"I ordered a Konica-Minolta camera online last night. Today they call and try to sell me a better battery, a compact flash card, and a warranty. Only after I declined all of these did they explain that this was a "foreign shipped" product and would take at least 4-6 weeks. They did offer to sell me an "American shipped" product for an additional $200. It would include all of the things that they had just offered to sell me of course.
Of course they gladly canceled my order. It is hard to believe such blatant bait-and-switch tactics as still common business practices for companies like A&M Photo World."
"Ordered a Sonp DCR-PC109 for $535, the cheapest on the web.
Get a call back email asking to verify my address etc.
I call them, and then I am asked
1. if I want to buy a battery, I say no since their price is expensive.
2. don't you want the charger to go with that , I ask why - it does not come with one.
3. How about a warranty, since none this is a no warranty camera.
4. how about the USA version of the camera then for only $699 ? (its only 629 at other locations with all its accessories & warranties)
I cancelled my order.
usual bait and switch tactics..
"
"This company is a SCAM.
They remove some accessories (e.g. battery of camcorder) and will try to sell it for an extra cost."
"Was the worst experience I have ever had on the internet. I purchased a Sony DCR TRV-950. The day after I ordered, they called to verify the credit card for the price I paid for. Then they call my son and ask him if he would like to put any accesories on the credit card. This is illegal and you should never shop there. We called the customer service and asked what our total for the order was and WALTER said that it was $1000 more dollars than what we asked for. He ASSUMED that we wanted something different and added the money onto our order and charged us for it. If you think this place is appealing don't even mess with it. It is the biggest pain that you will ever experience."
"A&M Photo World are the most dishonest, rude and self serving company I have EVER done business with. Reading other reviews, it seems I am not alone in my experience. They wouldn't fill my order unless I spent more than twice the amount I had orignally ordered through their website.
They seem to be out to hook cosutomers with unrealistically low prices with the sole intention of manipulating them into purchasing a "package" that works out to well above the market price.
DON'T BUY FROM THIS MERCHANT!! "
"Just a reinforcement--DO NOT EVER BUY FROM THIS COMPANY. Same scam...call to verify, followed by you need this extra and that extra, and, ooh by the way, the one year manufacturer's warranty costs an additional $79.99! How can these people be allowed to stay in business?"
"I had the exactly same experience with the others:
1. put an order on their web page
2. Received an e-mail stating that I need to call and speak with their customer service person (Named Ray) for "verification purposes".
3. I spoke with him and he tried to make me to purchase some other accessories which I already had. I didn't take any.
4. The guy told me that the camera would not work without the accessories. I told him that I'm fine. He said that he would process my order.
6. The next day I received an e-mail stating that the camera I ordered is on the BACK-ORDER. "
"Do not buy from this company. They sold me a camcorder that they said was compatible with a Mac. It wasn't. When I wanted to exchange it for one that was compatible they would not do it, even though I was willing to pay substantial more. I asked to speak to a supervisor and that was a joke. They do not care about their customers. It is a huge scam who specialize in selling product and accessorries without regard to the customer or their needs. Stay away. "
"I did not find this site until after I ordered and was concerned about the history. When I called to "confirm" the order, I was told that they needed to verify my billing address, information that was given at the time of the order. It took several attempts to actually speak to someone. The salesman then told me that I needed more memory for the camera, a Minolta Dimage Xg to take more than 5 pictures. I told him that I didn't believe him and would try it and see. He then asked me if I wanted a battery and charger for $49.95. I told him that the battery and charger were supposed to be included and if he added all the "extras", they wouldn't be the lowest priced as their ad guaranteed. He said, "Oh, all right, I'll just throw in the battery for free." How magnanamous! The camera arrived today and was well-packed, with all the standard equipment. The invoice was for$234.99 as promised. I will watch my credit card closely. So far I feel very lucky."
"This company is by far the worst I have ever dealt with. Just like everyone else said, they have no intention of selling the items at their listed price. They lewer customers in with these insanely low prices, then try to sell you their overpriced accessories. If you decline their offers, they will either hang up on you or say that the product is backordered, even if they already told you it was in stock. I have never come across a company as rude and shady as these people. I hope no one has to go through what I have, and I hope that they are shut down. No consumer needs a company like this. It also gives the other "trustworthy" mail orders a bad name. I am afraid to order from any company in New York, event though I know that there are trustworthy sources. I simply will not deal with it after this experience. A&M photo world has let me down, and I will NEVER do any sort of business with them. I hope someone does something about them. If there was something I could do to help this company be shut down, I would be more than willing to cooperate. "
"Regretted that I didn’t check this site before I placed my order for a Canon S410. Stay away from these guy as far as you can.
Had exactly the same experience to others, after getting email to confirm my order, I was told that my order is for “international model”, which takes at least 6-8 weeks to ship unless I upgrade to so called “US model” at a incredible price. I cancelled my order immediately and will keep a watchful eye to my credit card account.
Don’t know how they stay in business. It should be eliminated immediately.
"
"Fruadulent, Misrepresentational, Scam!
This company lists the consistantly the lowest prices on the internet purely to lure customers into paying twice as much as any other store through a series of scams.
They won't answer customer support emails and when and if you finally get through by phone their operators are rude and pushy. I ordered a Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel KIT at their price of $525, they straight away charged me $539 on the invoice and when I was requested to call and "confirm" my order they told me the item was on back order, and I would have to purchase their "KIT" for $1399!!! When I said I wanted the item I had ordered and I didn't need nor could pay for their "KIT" they said that the item I had ordered didn't actually come with any of the features listed when I made my purchase and if I wanted to be able to use it I would have to by their "KIT" anyway. When I said I wanted to cancel my order they just hung up. I'll be onto my credit card company A.S.A.P. to make sure they haven't and will never bill me."
"FRAUD ALERT.
No confirmation of my order until the next morning, which tells me the ordering process isn't automated. After I got the e-mail saying I needed to call to confirm my order, I managed to find this site and realized it was a scam (or close to it). I canceled my check card and e-mailed them to cancel my order. I haven't received an e-mail back and don't expect to. Steer clear of these people, and if you've already ordered, but haven't been charged, you might want to get a new credit card number just like I did to be on the safe side!
I can't understand how these people can still be in business. It's fraud."
"DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SITE PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIGGEST FRAUD IN HISTORY OF INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!
I placed an order for Canon Digital EOS kit for $555. I got a call at home from the biggest BS artist in history. Sold me the charger, battery, and warrenty that is included in the kit. Told me that my 256mb flash card would not work with the camera that I needed the Special pro-speed he was selling. He said he would give me the 512mb card at their price of $299 which is the biggest bunch of bull since you can buy a 2GB prospeed at $249. They would not let me cancel ther order saying the restocking fee would be 10% of the original order ($80). The $555 kit with battery, and compact flash card became $1399 plus $90 shipping (for UPS ground which costs $5). Worst experience I have ever had in terms of internet shopping.
The items arrived OK. When I requested to return the products because I was obviously being overcharged - they connected me to some customer service guy. I asked him how a $559 camera kit becomes $1399 even when accounting for all the peripherals. He said that price is for the international model the real USA kit price is $879 - WHAT KIND OF BS IS THAT AND WHY ARE ALL THESE SEARCH ENGINES MISGUIDING THE CUSTOMERS TO LOW PRICES IF THOSE ARE NOT THE REAL PRICES. Basically it came down to losing 5% restocking fee and $90 shipping plus costs to ship back verses being overcharged for everything. I told them this was such a scam - they sent me a cheapo camera case and 5 year warrenty ($89) to keep me happy. Overall, the worst experience I have ever had."
"
I cancelled my order when the sales rep gave me BS that the model I ordered was an 'international' model.
Now I am scared. they have my credit card info!
what do I do? "