"I wish I'd found this site before buying - I'd have saved a little money and a lot of headache.
CHAPTER 1 (FALLING FOR IT): I actually got a US model VX2000 camcorder in three days, in working order, and registered in with Sony, checked to make sure it was on the up and up and so on. I also got duped for an overpriced extended warranty and a battery that doesn't actually work with my camera - so I'm going to have to go hardball on them to try to get that refunded. They were super pushy as everyone has pointed out. But I did get what I paid for - I coulda gone with B&H and gotten the same package for a bit less, plus with the authorized dealership and no exhorbitant shipping.
I am thinking that if they don't give me some sort of refund on the battery (they lied and said it was an infolithium, but it's not) I'm going to start a dispute via Amex, who handles that type of thing quite well. I'll post about how or whether that goes.
CHAPTER 2 (GETTING EVEN RATHER THAN MAD): After doing a lot of research on the company, and on the warranty company, I called Broadway Photo and said I wanted a Return Authorization Number for the Warranty and battery they'd sent, due to the fact that they were misrepresented to me on the phone (I was told that the warranty was 'only available at the time of purchase' which is not true, as I confirmed by calling the warranty company itself).
After getting bumped around a few times on hold and to various people, a guy tried to offer to make it up to me by sending some more accessories free of charge. I reiterated that what I neeeded was a return authorization number. I told him I was familiar with the 'bait and switch' operation they run. As soon as I used those words he put me on hold for another minute and then came back and said they'd credit my charge card for $300, and I could keep everything. All told, I'll have spent the same as if I'd gone to B & H, but with much more headache. And if they don't come through with the refund, I'll go straight to Amex to dispute it (Amex has confirmed they'd take it up for me).
This site has been invaluable for finding out how to deal with Bway Photo. I wish I'd found it sooner, as I'd never have bothered. I'm posting this long story to point out how you can get some relief if you do buy from them. Be prepared to be on hold for a while, then just be firm and calm, and don't give in until you've got what you want.
I went through all this because I'm not used to getting taken advantage of, and I feel bad for having fallen for them...I decided to get even rather than mad.
Howard told me they were aware their reputation wasn't so good, and that they're new motto was "customer service." How original. "
"DO NOT BELIEVE THESE POSITIVE REPORTS. IT IS BROADWAY PHOTO EMPLOYEES SCAMMING THE RATINGS, JUST LIKE THEY SCAM THE CUSTOMERS. If you don't believe this, just try to place an order with them. Get them to confirm the warranty, if the product is grey market, how much shipping will be, and if it is in stock. The moment you get an answer that does not respond to your question, you know you are being scammed. THESE PEOPLE ARE LIARS, THIEVES, and CHEATS. Just check out this link to PCWorld's investigation of Broadway Photo. http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,107855,00.asp Then decide if you want to order from these criminals.
PS If you are an AOL user, these scammers are AOL Certified Merchants. If you have bad opinions, let AOL know to remove these people from their list immediately."
"This is a great vendor. I purchased a cannon s330 from these folks. Item arrived on time in perfect condition. Price was lowest on net. "
"IF you want to buy anything from these guys, don't. I know they dazzle you with cheap prices but they are a scam. I ordered a canon-s40 last week. They sold canon s40 for $409 but when i checked their website today I saw them raise their price to $469 so I called them today to ask about my shipment. But they said they didn't even shipped yet. So I asked him "how much you are gonna charge me?" they said they are gonna charge me $429 ($409+$29(s+h)). But he kept forcing me to buy a case and 5yrs warranty so I told them I can't afford that much. But after i rejected him, Suddenly, He said i need to pay $20 more for insurance. And he said insurance is madatory. So I told him it doesn't say anything about insurance on your website. He said it is on the website (I checked their website again and there is nothing about purchasing insurance) and he said i was yelling at him. And he offered me a case and insurance for $459 so i said ok. But Im gonna cancel it tomorrow because i found a website which has cheaper prices and better service than these guys. I strongly reccommend you buy from elsewhere. These guys are a scam!!!"
"I found broadway photo before I found this website. My purchase was recent so I wanted to update this site. They still "confirm" your order with email and try to sell the accessories. I did ask if the camera was a North American model and he said yes. I asked if it came with the video cables and owner's manual etc and again yes. He then gave me the warranty spiel which I fell for but it was $100.00 for 3 years- not bad. I told him I could get the battery charger for half of what they were selling it for so they gave it to me for that price BUT they upped the shipping price to $30.OO and made up a story when I callled them about it. My camera arrived- new in original packaging (I hope)in 4 days. I did call Olympus to verify that this was a North American model and it is. My experience was much better than others but they are obviously still scamming with the accessories so use caution and keep them on the line asking question after question- ask them specifically if their cameras are new, refurbished or grey market if you decide to try them and be ready to negotiate if you want any accessories."
"This site is a scam.
I ordered a Sony camcorder DCR-TRV27. I thought I got a good deal.
Instead I got an email asking me to confirm the order. Called them. The sale guy asked me “why didn’t you order any accessories?” He meant lens, filters, battery and cable etc. The camcorder is totally stripped down. I asked “Shouldn’t the camcorder come with all these basics in one box?” His answer “It could, if you buy them.” So I cancelled the order. Then the guy said a bunch of rude things. I believe I said several f**k words back to him.
"
"This is one of the most unscrupulous resellers I have ever encountered on the web and have reported them to the BBB. I called to verify the produxct and the inbox items prior to executing and online purchase. After executing an online purchase I received an email asking me to call to verify, at which time they asked me why I wasn't buying the cable, the battery or the software related to the item. When I said I did and that I had called to verify, they said that it was a mistake and I had bought the "retail" item not the "premium" item. I immediately canceled my order with them."
"Please do not trust these guys. They are big time cheaters. They are VERY RUDE.. and not at all professionals. Please do not buy any item from this company"
"Ordered D60 w/2yr ext warranty, generic High power battery, charger, cables, and Canon 16-35 lens for $3150 including shipping. Sounded like a great deal even though items were Grey market. Shipping charges were agreed upon at $60 which seemed reasonable due to the low price of the items. My order was to ship in 10 days. Order never shipped and nothing was in stock 14 days latter. After reading all of the postings on this site, I cancelled the order, got emial confirmation, and watched my Credit Card for a week for any strange postings. I have since watched Broadways site for pricing of the D60. Prices in the magazine for the Camera Only has been $1499 and prices on the web have been $1609, $1699, $1709, $1749, $1799, $1849, $1899 and sometimes change within minutes of refreshing the screen. It is almost like they have a random number generator. I realize that market conditions change but when the camera is NOT in stock and may never be in stock prices should remain stable. If you are in the market for the D60, stay with the USA version of the Kit and order through a authorized dealer. Most big places have a wait of 1-3 weeks now. Try www.onecall.com as they are one of the largest dealers in the country with free Fed-X shipping. I got luck and got one from Stock at KEH cameras in Atlanta. Another tip: Charge on AMEX and use their "buyers protection" which permits you to use Broadways low price to get a refund of up to $250 difference in the price. This works and is worth getting the AMEX card even if it just for a year. Also on a Gold card you get an extended warranty of up to a year free! "
"Ordered online before seeing this site. As w/ everyone else got an e-mail to call them. I did, they told me that camera didn't come w/ accessories. Told them to cancel order which they did. I wouldn't suggest ordering from them but it wasn't as much of a hassle as everyone else seemed to have. "
"They are hard sell city. Try these guys instead:
bestpriceaudiovideo.com
They rate a 10.0 with resellerratings last time I checked and I bought my GL2 from them with no hassles at all.
Update 7/28/05: Just though I would mention that time is money to companies like these. The longer you keep them on the phone the more sales they lose. I remember my last purchase with BWAY years ago. Since I sensed I was getting the run around I decided to play the same game with them. I spent almost an hour jumping to even higher priced items just to keep the sales rep drooling on the phone. When I finally decided on the initial item, the Canon GL-1 camcorder I really wanted, the guy was so nerve racked he agreed to my terms and I got what I wanted. One could have easily done what I did and hung up; costing them at least one sale they could have made with someone else. I got the GL-1 but I still would not do business with them again; it's just common sense."
"This is by far the most disreputable company I have ever dealt with. I and a friend each placed an order for a Canon XL1S for what I thought was an excellent price. I even ordered their overinflated 2-day shipping ($154). I then received an email from "customer support" and got the hard sell. When it was clear I wasn't going to be suckered into buying their $700 warranty or $350 camera bag, they then told me it would take 3-4 weeks to get the camera. Stick with the big boys and read my review about my favorite reseller, B&H photo.
"
"This was a complete joke. I used a pricing search engine and went to these guys. I placed my order online and get an email to call them back to confirm the order. Right then I knew something was fishy after reading about other companies that this one turned out to be like. They wanted to confirm the order, yah right. They saw that I didn't order any overpriced extras and wanted to make sure that I ordered those since the batter that came with the camera only lasted "20 to 30" minutes and that he wanted to make sure that I might want to order the "full retail package" because this price didn't include that. Little did he know that I had already called and confirmed that before I placed my order. So I told him to cancel my order. He said that maybe it was his mistake and that he'd talk to a manager. After a minute or two on hold, he comes back and said sorry, you're right, its the sale price on the full retail package. After thwarting off more sale pitches, he told me it would ship the next day and I'd have it friday. The following monday I call because I haven't received it yet and nothing has been taken from my account. I called back 4 times before actually getting to talk the person to check on my order and he starts back in with the same sales crap again. He told me it was going to go out today BUT... he starts in with the sales pitch again... I told him to just cancel it... hopefully that will be the end of it"
"I concur with most of the other comments. Completely disreputable. I at first thought it was a nice touch that customer service was calling to verify the order before it was placed; however it was just to sell (read: hard sell) overpriced accessories for the digital camera. When asked why I didn't want an extended warranty, when the camera doesn't come with a warranty, I said Yes it does - 1 year. They responded, "No, this is a grey market camera". I told him that should have been posted on the website, and he simply replied by saying that most of their customers were not from the US - I HIGHLY doubt that!! Plus, he tried to tell me that their $100 smartmedia card would be a "25x High speed" card, and much faster than the "slow" SanDisk card I had recently purchased for $40. There is NO SUCH THING as a 25x, or any type of high speed SM card. In fact, they are all made by just a few manufacturers. Very untrustworthy. But, at least I found out in time to cancel my order."
"Ordered a D100 via the website after contacting customer service. I recieved an email to call "Jake" about my credit card. Spent an hour on hold with three different people (extremely rude), only to discover that no one could help me.
I contacted customer service the next morning (talked to Jake, x 218) regarding this order and was informed that the camera (Nikon D100) did not include a battery or charger at the stated price. This is not stated ANYWHERE on the website, and I cancelled the order. When I contacted customer service prior to ordering, I was told that the D100 included these items.
Cancelling the order took three phone calls, two waits on hold, and an email before it was handled.
I will NEVER do business with this comapny, and will not recommend them to ANYONE. High pressure sales tactics, misleading (or outright false) advertising, bait-and-switch marketing...you name the scam, they tried it."