"Great Price but took awhile to get my order"

"got my camera as promissed. A++"

"UGH.....I feel stupid. I can't believe that I fell for one of these typical New York Bait and Switch camera store frauds. In my research I had run across some bogus reviews from them, saying they were good.....obviously this was created by them.

So, normal story for dishonest, unethical camera businesses.

I ordered a new 5D Mark II camera. Decent price.

Of course I get the "Call" from them 5 days later wanting to "Verify my Order". Huge red flag....no reputable business is ever going to do this....ever.

The typical new york, fast talking, numbskull starts in....."Want to verify your order"...blah blah.

Then - The first bait and switch - "Sir, I noticed that you didn't buy a battery and a charger. Did you want these?" What a joke. What reputable dealer is EVER going to sell a camera without the required battery and charger? Complete SCAM

I responded with disgust to the battery/charger bait and switch....

THEN this dishonest shyster says "I noticed that you bought the 5D with the plastic body and not the professional body for this 5D. Did you want to stick with that or upgrade to the professional 5D Mark II body."

I was stunned - I said "So, this is not a regular 5D Mark II...the only one that you see on Canon's product list??" He responded with "Yes, it is. You just bought the plastic Japanese model and can upgrade for $500 more to get the Professional Body."

No where on the web page that I selected this from does it say "THIS CAMERA DOES NOT COME WITH A BATTERY OR CHARGER." Nor does the web page for this camera say "THIS IS NOT A 5D Mark II. THIS IS A PLASTIC IMITATION KNOCKOFF"

I ended the conversation with a few choice words, making sure he knew I knew they were a total SCAM. He responded with "We are not a scam. It says right on the site that this is a Polycarbonate Janpenese model." I continued to let him know the many reasons they were scammers....

I went back to their site, buried deep into a different page than the camera page, in small font it said "polycarbonate".

Anyways, please stay away from these shysters....."

"STAY AWAY from these jokers!!!
I placed the order for a highly discounted digital camera on Friday. Late Sunday I get an email to call them and confirm the order. I called and had to leave a voice message; and I sent an email reply. They never returned either. So, Monday afternoon I called again. I was asked to confirm my address and item ordered. Then, the sales pitch came for more accessories and extended coverage. I was told that the item should arrive in 7 - 10 days. Late Monday night I received an email from them that the item was backordered for 6 - 8 weeks. I found out on my website account that the item was backordered starting Monday morning; the salesman LIED to me, even after I expressed to him that it was a gift. Sure enough, Tuesday morning I tried three times before finally talking to this salesman, getting lost in their telephone system each time. I explained what had happened, from my perspective, and wanted to know what was going on. He quickly turned the cold shoulder and told me three times that he was transferring me to customer service. Again, I got lost in their phone system. I called his extension once again and he, again, wanted to transfer me, but, I told him to cancel the order. The funniest thing about all this is that in the end he apologized for the inconvenience and wished me happy holidays. I told him "How's that happening since you were going to screw me without the camera?" THIS IS JUST A FRONT (maybe a scam). They don't care about the customer. They never returned any of my voice messages or emails, none. I also noticed that this company no longer comes up in the search engines when shopping online. STAY AWAY."

"This another NYC bait and switch operation. They offer a low price then make you confirm your order. They pressure you to buy extra stuff and when you don't buy the extras they tell you the camera is on back order and will be 6-8 weeks.
I will never do business with these crooks/shysters again."

"I ordered a Canon EOS 7D body on Friday. Tuesday I got an email asking me to call to confirm my order. Same story you've read elsewhere here - classic bait and switch. They conned me into upgrading to a magnesium body for an extra $300. The next day I was suspicious because the magnesium body is one of the big features touted about the 7D. I even went on their website and found it in their description, above the words "Japanese Model" and "Polycarbonite". I told them I was contacting my credit card company to refund the difference. At first Sean said "you're getting a good deal". Then Eli called and when I wouldn't promise not to file a complaint, contacted UPS to have them intercept the shipment. He accused me of playing games and trying to steal the camera. When I mentioned the description on their website, magically it disappeared! I got an email from Canon today and I quote "The body of the 7D is made from magnesium alloy. There is only one version of the camera, so a 7D purchased in Japan will also have a magnesium alloy body. Photovideosuperstore.com is not an authorized
dealer and they used what is called "bait and switch" to try to convince you to spend more money on a better body." BUYER BEWARE! This is classic BAIT & SWITCH. Avoid them at any cost. Pay a few more bucks and deal with a reputable seller. Added on 11/13 - after they intercepted the camera from UPS, they still charged me for it!"

"I placed this order in July. Salesman called me and tried to sell me additional items. I had already added a solid accessory package. I was told it was in stock. Never heard back from them so 2 weeks later I go on site to find my camera is on backorder.

I called today the 7th of Sept and was told it is still on backorder and is coming from Malaysia."

"Never Got My In Stock Camera -- I've meant to write this for a while. If you just order a camera body or probably a kit, without ordering overpriced batteries, cards and the like -- don't expect to be using that camera anytime in the next couple months, or maybe ever! AND, DON'T FALL IN THE TRAP OF PAYING MANY TIMES MORE FOR WARRANTIES, BATTERIES, ETC., than you'd have to pay elsewhere. Be sure not to order anything extra until you've run a comparison here or Amazon, Google. When I ordered a camera it was listed as "in stock." After placing the order I called, was told it would ship in a day or so. Called back in a day or so, was told ...in a day or so. Next I was told the camera was on bacK order and would be 4 to 6 weeks. The whole time the web site, which was updated with other stuff, kept listing the camera as in stock! My experience was that my deal was so good, they probably couldn't have made money on it. So, they stalled in the hopes that I'd cancel. After 6 weeks I called and was told it would take a lot longer -- their shipment hadn't arrived. (Was also told they didn't know why the web listed it in stock.) In the meantime, some people -- probably those who order the overpriced extra items did receive cameras during this time and wrote reviews. ONE GOOD THING, I did do what they wanted, I'm pretty sure. I cancelled -- but that's actually because during the wait I changed my mind on which camera I'd like. So there."

"Ordered a Canon 5D mark II,Sean Says its on backorder,but i can buy the American Version with Magnesium Body for extra 200$,because what i want is a Plastic Body....I sent a letter to Canon USA,and they say Canon is NOT making Plastic Body for the 5D mark II. So don't waist your time for this crap company."

"Ordered a Nikon D90 for a great price. They call you the next day and tell you about the "surprise" handling and insurance fee of 5% of your total. Not cool. This is after you have already entered your credit card info on their site - so the "grand total" listed at the time of purchase is not actually the total cost you will pay. I cancelled my order with them because it's just slimy and I don't want to support that sort of thing. Will order somewhere else!"

"Avoid at all costs. If the price is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true. This retailer is basically a bait and switch scam and misrepresents their products. Their sales people are aggressive and difficult to deal with. "

"I bought a Canon 5D Mark II for an incredible price using Google's Product Search. They had an incredible price that beat all competition easily and I came here to read the reviews. There were a few negative marks but if I could score the Mark II for that price I figured it was worth the leap.

I read all the fine print. Nowhere in the description of the product did it say that the model was the wholesale version, refurbished or used etc etc so I figured it was a safe purchase. I get my order confirmation this morning and I call the number to speak with Sean. Sean asks me if I'm aware that the version of the camera I'm buying is the wholesale plastic model.

I am very confused. No, how could I be aware. Nowhere on your site does it say anything about the camera being anything less than the full retail version of the product. He asks if I want to upgrade to the full magnesium body retail camera that would bring the price up another $600 dollars. Unbelievable.

I checked the page again. Under the description of the product it states that the camera is the full Magnesium body version.

You can take a look yourself: http://www.photovideosuperstore.com/product.asp?id=15899

Check under description. At the bottom it states that the body is a magnesium alloy. Does it say anywhere on that page that the camera is anything less than what you would get at any other store?

No. It was a bait and switch, pure and simple. Just goes to show you that what looks too good to be true probably is. To state something is one thing, offer to sell it at an incredible price and then try and pitch something else in its place is not only dishonest, it's fraudulent.

I'm still waiting to hear back about what the explanation might be for the failure of this transaction, but I'm extremely nervous now that I gave my credit card out to a company that seems to engage in dishonest business practices.

Trust is the cornerstone of all business transactions and this place is not transparent with it's products and services.


Edit ---

After a few back and forth responses from their sales team they told me that it's clear as day as obviously there is another 5D Mark II available on the site that says USA Retail next to it. I've been told that this is obviously my fault for not noticing that one of the ads says "Japan body" at the bottom of the detailed description despite the fact that they neglect to mention the product has a plastic body instead of the magnesium alloy advertised on the page.

Terrible service, terrible company, terrible fraud. I feel like a fool for not taking some of the complaints here seriously. Stay away."

"All I have to say is WOW. STAY away from this seller like the flue. I order the canon sx20 is from these guys and it was the lowest price on the web, I should have read the reviews or what some people wrote first cause it was too good to be true. Anyways they sent me an email to confirm order and then they try to sell me all these other accessories when i called. That really wasn't a big problem. Then the seller ask me if I would like to upgrade to a USA model. So I asked why. I guess the model I got was had asian menus. There was nothing on the site that said that about the camera. Its upgrade was 40 dollars more. Screw you guys. I rather buy from amazon. You guys are a bunch of thiefs."

"I had a terrible experience with Dealer Cost Car Audio where they charged my credit card without having product, lied about the order status. I still have not received the refund 28 days after they said I would have it within 3-7 days (the bank says that they're lying about this too). When I finally canceled that order, I ordered the same product from Photo Video Superstore. It shipped the same day and arrived in perfect condition. I had an excellent shopping experience."

"Ordered an Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 because of the low price ($269) and received a phone call the next day asking me to "Confirm" my order. When i returned the phone call it was a classic "bait and switch" tactic. I was told that the camera does not come with a battery and that they were having a special this week and for just $49.99 I could order one. I replied that I would use was comes in the box, and they said that they could not ship it without purchasing a battery. I have dealt with seller like this before, the best thing to do is just stay away. "