"First, let me state the positive. Protek's price was great and the people I spoke to from their company were all polite. Unfortunately, they are either inept or dishonest about filling orders. I purchased a Fujufilm Finepix 3800 digital camera with an accessory package on 12/3/02. The camera did not ship until 12/7, and only after a call from me. Upon receipt, I noticed that the accessory package was incomplete, missing the battery charger. Their response was that it was on backorder and was marked as such on the packing slip. This was an complete lie. The woman I spoke to assured me that it would be shipped the next day. When I called them the following week, another person said it would REALLY be shipped the next day. It, of course, wasn't. It took 2 more phone calls, along with various threats to finally get it sent. I received it 1/8/03, 5 weeks after the initial order. Needless to say I would NEVER do business with these guys again, and neither should you."

"BUYER BEWARE! NO UPC on Sony products! After 4 weeks of runaround with these guys, they finally claim they are NON-AUTHORIZED Sony reseller and therefore they can't guarantee that you'll get your product with the UPC code intact (stripped off on my Sony DCR IP5) -- i bet they turn it in themselves for a refund.
They originally claim the UPC was removed to protect the buyer and mailed separately -- IT'S A LIE. After they tell me 3 weeks in a row that its in the mail, they tell me they'll send me a letter that will allow me to get my Sony rebate or i can return the product for a refund. I would be very surprized if they come through on either and i highly doubt i would ever get my money back if i ship the product back. NEVER GO BACK TO THEM. They scan artists with a glitzy web site and they'll tell you anything you want to hear until you give up.
"

"I have somewhat mixed feelings about Protek.

I normally avoid the NY merchants who offer prices that I know to be at or near wholesale, but after seeing a good track record for Protek I figured I would give them a shot.

I got a Sony DSC-F717 Cybershot camera for a very low price. I already owned extra batteries and memory sticks for the camera but I was interested in purchasing a bag. On their website I could see that they offered many of the same low grade accessories (off brand name filters, lenses and bags, low end tripods, etc... all ridiculously marked up) that are sold by NY camera shops.

With caution I went ahead and placed my order for nothing but the camera.

I did recieve an email notification that my order was being processed immediately. Two days later the status on their webpage indicated that a "confirmation" email had been sent to me. I never go this email but saw that a sales counseler had been assigned, so I called him up. He soft sold me on some accessories and even offered to do some pricematching if I needed memory sticks. I refused and he very politely told me the camera would go out Monday.

The camera was shipped Monday and I got a tracking number that evening. The camera arrived 3 days later. The box that the camera was shipped in was only slightly larger than the camera, with maybe a single handfull of foam peanuts to protect it. I felt this was a little under-packed considering this was an expensive piece of electronics. The other thing I noticed was the UPC label had been peeled off of the box. Although there are no rebates on this camera right now, apparently they save them "for a rainy day". In any event the camera is definitely brand new and was only manufactured a few weeks ago, it also has a full US warranty. I should also warn folks that a fairly sternly worded note about returns and re-stocking fees was included with my order.

The people at Protek were polite to me, and they did sell me a camera at a fantastic price. I would feel better recommending them if they carried more "brand name" accessories for their products, packed them better, and were a little more timely about sending status emails (they don't do so automatically, you have to check their web page).

I would also say that peeling the UPC code off of a brand new item before sending it out is pretty un-professional... if they can't afford to sell at these prices then they shouldn't offer the product.

All in all a mixed experience."

"Stay away from this company. They are sending used products why customers thinking that they have bought a new one.

I have ordered a digital camera battery from their site. 10 days later, I got a battery with ripped plastic pack, many scratch marks and no waranty/info docs.

becareful about them"

"Horrible experience! They are impostor. Watch Out !!
I placed an order for Sony Camcorder TRV-27 and Carrying Case LCM-TRVY. I got TRV-27 well, but they sent wrong Carrying Case LCS-VA3 without any notice. That was not that I ordered. It was even $15 cheaper than I had payed.
It was a kind of fraud.
I decided to take the case to avoid wasting of my precious time.
I called and e-mailed to their Customer Service three times to get a refund the price difference. They did not refund yet. No reponse. Whenever I called, they tried to cheat me that the case I got is the same price that I ordered. They are like robbery.
They didn't even give me any word of apology. Now, I give up to get a refund because I don't want to waste more time.


"

"We ordered with little advance time for delivery before Christmas. ProtekDirect was consistently helpful, keeping us informed and, ultimately, upgrading the shipping to overnight -- at their cost -- to ensure that our purchased reached in time. They are a first class outfit and I would recommend them without any hesitation."

"This merchant is the pits. First of all I placed an order for a camera that I needed by the weekend so I requested it be sent Next Day Air at a cost to me of $44.95. The camera was not shipped within the 72 hour period that they guaranteed. According to the guarantee I would have my shipping charges refunded. Not the case. Instead my Order Status page was modified the day after my order shipped. Strange. My guess is I’m probably not the only person who has had this happen. This company never called or e-mailed me when my order shipped and never sent a tracking number. In addition, while my order was waiting to be processed (and while the camera was in stock the entire time, the price on it dropped twice which is a savings that I did not receive. When the camera arrived it was not packaged in the box very well. The box it was shipped in was hardly bigger than the retail box of the camera and there was hardly any padding to protect it. I will definitely not make any future purchases from them. In every possible way this merchant failed miserably. "

"Ordered Fuji S602Z with 3 day shipping the day after Thanksgiving (11/29). E-mail confirmation came immediately. 2 days later, their website said order was sent to processing and a confirmation e-mail sent. Someone called my house that day & spoke with my daughter, but did not leave a message. 2 days after that, I called the account rep & left a voicemail & then sent an e-mail inquiring about order status without a response. Called again the next day, and rep said camera will ship next day, soft sell for accessories (declined). Next day, rep's name & # replaced on my account status by a generic customer service #. Called them, and was told that I had been sent an e-mail that the camera was on backorder, that it would ship the next day and my shipping would be upgraded. Received the camera 5 days after that (12/10). I never received an e-mail besides the initial automated reply. The S602Z was listed as in stock on their website during this entire period and my shipping was not upgraded as promised. However, they did at that time have one of the cheapest prices, their shipping charges are not inflated and they don't charge a handling fee. "

"took over 2 weeks to get my camcorder. webpage said $100 sony rebate was available and even provided the pdf file for rebate. but when i got the package, guess what? they had torn off the upc symbol. when i called them, they gave me some malarky about why upc was missing and said sony only need serial number to send the rebate. i called sony rebate center, and they said, no, you need the upc form. called protek back, and got the runaround and they said they'd call be back. yeah, right. if you can get any of them to answer the phone, and if you get them to stay on the phone without sending you to the broken up music, it's quite an accomplishment. but it's useless to get a human on the phone, because you can't believe a thing they tell you. they give new yorkers a bad name.

These reviewers who say they're "very satisfied" and specifically say that "Jack Riley in the tech department was great...or Mr. Protech in the customer Service department was so helpful" - you really have to wonder. I've called the 800 number at least 20 times and have always been put on hold, and have never had my questions answered and have been cut-off many times. Unless these "very satisfied" customers have some special, priveleged phone number they're calling, I don't have any idea what they're talking about."

"Great company. I was worried at first because they took a long time to process my order. They also tried to push me to buy some accessories, however, it wasn't a hard sell. On the other hand, they stick to their customer satisfication guarantee and because my order wasn't processed within 72 hours, Protek upgraded my delivery for free. Their customer service was great and was easy to get a hold of. I would recommend buying from them and certainly I would buy from them in the future. "

"This reseller offers heavy discounts on popular, brand new electronic devices, like the Fujifilm 2650 digital camera I recently purchased from them. The customer service staff were easily accessible by phone and were very helpful in expediting my order."

"Though they had to follow me to verify the CC number - which I understand - considering the holiday season when most fraud occurs, Jack D. was very courteous and I could reach him without any problems. Has promised to ship the items by upgrading the shipping type. I hope the items get here soon as promised.

Again, I understand the problems that low-overhead companies face during the holiday season.

and no..I was not pressurized or even asked about accessories..."

"Ordered a Olympus C-730 from Protek Direct. When I ordered my camera on Dec 8th, they had a rating of 9.17 here.
Here is my saga. Ordered the camera on Dec 8th. I read their 24-72 hr processing period policy and figured that it would not be so bad. So badly was I mistaken. The camera was sent to processing at 6:27pm on Dec 8th. On December 10th, at 6:21pm it was sent to Verifications. It has been there ever since. Called them on Thursday, Dec 12th and was told that the camera will ship out on Friday. Called them on Friday, found out that the camera did not ship and will ship out Monday. Was told that due to the holiday season there had been some delays and that I had been upgraded to FedEx Express Saver for no charge, even though the website still shows the shipping method as Ground. Hopefully it will ship out on Monday. I will post again to tell the details.
Its funny that they say that the credit card information needs to be verified, but they charge the credit card on the day you place the order (in my case Dec 8th).
Avoid them this holiday season or till they get their act together.
12/20 Update :- They did ship it out on Monday night via FedEx Express Saver (3 day) and I got it yesterday.
Still I would never do business with them. They have stuff for cheap, but I don't think it is worth the hassle. Also, they charge your credit card on the day you place the order, not the day they ship the product, which is pretty shady. They do not disclose this in any sort of disclaimer."

"Horrible experience!! I ordered a Canon S-40 for my son's birthday, and was called two days later with the standard accessories sales pitch. I declined to purchase any additional accessories. I was then told that the camera would ship immediately and it was in stock and available, period. Watching their online system, the order magically disappeared from my account on December 8th. I called today (12/10) to see what the story was, and they told me I had called and cancelled the order. That was news to me. I walk in my sleep sometimes, but I think I would have remembered this. I certainly did not do such a thing, and was offended when the woman kept insisting that I had called to cancel the order. Basically she was implying that I was lying. "We don't just cancel an order for no reason" she said bluntly. Why would I lie about something like that? I don't think it was a big coincidence when I was then told that the Canon S-40 was now no longer available, but the s-45 would be in a couple of weeks. (For $132 more) I declined to pursue this with them. Protek Direct left a bitter taste in my mouth. Proceed with caution!!!! "

"Protekdirect.com sucks. Hasn't sent me confirmation email. The processing period is way over 72 hours like they say. Tell me the Canon S40 is discontinuous and out of stock when I called them. However, I checked their website and found out they still sell Canon S40, and it's on stock!! Really disappointed with Protekdirect.com. Won't buy anything from them again."