"Ordered, never received order confirmation (printed the web confirmation page). Not received after 10 days; called, they asked me if I wanted a U.S. or European warranty. U.S., of course! Another 10 days, no camera. Called, they said it shipped Monday and would arrive on Thursday. It didn't. Cannot get through to them by phone after several times and have disputed the charge on my credit card."

"Hello folks,
Stay away from "****@****, www.hotbuyselectronics.com, Elliot, Harry and probably all the rest of this sales team. They underquoate prices, substitute cheap replacements, lie about availability of products and to date refuse to provide a refund to me for goods not delivered. This mob are nothing short being fraudsters. "

"This is clearly a refurbished Nikon CoolPix 3100 camera yet the advertisements from this company HIDE this fact fraudulently!

In fact, I considered purchasing from other vendors who said their cameras at the same or lower price were refurbished so I did NOT buy from those HONEST vendors; instead, I bought what I thought was a NEW camera from Hotbuyselectronics.com, 125 Taaffe Place, Brooklyn, NY 11205, Tel. ***-***-****, Fax. ***-***-****, Toll Free 1(***-***-**** but which turned out to be an unboxed previously used Nikon CoolPix 3100 instead!

This is clearly fraud."

"Ordered a camera from them online. Checked a week later to get tracking number. They claimed it was no longer in stock. Claimed that they emailed me, but no email had arrived. I doubt they could locate the camera at the price they quoted. Very shady company."

"On 05/18/05 I placed an order for the Casio Exilim EX-Z750 for $344.98 plus shipping (http://www.hotbuyselectronics.com/item_detail.php?item_id=109048). Received 2 calls while I was out saying they wanted to confirm my order. Tried calling but it was late at night and there was no answer so I replied to their 'thank you for your order' email saying I was eagerly awaiting my new camera. The next day, 5/19/05) I received an email from them saying "THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ORDER, HOWEVER THE CAMERA IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE USA MODEL @ $ 388.00 PLUS SHIPPING. PLEASE ADVISE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU BOB"
I cancelled the order."

"fraudulent company - many sites online didicated to exposing them. Look around."

"These guys are absolute frauds. I ordered a product, the invoice was generated and then I received an e-mail suggesting I should call. They told me I could purchase a US warranty for an extra $$ and that product I purchased was an import. This was mentioned no where on the very descriptive page. He reference a line in their policies saying that "warranty may be extra" but there was no indication that this was without a warranty. In fact, they had the option to purchase an extended warranty, which would obviously lead one to believe that the basic warranty was included, otherwise it would have been listed as an option. Furthermore, there is no other price for the "non-import" version of the product. They refused to sell me the product at the price they promised. One of their rude staff even hung up on me (no I wasn't yelling, though I should have). DO NOT GIVE THESE MERCHANTS YOUR BUSINESS - THEY ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY."

"This is one of those Brooklyn scams which give New York bad name. Called in to inquire about a camera, was assured it had a US warranty. When I reached for the credit card and almost ordered, the same person on the phone told me, 'Do you want it with a US warranty?' when I said he told me it had a US warranty, he pretended that he misunderstood me the first time and thought I meant an older model of that camera. The camera I wanted with the US warranty, according to them, was the same price as anywhere in stores plus inflated shipping costs. Do not bother dealing with these guys."

"The prices were great, but they're scammers, in my opinion. After placing my order, I was required to confirm my purchase by phone to "insure timely delivery" of my order. So, reluctantly, I did. I was informed that the accessory item chosen on their website was actually a different price. I was told it would be $19 more than the previously given price. I agreed to this extra amount. But... I received an additional $60 charge on top of the amount already given to me. When attempting to reconcile this with a customer representative, he arguably told me that I was told the price and that he could do nothing about it. Also... it took them an entire week to even send my package out. It's been two weeks and I still have not recieved my order. I was given a valid tracking number, so I believe it's actually coming. But, I paid way more than I intended. I could've gone to Wal-Mart and saved more money, time, and frustration. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY... unless you like dealing with shady companies."

"Purched extended warranty for Panasonic Camcorder. Everything went okay until warranty arrived in mail a few days later. The warranty was for a DVD device and incorrect camcorder model was listed on invoice. I was even charged $10 shipping for USPS buisness letter! I called to complain and was put on hold and later told that the DVD warranty would cover my camcorder. I stated that I did not feel comfortable until I talked to the extended warranty company who Hotbuyelectronics is a dealer for. Extended warranty company stated the warranty was incorrect and I would need to purchase a different type. By the way the warranty co recommended B & H instead."

"Typical bait and switch. Tried to tell me that the internet price for a Tamrac camera case did not include the case dividers.

I dealt with them previously via eBay. They were on their best behavior. Of course - every buyer gets to rate them and every rating is visible to potential buyers. Their internet sales behavior is very typical of NYC camera sales outfits. Shop elsewhere!"

"Merchant advertised gray market (no warrantee) camera lens, but did not disclose this. The item had a mail-in rebate, but the price advertised reflected the price **after** the rebate was taken, even though the credit card charge was for the full price. The merchant charged a high cost for shipping. I tried to cancel the order within hours of it being placed, but the mercdhant would not cancel it, claiming it had already been shipped. However, the order number they provided did not produce any results for at least 48 hours after the so-called shipment."

"Hot Buys Electronics - Beware before you buy. I bought a 120-300mm Sigma lens and 2x converter from them. I began the process of the online order. Once I added it to my basket, there was a huge banner that said please call now to ensure we have your order correct. Once doing this, they say they will do it over the phone instead of online. MISTAKE!!! They took the order and charged me over $150 more than what is stated on the web and also what they quoted me. Once I called them, they said that they sent me the lens with a metal connector (???). It also came shipped with a "shipped from Japan" box. Please beware that after their modification of the price, there was little difference between them and Amazon which is a reputable company. These people bait you and then charge you what they want. Once challenged, they say there is nothing we can do about it.
"

"Ordered a Epson PictureMate printer. Never received a confirmation email or phone call. Called a week later to inquire about the status of the order, they said it was backordered. "Probably available in about two weeks." Great way to do business.

January 21 Update: I called back to cancel the order, was put on hold. When they came back to the line, they said they just got them in stock. But not for the advertised price. It's for the new price of $199. The same price all other retailers are selling them for. There needs to be a picture of these guys next to "bait and switch" in the dictionary."

"Very dissappointing. Website advertised the Canon Optura 40 in stock and I was told that the product was not in stock "because it had not been released yet". Its one thing to be out of stock, another to lie that a product out in the market for more than 9 months. "