"Everything was going wonderful with Family Photo and Video until I got my order. I ordered a Sigma EF-430 ST flash for a Pentax camera because it was just what I needed (an auto-focus auto-zoom flash) and on a closeout sale for 80$. I ordered it from their website on 12/20/04 at 1:30 PM for a total of 92.89$ The flash was 79.99 (a great deal, but it should have been since the flash has been discontinued for 5 years) but shipping was pretty hefty. 12.99$ for standard shipping. I got my order today on 1/3/05. I thought this was very fast shipping with the holiday and all. Everything was good until I tried to use my new flash. The auto-zoom does not register and the flash does not even test fire. I called Sigma who infomred me how old the flash was and offered to take it back and fix it for me under their warranty. Then I called Family Photo and Video and tried to get an exchange because they shipped me a defective product. No way would they hear that. They told me to talk to Sigma. Any reputable camera store would except the exchange free of charge to the customer and appologize. I'm glad I am going through Sigma because I doubt I would ever get a flash back if I tried going through Family Photo. One more thing, when I called back to talk to a manager about an exchange a woman answered the phone for "Abe's" as in Abe's of Maine, I said I needed a manager for Family Photo and she transfered me to a dead phone line and I had to call back. I would not order from either store again because they dont stand behind their orders and are untrustworthy. They also tried to persuade me to post positive reviews with a 5$ incentive but as you can see I would never promote such scum. Oh and to add you must have an account including your phone number, adress, credit card number and all that good stuff that you cannot cancel ellectronicaly. I am dreading the call to cancel that thing, what kind of accessory will they try to push on me this time. god, what scum."

"ordered and all went well. i was asked about purchasing EVERYTHIG that could go with the camera. i already had it or it was on the way. subject was dropped immediately. shipping was on time and 800 number works great. i'd do business with these folks anytime."

"I bought a camera from them, there price and my credit card did not match, called and they made the purchase right and with more sandisc card. "

"Bottom Line: They are another scamming Brooklyn Camera Shop. Don't order from them.

How I know this:
I placed my order for a Minolta G500. I got a confirmation email, but no tracking number. Couple days later recieved an email a few days later about a problem with the order, it said to call "Morris". Morris gave BS about why the camera haden't yet shipped, and then tried to scam me into buying accessories. Couple more days pass, still no tracking number. I call and am told that it has shipped, but they can't give me the tracking number. I ask why, they say it's "not in the system," I tell her I don't even know what that means, so she repeats that it's "not in the system," as if that would explain why they don't know the tracking number for a package they already shipped.

Remarkably, they did end up shipping it, and sent me an email with a tracking number. The camera did arrive in good condition.

I wasn't going to post here about my generally bad experience, until I got an email from them offering a gift-certificate bribe to anyone who would post good reviews on epinions, etc. Here is my reply to that letter, with their email quoted.
-

Ah, I see. After I placed my order, I did visit resellerratings.com and
found that you guys have created numerous horror stories there. I was
worried about getting my order at all, and thought I'd for sure get scammed.
After numerous phone calls complete with transfers to nowhere, though, I did
succeed in getting you to ship my camera - almost a week after I ordered it.

I was wondering why there were also a bunch of sparkling reviews on those
websites, and now I see that those are the people you bribed with gift
certificates to post inflated reviews.

So no, I won't give you credit for being a decent camera store when I know
you tried to rip me off and rip a lot of other people off. I will, though,
post your bribe offer to all the websites I can, so that fewer people make
the nearly disastrous mistake I made of ordering from you.

Original Message:
Dear Melody Cobleigh,
The members of the Family Photo And Video staff are delighted that you chose us for your electronic equipment needs. We trust your purchase went smoothly and efficiently. Day by day we are trying to reach our goal of complete customer satisfaction and we hope that your order was handled with the care that you deserve. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase please call us at 1-***-***-**** or e-mail us: ****@**** .
We would like to extend our service to the numerous potential photography and electronics users in the United States and around the world and we would appreciate it if you could assist us. It would help us greatly if you could post a rating/review explaining the level of service you received on one or all of the Comparison Shopping websites outlined below.

We know the time and effort it takes to provide feedback and we value it as much as you do. As a show of our appreciation you can receive a $5 Gift Certificate for each website your review appears on. Receive a Coupon for up to $30! You can use it for yourself on future purchases or give it to a friend for their purchase! See Below


2) Nextag.com - http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/UserReviewInput.jsp?seller=164366&product=55418149
3) Epinions.com - http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/tnode_~220648739713
6) You can also post a positive review on Photo.net`s review forum,which lists a number of comments from customers. Click here to join Photo.Net: http://www.photo.net/register/user-new?email=&return_url=%2fneighbor%2fpost%2dnew%2etcl%3fcategory%5fid%3d0

To obtain your Gift Certificate simply email us at ****@**** and let us know your order number and which websites you submitted a rating on, and once it is posted, we will send you an email with a Promotion Code that you can enter upon Checkout to receive $5-$20 off your next purchase.

We feel we can surpass a great deal of our competitors in the level of customer service we provide, and we would like our ratings to illustrate this. If you have any questions regarding a review/rating please feel free to call or e-mail us at support@FamilyPhotoAndVideo. Please do not reply to this email as it is automated and cannot provide a response.
If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with our service please contact us at your earliest convenience so that we may resolve the situation.

You can call us at 1-***-***-**** or you can e-mail us 24 hours a day at ****@****.
Sincerely,
The Family Photo And Video Staff
www.FamilyPhotoAndVideo.com
*Gift certificates cannot be combined with any other offers. Please allow 1-3 days for rating confirmation. Please do not include specifics in your review such as your personal information or any specifics regarding Family Photo And Video (including sales or customer service representative`s names). It may prevent your review from appearing on certain websites.
"

"Very competitive pricing, good customer service policies. Felt very confident with my purchase. Order arrived in very timely fashion. Will come back to Family Photo and Video for future purchases."

"SCAM! Nikon was offering a $200 rebate on the camera I was interested in. Their price after rebate was unclear since the store price ($579) shown for the Nikon Coolpix 5000 was less than the after rebate price ($589.99). I went through the on line order process to verify the correct price and before finishing my order, the last page notes that "this is the amount that will be charged to your credit card"; that amount was $607.95 ($28.95 for shipping). I recieved a confirmation e-mail with the correct total but I called to confirm this amount anyway. The sales person informs me that this is correct and sells me another $100 worth of merchandise promising an email on the new amount. After no e-mail, I called to confirm everything and was informed that it shipped that day (fast!) and my total was over $900!!! I was told that the Price confirmed represented the price I would end up paying after the $200 rebate! What a scam!"

"Family Photo was the least expensive authorized dealer for the c5050z digital camera I sought. I called them as spoke to Avi and said I was leary about buying from them because of the poor ratings I saw here for their company. He assured me I would get the correct merchandise for the advertised price promptly. I paid a little extra for second day delivery and agreed to purchase a discounted extended warranty. The next day I called to get the tracking number and it seems they had overlooked sending it out the day before. He assured me they would make up for it by sending it out next day air and they would absorb the additional shipping cost. The next morning I received the camera, as promised and billed the price promised. It was not gray market and all the promised accessories were included. I was pleased."

"After waiting almost 3 weeks, since the item was supposidly "backordered" I finally recieved my camera. During this waiting period I had begun to worry since I had started up reading some of these reviews and thought I had been scammed.

However, I am quite pleased with my camera and the deal that I got. I had purchased the Minolta Dimage F100 for $355 when it was all said and done, compared to Best Buy's $450. I am happy to say I recieved the real thing, and not some of these "gray market" devices. US packaging in original retail box and a US warranty.

I am sure the concerns being addressed are true to some extent, but from my experiences I am satisfied although I would warn to tread cautiously, do complete research on the product you are interested in and make sure it is in stock and ready to ship. If you want something immediately and not want to worry, find a bigger retail chain, but expect to pay for the service too.

You really get what you paid for, and I paid for the camera and barebones service."

"Frustrating in working with this seller. Great prices on some items, very expensive on accessories that they push hard for you to purchase. One of the accessories was below expectations and took >1.5 month to return and get credit. "

"My advice? Avoid them, unless you are extremely desperate and want a good price on a photo or video product. When placing your order, do NOT call them, place your order via the web where it's trackable. That way they can't 'add' items to your order and dispute it when you 'called them'.

My purchase was a Sony Camcorder + high powered battery. They pushed the $99.99 warranty, the case, the lens filter, blah, blah, blah. I turned them all down, not interested. The $62 (yes, SIXTY TWO) dollars for shipping was outrageous. That is 7% of my order. I explained to "Tony" isn't that a bit high. His reasoning was the shipping costs, insurance, etc. Complete garbage.

I called within two hours of placing my order, to cancel the order for the battery only, as I didn't need it. After a few seconds of Tony trying to convince me I needed the battery, within literally 10 seconds, he told me he's cancelling my entire order and to go elsewhere! Arrogant piece of work.

Of course, I've yet to see if my credit card has been billed, it likely has. I'll set the credit card company on them if it has.

Reasons I will NOT go back:
1. Bad customer service.
2. Was not informed of the total cost to my credit card
3. Was not informed of the shipping cost
4. Was not informed of the shipping method or how long it will take

Reasons I *would have* gone back:
1. Excellent price.

More advice? Go to B&H Photo instead.
"

"Please do not waste your time shopping from a corrupt resellers. Like you read everywehre, "when I declined the overpriced accessories they then claimed 2 items were not in and offering to buy the more expensive item"
Hell is so close, why don't you go for a vacation there? And that was my Family experience."

"I cannot recommend this company.

I placed a $740 order on Wednesday, July 31, 2002. I received an email message from them asking that I call them to confirm the order. I called the next day at about 10AM. "Tony" was the salesperson I spoke to. He tried to sell me some other stuff I didn't care for. He told me that the order was going out on Friday, Aug. 2nd.

I sent several email messages to "Tony" and "****@****" asking for a tracking number since Friday, August 2, 2002. I finally heard from them Tuesday, Aug 6. Their email reply said that the order shipped Friday Aug 2nd.

I received my order on Tuesday Aug. 6. Never received a tracking number. I expect a tracking number if one is promised. I especially expect a tracking number if I order over $100 in merchandise.

Order arrived in very good condition, but "Tony" included a 4-year Mack warranty without my permission. I specifically told him over the phone I did not want it when we spoke on Thursday Aug 2nd., but he included the warranty anyway.

Buy from them at your own risk. "

"I cannot recommend this company.
I placed an order for a Canon G2
on a Thursday, needing the camera for a trip by the following Tuesday.
The order was not received by Tuesday, due to the fact that they did not process the order in a timely fashion.
This is despite the reassurances from the sales people that the order would be received by Tuesday, especially since I wanted 2 day air.
Where the situation really fell apart was on Tuesday midday, where I spent almost one hour on the phone waiting to talk to someone, just trying to figure out my order status.
Nobody seemed to know, and the web order status page was scant on details.
I was on hold for a total of 40 minutes, and got hung up on 5 times.
When I finally talked to someone who seemed to be in charge, he tried to talk me out of cancelling the order at length.
Bottom line: the customer service when trying to troubleshoot an order is simply not good.

Additionally, beware of the 6% shipping charge, which I don't think is clear enough.

"

"They were super. The order did ship one day later than they originally thought, but it arrived flawlessly. I don't have a lot to say because I got exactly what I ordered, on time, and at a great price. Can't ask for more than that. I was hesitant at first because of what I've heard about NY camera places. They've definitely got me for a long term customer."