"I ordered a battery charger for my Canon camera on a Monday (Memorial Day, May 31). The order was shipped the next day (Tuesday, June 1), and I received the charger today (Thursday, June 3). The charger is in excellent condition--brand new in the box, and is now at work charging up the camera battery. The price was great, and I was offered a code for free shipping when I visited the site. I had a positive experience buying from Accessory Circuit. "

"I ordered a Canon 430EX II flash 6 week ago. At that time I was told this was back order, I needed to wait 4-6 weeks to get it. 6 weeks late today, I haven’t received the product, I called the customer service. The service rep that picked up the phone showed no intention even to listen to my explanation. Afternoon I spoke with Michael Stevens; it was a totally different experience. First, Michael was willing to solve my problem, and then he promised to take care of it immediately and ship it out tomorrow. I am very satisfied with the service he provided.
Michael, I really appreciate your help!
"

"After buying a Canon SLR EOS camera, I needed to purchase an extra battery and Canon flash unit. I search the internet and found that the pricing from Accessory Circut to be great. The Accessory Circut website is easy to manuver around and they have an huge inventory of various camera accesories. Placing an order was fairly easy and the delivery was timely. I would highly recommend Accessory Circut to anyone wishing to purchase accessories for their cameras.

Herb Lum - San Francisco, CA"

"Update: Seller to refund account in full(monies still pending receipt). Order has been cancelled. Allowed to keep the substitute products at no charge. Things like this do happen and their customer service does a good job of taking care for problems brought to their attention.

Ordered a Nikon battery and charger for $34. Advised that they are on backorder for 4 to 6 weeks and would I like to upgrade to substitute better items for additional $$$. Confirmed that I would wait for the Nikon products. Today I received the substitute products that I clearly did not want. Credit card was charged the full $34 for items that can be found for less than $5 even at reputable places such as Amazon.com. Will be disputing the purchase with the bank tomorrow."

"BAIT AND SWITCHERS

Same story different customer. My wife has recently gotten into photography and bought one of the new sony dslr customers. She was saying that she wanted the sony hvl f42am flash and saw it at ''such a great price on accessory circut.com'' so I decided to be nice and get it for her for a nice mother's day present.

So later the same day I get the dreaded phone call from the company saying there is a back order on the flash for 4-6 weeks and if I needed it right away. I say yes as it was a present for mothers day then he goes on telling me ''how great'' this other flash they happen to have in stock is. So not knowing a thing about any photography equipment I think this guy is doing me a solid and say sure send it. I should have thought something was up right away as my account was never charged when I placed the order. It wasn't charged until these guys called me and had me place the order for the other flash. Goes to show they had no intention of filling my other order to begin with.

Later we get the other flash and I give it to my wife and explain to her what happened and after looking and comparing the flash with her I also realize this thing is a cheap piece of garbage compared to the sony one. The diffuser just layed over the flash, the whole thing was made of cheap plastic, it wasn't even made for the camera. It had a shoe mounted on the bottom of the flash to fit in the camera. We tried looking online for a review and couldn't find ANYTHING on it. No flashes of this type on ebay or anywhere. I call vivitar directly as I felt i was getting ripped off and he explains the flash a bit and said they go for anywhere from $125 to $300. They tried selling it to me for $220. IT'S A PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!

I called accessory circut and got a run around, "call back tomorrow", I call back then get they are only open from noon to 5 on this particular day. When i get someone to talk to, EVERYONE in there sounds like a used car salesman just trying to pressure you into keeping their aftermarket crap. Another sign of a horrible seller. A real seller should never pressure you into buying anything. I finally get ahold of someone and finally get the info to send it back. It took almost 3 weeks to get my money back.

I'M NEVER DEALING WITH THESE CON ARTISTS AGAIN. "

"05/20/2010 - I received a call this morning from a gentleman called Michael. Basically he apologised and wanted to make amends. I turned all offers for a free gift down because I think it is wrong but very much appreciate the offer and the apology. I will change the rating I gave because of this. The current economic climate was also a consideration - I will try them again with one of my future purchases.

Initial review...
Like buyers before me I should have done my research first – I wouldn’t have used them if I had.

On March 7, 2010 I placed an order for 2 original Canon batteries at a comparatively great price. The following day I got a call offering a "better deal" - a battery with higher amp ratings but not from Canon. The sales rep tried for 5 minutes trying to convince me he was making me an offer I shouldn't refuse because it was a fantastic deal and I advised him I wanted to stay with my order. He then informs me the items are not in stock and I would have to wait 3 - 5 weeks. I said I was fine with that. I believe I escaped a “bait & switch”.
6 weeks later I call and advice them via email that their website states the items are in stock and shipping would take place in 1-2 days ... they then ship one battery ... basically today May 19, 2010 I finally receive the 2nd battery - over 2 months and 14 emails later.

Advice for others: I think I was successful because I advised them via email I would cancel after I had received the first battery! The ball was in my court!

Additionally, it looked like an attempt had been made by somebody to open the battery packaging ... I still wonder who!

My advice is: be careful.
"

"6/1/2010 UPDATE: talked to Michael and he is resolving the issue.

5/31/2010 UPDATE: After receiving an unsatisfactory product -- i.e. defective non-name brand wide-angle lens -- and sending it back, I have still not received a refund after nearly two weeks. When I talked to a customer service representative on the phone they said they would take care of it by today. My initial bad decision to accept a substitute lens from this company has turned into unnecessary work to be refunded. I would not recommend this company.

I am concerned after reading the posts on this site, that I too was a pawn in a bait and switch scheme by Accessory Circuit.

I ordered a 37mm WD H37 II Wide Conversion lens made by Canon which was advertised on their website for $153.00. After placing the order, I received a phone call from a sales representative offering me a "great deal" on a "better lens" because they had a 6 week backorder on the Canon Lens. This "better lens" is made by a company that I was unable to locate on the web: Digital Vision -- the Digital Vision Limited Edition High Definition 37mm .45x Pro Wide Lens w/Macro arrived and appeared to be a cheap knock off. There is no indication that the lens was made for HD cameras. I will be testing out the lens this weekend before I consider returning it and ordering the real Canon product from another company.

The real problem is that I have no idea whether charging me the $153.00 is in fact a "great deal" for a "better lens" when this product does not show up on Accessory Circuit's website -- and I cannot find it on the internet to compare prices. I have a sinking feeling I was duped...
K Schiffler, Lincoln, NE

May 14, 2010
I just had a phone conservation with Michael from Accessory Circut and we are working on resolving the issue. "

"Veery helpfull and percise assistance ordering the proper parts. The original order was flawed by me and corrected by Mr Stevens efficiantly and exactly. Shippment beat an order placed with someone else 8 days prior for another lens. Recieved in hand less then 24 hrs latter. AOK"

"I had a problem with my order. Spoke with Michael. He was able to resolve the problem immediately. I am very happy with the service he provided. "

"I ordered Canon CBK4-300 battery charger, listed as in stock, from AccessoryCircut.com on 5-4 for $22.99, an exceptional price for this Canon charger. Michael Stevens called same day and said it was on back order for 3 to 4 weeks and would I substitute a better quality charger for $27.99. I agreed.

The Ecotrends charger I received was not listed for sale on their site but can be bought from $14 to $17 on various sites. I objected to paying $27.99 and called Mr. Stevens and told him this. He said I could return it for credit and I agreed. I posted this info on ResellerRatings on 5-11 and on 5-12 he called and told me he would give me $20 credit and I could keep the charger if I would edit my post to ResellerRatings to reflect a happy rating within 20 minutes. I agreed and edited my posting. He did credit me $20.

With this, and at request of ResellerRatings, I am changing my post to be the true facts as stated above. I feel like this vendor advertised a national brand at an exceptional price (bait) to get my order, then substituted (switched) another brand, albeit with my permission. Had I shopped for an Ecotrends charger, I would have bought it for $14 at another site."

"Unfortunately, we purchased from this company before doing a little more exploration as to reviews, business practices, etc. Believe me, that is a mistake we will not be making again. This was our first and last purchase with Accessory Circuit, and I warn you "Buyer Beware!"

On April 24, 2010 we placed an order for a Nikon 70-200MM lens, which is readily available through any number of sites with immediate shipment, although at a slightly higher price. We were immediately informed that our order was back ordered and under review. A slight eyebrow raise for us, but we figured we would give it some time.

Fast forward to today, May 11, 2010. When we had received no word, no additional contact, etc. I finally decided to call for some type of update, as I had googled the company only to come straight to the poor reviews here. My suspicions were immediately confirmed. I spoke with a Mr. Steven Bass, who was abrupt, rude and overly aggressive, particularly as a customer service representative claiming to care about my order and seeking to resolve my issue.

He basically told me that my order was back ordered indefinitely, and that they were not proactively pursuing filling the order because they do not stock that lens. When I inquired as to why they were on the website available for sale, he admonished me that since they don't proactively advertise them, and I just happened to find them via a search engine on their website, that it didn't mean they had them in stock or could fill the order. Presumably what I took from the conversation was that my order existed, but wouldn't be filled unless something happened to actually show up in their inventory that might fit my needs and at that point I would be randomly charged, weeks, months or even years later.

I immediately canceled my ordered and thankfully had not been charged yet. I am awaiting the email confirmation of the cancellation presently. I will definitely never, ever purchase from this company again and will be sure to share with as many people as I can that this company is a scam, with rude representatives, poor business practices and false postings on their website as to the products they are able to provide.

Buyer beware!!

UPDATE: Immediately following the posting of my review, Michael called my husband's phone incessantly to the point where it conflicted with my husband being able to continue his work flow. In explaining that we were no longer interested in working with their company, Michael offered several free items in exchange for the removal of the negative review. For obvious reasons, we declined, at which Michael got very angry and accused my husband and my review for being singularly responsible for him losing his job and not being able to feed his five children at home. That low show of professional behavior and personal strike was the final and most vivid evidence of this company's poor ethics in my opinion and only further affirmed that our decision to cancel our order and inform others to be cautious when working with this company was the right thing to do. I was absolutely shocked that Michael spoke in that manner and not at all surprised to hear that they tried to say they didn't recognize our order on this website, trying to nullify our review. It seems they will do anything, and EVERYTHING, to try and keep their shady workmanship hidden from consumers. I only hope this review helps spare others the stress and disappoint that my husband and I felt, and hope somehow, somewhere it serves as a lesson to the company to seriously review their mission, how they operate and leads them to make some serious changes.

UPDATE MAY 25, 2010
It seems we cannot be rid of this company! After dealing with horrible service, rude phone calls after canceling our original order weeks ago, you can imagine my surprise when our credit card was charged for $1900 yesterday!! Now I have to wait for their late opening hour, 10AM, to call once again and figure out why they are charging our card when we do not have an active order and I am holding the cancellation notice in my hands as we speak. This is unbelievable. They have now basically stooped to stealing money straight from our bank accounts. We are looking into reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.

Just as an aside, we ended up placing our order with Adorama, who shipped our item SAME DAY and I had it and was using it almost two weeks ago. So much for a nationwide back order...

UPDATE May 27, 2010
Called customer service at 10AM to address the issue and was once again berated by representative Steven Bass, who told me the West Coast office handled billing and couldn't possibly be reached until 12Noon EST and threatened to hang up on me when I said that their actions were considered theft and I would be contacting the authorities. Left my number and alerted them that I would be filing with the Better Business Bureau. Received a call from Walter at approximately 10:45AM that the money had been refunded to my account. Walter was initially pleasant, but quickly digressed when I refused to remove my review and let him know I had already filed with the Better Business Bureau regarding the theft of funds. Walter became very personal and abusive in his dialect, to which I asked that the conversation be terminated, that I receive written confirmation of the refund, and that they remove my information from their lists and never call, email or contact us again as we no longer wish to do business with their company.

I did receive email confirmation of the refund, and will be stuck waiting an additional two days for my $1900 to be refunded back to our card. We'll see how that goes...good thing I don't have any bills to pay. (When I told Walter that he had tied up $1900 of our credit card available balance, his response was "Don't you pay your bills? It's not your banking account. It's just a credit card.")
"

"My order of a battery for my Olympus camera was exactly what I needed and I'm in business again taking photos as a realtor. The AC/DC cordless battery charger is more than I expected...the pins fold down when not in use...a car charger was included with this product and works great. Thank you for your wonderful service and I'll certainly refer my friends to your company.
Marilyn Griffith, Realtor "

"Misleading advertising, the product isn't in stock and they use it as an excuse to get you to talk to a sales rep. Don't waste your time with these guys.

Despite some negative reviews I ordered the Canon Speedlite 430 EX II priced at $229.99. The site doesn't mention that its not in stock and is on backorder. The site says to call for availability. I went ahead and placed the order and I got an email back today saying:
"We regret to inform you that the item(s) you ordered below is temporarily on backorder. We expect this item(s) to become available within the next 3 - 5 weeks. You will receive an email with your tracking # once your backordered item(s) ships out."

This company doesn't let anyone know that the product the advertise isn't actually available unless you call and ask. So after I got the email I called, was put on hold, and then my call was dropped. I called again and was told that the item was not available, but was on backorder. The sales rep then asked if that was the only flash I was interested in and when I assured him that it was said ok and we terminated the call.

At a minimum they should have some indication when you are checking out that the product is on backorder. They could and should indicate the availability status on the information page. They manage to list "In Stock" for other items that are not on backorder (I looked at a few just to check).

It looks like a twist on a bait & switch. Advertise a price $50 lower than the competition, not have it in stock, and make the sucker, I mean customer, call and talk to a sales rep who can try and sell him a different product.
"

"UPDATE:
I received a prompt call from Michael Stevens and his supervisor Walter Cummings, in response to my review. They made a sincere effort to make things right. Walter offered a $50 credit and was able to get me at least the bulb warranty. I now believe that this was a case of an honest mistake and not an intent to mislead. I feel that the company works hard to earn the customers' trust and takes customers' feedback very seriously. I will post another update when I receive the warranty. UPDATE: One day later, and the bulb warranty arrived and I already registered it. Walt delivered on his promise and I can confirm that AccessoryCircut is serious about customer satisfaction and will go above and beyond in this respect.

They advertise and offer for sale Warrantech extended warranties that they don't carry. They let you place an order and confirm your order via e-mail. When I called to confirm that they actually had the product, they said they did and that it would ship within couple days. In three days, they said over the phone that the items were almost ready to ship. The next morning I received an e-mail stating that they tried to call (they did not) and that I needed to call them back about an 'issue' with my order. When I called, someone named Michael Stevens informed me that they did not carry Warrantech warranties at all and tried to sell me a Mack Photo warranty. When I pointed out that it was false advertisement, he was not moved and stated that it was just 'miss-advertisement'. Because of them, I missed the window of opportunity to buy an extended warranty."

"I ordered the Canon 430 ex II flash, receive a call/email from seller stating that they don't have it and that they have a better on. Requested them to cancel my order. On there website, there are two listing for the same flash, $229 and $299. The 299 list as being in stock. What up with that. Be careful when ordering from this company."