"i ran a search for fuji film and ended up at film emporium's site(surprisingly the film was cheaper than i thought it would be). I had to have the film for the next day because i was shooting a friends performance the following day. at first i was going to pick it up myself in manhattan but that would have taken too much time,(which i didn't have) and would've cost aound $25 for transportation on the railroad and subway, which is the same amount to have film emporium ship it overnight for me. after i put the order through (whith overnight shipping) i got a call from film emporium suggesting that i change the shipping to ground for $10 which will arrive to my address the next day anyway (i live in LI). then he asked if i was doing a video transfer, which i was, so he suggested i purchase the video stock then versus buying it later at the lab which marks the price up as much as three times, or paying shipping again. Those guys looked out when i was willing to pay more."
"They advertise a low price but hit me with a $10 shipping charge for a mini-dv tape cleaner. They also did a bait and switch with me but what they offered cost less than the original item I ordered. I should have cancelled when I had the chance because I could have found it cheaper somewhere else. With a lower shipping cost. I definately won't be buying from them again!
Here's what they wrote when I complained:
When orders are placed online we provide the shipping rate. We make shipping a convenient service for our customers. We even invite our customers to use there own shipping accounts. Customers do have the option to not purchase shipping (Now they tell me!). For ground shipments we charge a rate of $10. In most cases our customers do not order single video tapes. We regularly ship large quantities of motion picture film stock and video tape stock all over the country, and in most cases we suffer profit loss from charging this base rate. (Boo-Hoo!) I'm sure you know from your experience that if you ship twenty 400' rolls of thirty-five millimeter motion picture film weighing a total of 48 lbs. to Florida using Ground service it is certainly going to cost more than $10. For us to offer the exact rate for each order would not be practical.
Yeah right, I have lots of experience shipping 48 lbs of film to Florida! And It wouldn't be practical to calculate the exact rate for each order? Either they're inept at running an online business or they're deceptive. I choose the latter."
"This company is another bait and switch operation! Stay Away! I ordered a number of Sony Digital Beta tapes at the "Sale Price" that was posted on the website and received a confirmation email with all the order information. Four hours later I received a call from Film Emporium stating that they were out of stock on the particular tapes I had ordered but they could sell me a different brand. When I asked if I would be receiving the new brand at the "sale price" the customer service rep informed me that it would not be possible. The only way I could receive the "sale rate" was to wait until film emporium restocked. I then asked him when that would be and he told me it could take up to one year. I cancelled the order right then and there. The customer service rep was rude, pushy when he tried to sell me the other brand of tapes and insolent when I told him to cancel the order. Stay away from these hacks!"