"I ordered a Canon 580 EX II Flash. Sonic Camera was very helpful in choosing the flash that best suited my needs and the shipping was fast. Sonic also had a competitive price. the product was packed well for shipping. I would recommend Sonic. They are a great supplier for cameras and accessories. "
"Soniccameras.com is an online store for camera and video equipment. This company is so outrageous in their illegal tactics that I thought it best to put as much information out there on them as was possible. Thousands of people have been scammed and if you google them "sonic camera" you will find page after page of boards, forums, blogs with major complaints against this company. It is believed that this is one of many online scam camera/video companies operating by one organization. Beware: If the price of a camera or lens sounds too good too be true, then you are about to be scammed. The following are only a few of the sites with major complaints against www.soniccameras.com. You should read a few of these before you even think of doing business with this online scam operation:
http://www.soniccameras.com/
http://www.soniccamerassuck.com/Welcome.html
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Sonic_Cameras - 221 NEGATIVE COMMENTS WITH THE SAME COMPLAINTS. BAIT AND SWITCH, CHARGING THE CREDIT CARD, etc.
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sonic-cameras
http://www.ripoffreport.com/
http://www.newyork.bbb.org/ "This business has an unsatisfactory record with the BBB"
From Resellersratings.com -"DO NOT BUY HERE! Bait and switch... the guys you talk to are horribly rude, and actually berate you! "
"They are tricksters, scammers, liars, cheaters"
"Like all of the other reviewers, I was appalled at the rude unprofessional behavior."
"Horrible customer service. Classic bait and switch. Charge you for items that aren't in stock. AVOID, AVOID, AVOID"
"I really hope there is a better way to forewarn consumers before they get caught up in their advertised low online prices. I just reported these guys to the Federal Trade Commission and Better Business Bureau for fraud. I had to cancel my credit card."
AMAZON.COM won't list their items because of the known problems with this company. In Amazon's DIGITAL CAMERA FORUM, there are 55 negative posts about SonicCamera.com. Same song and dance. When I contracted directly several of the major camera/lens manufacturers, I was told point blank that they were aware of this company, did NOT provide them with their products and did not know where they were getting their products. Others who have been scammed believe that many of these products are Grey products, meant for sale outside the US. Hence, you don't get what should work for your US-specific equipment. Others who have been scammed, myself included, believe they are getting their equipment from China and the stuff is just junk. Plastic where the parts would be metal, poor quality when it works, etc.
They also fake their own ratings and reviews online.Conclusive Proof that Sonic Cameras is Manipulating ResellerRatings http://thoughts-of-dave.blogspot.com/2008/03/conclusive-proof-that-sonic-cameras-is.html"The wonderful crew from Sonic Cameras have been planting fake positive reviews on resellerratings, pushing their rating up to a still-crappy 3.08. All of the positive reviews are from people that registered the very day they wrote the review. Theyve been sloppy though, simply cutting and pasting from positive reviews of legitimate ecommerce sites."
WHAT YOU SHOUD DO IF YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED BY SONIC CAMERA.
The best that can be done is to file complaints everywhere you can think of but first with Federal Government organizations whose job it is to protect the consumer and the use of the Internet:
1) FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)www.fbi.gov / http://www.ic3.gov/:
2) Federal Trade Commission (Nation's Consumer Protection) https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
3) NY Better Business Burea http://www.newyork.bbb.org/ and YOUR OWN state's BBB.
4) Submit complaints, open a DISPUTE with your credit card company, or cancel your credit card IF you got caught in the Sonic Camera trap. There are resports that they have used the credit cards of people months later. That's CREDIT CARD THEFT.
5) Continue to call them and FIGHT THEM. They will curse you out, call you names, threaten you, etc. It's unbelievable what these people will say to you but DO NOT LET THAT STOP YOU. You are NOT dealing with decent business people with SonicCameras.com. Rather, you are dealing with SCUM and theives of the worst order. So, CURSE BACK AT THEM. THREATEN THEM AND THEN MAKE GOOD ON YOUR THREATS.
====STAY AWAY FROM WWW.SONICCAMERAS.COM=====
"
"Mark my words:
==>> NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM WWW.SONICCAMERAS.COM OR FROM THEIR 1-***-***-****.
It's a long story... but those guys pressure you like nobody else, and then they lie to you, outright. I have proof. But there was one guy I spoke to who was courteous and normal. The other three were... worse than used car salesmen.
As a result of dealing with them, I had to cancel my credit card while I put them on hold because I feared bigger problems ahead. Thanks god I managed to cancel it while they waited...
Again:
==>> NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM WWW.SONICCAMERAS.COM OR FROM THEIR 1-***-***-****.
"
"I wish I had seen this page first!!!!! DO NOT BUY HERE! Bait and switch... the guys you talk to are horribly rude, and actually berate you! They claimed that the couldnt take my amex card, which they had all info for, and claimed on the site that they accepted. They said they needed a different card number, which I foolishly gave. They then started the abusive bait and switch. I finally just canceled the order and called both credit card companies to ensure they cannot charge either account. UGH! HORRIBLE"
"I am a poor starving student who desperately needs a digital SLR for classwork... After searching high and low, the best price I could find on a Nikon D60 was Sonic at $399, so I placed the order. They wanted me to call to confirm the order and after getting busy signals for three days solid (should have been my first clue) I finally got a "customer service" (aka. scam artist) on the phone.
After trying to tell me I needed to upgrade the battery since it only took 15 pictures before going dead (I told him I was fine with this and just send the camera), the memory stick had excessive delays (again, I was fine with this, just send it) and a few other fabrications, he told me it was in stock and shipping later that day. Imagine my shock when I got an email the next day saying it was back ordered 8 weeks and the order had been canceled. Scam scam scam.
Stay far far far far away from this place! The only reason I placed this order is because of a high rating on a price checking website (which apparently was hacked). I should have dug deeper and if I would have found this review site, I wouldn't have done any business with them! "
"Don't buy from Sonic Camera. They will not sell you what you order on line at that price, and then they charged my credit card more than the confirmed price that I received via email. They also told me over the phone that I didn't need to return the lense until after Christmas when their website states that you only have 7 days."
"Like all of the other reviewers, I was appalled at the rude unprofessional behavior. I also placed an order, received the call to confirm email. When I called today to confirm, I was put on hold, waited a long time and then when I was trying to confirm my order, was told that the "package" that I thought that I had ordered from the website, did not have the components that were advertised. When I started to get the hard sell to upgrade, I stated, "This sounds like a classic bait and switch". The customer service response to me was, "Oh you are one of those customers". After more unpleasant pressure selling, I stated that I felt uncomfortable with the sale and wanted to cancel my order. The customer sale reps response was, "Next time I will send you a blanket" and hung up on me. Yikes! Thankfully I did get a cancellation email. Do not order from this store. They are the worst that I have ever encountered."
"AVOID AT ALL COST...BECAUSE IN THE END IT WILL EITHER COST YOU MUCH MORE THAN THEIR PRICING ON LINE OR YOU END UP WASTING YOUR TIME. I ORDERED A CANON EOS REBEL XSI...GREAT PRICE I THOUGHT. BUT LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, RECEIVED AN EMAIL, 'PLEASE CALL US...' WELL, MY CAMERA DIDN'T COME WITH 'XYZ' AND TO GET WHAT I REALLY NEEDED, WOULD 'ONLY COST' ANOTHER $200 OR MORE. TERRIBLE SERVICE, MISINFORMATION AND DISTORTION. STAY FAR AWAY."
"I ordered a Nikon SB-600 flash from SonicCamera.com ($155) and received shortly an email telling me to call them in order to confirm my order.
Sure enough, after a very long wait, I was told that this flash was not a good one, but they had a better and more expensive product but they could give it to me for the same price.
The 'better and more expensive' product was a cheap Bower SDF35n ($70 on Amazon) and the agent got angry when I tried to Google the specs! he told me 'Forget about Google, look at our website'.
After I refused, he started another series of lies: The Nikon SB-600 I ordered was supposedly the (non existant) analog version and it would not work with my Nikon D200 camera. The digital version was, of course, more expensive and also unlisted on their website but supposedly only in their catalog... There is only one version of the SB-600.
After the agent realized I was not buying his lies he got really angry and told me he'd cancel my order. I insisted that I made a deal at this price and wanted the flash which made him more angry and he hanged up.
I called back as I needed confirmation if the order was going to be charged or not; the agent this time told me it can go through but only in three weeks, so I asked to cancel it and they hanged up again.
I called (and waited over 15 minutes for the third time), as I wanted an email to confirm the cancellation and they hanged up again.
The fourth time was the good one: someone told me they would send me a cancellation notice... which I have yet to receive.
update on 12/15/2008: I still have not received any confirmation from them and I watch the bank account like a hawk to make sure they do not attempt to charge anything. They suck and should be closed. I filed a complaint with NY's attorney general and also with the BBB."
"I found their price (SonicCameras.com) to be the best on a Google search for the camera lens I was looking for. I promptly placed the order for the lens and 3 filters. I got the confirmation back with a confirmation number. The following day I received a phone call from them at work and they attempted to up sell me with a different lens and better filters. After forty five minutes of arguing with them I finally told him to place the order as I had originally requested. The next day I got an e-mail stating the items were out of stock and they had canceled my order.
This is a classic bait and switch and I wish there was a way to protect the consumers from this type of deception. I did not know about ResellerRatings.com until after I told my son about what had happened. He looked up Sonic Cameras on this site and found a very disturbing amount of complaints about them. The very next thing I did was sign up for this site ResellerRatings.com and I will always check out the retailer here before I ever place another order.
Please note that I was successful in placing my order on Amazon for the same product for a few $$ more but I know they are a very good company and will most likely use them for most of my on line shopping in the future.
"
"We read about all these sad stories where people are being ripped off not only by Sonic cameras but many of similar ilk. Consumers like you have the power to build a Consumer Safe Zone. Go to www.iNetRating.com and find out how. "
"Well, thanks to all of you, I did NOT get burned, although I came pretty close.
Typical of the stories you will see below from others, I was shopping on-line for an SB 600 Nikon flash. The cheapest price came up as Sonic Camera.
I went to their website, and sure enough, there it was as advertised. I was even going to get a free tripod, lense cleaning kit, and case since it was their "Cyber Week Sale". Whoohoo! Jackpot! (I thought).
So, I entered in the info on-line, and made the purchase, satisfied that by shopping on-line I was saving around $75.
About an hour later, I get an email from Sonic Camera that states that "for my protection" I need to call their number and "Confirm my order".
I thought, "this is kinda strange", but since I typically don't do a whole lot of shopping on-line, didn't think too much about it.
I called, and pressed option #1, which is "confirm your order". Amazingly, someone answered right away (this becomes relevant later).
I give them my order number, and they "confirm" it, and then proceed to tell me that they have a much better deal for me. Seems that everyone is "returning the SB 600's because there is a new and better one" that they just happen to have in stock, at a "Special package price" of ONLY $28 more than what I was paying for the other one.
Since I was on the website as I was speaking to the rep, he told me to type in a particular code into the search box, and it would bring up the new one.
The new one basically looked the same, and the price was about $100 more than the SB 600. Now, I'll admit that I don't know squat about cameras, and I was buying it as a gift, so to me, it seemed like a good deal.
The rep was very pushy, and really put the hard sell on me, and I agreed (shame on me).
However, after the transaction was complete, I felt like I had just been hosed, so I looked for some reviews of their company, and that's when I found this site.
After reading just the first two reviews, I realized that this was not a reputable company, so I immediately called them back to cancel my order.
Upon hearing that I wanted to cancel, I was told that they would have to transfer me to their cancellation department.
I was put on hold for approximately 15 minutes....all the while I'm getting madder and madder.
I finally hung up, and called my credit card company, and had them see if the transaction had already gone through. Luckily, it had not. I had them put a hold on any transactions until I called to release it.
I then called the company back, and again waited on hold for about 15 minutes, and when I finally got someone on the line, I told them I wanted to cancel.
They asked why. At this point, I decided it would be best to tell them that "I just found out that the person I bought it for as a gift already has one", rather than tell them they are a bunch of crooks. After reading what some of you went through with them, I decided that this was the best approach.
The guy put me on hold for a few minutes, then came back and told me that the transaction had been cancelled. Whew!
Anyway, thanks to all of you for saving me the headaches that you have been through!"
"Avoid soniccameras.com at all expenses! For my money I'm avoiding all camera stores in Brooklyn, hell I won't buy if they're even located in the state of New York.
Horrible customer service.
Classic bait and switch.
Charge you for items that aren't in stock.
AVOID, AVOID, AVOID"
"WORST CONSUMER EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!
Undoubtedly this was the most inaccurately represented product and worst customer service I have ever experienced complete with bait & switch, up selling, and three and half hours on hold.
We called to confirm our order when we didn't receive a confirmation email and there was no place on the website to login and track or confirm orders. Even though we called at the beginning of customer service hours (9:30AM eastern) it took over three hours between my business partner and I on two phone lines to clarify that instead of receiving the Nikon D700 priced as advertised online, it would:
1. Not be coming with a battery or charger (something they wanted to sell for $499, when B&H sells it for $86). This was not stated on the website.
2. Then we were told unless we bought this exorbitantly priced item from them we would have to wait 8 weeks for the camera to be shipped from overseas (this despite a website that proudly states they stock items).
It became clear we would not be getting a Nikon USA warranted camera from this company, who knows what would have ultimately arrived or if they would have just cancelled our order as they have to so many others.
We had to cancel the order. The price was so much less than our usual photo equipment supplier B&H we definitely should have known better. But, we found Sonic through www.pricingdepot.com, which said they had over 5,000 positive ratings. We read several of them and it sounded good.
Now it appears to us that the pricingdepot.com website may be run by sonic cameras, they have the same site structure and layout and a big sonic cameras banner ad on their home page. Amazingly we just searched on pricingdepot.com for the Nikon D700 and less than 12 hours after our order they no longer even have the product listed.
Clearly Sonic Cameras is a company that needs to be investigated and I will be reporting them. All these other deceived customers should too!!
DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!! Follow this link to the report of registered complaints with the New York Better Business Bureau: http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx?id=101448&pid=44&page=0&FindStr=Sonic+Cameras&SearchBy=company&Address=&City=&Phone1=&Phone2=&Phone3=&MembersOnly=False"
"STAY AWAY FROM THEM! I experienced the same trouble many of you have. I placed the order, had to call to confirm, & then the bait & switch nonsense started. I'm a sales professional, so that wasn't going to work with me, but it was annoying just the same.
I basically told the "Nikon Expert" to fill the order exactly as I've placed it for their Nikon D90 "Gold Package" - nothing more, nothing less. He said "okay...hope you enjoy it...".
Later that evening I received an email saying they'd have to cancel my order because they were out of stock. They'd let me know in 4 to 6 weeks when they get more product in.
I sent them an email telling them not to bother. Truly, you do get what you pay for. Their advertised prices are cheap, but their service and business practice is far worse than that. If you haven't shopped with them, my advice would be to stay away. Good luck to all, & God Bless....
Mike"