"You'd think these clowns would read some of these reviews and change but they do exactly what they say:
1 offer the cheapest price.
2 cancel or back order item if you don't buy over priced accessories.
3 won't answer the phone
DO NOT WASTE Y0UR TIME WITH THIS COMPANY. "
"86th Street Photo advertises items at really attractive prices and has a web site stating items are in stock and ready for immediate shipment.
I recently attempted to purchase a Garmin Nuvi GPS which 86th St Photo advertised for $20 less than other resellers. As I've now learned is typical for this company, I received an email the day after placing my order telling me my credit card information wasn't entered correctly online and I was asked to call them. After calling and verifying my information, I was given a sales pitch about needing an extended warranty and extra memory card to hold map data. The salesman insisted that a normal SD flash memory card would not work in the Garmin and I would need a special one that they just happened to sell. Knowing better, I declined both offers and was soon off the phone. A few minutes later, I received an email stating that due to its popularity, the Garmin was on temporary back order and would not be shipping for at least three to four weeks. Realizing this ploy, I went ahead and canceled the order and purchased from a more reputable dealer who actually shipped out the same day.
Checking the very next day, 86th St Photo's web site still lists the Garmin Nuvi 760 as in stock and shipping within a day. Will a prospective purchaser ever receive their order? Probably, but you're going to have to be REAL patient. I didn't think it was worth the $20 savings to have to wait three weeks. I also didn't want to condone the shady sales tactics of this merchant."
"I am filing a complaint with Better Business Bureau and Federal Trade Commission.
I notified my credit card company and set up fraud alerts because of these people. They are bunch of crooks."
"We were interested in purchasing a Canon Powershot S5 IS and came across a very attractive price of $245 for the camera, which was considerably less then other stores. Fortunately, we found this website and were skeptical so we called their phone number. We asked if they had a physical store to come and purchase the item and they said no, only web or phone purchase. We spoke to a person (Jason) who said the product was readily available and if we purchase over the phone, we could have the following day for $44.95 for expedited shipping. Sounded good, so I then asked the question (based on what I read of the reviews), if I am just interested in purchasing the camera only and no other items, will I get it the following day. He said he wanted to put me on hold once again and check the warehouse to confirm availability again. When he came back, he now said it was back ordered and would not ship for 2-3 weeks, so in 5 minutes, it went from being readily available to back ordered because I only wanted to purchase the camera and no other extras.
The good news is I called Staples and they were able to price match, so I got a great price from a very reputable retailer
"
"This place is nothing but a scam artest rip off store... we ordered a pioneer avic-d3 we recieved a phone call the next day stating that the credit card month didnt come through clearly so we regave it. then he was very assinign on trying to sell us other products that we didnt want and warrantys for stuff for 100's of dollars extra. after finally bieng argued with enough we we had enough just run our order through. a few hours later saying it was out of stock...... then tryed to charge my card anyway...
plus this is there store front....
http://donwiss.com/pictures/brooklynstores/h0201.htm"
"We had an AWFUL experience with 86th Street Photo & Video. We ordered a Canon PowerShot G9 $359.00 with $14.95 shipping. ( a good price we thought)
A gentleman called twice from 86th Street Photo & Video called trying to up sell batteries for this camera. We told him were not interested. Almost 3 weeks had gone by, we called and spoke to Greg asking him to please send the camera. Greg told us they did not ship the camera because they wanted to make sure we knew it was not written in English. First we heard of this, this was not stated anywhere on line. Greg said for all the inconvenience, he would give us a fast charger and a 5 hour battery for $100.00 more ($449.00 plus $14.94 shipping. We were feed up, we told him go-ahead send the extra package. We received the camera 4 days later, we were charged $559.99 for the package and $35.00 shipping the total $594.99 A LONG WAY FROM THE $359.00 camera we ordered. We called 86th Street Photo & Video and talked to Greg, he argued with us and was not cooperative by any means. At this point we don’t want anything from them and they want $150.00 to return what we did not order. (a $600.00 camera) THIS CAMERA IS NOW LISTED FOR $309.00 WE TRIED FOR TWO WEEKS TO CONTACT THEM FOR THE RETURN ADDRESS PR. OUR CREDIT CARD. WE WERE ON HOLD NEVER LESS THEN 45 MIN. IF SOMEONE ANSWERED THEY WOULD SAY YOU HAVE TO CALL BACK TOMORROW TO GET THE ADDRESS!! WE FINALLY GOT SOMEONE ON FEB 26TH THAT SAID HE WOLD NOT GIVE US THE ADDRESS BECAUSE WE WERE PAST THE RETURN DATE- WHAT A RACKET BEWARE!!!!!!!
"
"This reseller was the worst I've ever experienced. First they have lower price but higher shipment and handling. But overall it was the cheapest. But they never send the item. They say it was out of stock, but on their website they say it is available and ships 2-3 business days, and more interestingly, the price changes!!! Whenever I ask it, they say I have to wait 3-4 weeks, I waited, but they said the same thing after a month. I waited one more month and they still say the same thing. Also their customer service is terrible. you usually have to wait 20-30 minutes for every call and sometimes they just hang up the phone during the call, maybe because they use unreliable internet phone. If you email them, they never read it, because I received the exactly same emails for different questions. Maybe they just copy and paste... "
"DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT place an order! They send you an e-mail to verify your order and then try to sell you over-priced batteries & memory cards! When you say no and you think all is all-set, YOU have to send e-mails and make more calls and then you are now told your camera is back-ordered!! SCAMMERS!! Save yourself the aggrevation!!! SHOP ELSEWHERE!!!"
"Wow, really wish I found this site before ordering from 86th St Photo. Yes, shopping around they have the best price but than sent an Email about my credit card information but when I called it went right into a sales pitch about bateries that only last 5 minutes and chagers that would burn my battery up. Should have canceled the order right than but didn't. What started out to be a $200+ camera quickly went to $400+. Buyer beware...
I contacted 86th st and their explaination was that when I ordered another battery this changed the order from a wholesale order to a retail order, so becausee I ordered an upgraded batery my order went from 255.00 to 487.00. I will be filing a complaint with BBB. "
"I placed an order for the Canon G9 on 8th Street Photo's website on January 6th. I called Jason on January 9th to confirm my order, and I politely refused the add-ons he suggested. He told me I would get the order in 3-4 weeks, which seemed sketchy because the website says that their items usually ships within 1-2 business days. After I got off the phone with Jason, I received an e-mail telling me that the camera was on backorder and that they will receive more in 3-4 weeks. I was pretty upset and began to realized how shady the company is. I thought I would wait it out because I'm not in a hurry to get the camera. Today, I decided to check out customer reviews, which lead me to this site. I should have done this before I placed my order; their reviews are awful. After I post this review, I will immediately cancel my order. "
"I just cancelled my order! I have been waiting since Jan 1st for my Lumix. I buy on the internet daily. I can't believe I wasted so much time on this. Is there anyone we can alert to this?"
"It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thought something was fishy.
Drawn in by the fantastic price, I had ordered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8S. Today, I got that pesky "confirmation" call, and the fellow on the other end tried to feed me some line about how the battery that's included only holds a 20-minute charge. He then proceeded to try and get me to buy a 3-hour battery that was "on sale" for something like $75, which is obviously a load of garbage when they can be had through Amazon for far less.
Just told them to go ahead and cancel my order, which they did, though I'll be keeping a close eye on my credit card activity for the time being.
What a bunch of scam artists.
EDIT: Reported these pond scum to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (http://www.ic3.gov). Don't know how much good it'll do, but this just burns me too much to not do anything."
"I phoned 86th St. 3 weeks ago to place an order for a Canon G9. They had my camera in stock and suddenly were out of stock when I did not want to buy any overpriced add-ons. The salesperson would not even take my order but told me to call back in 3 weeks when they had more stock. I placed an order online, for a camera only, 3 weeks later, and received the call the next day that the camera was not in stock and unavailable for another 3 weeks. I was waiting to see if I'd get this call because I had read a bad review of this company. I did more research and found this website. I was afraid I would get a defective or refurbished camera if one ever arrived. I did not want problems and immediately cancelled my order and called my CC company to block the charge. I paid an extra $100 but now have an authenic camera."
"Same story as everyone else! Price was fantastic; I got the email to call about my order; they tried to sell me the extras (I refused); my order was inexplicably back ordered, and the wait began. I called, was told it would be just a few more weeks, and then called again today. After being on hold for almost an hour, -and after reading this site...I simply gave up! Life's too short! I'll spend a little more elseware -and maybe actually get the camera I'm looking for....!"
"A friend told me to google this company and read all the horrible reviews. I bought the Canon PowerShot G9 from this company. I never got the email because I called them to change the shipping. When I called to get the camera shipped to me sooner, I got Steve on the telephone. He told me I could get all these extras at a great price, which I believed. The camera and accessories came with an invoice that didn't have any of the prices for the camera or any of the accessories. I later researched what I had bought and I was completely overcharged for all of the extras. I have bought cameras online for years and this is the first time that I got taken!!!
I did try calling them to get an itemized receipt and they told me that they couldn't give me one because I got the "package deal price". The lenses that they sell for this camera don't work. At Adorama they sell these same lenses for $29.95 whereas here they sell for $149.99.
I have reported these people to the Better Business Office in New York as well as reporting them to the Attorney General in New York.
The lenses and filters that they sold me for the Canon Powershot G9 are not compatible as the filters don't fit and the lenses cause vinyetting."