"On August 3 I ordered a battery for a Nikon camera from New World Video Direct. I received an email confirmation of that order.
That's the last I've heard from them. Several emails asking about this order were not answered. This week, the emails are returned as undeliverable. I've used the one they say to use in their email ... "info@" ... and the one listed on their website as "customerservice@".
In my case, it's not even bait and switch ... it's take the money and disappear.
"

"NWV offered a product for sale that they didn't have and couldn't get. A month after ordering they got back to me and said that what I ordered, "was abruptly discontinued by the manufacturer." In fact, the product I ordered has been discontinued for a very long time. It's hard to find. The product is still listed for sale on their website. Next, they tried to sell me other junk. Thanks for wasting my time New World Video."

"After having placed an order, I got an email stating that there was a problem and I needed to call them. Having read negative reviews here and elsewhere, I decided to just cancel the order, and never called. I then received an email that the order had shipped, although I doubt this as I had not been charged. I called to attempt to verify that they had sent the item I ordered rather than a replacement, and got a message to call back during business hours, though I was calling well within hours. I left a voice message that I would not accept a replacement item, then an email reiterating that. The response came via email, actual name calling. I responded politely, then was threatened. Absolutely do not do business with these people."

"Sales person exhibited knowledge of questions asked on lens I purchased and assured me NWV prices were lowest available. They also indicated lens purchase could be returned during the holiday season. After purchasing the lens I found same lens at much lower price and also with free shipping. When requested RMA (return authorization) I got the run around but they finally agreed to accept the return but at a 15% restocking fee. I would never recommend this company for internet sales."

"Horrible experience! I ordered a Sony travel charger & battery for my video camera. A few days later, I get an email that there is an issue w/ my order. When I call them back, the rep tells me that the charger has been discontinued because of an overheating issue. He offers to replace it with a different, more expensive, charger. I was not pleased with the price so he gives me a "$20 discount." Oh and the kicker is he switches the battery too because, according to him, ever since the tsunami, Vivitar is making batteries for Sony. He goes on to tell me it's a better battery & they're giving it to me for the inconvenience. I ended up paying $22 extra for cheaper products! What a scam! I later find out that that the charger is worth $10 online. I paid $125! Never again. Don't do business with this company unless you want to get scammed."

"Classic Bait and Switch! They advertise an item at a low price, take your order and then call to tell you the item won't be available for months and attempt to sell you a more expensive item that's supposed to be better."

"I should have read the other reviews before ordering from NWV Direct. A day after receiving a confirmation notice for my order, I get another email saying the product isn't available - if it's not available, removing the posting for the item or say not available at check out! After reading other reviews, I'm now afraid that NWV is just a front to get credit card information."

"Don't waste your time with this seller.

I ordered memory, 12 days go by and I am expecting the delivery. Instead I get vmail message saying there's a problem with my order. I then check my order status and find that the order was canceled.

I call but the office was closed.
"

"I fell for their scam. How in the world can this company remain in business? I ordered a Canon 500D close up lens from NWS. As has been the case with others, I was contacted by NWS and told that the lens was back ordered but that I could order a newer HD model for a slightly higher price. I did that, but became suspicious after reading online reviews. I called back and asked if the replacement lens was a Canon lens and was told that it was. I called back again to cancel the order and was told that I could not cancel even though they admitted that the lens was not a Canon lens but was "Canon endorsed". This is blatant fraud. Why can they not be stopped?"

"DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! Total scam. I purchased a genuine Canon G12 battery charger online. One week later they called to tell me they were backordered for longer than 3 months, but would send me a "better, more expensive charger" that worked at home or in the car, for the same, lower price. I received the "better" charger and it was faulty, cheaply made, and wouldn't charge my battery. When I called to request a refund, I was instructed to go online, file a complaint, print that out, etc. etc. Made it extremely difficult to attempt to get a refund. I asked to file a complaint, and he said he would "note it in my file"... I asked to speak with a supervisor, and he responded that "he didn't have one, he was the supervisor, and only 3 people worked at the company..." What on earth... total waste of money and time."

"What a rip-off. I ordered a supposedly genuine Canon 77 mm closeup lens/filter. Looked like a good purchase price...turned out it was a cheap clone. No responses back, total rip-off...I was had, just don't be the next one. Same story as others, contacted me due to an "issue" with my order> Claimed there was a newer better model out there and that I had ordered an outdated version. Talk about how stupid I was, I am usually savvy to these things...duh, I am sooooo stupid. Just warning anyone else not to be the dunce I was...arrrrggghhhh "

"Don't buy from this merchant it is a rip off. I have ordered Canon TC-DC58D 58mm 1.4x Teleconverter Lens for Powershot G10/G11 Digital Camera amd received a HILA Lens instead. I have attempted to return and they don't want to take it back. What's up with they returned policy where states: "At Nwv Direct our goal is to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase. If for whatever reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you can return it within 21 days of receiving the item(s),

(Subject to the rules and policies), at which time we'll gladly exchange it for another item or give you a refund for the full amount of the original purchase price (excluding shipping charges), whichever you prefer. All returned or exchanged items must be in new condition, unregistered, in their original box, and include all packing material, blank warranty cards, manuals, and all accessories.""

"It looks like this company doesn't participate at resellerratings any longer, but no matter. I just tried to buy a SanDisk flash card for my camera. The transaction was like it was a duplicate script of other comments listed for this company. I got the email, the lady told me it was backordered for 6-8 weeks, then after looking to cancel offered me an "upgrade" Kingston card, a "better card" at a reduced price of $49 down from $59, but still more than my original order. I was online on their site and asked for the part number etc. so I could look it up online. Her reply was that "it isn't online yet".

It wasn't until I received my order confirmation that I then saw the part number of the card and saw that not only was it a lesser performing card, but also a card you can get at any retailer or online for $39. I brought that to the attention of their customer service and that's when the absurdity began in terms of their response. I'll simply post the correspondence for your amusement. Stay away from this company at all costs. They are a complete joke.

My first email:

To: Mark Stephens or support group,

Please cancel this order or expect an immediate return if it has already shipped. I called regarding an earlier email, speaking with a woman who informed me that the original Scandisk 16MB 400X compact flash card I ordered @$45 was on back order for 6-8 weeks, but that you could substitute a Kingston 16MB card that was in fact faster, better for $49. (reg $59) I couldn't look at the Kingston card on line because it wasn't listed yet.(I was told)

I was told that the price on the Kingston was normally $59, but at a better card, I could have it for $49. And this is in line with the Kingston 600X that you can get at BH Photo for $64. After receiving this email, the specs are not at all the same, certainly not better. Kingston makes a better card with 600X, 90MB which in that price range was what was implied I was getting. This card you are substituting is a lesser card for sure than the Scandisk and one which sells everywhere for around $39. Making your $49 price a nice uptick for NWV.

Consequently, I've read articles describing a "bait and switch" tactic by NWV which matches this exact transaction. So, either "upgrade" me to the Kingston 16GB Ultimate 600X which was implied as what I was getting, and an upgrade from the Scandisk 400X or issue a return authorization and refund asap and confirm with an email.

If this was done intentionally as to the above mentioned tactic, I will be reporting this to the appropriate source. My hope is that this can be handled in the appropriate manner.

Their response:

Hi Tim. Good to hear from you. First off your order was shipped. We shipped it according to YOUR instructions. Our calls are recorded. To send an email like this AFTER you asked us to ship you the item is ludicrous and obnoxious. It seems you are trying to pass the blame to us when it is clear you are at fault for making a rash decision. We have served hundreds of thousand of Customers. 99.9% of which were satisfied and obviously did not write a review of their satisfaction as I am sure you never did when receiving a product correctly and in good time. It is when we are unhappy that we write reviews.

You may refuse the package as is your right and we will refund you less the shipping costs incurred to us.

Thank you

My Response:


First of all, Jerk, before you start labeling someone ludicrous and obnoxious, I have written good reviews and always fill out the customer service surveys when I buy from ebay, finishline, B&H, and any and all other retailers I purchase from, even a auto shipping company that did a great job for me. I have never written a 'bad" review, I just don't use a retailer any more. I'm the guy who doesn't complain at a restaurant if the service is bad, I just don't go back. But if I ordered a double cheeseburger and you ended up giving me a single, telling me it's the same thing and charged me more, anyone would send it back.

If your conversations are recorded, then you would hear your sales person tell me that I am getting a "better" card than the one I ordered. You would also hear me state that I was online on your website while on the phone with her, and for her to tell me the specs/ or item number for the substituted item so I could look at it on line and decide, she told me, "it's not on our website yet". Yes, the shipping of the alternate item was at my instructions AFTER I was misled to believe it was a better item, an upgrade, at a reduced price. It wasn't until I received the confirmation with the part number / description that I was able to see what I was getting and noticed it wasn't the same or better at all, and at a higher price than that item sells for every day at any other retail store, internet or brick and mortar.

The absolute fact of the matter is, that I was told that you were going to substitute a "better" flash card at a "reduced" price due to you being backordered on the item I originally ordered. Instead I was sent a downgraded product at a price higher than I was paying for the better item ordered, AND higher than the original item ordered. You had the option to make this right, or to send out an idiotic email like this one.

Their response:
You are a Jerk. Remember. I didnt order something in a rush and realize it was a mistake. YOU DID!

Better is an opinion.

Most people do not write good reviews. You are definitely in the minority.

It's amazing how your mistake turns into an argument. Typical.

Luckily, and thank G-D, I never get angry. You, on the other hand will take this out on your co-worker. That's obvious.

Just refuse the package.

Thank you

My final response:
Ok "Frasier".

I'm not the one who lost a customer and any potential customer that you could have gained from the experience. It's your company and your business, not mine. Listen to the recording. I did not make a "mistake". You could have salvaged this as a professional with any sort of reply similar to this:

"Sorry for the misunderstanding. Simply return the item if it is not what you want and we will gladly refund your purchase. I can assure you that it was not our intent to offer you a lesser grade product" (no admission of any wrong doing or poor service, but at least professional)
"Sorry for any misunderstanding. Take a look at the product when it arrives, if you change your mind and decide to keep it I can offer you a further discount of "X""


Either of those would have been sufficient and I would have been the first one to jump on any comment line and attest, "This company was great, I had a minor issue and they took care of it. No problem."
Even if it wasn't the item that it was portrayed to be. But as a result, primarily due to your highly unprofessional response, you have lost the sale of several filters and a lens that I had been considering from your website. At this point I would caution any friend or other photographers in my circle about you and show them your emails. It is surprising that you obviously do not have a supervisor that oversees what you send out. Equally surprising that a customer has to teach you the basics of sales 101. "The customer is alway right" ( a legitimate one anyway). In this case, I wasn't trying to "rip you off", get anything for free, return something that had been used / opened, or any other situation. I was merely trying to point out that I felt I was mis-led by someone over the phone in the process of my order from the lack of information provided about the product and the assurance that it was "better" than what I ordered. You could make it right, stay neutral and simply refund, or take the position that you have with these emails.

Your actions could have made you much more than the $49 you were making from this (as I mentioned, I have plenty of Photo friends I would have turned on to your company not to mention the items I was prepared to buy) and your actions can cost you much more than the lost $49 sale. This is incredible. I am a sales manager with a $5billion company and I will be using your emails as an example of unprofessional responses and the costs that these types of emails and customer service can cost your company.

I'll send the package back as instructed.

Hopefully, you find this exchange amusing at the least, unprofessional at the most. But most importantly, do not give this company any of your business."

"Complete scam, very dishonest and unwilling to make the customer happy.

I ordered a B+W Circular Polarized filter for my 77mm lens. I received a call the next day from one of NWV's sales man letting me know the filter wasn't in stock. He told me the Vivitar brand filter was the same quality and maybe a bit better than the B+W. Being new to photography and unfamiliar with the brands, I trusted the salesmen's advice and purchased the Vivitar (VIVCPL77) filter for $59.99. The filter has been sitting in my camera bag for a while since I haven't done done any landscape photography. I later found out the filter's average price is about $12 online. I called support and I was told there was nothing they could do since I was passed the return period.

I feel this company is purposely taking advantage of amateur photographers. Looking back now it's a obvious they took advantage of my ignorance by the tactics used. The Vivitar filter sold to me is no where close to a $60 filter.

"

"I ordered two lenses and a battery pack for a 5 year old canon powershot g9 from NWV. After I placed my order I googled the company and came across this site and a few ohrrs that were not complimentary of NWV, to say the least. After reading everything, I started to get nervous about what the coming days were going to bring concrrning my transaction with them. I recieved the expected form email from them "we tried to reach you....please call us about your order" etc at 10 AM this morning, then they called and left a voicemail at 11 am (from some guy named mark). I called them back and got Mark's voicemail, and left a message along the lines of I'd heard that they were prone to backorders with a lot of items, and that I only wanted exactly what I ordered, and if I couldn't get it now or within a week, then they could cancel my order. A few hours go by and I call back after not hearing from them. I call mark's extension, and someone looks up my order and says it's on indefinite backorder and that the order had been cancelled. He was perfectly polite, and I had no issue with his phone manners. I will keep checking my credit card activity to make sure no strange charges show up, as one reviewer suggested

I am giving them two stars because everything I ordered wasn't in stock and is listed on their website. This is a major problem: you shouldn"t be able to pay for something when they obviously don't have it and probably never will again. I do believe that it is just a method to lure people into a high pressure sales situation. who knows, maybe they do have items that are advertized and actually in stock. I am going to continue my search for lenses elsewhere, probably KEH and Adorama. Try NWV if you must, but don't expect much. I don't think they actively tried to rip me off, but I also wasn't buying anything but a canon lens and would not accept a substitute."