"This store is a joke and full of deception. I ordered Canon SD 1400. It was $140.00, which was about $20 less than the competition. I found them thru Nextag, which should do a better job screening the merchants they allow on their site. The day after my order, they sent me an e-mail claiming they needed me to call them to verify credit card info. I spent over 15 minutes on hold and finally called back and left them a message. One of their reps contacted later that day and did the high pressure sales pitch for a upgrade battery for $40. I took the bait and and then he said I could get the full retail package for $20 more, which would include a speedy recharger, camera case, tripod, CD. Weeks later I got the package and there was no extra battery or speedy recharging device and the full package was total garbage. I called to ask where the upgraded battery was and was told that they switched the battery in the camera box for the upgrade. Prior to me calling them, I checked the Canon website and already knew that the battery that was in the box was the stock battery. He finally agreed to send me the right battery and recharger (and even was going to throw in some extras). I received the extra battery today and no recharger. They also threw in a camera case that had a broken zipper and is going into the garbage. This company is bad news and unfortunately, I didnt look at their horrendous ratings, because I would have thought twice about using a company that is this bad."

"I will never purchase from this retailer again and I will spend alot of time advertising to others how they are liars and use every slimy sales technique possible. I purchased one thing and they sent me an "upgrade" and I didn't realize it until I already gave the item as a gift and it hit my credit card. I was told "I got what I paid for" when I complained- even though I never agreed to buy the upgraded package for $100+ more. The salesperson claimed I did and said they had a recording- i told him to pull out the recording right now and we would both listen to it and I would prove my point... then he suddenly backed down and said oh, it was our mistake i guess. They finally agreed to let me return it and incur cost to do it...great, let me go get that gift back and spend some money to fix their mistake. "

"Purchased a Sony Camcorder on 11/27 and after waiting over 2 weeks for delivery, Grand Central Photo called on 12/9 to say that the price had gone up and they couldn't fill my order for my agreed purchased price. Customer Service puts you on hold for eternity when you try to telephone. Very shabby company and I wasted two weeks for product that they didn't obviously have in stock to sell. Merry Christmas!"

"OK, here is the real deal on this place.

Much of what people have indicated on this site is accurate. Clearly, they sell merchandise at razor thin spreads with the anticipation that they will sell you accessories (such as batteries, warranties, and memory cards) in order to turn a profit.

I ordered the Pentax K-X on December 6 for $429. This was about $60 less than the reputable vendors such as Amazon, Abes, etc. After placing the order, I came across this site and considered cancelling the order on the spot. GCP does not even have a rating of 1 out of 10. Companies like Amazon have ratings over 8 and GCP is rated in fractions. I decided to let it all play out and report my findings back here. If it was a positive experience, I fully planned to give them positive feedback.

I placed my order online and received a verification email. I called in later to verify that the camera was in stock and a ship date. I was told that it was in stock and I would receive a call when it was ready to ship. I did receive an email asking me to call in the "verify" the order due to the dollar amount. Now, anyone with half a brain knows what the purpose of this call was going to be. I verified some basic information and then sat back while they tried to sell me several items. I politely refused. I then confirmed, once again, that the item was in stock and would ship. I was told it was in stock and would likely ship that same day.

The next day, when I did not receive a shipment verification email, I called in to request status. At that time, I was informed that unfortunately, they "over allocated" this item and it would be several weeks before they would have them back in stock. I fought the urge to break out into laughter. I could not help to wonder if the item would not have been "over allocated" had I ordered some accessories. My office had a pool going on whether I would encounter a major issue in dealing with this company, and lets just say the majority guessed right. I immediately cancelled the order and was promised a cancellation confirmation email right away, which I have yet to receive.

The only upside is that it does not seem they have charged my credit card anything, which has saved me a few phone calls to my credit card company and the state attorneys office.

Also, a friendly piece of advice to whomever is responding to these complaint posts from GCP. Perhaps your condescending tone in insinuating that all of the customers that are complaining on this site are a fault should be put to rest. Not everyone here misunderstood something or did not hear something accurately. At the end of the day, your company has a rating of less than 1 - I would be embarrassed and humble if I were you. The good news is, there is plenty of room for improvement. Who knows, if you work hard, someday your company may even earn a whole number.
"

"Sorry to have been suckered into placing an order with this "company". STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! I placed an order for two Nikon D5000 cameras after finding Grand Central Photo on Nextag. They advertised a low price, low but not outlandishly so. I placed the order on Dec 1. A representative called the next day and tried to upsell a better battery, etc. I turned down the extras and opted for my original order. I asked specifically when the cameras would ship and the answer was "the next day" Dec 3. I then asked if I would then get an order confirmation and a tracking number. "Of course" was his answer. I had not received any shipping information on the 3rd or the 4th so I called the 877 number which was not functional. I e-mailed to check my account status only to discover that my e-mail address and account information was not registered with the company. I called on Dec 6th, waited an interminable amount of time, got connected with "customer service", gave my acoount number, asked to hold, waited again, gave my account number again to someone else, and was told that, unfortunately, they had overestimated the response to their offer and the cameras were on back order. They would hold my order for 2 to 3 weeks or I could be offered a discount on a similar item. The discounted offer was, naturally, a 100 dollars more or each item. Total scam in my opinion. If you don't bite on the upsell you don't get your camera. They're still offering the cameras I ordered, by the way, at an even better price with no mention that they're out of stock. Stay away! "

"Scumbags..... The only word to describe grand central photo. they're just lucky I don't live in Florida (If that's really where they're located). Its a shame that companies like these are allowed to be in business. Every negative feedback on this page is 100% correct. The very few positive reviews are all fake and were probably written by them. I'm not even going to explain my horrible experience... it's not worth it. Please stay away from these ahole scumbags!!! I welcome any of their shady a** employees to come and knock on my door so we can have a face to face discussion. They're punk a**es that like to hide behind the telephone. "

"Basically the same horrible experience as everyone else. Key Takeaways from this place: #1 Don't buy from them! #2 The sales guy Brian is a rude/LIAR/pushy/crooked and just a real loser! #3 the Manager Alan Fridman plays "good cop", makes a bunch of excuses and in my experience made promises he never delivered on. #4 if you have to deal with anyone over there try John and Greg they are the least rude and closest thing to helpful over there. I personally never recieved any material from them, even though I was told that it had shipped even though they couldn't generate a tracking # (they were just saying that to keep me from cancelling or trying to get a restock fee out of me). After days of hounding I finally got them to cancel my order. Seriously the worst attempted buying experience of my life."

"I'm relieved I did the research. There is a clear pattern of deception. Deception with really BAD English. The construct of the site is unsettling
RedFlag #1 Prices are just too low.
RedFlag #2 The name is presented as "Grand Central Photo" yet, a subsequent reference to itself is "Grandcentral Photo".
RedFlag #3 An EMPTY Shopping Cart is an add for very expensive Extended Waranties.
SO, I do a little research and find my way to resellerratings.com; a site for which I am greatful. The complaints follow a similar pattern of deceit, confusion, intimidation, and finally cancellation of all orders that do not upsell in come capacity.
RedFlag #4 The Privacy Policy [every sentence is a somewhat polite F*ck You]
"The advertisement of any product on this site (GrandCentralPhoto.com) does not constitute an offer to sell. Your order or your receipt of any electronic merchandise or other form of order confirmation does not signify our acceptance of your order. GRandCentralPhoto.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order to receive or cancel your order.
GrandCentralPhoto.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order, without prior notice to you, to supply less than the quantity you ordered of any item in accordance with our order limitation privacy policy.
All orders placed must obtain pre-approval with an acceptable method of payment, as established by our credit department. We may require additional verifications or information before shipping any order. We have the right to request a verbal confirmation of any online placed order due to the dollar amount of the order. Please allow 24-72 business hours for order processing and address verification."

NOTE!!! "10/7/2010: ResellerRatings detected and removed 95 fake positive reviews for this retailer. This note will remain here for 90 days, after which time it will be removed if this activity ceases."

but it gets better; The reseller responses HERE are nothing more than the embarrassing ramblings of a sociopath 3-Card Monte shill, whose English is a Second Language[ESL]. Not a condemnation of ESLs in any capacity, but a critique of a process that repeatedly allows horrendous, and compromising, grammatical presentation in a Public Relation capacity.

"We have cancelled your order as you requested, please do not change the story, we have a recorded conversation asking to cancel this order, so we did. The facts you have stated are incorrect and we will not try to send you a xsi. Have a great Day."
Rambling, run-on sentences with more than one topic. Interesting claim of a recorded conversation that, apparently, the customer is not aware of.

So many people with the same scenario. So many vendor rebuttals with the similar insults. "You are too stupid to understand our legitimate policies"

"Your order did exist, next day shipping we have available, but we clearly disclose that we request atleast a 2-3 business day processing window no matter the shipping option chosen, your order is not the only one we need to process, it is not our fault that you did not read our shipping terms prior to placing the order."
"Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience that you misunderstood our terms."
"Once again, our sincere apologies for your misunderstanding and that you did not read and fully understand our terms prior to placing your order."
"Please stop falsifying your negative feedback, we do not refuse any order nor any customer."

"We clearly disclose the box contents on every product that we offer on our website, we do not force any customer to purchase any additional accessories, we DO NOT call any customer period."

"You, MR Stroker, are falsifying your feedback from beginning to end. We have thousands of satisfied customers. You are not a customer, nor a normal person, using foul language. We sincerely apologize for your misunderstanding and we hope you find what you are looking for elsewhere."

"

"I have so far had a very disappointing experience with Grand Central Photo. I wanted to get a Rebel T2i and their price listed was about $250 dollars cheaper than my local best buy. I even called to confirm the price with someone because I thought that it might be too good to be true. The rep assured me that no it was not too good to be true and yes that was the real price.
The T21 came with a "package deal" that included the camera and about 7 other accessories such as memory card, case, tripod ect, for FREE. So I ordered.
Immediately a rep called back to confirm my order and try to upgrade my package, I could tell he was just trying to be a good sales man, but I did want a better battery that he offered to film my wedding next month, so I agreed. Stupid move. I also ordered two day shipping because I wanted to have the camera in time for Thanksgiving. Right.
The next day I did get a UPS delivery confirmation and a tracking number and waited anxiously for my package to arrive. It did within two days and I was very pleased...until I opened the box and found a memory card, a black camera case, and a cleaning kit....and no camera.
Since then I have been on the run around with their employees trying to figure out where my camera is. Each time I call I get a 99% guarantee that my camera will be arriving that day, and surprise it never does. So, I have been charged over 900 dollars for a case, a memory card, and a cleaning kit...with no answer to when or if I will ever get my camera, as well as everything else that it was supposed to come with.
If I cannot get all this cleared up tomorrow I am going to be contacting my bank, the better business bureau, and possibly a lawyer.
Trust me, just go to best buy or circuit city and spend the extra dollar. Its worth the pain and suffering. "

"As everyone else has indicated, be aware of this company.
I found their info through NextTag, which has since disappeared as an option through NextTag. Their reviews had no negative ones, but of course, that hasn't been the case, as noted here, which I wish I had checked.
This company gave me such hassle with calling the next day to tell me that the camera body only didn't have the firmware installed, that I would have to upgrade and that the battery that it came with was in need of an upgrade. Well I am pretty sure both of those were untrue.
Unfortunately, upon attempting to cancel the same day after the sales call, there was a 15% cancellation fee despite the fact that I hadn't received the "new invoice" even 4 hours after the phone call. After talking to several "managers" and going through the same information, that wasn't going anywhere, I waited for the camera that I then spent an extra $1500 for due to their shady advertising.
Additionally the battery upgrade, was not even a Nikon version, but a generic version, to which upon contacting the company, they indicated they would send me the "standard" battery after I basically kept saying that what they told me was false. I still have yet to see the battery that the camera comes with- which I must say has been 8 weeks now.
Will be contacting the Better Business Bureau to officially complain. "

"Worst internet buying i've ever had. you buy here,
you've been warned.
Surprised Bizrate, MC,Paypal,Canon or anyone else would let these people represent them."

"Warning. Don't buy from these crooks! I ordered a t2i body only and had to call back to process the info I already gave them. They tried to sell me stuff I did not want. I refused the next day, I get an email they cancelled the order-out of stock. I go through the same process a second time, order, get the same hard sell, refuse and get an email the next day they are out of stock. What a scam! If you see a good review, I'll bet it's one of the crooks writing it! I worried about giving them my credit card info!"

"Update 10/16. I have filed an official complaint with the BBB of New Jersey. I would strongly sugest you all file complaints. GCP is not a BBB member ( I'm sure you can see why) but you can still file. The mother co's name is Grand Central Distributers Inc. ***-***-**** Address is PO Box 225 Deal New Jersey ***-***-****. Call and complain to Brett or Joe or just call and complain to the sales people. May very well be Brett or Joe. Canon has informed me there are no Canon Cameras sold without a full battery and charger. No Wholsale, Retail or any way. GCP products have mysteriously dissapeared from Nextag. I can not find them even the Canon d10 I was cond on, is not listed. I also tried to get info as to what commes with the $199 D10 and was informed via email to click the enclosed link to Canon on line were I would find the info. Canon had the full kit Battery charger and cables the works listed for the D10. I copied the info, emailed GCP and pasted the info and asked if this was correct. I emailed the 4 times. Guess what NO RESPONSE. This Company has to be stopped from these business practices. File a Complaint BBB and New Jersy Office of consumer Affairs or Atourney Generals offic.
I must start by saying, I wish I had googled Grand Central Photo Reviews before I placed an order with this Company. It is by far one of the worst, most deceitful, Companys I have ever delt with. Ranks right up there ENRON. After reading the many reviews about GCP, I see that I am not alone. I first placed and order with them for a Canon Power Shot D 10 $199 and the order was confirmed by email. Shortley after the email I was contacted by Joe from the customer service dept under the rusee that he was checking on the delivery address. I confirmed my addy and Joe then went into full swing. I was informed that I had failed to purchase the upgrade battery and charger kit and that the D 10 I had ordered had a battery that was only good for 15 min, enough time to set up the camera. I gulibly believing that I was dealing with someone who was a business professional, was telling the truth and that as there website says, wants happy and satisfied Customers, oked the upgrade. Camera price went from $199 to $288. Me believing I was getting an extra battery kit. I asked why the kit was so expensive and was told that sales tax was added, because the camera would be shipped from a Ware house in Mass were I live. I was shipped from CLOSEOUT Brooklyn NY. I then sat back and waited 4 days for the package. When I recieved I eagerly opened it up only to find a sealed canon D 10, no back up battery kit. The camera came with a battery and charger, Joe had lied about that. I called the next day and Spoke with Brett. He told me that that was what I ordered and shipped. I asked him about the discrepensy and he said there are 2 different D 10 on the web site and one came with a battery, charger and other accessories and they had sent the full kit. The other came with no accesories. The Camera was essentialy sold at retail price not the discounted. After much back and forth with Brett. I wanted to return the camera for a full refund. He then informed me of the restock charge. They have all there Deciet basses covered. It would have cost me $45 to return it. I asked about the other camera with the 15 min Battery and was doubled talk that being a Canon distributer they get different packages. NOT TRUE!!! I have since spoken to Canon USA, they informed me that they sell no cameras without Batteries Charges and Accesories Retail or otherwise. I am in the process of fileing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Office of Consumer Affairs, Nex Tag ( which is the site showing there cheap price for the D 10) and researching other places to alert people about this company.This company is in need of an investigation into to it's advertising and sales practices. To all of you who have had problems with GCP. Don't give up file complaiints with the BBB, Consumer Affairs and the Atourney Generals office.

"

"I have recently opened my Nature image photography studio. I was on the market for a full frame digital camera and 2 lenses. My choice was the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III mainly because of of the FPS (frames per second) and the Mega Pixels which is 21.1. The Canon 400mm f/2.8 IS USM AF-S lens and as a backup lens the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM lens. This was a lifetime investment and a significant decision that I needed to make. I have been doing research for close to a year. The passed month I have put a lot of time and effort to narrow my search as to which online vendor I will be working with and possibly give my business too. I have been using NexTag search engine for many years for home appliances, yard and patio furniture. NexTag showed several vendors, I found www.grandcentralphoto.com which had a 5 star rating. I have always trusted NexTag, they are reliable and always provide with super money savings websites with top customer satisfaction. Grand central photo had the package I was interested in, I created a wish-list on this site just to compare pricing and reliability. For roughly a week I was going back and fourth with the camera specialist on exactly what I was looking for. I also needed a heavy duty carrying case which was Lowe-pro which I have trusted for many years. The tripod was a Gitzo carbon fiber, carbon fiber is light and easier to walk with and adjust my position white taking images. Memory cards were my 1 and only choice as always which is a Hoodman at 100 MB per second, exquisite capturing and zero delay between shootings. On August 12th I had placed my order with www.grandcentralphoto.com, August 13th received a e-mail on the shipping status that my order was on it's way. August 14th at roughly 10AM shipment arrived in perfect condition, everything was intact and package well and secure. My overall rating and satisfaction is A++. Thank you for your patience and kind support."

"I believe the positive reviews must be fake...

Prior to placing my order, they agreed to price match a camera lens from another vendor (who's name I gave them). I was instructed to order online and then call in to have the price match honored. Upon calling, a different sales/service person attempted to bait & switch my order. I said no, and he then agreed to the price match.

An hour later, I called in to verify that everything went smoothly as I had not received a modified invoice. They had trouble finding my information and then started using other price figures (higher of course). Ultimately, they found it (supposedly), said everything was fine and that I would receive an email confirmation within a few minutes.

During that last phone call, their "Canon Supervisor," left me a voicemail saying that he was confirming my order, etc. I called back and went over the order with him. He again tried the bait & switch (although much more persistent than the before) and then REFUSED the price match that 2 other associates had already agreed to. Ultimately, the order was placed and I contacted my credit card company in case any charges went through (as they did not send confirmation).

What a shame..."