact that they had charged me like that; they replied that because they did not want to loose me they would ship me a Sigma Flash for my camera overnight, which they actually did. But they did not send the updated rebate coupon from Canon. So I called again to tell them I was not happy and wanted to cancel. They told me that they wanted to keep their customers happy and so they would send me the updated coupon, with a Tamron lense 75-300. I did receive the Tamron lense, but not the rebate coupon. I found the coupon on the net, but then I realized that if I computed the elements of the package they had sold me individually, the overall price was lower than the price of the package ! So I called them to tell that I wanted to send everything back, and Ronnie tried to convince me that I had the USA model which was difference (plastic v. metal) and more expensive than the import model. I have read elsewhere on the net that this is BS.
He told me they had been very nice with me and that they could not do more than that to sweeten the deal. I said I was still unhappy and wanted to send everything back. He did give me the information I needed to do that.
As you can tell, my overal experience was not as horrible as some I have read so far, since they were never rude with me. But they still charged me $3350 (supposing I can have the canon rebate) for things I could get cheaper elsewhere, $350 without asking me. After reading all your posts, I am kind of worried: should I entrust these people to refund me while sending the camera back ? Not sure...
Overall, of course, I would not recommend those people and like other have said, I wish I had read these posts before ! "
"Thankfully, I was able to cancel my order before these guys had a chance to abuse my credit card. I had to cancel my credit card and get a new one. This is a scum bag operation. They should be shut down by internet services such as google but nobody seems to have the courage or where with all to do it. To think that you can order a very expensive lens as did I and with out ever notifying you they can put a very cheap lens of an entirely differnt manufactuer in your order and then somehow try to justify this type of misdeed ( theft really) is mind blowing. These guys are some kind of psychopaths--no sense of guilt or remorse. If anyone would like to join in on a class action suit of thses liars and theifs please contact me"
"This store is a fraud. It pretends to sell an item at a good price then requires the buyer to buy accessories at exhorbitant prices and when the buyer refuses this store cancels the order. I believe stores like CCI Camera City should be investigated for fraudolent business practices. "
"I will try to make this article short. This People in CCi Camera City shouldn't be in this business, I don’t know why our system is allowing this company to operate like this. I spoke to several people in Camera City and ordered a camera first thru the internet and then called them because the price I saw a day before is lower with the same package. The sales man told me that package is out of stock so that's why they raise up the price, and then I ordered the more expensive package in which they added a 5 year warranty and a 28-105 mm lens and then when I check out my order the following morning I was told by the other sales man the lens in my order is not 28 -105 but a lesser value 28-80mm and Ronnie offered me another lens which is made in Japan he said the one I like actually is the 18-135 nikkor lens and he said that is Plastic , this one im offering you is made in Japan he insisted and I thought it is Nikon made in Japan but its not so, later on that day I decided to pull out my order and cancel it. Then I was routed to some people then a person spoke to me name Peter he said he is the owner of that company and asking me why Im pulling out my order well I told him that I don’t like what I am experiencing right now and then he said I still have to pay the shipping and restocking fee. I will try to make my story short because this Guy Peter said things that I never heard of on a salesman, this guy shout at me, he is so rude. I decided to go along with the sales
And the merchandise arrives a day late and the stuff that supposed to be there are there but the battery is not the one that they promised (long hours one) but that’s okay I will just buy a spare battery instead
Ive lost some days of sleep after talking with this guy PETER he is the owner he said (I think these are not their real names I think they are just making it up), I've never been humiliated like this before, and while talking to this guy Peter, I feel like hating myself letting him to say those stuff to me but because he already have my credit card number knowing that this people have issues they might do stuff that may cause inconvenience to me.
After that sales/transaction is done! I cancelled my card. I will never forget this experience and will share this to all the people I know. I just wonder who is going to stop this kind of Vendors? Does this means we are all alone in this? Are there step taken already to at least control these vendors? So this vendor CCi Camera City will still be here in years to come! Victimizing more honest living people?
All I can say now is beware and read store-reviews first before giving your credit card number.
AVOID CCi Camera City and beware that they may open up another store with different name,
thank you and again more power to the buyers.
"