"I placed an order late Wednesday night (Nov. 17) for an overnight delivery. While I understand it wouldn't arrive the next day, I called the following morning to follow up with my order.
I was told by a woman at customer service that the store received my order but I needed to give them time to ship it out. I asked for an estimated time and was told that it's being processed and that my order may not reach me by Friday. (I don't understand why the store has the option for overnight delivery, if they can't meet this goal - but fine... I was willing to wait and hope that it would make a Friday delivery). Before we hung up, I got assurances from the woman that they had the camera in-stock. Great, otherwise I might have tried with a different company.

I called on Friday and spoke to Peter who was very nice. He said that my order didn't make it but, he will put in for a Saturday delivery. Great! Right?

Wrong.

I didn't receive my package over the weekend. I called Monday and got Peter. I explain that I am very unhappy at this point. He tells me that the boxed package was in their store all weekend, and that he's not sure what happened but it didn't make it for the Friday pick-up. Peter tells me he will take off the overnight charges - to which I reply, of course it has to be done and it was what I expected ... pretty much they didn't hold up their end of the contract. Peter says they will ship it overnight -to arrrive Tuesday.

Just made a call to the "manager" Jim today (Tues) to get the fedex tracking number. He gets my order number and tells me the order hasn't shipped out yet.
At this point I'm upset and start to go over what I've been doing to get my GS400 since day one. Jim didn't want me to finish, interrupts me and tells me he doesn't want to lay blame on anyone. That's not the point Jim.... I just wanted to rightfully know what happened to an order that I have to keep following up on. I tell him I needed to explain my side because it would make me feel better that we're on the same page -- look not all calls or what was said in conversation are jotted into the system. Rule #1 of cutomer care: listen to your customers, there's a reason they're upset.
I'm given an "okay" to finish explaining.
Afterwards, he tells me that the order hasn't been "packaged" yet ... I'm upset because it doesn't take a genius to pack an already manufacture-packaged camcorder (GS400) and whatever deluxe kit I ordered. I tell him that I've been hearing the same excuses since I first made a call to follow up. He raises his voice, and I tell him not to do so. He says that he "will very well raise his voice" because I wouldn't let him explain -- (although I was pointing out that this was the same excuse I got from day one)... I asked to speak to someone else when he said "I AM the manager. My name is Jim."
He then says the reason your order wasn't processed (repeats that he's not putting the blame on anyone), was because they don't have the equipment in-house. He says "we've been lied to just as I have been lied to." He says Panasonic keeps promising that they'll have the cameras at their store and the store hasn't gotten any yet. AND that is why they haven't packaged/shipped out....
I asked Jim how this was the case ... and told him that on my follow-up call (Thurs) after placing my order, I had specifically asked if they had the cameras in-stock and if the delivery was just a matter of packaging. I told Jim I was assured that it was the packaging process only.

DEAD SILENCE ...

He mumbles something... I couldn't hear clearly. But then he says, that they would process my order and it can take "one to two days." By this time I'm fuming.
> process my order that could take 1-2 days? In addition to what I already wasted?
> nonchalant about the mistake they made - in addition to having a manager raise his voice ... when the mistake is clearly the store's
> no genuine interest to understand where a customer was coming from - not just receiving the order, but the principles behind this contract
> and based on his reaction when I told him I was assured they had the equipment in-stock: being lied to ... and laying the blame on the manufacturer for not delivering the item?

Would I continue doing business with them? With a very competent manager on the other end who "listens" to problems, assures customer satisfaction and tells the truth?

I requested to have my order canceled and got a cancellation reference number. Told him thanks for the great customer service.

I went with I Buy Digital because of the ratings on resellerratings.com. While I'm sure the rates reflect how customers feel at the time of their purchase, maybe this company is getting too many customers than they can handle. (watch for Thanksgiving/Xmas orders) I would have expected better Customer Service from the manager but I sure wasn't treated well. I was diplomatic up until my call with Jim (when he cut me off almost immediately him after I tried to explain my experience with my order). "

"Late-night weekend internet order. Call from the store early Monday because my card denied the purchase. Sure enough, I had to call my bank to get something cleared up.
Nicki (sp?) at ibuydigital customer service had given me her phone and extension, so I called her right back. She made sure my purchase went through while I waited. Best price for Canon 20D + kit lens at the time, and fast service. Only thing that wasn't great was the website's tracking function didn't seem to work."

"Overall excellent service. Price was great, the sales representative was very friendly, and my order (Sony digital camcorder) was shipped out immediately upon phone conformation.

"

"The price for the camcorder I bought was good. Was promised the shipping would take 7-10 days. But it arrived in 3 days!
The sales rep while calling to verify my address tried to upsell. Nothing wrong with that. But he should know to respect the buyer. He asked if I knew what a UV filter lens was. I told I knew. He kept on asking me the same question even after I told I was a professional. I would rate him as an immature sales rep.
Otherwise I would place Ibuydigital.com very near to newegg.com."

"I ordered the Canon S70 camera from CentralDigital and could not be more pleased. The staff was extremely friendly when they called to confirm the order. The camera was shipped fast and arrived in excellent condition. I will use CentralDigital again!!!"

"This is a excellect place to buy, I will definately buy from this place in the future. I ordered my stuff saturday 11-13-04, shipped it Fedex Std Ovn and received my camera and camcorder on Tuesday. Gr-Gr-Great!!!"

"I give this store very high marks for prices, telephone support, and prompt delivery, with one exception: telephone support hours are fairly limited and they have no support on Saturdays.

I give them very low marks for everything having to do with their Web site, and in particular for Web support of ordering and tracking an order online.

My advice to prospective customers is that until they get their Web interface together you should skip their Web site and do absolutely everything through their toll free number.

Here is the chronology of my first and only order (so far) from iBuyDigital:

Saturday 11/6/04 1:30am: Attempted to place an order for a digital camera on ibuydigital.com Web site. Got to the very last screen and hit the button to complete the purchase, and got an error. It told me to try again. I did, four times, with the same result.

Found that there was no telephone support on Saturdays, so, tried again online Saturday afternoon with the same result.

Called in on Sunday 11/7/04 at 1:30pm and within a minute or so had a real person on the phone who took my order manually but said that their computer system was down and so they would have to call back with a confirmation number.

Confirmation number was left on my answering machine about an hour later.

Tried a few days later to enter my e-mail address to get tracking information from the ibuydigital.com site, but it informed me that it takes 48 to 72 hours for the order to get into their system.

The order actually arrived on Thursday, 11/11/04, but since it was shipped to a mail center and I had not visited it since Wednesday, I went online to check the order status at ibuydigital.com again on Saturday, 11/13/04.

When I entered my e-mail address into the tracking system, I got the same message about it taking 48 to 72 hours for an order to become available on that page. Since it had already been a week, I tried entering my confirmation number.

After entering my confirmation number, the system went away for a good long time, but data was coming over the wire, so I went for a cup of
tea. When I returned, on my screen was a list of what appeared to be all orders in the iBuyDigital system, hundreds of them, including my own order, with names, zip codes (not specific addresses or phone numbers), and links to shipping and order info. I found my own order and was able to view the shipping information (which told me that my package had arrived).

Fortunately, when I attempted to view the order itself, only a blank page came up.
If the actual items ordered had appeared, that would have been a more serious breach of privacy. I guess we could call that a "mitigating
incompetency."

I sent an e-mail to iBuyDigital describing what had occurred on 11/13/04. It has been only one day and so far they have not replied.

Today (11/14/04) I tried the same thing on the tracking page with exactly the same results.

I called their on the phone just now and they did not seem to be aware of the problem but thanked me for the information, said that their Web developer was there, that they are undergoing an extensive reworking of their ordering system, and
the developer would check into the problem immediately. I would not have posted this account if they had not assured me that they were aware of the problem and that it would be fixed imminently, and I did warn them that I was posting this information in a review.

So, would I do business with them again? They seem like a nice company, the people were friendly and competent, the prices were good, so, yes, I would, but only by phone."

"I ordered their Digital Rebel Kit, with a 5 year Mack warrantee, all for 912$ to be rebated to 812$. the purchase of the mack warrantee reduced the cost of overnight fedex to 30$, and it did arrive overnight to Alaska from New York City. Only problem i have is that i never received any emails or phone calls, not even a fedex tracking email, i had to call them to find out that my camera had shipped, and infact was delivered to my office after i had left for the day!. Very nice customer service, not pushy at all, and infact the suggestion of the mack warrantee by the sales associate, was nice since the 5 year is on sale."

"I ordered Panasonic AG-DVX100A $3077 and Sony DCR-PC350 $952 with no tax while other stores selling them for $300 more. I ordered on phone and I talked to Linda ext. 561. She was very friendly and answered my questions about ordering and item info. At first, I had a problem using my international Master card to order my AG-DVX100A than I switched to my Bank of America Visa card and ordered two items from ibuydigital.com. The problem was ibuydigital won’t accept international card for up to $2000 ordering. However, I use BOA and it went okay. I asked for 3 days shipping and Fedex knocked my door second day morning. I got my 2 camcorders with original retail box and I am a happy man. There was no wait time for their service. I would recommend everyone who buys professional/home-use Camcorder or digital camera compare ibuydigital.com to B&H, SamysDv, Samyscamera, Frys. Then you will see the differences. Anyway, ibuydigital beats a lot of stores. Yes, I will go back to them for more purchase. "

"Great service. Great experience. No problems. In fact received new camcorder (Sony DCR-HC85) the next day without paying for overnight."

"A+ service. Ordered on the 20th, shipped within 48 hours, scheduled delivery on the 27th but it arrived on the 24th. If this is their normal way of doing business, then I hope to do business with them again."

"Totally satisfied. Fisrt time purchaser, C-8080 with accesories. I appreciate the call back to confirm request, and the chance to talk about the items, and any additional questions that might arise since the initial "confirm" impulse. Ordered late Saturday, called back late Monday, Shipped on Tuesday, delivered on Wednesday. No buyer's remorse!"

"I bought Sony HC40 from them. Ordered the item in their website. The item was shipped next day and received it in two days. The item appears to be brand new and factory sealed. Can't expect more than this. However, pre odering process was not entirely flawless. I called them to verify that the item was in stock. The saleswoman told me that the item is in stock but only available in pre-packaged deal. That means that buying "extra" items for about $129 with the camera. I did not pay attention to her and ordered online anyway. I got the item in two days ! My recommendation would be not to call the company to check for status or order via phone. Just order online and check the order status online..."

"I had an awesome experience with this seller!

I called about the Canon Digital Rebel camera with lense kit, which was about $200 cheaper than retail stores. I called because I wanted to deal with a real person, and it was painless...she did try to sell me some accessories, but I told her I was only interested in a tripod and I found a store that sold it for much cheaper...she matched the price. The whole phone call took about 5 minutes and she gave me her personal extension should I have any questions or if I wanted to buy a warranty. I liked that, it showed accountability.

I ordered the camera at 9:30 am on the 22nd (June), and received it at 12:30 pm on the 23rd! I was shocked how fast it got here...especially considering that they're in NY and I'm in CA.

I would absolutely recommend them and buy from them again."

"CentralDigital was great. I carefully researched my camera and it sellers, found out what price I wanted to pay and I was going to go with another vendor. However, I dragged my heels and waited a day...to my dismay, everyone's prices jumped up about $75 on the day I was ready to buy! Annoyed, I called CentralDigital and they dropped the price, no complaints. No hard sell, the salesman was very helpful, and I had my camera in two days (I shipped ground BTW). Overall I got a great price, no headaches, and I got a perfect camera fast! I would not hesitate to order from them in the future."