"I'm finally glad to be able to submit a review on this company. My experience with them is not recent, but it was horrible enough for me to want to write this so long after the fact. This company uses a sort of bait-and-switch tactic, and then pressures customers into buying overpriced accessories. Here's what happened to me:
I ordered a Nikon Coolpix 4500 from them on the Web, because the price was the best I could find. I called two days later to check on the order. They had not processed it. The sales person started *really* pushing accessories for the camera. He lied, telling me that the memory card and battery that came with the camera were inadequate. Because I was inexperienced with these kinds of tactics and the blatant dishonesty, I allowed myself to be talked into buying an "extended life" battery (I later found out that there was no such thing, and that the 80 dollars they charged me for it was more than twice what it would have cost me at any local department store.) and a memory card (also priced well above what was readily available almost anywhere. Moreover, these items were described as being "on sale at a special discount."
After WEEKS of going back and forth with my order on the phone--never reaching anyone who could give me any real answers, and often reaching a really unprofessional dimwit who KEPT TRYING TO SELL ME MORE ACCESSORIES, EVEN THOUGH THE PREMISE OF MY CALL WAS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE ONES I ORDERED, I finally got a package. With the wrong battery in it.
More phone calls. I sent the battery back, and my replacement came in a few weeks. It was out of the package, and had clearly been used, perhaps in a demo model. This rechargeable "extended life" battery was completely dead within a month.
These people were unprofessional and dishonest. I would NEVER order from them again."
"They have reopened under a new name of East coast Digital. Same scams, confirmed order by phone, hard sell for over priced accessories, and then recieved an email that item was backordered. Losers and crooks!"
"I had an awful experience with this company. same as everyone else here: I wish I read your reviews first. Hard sell, lying salespeople push overpriced accessories on me. When I wised up and tried to cancel, they told me it was already shipped and charged to my credit card. 4 hours later! So untrue. Never shop here. These people give internet shopping a bad name."
"After noticing a fantastic price on the Olympus 4040 digital camera, I emailed and telephoned Accessory Ave to verify the price and availability. I asked them to verify in writing that the camera was new, and not a reconditioned model. They sent me the email, verifying that it was a "brand new, factory sealed" camera. They managed to sell me a couple of other items, which I wanted to buy anyway. When the camera arrived, the box was plainly marked, "reconditioned". I called to get their explanation, and they told me the camera was new, but that it came to them without an owner's manual. They sent it to the manufacturer, the manual was inserted, and they claimed the law requires the camera to be relabeled as a reconditioned model. They offered me an extended warranty as compensation for the "mistake". False advertising and high pressure salesmen may be the price you pay for a good deal."
"Yesterday, I called our customer service to order JVC GR DV3000U DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERA, the online price was $678. A gentleman answered me. He told me the product is available in stock and then ask me to buy a lot of accessories. I only want to buy a $119 battery(On ebay same new one buy-now price is $52) and refuse to buy others, the guy told me the product is sold out! and ask me call back two late.
This evening I find the price is changed to $1005(CallOne price is $899 + $100 gift card + free shipping."
"DO NOT USE THIS STORE!!! This "store" is the worst kind of ripoff joint. They advertise low ball and than refuse to sell the item without "accessories". They claim that this is how they get the item packaged from their supplier. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS. Never buy any items that you don't need. It is simply a ploy to mark up their prices hidden behind "accessories". I guess that's where they get their name. Accessory Ave means they'll try to sell you every accessory under the sun."
"Same comments as all others. I was stupid and thought I needed the extra junk that they sold me, when I finally came to my senses the next morning and tried to cancel the order one guy told me ok and then put another guy on who told me that it had already shipped (in less than 24 hrs Wow!). Well when I finally got my shipment a day later than I should've, I looked at the ups tracking receipt and it stated just what I thought it would, that they shipped it 3 days after I tried to cancel the order. I contacted yahoo shopping and they have removed them from their shopping site and have been trying to resolve this situation to no avail! I hope that more people see this site BEFORE they get taken by this company."
"I cancelled this order just a minute ago. It was the forth day after I placed my order for Canon ZR40 when I got a call from them to verify the order. I called back, and what they did is only trying to sell other accessories. When I refused to buy other accessories, they said the camcorder is out of stock. The only have the camcorder kit which is $200+ more that I had ordered. Please beware of this untrusty company."
"I originally wrote them to check if they had the Nikon Coolpix 4500 with a US warranty. They wrote back on 08/27/2002 saying that it was a US warranty camera and that it was in stock. So I went ahead and placed my order on 08/28. They called on 09/05 (more than a week later) to confirm my order and tried to sell me accessories, but I declined. The guy then said my shipment was going to go out the next day. Then, on 09/09, they sent me an e-mail stating that the camera was backordered. They wrote, "Thank you for your purchase at Accessory Avenue as of now we are unable to fill your order because of a slight backorder on your item. We will do our best in trying to retrieve your ordered product but can't guarantee an arrival date. As of now the estimated time of arrival is three weeks." I then decided to cancel. From reading their e-mails, it doesn't seem that they are very organized, because they sent me two e-mails when they were first telling me that they had cameras with US warranties, and my cancellation confirmation was written in the middle of my original e-mail (they started answering my e-mail in the middle of my name). Anyway, the funniest thing is that yesterday (09/12), they sent me another e-mail reply about the US warranty and stated again that the item was in stock..."
"Tried it for the price(Sony DCR-PC115), knowing I might get burned. Sure enough, "in stock" until you politely refuse unnecessary and overpriced accessories. "Jack" assured me it would ship within the week and within hours I received an e-mail stating it was on backorder for "at least 3 weeks." A check of my order on their website showed it had been cancelled. Oh well, I wasn't interested in getting dragged along in their fraudulent scam for several more weeks anyhow. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!! They are dishonest like the vast majority of Brooklyn-based electronics stores."
"A typical New York camera dealer.
Swicth and Bait, e-mail asking to call and confirm, etc., etc. They
have it all except for the merchandise you ordered on line.
A big waste of time. Those guys are not merchants, they are crooks.
Only tried the because of the high Yahoo rating. First and last time for this vendor. Last time for Yahoo shopping.
"
"Just a note. This is another one of those bait-and-switch, hard-sell accessory places (the name should be a give away).
I just called them about ordering a gl-1 and they basically said they won't sell it to me unless I buy accessories (typical overpriced no-name batteries, warranties, etc).
I'd stay away from them!"