"Ordered a camera body through the eBay Prodigital2000 website because it was the best price I had seen on the item + the fact they are located in Canada.
The item arrived promptly via UPS, with no problems. Needless to say, I will be buying additional items via their eBay site, and suggest you check out their prices on your next photographic purchase !!"
"I ordered Tamron lens. The Item was shipped next day with UPS. Item in hand, Brand New as advertised. Called Customer service to enquire about status, they are very nice. Traced my order and informed me about shipment status"
"This is my experience with Carmen's. I ordered a Canon S5 on January 8th at approx 3am in the morning from St Louis, Mo. The camera was listed at $199 (refurb- free shipping). The item was shipped later THE SAME DAY around 5pm. This is confirmed from the UPS tracking information posted at the bottom of this review. I posted the tracking information to help people like me that would prefer detailed information to aide in making a valid decision regarding which online store to give our business. I published this review also to address concerns regarding shipping. I too had these concerns but I couldn't pass up the price. Many stated they waited 3 days and received no tracking information. This was not my experience. I received shipping info on January 9th. I was overly pleased when I saw it actually shipped on January 8th. The only issue thus far was on the part of UPS when they incorrectly sorted the item causing a delay in shipping. This error is noted by UPS in the tracking info below. I might also note, this is not simply an online store. Carmen's has retail operations all over Canada. This operation does not appear to be a fly by night, domain name changing, internet scamming operation. That being said, customer service and the integrity of the product shipped are the two remaining issues to address. If asked at this point, I would recommend Carmen's. Updates to this review are coming soon. Tracking info below:
Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
HODGKINS,
IL, US 01/10/2009 3:36 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
DETROIT,
MI, US 01/09/2009 8:30 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
01/09/2009 7:41 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
01/09/2009 6:00 P.M. IMPORT SCAN
KITCHENER,
ON, CA 01/09/2009 7:18 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
STRATFORD,
ON, CA 01/08/2009 6:27 P.M. THE PACKAGE WAS MISSORTED AT THE HUB. IT HAS BEEN REROUTED TO THE CORRECT DESTINATION SITE
01/08/2009 6:27 P.M. EXPORT SCAN
01/08/2009 6:27 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
CA 01/08/2009 4:53 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Tracking results provided by UPS: 01/10/2009 10:29 A.M. ET
"
"AVOID - CARMAN"S STOLE $130 from me!!
On 8/17/2008, I placed an order through seller's eBay arm called Prodigital2000 for a Pentax a10 for $107.99. It did not work - the LCD screen went all fuzzy and never worked properly.
I contacted the seller and for 4 weeks, proceeded to get the run around. Finally, I threatened a PayPal dispute. Then I get a response from someone named Stephen Budge who claimed they were training new customer service people so they did not know how to respond to me.
Sounded like a lie, but they offered a refund to avoid a PayPal dispute. Since I no longer trusted this company, I did file a PayPal dispute anyway. I sent the broken camera back by USPS Priority Mail International. It took a few weeks to get it over there - mailed from the USA But USPS tracking updates are notoriously slow and did not show delivery until much later.
So the seller started to pressure PayPal to close the dispute because USPS was showing that I only printed a label - even after 2 weeks time. To my horror, PayPal did close the dispute siding with the seller despite my pleading with them to give it a few more days at least since it had to go through customs.
Well, finally I got confirmation that the package was delivered to the seller on 10/24/2008. But Stephen Budge did not have the decency to say anything about it. As it is right now, they have the camera, my money plus $20 return postage I spent, plus all the time and effort I had to expend to get justice. PayPal wound up giving me all of my money back out of their pocket and I advised them that the seller has the camera and they should get their money back from them.
An honorable seller would never have put me through what Carman's put me through. They are NOT to be trusted. Do not do business with Carman's or their eBay arm Prodigital2000 unless you like to be taken. There are plenty of more reputable sellers competing for your camera dollars."
"ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE service
Placed an order for a Lowepro CompuRover Backpack on December 6th from their eBay store (ProDigital2000).
Paid instantly via PayPal and was confirmed by their CSR named Amy that payment was indeed received the same time I placed the order.
One week later I still did not see any indication of the order being shipped. I called them first thing in the morning on December 17th and Amy told me that the order has not been shipped for unknown reason and that she would look into it and call me back but I never received a call back that day. I strongly emphasized that I needed this bag by Christmas. They could have shipped it on that day and the shipment could have arrived around Christmas, but they did not.
I called again first thing in the morning the next day Dec 18th, she told me she has no idea what happened to my order and that she would check with her supervisor to see if it would be possible to expedite the shipment to me in time for Christmas.
I called again on Dec 19th to get a status update (they should've called me, not the other way around). She told me it would cost them $130 to overnight the bag to me via UPS so that obviously isn't going to happen (which is understandable, since the invoice total was only $169 incl shipping and taxes).
She offered me two choices, first is to cancel the order and receive a full refund, or to have them ship the order out that day and expect it to arrive sometime between christmas and new years. I chose to have the bag ship on that day for two reasons.
#1, I want the bag, not a refund, especially after two weeks of no status updates.
#2, I wanted to give them another choice as Amy has been helpful (but disorganized).
On Thursday morning, Amy left a message in my Voicemail notifying me that my bag was actually shipped on Dec 6th, the same day I placed my order, and gave me the tracking number. I was really excited when I received that message, but it became a disappointment almost immediately after.
I called UPS immediately upon receiving the tracking number from Amy. UPS told me the package is on its way back to Ontario (where it shipped from), because it arrived on Dec 12th and they only hold packages for 5 business days. Amy left me that message on December 20th.
To rephrase, I had no idea the order arrived on the 12th for pickup until Dec 20, and by then it was already on its way back to the sender. Yet, all the communication in between us did not mention anything about the order being shipped until it was way too late. Not to mention I had to take the initiative to call them every time.
After the bad news from UPS, I immediately called Carman's the same day (Thursday Dec 20th) and left a message explaining the situation and expect a call from them to resolve the problem. As expected, I never received a call back. They also don't seem to read/reply to emails, as I have sent multiple emails to them reminding them to ship the item over the duration of this incident, before I took the initiative to call them via telephone.
Monday Dec 21, I called them to check out on the situation, and it looks like I wont be getting my bag anytime before New Years. I totally lost confidence in them and asked to just cancel my order.
The CSR told me I can cancel the order, but I would need to pay the shipping and restocking fee, as it was I who did not pick up the order. I tried to explain the situation and he said he will need to speak to his supervisor.
Now I am here waiting for a call back from them (which probably wont happen given my experience with them).
In short, placed my order Dec 6th and expected to receive it before Christmas. It is now the 24th, almost 3 weeks later - still no bag. Their CSR never took the initiative to keep me updated on the situation. They were disorganized as they had no clue that my order was shipped on the 6th, and I was never notified that it was.
It is understandable that it can become very hectic for them during the Christmas season, but even then this is still unacceptable. Attitude of their CSR was excellent, but it ends there.... EXTREMELY dissatisfied, will NOT purchase from them again.
UPDATE: Thursday Dec 24th, still no call from them. I had to call them again and the same person picked up the phone and told me he will need to talk to his supervisor and will call me back (the same thing he said the last time i called). THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
This time I asked him "Am I really going to get a call back this time? because it never happened everytime it is promised." He said definitely and i asked "exactly by when would i get a call? End of today?". He said "Possibly tomorrow".
It is now Dec 30th, 24 days after the order and payment was processed and I HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY ORDER, and every single time I had to call them to get nothing but a promised call back, which DOES NOT happen.
BUYER BEWARE! stay away from them at all costs! "
"very good service and delivery
highly recommended"
"Received it as promissed on the right date. Had been told in the meanwhile that it would be delayed because it was now on back order but, to my surprise, it arrived on the promissed date anyway. They did not state on their adds that their "North American" model was NOT USA, so it is not eligible for some of the promotional rebates offered here. I don't care because it is such a great deal for the camera anyways (Fuji S2)"
"Very helpful on the phone, answered several questions; all conditions clearly stated; shipping time was quick, as promised. The price was lower in US$ than any place I have found that can be trusted to carry out the deal honestly. The product was a pro-sumer digital camera. I intend to check with them on future significant purchases."
"My second experience buying from Carmans, my first was an Oly 5050 earlier this year. Now I am the very happy owner of a Canon Digital Rebel.
Again the purchase was faultless. Phoned with my order (a Sunday evening), the fellow I spoke with was very pleasant and knowledgable about the products I was wanting to purchase. Avilability was confirmed, and I was given an arrival date - he was wrong on that, it was supposed to arrive Wednesday, I was able to pick it up Tuesday afternoon, well if I'd had it delivered it would have been Wednesday (this is across the continent)
My Rebel arrived with the extras - tele zoom lens, CF card, extra battery, filters in perfect condition.
A few days later I decided my old case wasn't right, called again, ordered a new case (at half the retail locally), it arrived in a few days - again, perfect, just as I ordered.
Overall I saved about 25% over local prices, plus the bonus in service. I'm pleased, and I suspect they will sell me my next camera as well as any accessories along the way."