"I admit I was very wary of ordering from this outfit due to all the negative reviews. However, they were the only place that had a certain Fuji camera in stock and they were listed as an authorized dealer by the manufacturer. So... I took the plunge, but called in the order. Took awhile to get through to someone, but Andy took my order. I received an order confirmation email within 30 mins. I ordered middle afternoon on a Tuesday, the order, and an email confirmation about shipping was send out Wednesday.
The two annoying things were: there was no way to check order status (possibly since phone order) even though I had an order number; The shipping confirmatio email showed a blank tracking number field.
"

"Wathc'out, this is roppery shop. If you need something equipment for your camera don't buy them here!!!
Service are under scale and price are over. I never do my mistake twice..Ever!!!"

"I ordered my Sony A55 from Willoughby's on Friday at 4:00EST and asked my sales rep, Nar, if he could ensure shipping it that day, so I would have a chance of receiving it by the next Friday via their UPS 3-5 day ground shipping. I had plans for a nature hike the following Saturday and wanted to try out my new camera. Nar said he would do his best. I am happy to report, my camea arrived at 3:00PM PST the following Friday and, the next day, I shot some great pictures in and around the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

NOTE: I had not seen any of these very negative reviews before I made my purchase. If I had, I probably would have waited and purchased my camera elsewhere. That said, they did send out my purchase quickly so that it was delivered when I needed it. "

"Beware. This is not the Willoughby's we remember as kids. This company has been bought and sold and the people running it are scam artists. They have been running a sale in the New York Times that they will give you a $50 gift card if you buy a Canon g12 at full retail price. I went to the store yesterday, there is a big banner hanging outside the store which had a picture of the g12 and the offer, I went inside the store told them I wanted the camera and they would not give me the gift card. They said that sale ended the day before. I said, you have that big banner (like 6 ft. x 6 ft.) outside and they said they would not do it, so I walked out. Today in the New York Times, page A25, they are running the same ad. These are not honorable retailers and I would stay away from them."

"Went into the store to purchase a camera they had in stock. Retail is $849 for the new Sony A55 at Sony store. As we asked about the camera, he bought it down from the shelf and immediately switched the lens on it. When we ask for the price it was $1349. I asked about the original lens and he said they didnt have that kit in stock nor the base model. I have been researching this camera for a couple of months now and it does not come as a kit with this lens.

This was a typical bait and switch. Of course I walked out the store.

What really got me (I have seen these b & s deals before) was that a rep in the Sony Style store in New York city sent me down there. (Sony didnt have the item in stock)"

"This is actually a review of their warranty that they offer under the name 'photoamerica,' which would be a reflection on how they do business in general. Without providing the long explanation I did to the BBB, here is the quick version:
Bought a 5 yr extended warranty for camera, camera had problem after 3.5 yrs, sent it to Willoughbys for repair under warranty. Was told twice it would take about 2 weeks to complete. Called after that, will take another week. Each time I call in they push it out another week. At 4 weeks the girl I spoke with slipped up and verified they hadnt even looked at the camera. It has been over 6 weeks and they cannot tell me when I will have my camera back. Since it is out of state, I don't have much recourse except to file with the BBB which I did today. Do not buy anything from this company, especially and extended warranty. Buy that through the manufacterer if possible. Lesson learned for me."

"We have purchased from Willoughby's in New York for at least 10 years and found their prices highly competitive, their staff very knowledgeable, and have never been dissapointed in any of our transactions. We have almost always made our purchases from "Silvio" and have found him (and Willoughby's) highly reputable. 10 out of 10 without hessitation and that high of a recommendation is nearly unheard of from me. "

"They try to cheat you.

Full Story:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Pro-AG-HMC150-Camcorder-Willoughbys/product-reviews/B001UL28Q2/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Inferior quality microphone (ATR25) shipped, product descriptions ambiguous, out-of-stock battery which was supposed to come with the Advanced Shooter's package that I ordered.

HMC150: $3400.00 (shown on packing slip)
Extras: $600.00 + $120.00 lens kit =$720.00 for ripoff calculations.
The price on the HMC150 seems fair to me, but the extras were a huge ripoff. Here’s a price chart were the actual items I got.
List Price Retail
$210.00 $170.00 VW-VBG6PPK Spare replacement battery (not received yet).
$250.00 $234.95 Panasonic MC-70 Phantom Powered Shotgun Microphone
OR
$99.95 $60.78 ATR55 Cardioid Condenser Shotgun Microphone
$61.99 $43.42* Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader
$70.31 $36.95 VANGUARD DOMINATOR 5 HARD CASE
$55.95 $19.27 Zeikos 72mm Multi-Coated 3 Piece Filter Kit
$24.95 $8.99** Zeikos 72mm Multi-Coated UV Filter
$22.95 $16.71 Giottos Multi-Optical Cleaner Kit
* May be $0.00, because I heard about a rebate program involving a 16GB SDHC card from panasonic.
** Since the lens kit was an upgrade to the single lens, the single lens price is subtracted from the kit price.

I included MSRP because retailers normally sell far below this price. Seeing as even with MSRP prices I was overcharged, this goes to show how much of a rip-off this deal was. I also took care to calculate shipping costs in retail prices, so I’m not factoring in any deals that might come with shipping items together (except for Amazon’s free super saver shipping, but we know that isn’t NECESSARILY free :-) ).

List Price difference incl. MC70: $73.75 overcharge. (you get the idea, everything is overcharged)
List Price difference incl. MC70, memory rebate: $135.74
List Price difference incl. ATR55: $223.80
List Price difference incl. ATR55, memory rebate: $285.79
Retail Price difference incl. MC70: $207.69
Retail Price difference incl. MC70, memory rebate : $251.69
Retail Price difference incl. ATR55: $381.86
Retail Price difference incl. ATR55, memory rebate: $425.28

So I had been ripped off by at least $381.86. That doesn’t sound like a whole lot compared to the 4120.00 I paid, but I DO NOT LIKE GETTING RIPPED OFF - especially compared to the $720.00 put towards just that. I ended up paying 88 percent more than I should have on the accessories! Granted, though, I got about 92 dollars back from returning the microphone, including the cost of shipping that was never refunded. So that would bring the rip-off amount back to about 342 dollars using the more reasonable retail chart as the base for the rip-off amount, and the new price paid for accessories at $620.00. I still paid about 81 percent more than I should have for accessories.

Willoughby’s reminds me of the likes of PriceRightPhoto – a well-popularized website infamous for its mafia-like, deceptive business practices. They follow the same basic strategy of selling the primary product for a decent price (perhaps dirt-cheap), where the real profits are made on accessories. Even worse, is that you may not know what accessories you’re really getting. There’s a huge price range for a “Short Shotgun microphone”. Oh, and last I checked, their Advanced Shooter’s package was still retailing for the same price I bought it for – without the WV-VBG6PPK battery listed as an item in the package!

So, in truth, you CAN buy safely from Willoughby’s, but BE PERFECTLY PREPARED so you won’t get ripped off as much. I wish you luck on not getting ripped off at all. These salesmen probably know nearly every trick in the book, and you may have to do the sale over the phone to be sure that you’re getting EXACTLY what you expect, WHEN you expect. MAKE SURE of these things:
1) The price is fair for EACH the products you’re buying.
2) Don’t buy anything you haven’t researched the price of. That means don’t give into high-pressure sales tactics, because they may try harder to rip you off if you’re an informed customer.
3) The item(s) you’re getting are the ones you expect to be getting. BE VERY SPECIFIC. Check model numbers AND brand names. Make sure the products are NEW and FACTORY SEALED!
4) That they send you an e-mail confirmation about your purchase, and that the details match exactly.
5) Contact your credit card agency (or bank, if you used a debit card), and ascertain that the price you agreed to pay is the amount charged to your account, if it hasn’t been charged yet, ask them to notify them if the price charged differs from the amount agreed upon.
6) That you have a plan C for getting the product you want, and that Willoughby’s is your plan B (I’d recommend Willoughby’s as a last resort and for your plan after them to be a safer, but far less desirable plan (otherwise do that plan instead!)."

"I purchased one of their camera bundles where you get the camera along with a bunch of other accessories for a reduced price. I got a great deal on a bunch of gear and their free shipping made it to my house in 1.5 days. Great transaction, I will no doubt purchase gear in the future. Also note that they do transactions through Amazon now and there is no sales call or anything (At least I didn't experience this). "

"I ordered a D40 kit in the morning on October 17th, and it shipped the same day. I would have received it in a day, but UPS doesn't deliver on weekends (not Willoughby's fault).

The order was very well packed, and was a US model with full US warranty as advertised. Their price was the lowest I could find too, though it went up slightly right after I placed my order."

"Ordered a sigma lens from their ebay store. Purchased the incorrect lens and called them as they opened in the morning so that I could prevent my order from processing. Seems that no one was available from the "ebay" department so I left a message with a live person. Fast forward three hours and still no phone call so I call back and it seems that my order has processed. I ask the representative to cancel the order and I will pay to relist the ad. I'm told that they can't do that. In order to cancel the order, I have to pay a processing fee since the order is processed and is getting ready to ship. Thanks a lot for the timely response! That's exactly what I was trying to avoid! All in all, shame on me for buying the wrong camera. And shame on them for poor customer service."

"I bought a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 lens from their eBay store. I was sent an email asking for my phone number. I replied with my phone number, expecting a sales call for "accessories", but thankfully, I didn't get any calls and that same day, I was sent an email with the tracking number. When I got the package, however, it was a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 instead of the Canon I had purchased. I called their Customer Service, again, expecting the worst (due to the notoriety associated with NY camera stores). But, I was connected within minutes and a very pleasant and helpful rep told me that they'd ship the Canon version asap using Next Day air saver. I got the Canon 85mm the very next day by UPS and they'd also sent a return shipping label for the Nikkor lens. I just handed the Nikkor lens package to the UPS guy. The lens was as described - brand new, with USA warranty and with everything included, brand new. I have since purchased another lens from them, and hope to get it soon."

"bought a canon 24 - 70mm f/2.8L form these guys through amazon and the service is great, delivery is on time, love my lens "

"I ordered the Pentax Super 100D online on 12/6 and received the entire order 3 days later. The packing material was first rate, the automatic confirmation and shipping emails were self-explanatory. Overall an excellent experience (and a excellent price to boot!)"

"I placed an order online, then called immediately to verify the order and be sure that I would get the camera the nest day as requested. I was assured that the order was complete and I would get it the next day. They did not ship it until the next day in the afternoon. They agreed to refund my shipping charge, but they reprimanded me for not using the more expensive overnight shipping option, since the less expensive one really isn't overnight because they are busy. I will not use them again, this was my first and last time. I only went with them because B&H did not have the camrea in stock."