"I placed an online order for a Canon PowerShot camera and received an email acknowledging my order.
24 hours later I received an email from 86th Street Photo asking me to call to "verify" my order. I called an spent over 30 minutes on hold. Once I finally connected with a live person it turns out the only purpose for their needing to"verify" my order was their effort to sell me more accessories by a very pushy salesperson and I do mean pushy. I refused and after ten minutes of sales pitch terminated the call. Not five minutes after hanging up I get another email from 86th Street Photo stating that they are now out of stock and it will be two to four weeks before they can fill the order. I then send them an email stating how disappointed I am with their sales tactics. They then send me an email canceling my order. I have never experienced such shoddy handling from an online retailer. I caution all buyers to be very careful when dealing with 86th Street Photo."
"I am also getting the same run around from 86th Street Camera and Video in NYC, Area Code = 347 and have experienced what too many others have reported here. I ordered a Canon camera model S5 IS from them on March 14, 2008 because it was the lowest price. I also received an e-mail saying there was a 'problem' with my order. No problem at all… listened to the camera accessory sales pitch for accessories that I didn't want, need, or could not find else where at lower prices. Then I too started getting the follow-up
e-mails stating that the camera was on Back Order with a 5-6 weeks delivery time. So I waited longer on May 9, 2008 I called twice and was hung up twice by the C.S. at 86th.Street Camera & Video. The third time I asked for the CS Manager ((Vinnie said he was the manager)) Gave Vinnie my Order Number 536542-W, states still on B/O. Told Vinnie that his web site is sell the same unit today (May 9, 2008) at $219.00 with delivery in 1-2 day This price is lower that my B/O price. Vinnie… NOW WAS LOST FOR WORDS…
I decided to wait but after reading these reports here I am going to cancel my order. I should have been suspicious immediately when someone who advertises a popular camera at a price lower than everyone else and do not have it in stock at all on March 14 thru May 9, 2008.
Conclusion:
Don't be fooled by the low advertised price and waste your time as I and many others apparently have… I will be writing the NYC BBB, NYS Consumer Protection Agencies
and the Canon USA about this company!
"
"I ordered a canon SD1100 digital camera on 12 May 2008 and paid with a credit card. I checked the status of my order on 13 May 08 and saw no movement on my order. I called 86th Street Photo & video and got a run around for 1 hour. After 6 calls I spoke to Rachel then Robert then Steave. Steave asked me for the 3 digit number on the back of the card and tried to sell me a 256mb (ULTRA HIGH SPEED SD CARD) for $79.99.
I told him I did not need one. He then told me my camera would be shipped in 24 hours. He also said he was sending an email to confirm.
I checked my email a few minutes latter and found an email saying that the camera was on back order. I again called them and after another 5 calls and 30 minutes I spoke to Vinnie. He tried to sell me something else but by this time all the alarms in me had gone off. I checked their web site and the camera is still there. I cancelled the order and called my credit card co to put them on notice thet any transactions from 86th Street were bogus. I felt so alarmed at these people that I even cancelled my credit card and ordered a new one with a different number.
BEWARE*BEWARE*BEWARE* THESE PEOPLE ARE SCAM ARTISTS AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COST.
BODYMAN249 "
"86th street photo
I ordered a gps on May 11 over the internet after I was put on hold over the phone and disconnected after about 15minutes. I got an email afew days later asking me to call. They wanted me to tell them the billing address again and tried to sell me additional stuff for the gps. I said "no" and a few minutes later I got an email saying that the gps was on 3-4 week back order !!! When I called and asked to talk to the manager I was told that he was out for the day. I would never order from them again."
"NOW the rude people at this place are telling me I will get a cancellation confirmation next week after telling me all day I would get it this afternoon. I'm not getting a good feeling about this. I've already contacted AX and advised them not to accept any charges from this company but I am going to watch my online statement VERY carefully. BEWARE of 86th Street!
UPDATE! They sent me an e-mail advising me the item was out of stock and asked if I wanted to backorder it or cancel it. This was followed by an e-mail cancelling the order. Finally rid of these people."
"Similar experience to all the rest when trying to order a Zumo 550. Advertized on-line as being in stock. Placed my order on-line and got the return call to verify information. Seems that my expiration month for my credit card did not come through. Who woulda thought? After calling the dude at x207-was told that I neglected to order a memory card for this unit, and that it NEEDS one. On top of that, the ones that I already own won't work. You see, acording to the dude, the ones for a digital camera won't work in this GPS unit. Hmmmmm, a SD card isn't and SD card after all. I declined. Then I was told that I needed the home power adapter. I declined again. A few minutes later, I get an email that it will be 2-3 weeks backordered. I called the dude right back, and he (of course he did)transfered me to someone "who could help me". She told me that this was now backordered for 4-6 weeks. I told her to cancel. I am keeping a copy of the cancellation confirmation I received via email as I wouldn't trust these clowns if they told me sky was blue and grass was green. Save yourself a lot of heartburn, do your research and order from somebody reputable. These guys ain't."
"Sham site. I ordered 2 Canon hg 10 camcorders for $369. They require you to call to confirm your order and lower the boom. They said I needed to order a battery yet, the advetisement CLEARLY states a battery is provided. When I asked how much they were, they said $150! I can buy one for less than $35. As previously stated on this site they convieniently ran out of stock when I said I would purchase elsewhere if they did not match the price.
Stay away, they are crooks! Better yet, flood their system with orders!"
"Not an honest place to shop - AT ALL!!! Placed internet order, inside salesperson called and tried to sell additional items - claimed they were needed, purchased the sales pitch - could not return the item that was not originally ordered without sending the ENTIRE order back w/ out shipping fees returned and would have had to pay 20% restocking FEE. Spoke to OBNOXIOUS supervisor who once again said she would offer another $60 package to me for free to make me happy - included "necessary case and LED screen covers" for the GPS system purchased. WOULD NEVER PLACE AN ORDER WITH THIS COMPANY AGAIN. UNETHICAL AND NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY IN ANY WAY - SCAMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!"
"DO NOT ORDER FROM THESE SCAM ARTISTS!!!!! I ordered a Garmin nuvi 260W from them because it was the lowest price and free shipping. The next day I got an email and voicemail to call and confirm my order and shipping address so that they could ship the order. When I called Steve at x203 he immediately started telling me about the accessories that I NEEDED and he would put in a special package deal. When he finally quit talking I asked for a total and the total was now 3 times what the Garmin was listed for. I told him to forget all of the accessories and he started pouring on the lies:
Said the Garmin will not charge with the car adaptor and if I didn't buy the AC adaptor for $115 I could not use the Garmin in the house.
Then he said I could not store anything unless I had their special high speed SD card - and that 1G card "might" be enough for one long trip.
He would not take those items off my order, telling me that I will thank him later and if I didn't like them I could easily return them. After arguing for 45 minutes I finally decided it would probably be easier to just return them - BIG MISTAKE. My order now doubled in price. When the order got here (actually pretty quickly) I noticed two things immediatly - 1. I was charged $30 for shipping when I was told it was free, 2. the accessories are the cheapest generic pieces of junk you can get.
I immediatly call customer service to return the accessories. They tell me that it is a package deal and didn't list the cost for the accesories seperately, so I would have to return the entire order - for a 20% restocking fee (~$100). After yelling for an hour and getting no where I finally conceeded that I got scammed......
I am definately turning them in to the BBB.
I will now check out a company on this site BEFORE I buy from them. I found this sight after I started having problems. I think I will be shipping a few dirty diapers back to them to thank them for their service."
"I found this site searching for a Garmin Nuvi 680. Extremely low price (that should have been the tip off.)I placed the order. Two days later, I contacted them with a question about shipping and the status of the order.
Instead of answering my question, they stated they lost part of my credit card info (expiration date, then tried to sell me a high speed memory card.
I turned them down, got an email stating that there is a 3-4 week wait because the item is back ordered. That email came almost immediately after the call.
Their customer service reps hang up on you if you ask a probing question.
Stay away, they are scamming. "
"My story is just the same as all the others on this site.
But here is something that is interesting to check out: When you are on 86th Street's site there is a link to prove they are a 5 star merchant:
http://www.lowpricedigital.com/merchant.asp?merchant_id=2440&view=reviews
which is supposed to be an independent site that rates them and has customer feed back, like this site does. But the reviews were obviously written by the same person -- notice all the names of the reviewers are real first names, when on a real site such as this one, you rarely see real name, and notice that there are three fields that can be filled out (Pro, Con and Other thoughts) and every reviewer only filled out one field and none could think of any Cons. But when you go to a real review site that asks for Pros and Cons almost everyone will fill out both fields even if is "none" in the con field.
One more thing. When you click to see all 2,120 reviews you just get the same list of reviews, meaning the 2,120 reviews don't exist."
"AVOID AT ALL COSTS! I decided to research this company AFTER I ordered - my mistake. "Steve, ext. 203" called to offer me a better battery on the camera, because "the one that comes with it only works for 40 pictures and then needs to be recharged." When I passed on that, I was told that I needed an "ultra high speed SD card with 0 transfer time and 0 wait time." I told him that we use this camera currently and have no problems with the battery and SD card that came with it. He said "Thanks for calling bye" real fast and hung up. Exactly 3 minutes later I got an email stating that the camera I had ordered was in negative status and was back ordered and that it should be available in 3-4 weeks. Glad I found this site, I immediately cancelled my order and will have to go find it somewhere else. Fortunately, it only cost me 5 days and not any money!"
"I'm joining the ranks . . . don't bother to place an order for a low price camera if you don't plan to buy their ridiculously overpriced accessories. The moment I declined additional purchases, the item which I had just been told on the phone was being shipped, was suddenly backordered and after being transferred to a voicemail with no outgoing message or name - I demanded to speak to a manager about the situation, I was told my order was cancelled and they hung up on me. Steer clear!!! I will report to the BBB in Ohio."
"JUST DON'T DO IT. You have read other reviews and are maybe still considering buying from these CROOKS. The price is too good to ignore. Right? I guarantee you will not get the goods you ordered at the price they advertise. It just won't happen. They lure you in and ultimately all you get is bad service and no product. Don't think you are better than the rest of us. There is no reasoning with them unless you agree to buy thier Extras at VERY inflated prices. Save time, go to another store. This is the WORST I have ever experienced."
"Update: I am the guy who had "Steve" fart into the phone while I was asking him a question. To be safe, I have cancelled my debit card and I also reported this to the New York Attorney General as someone else suggested. Also, I just copied and pasted this entire page into 86th street photo contact page. He he. What else can be done to screw with them?"