Received on Sat Feb 18 15:22:25 2006I'm sorry to hear your experience, but I've heard that kind of stories from numerous people. Before internet became common use for commerce, people were looking at ads in Popular Photography, Shutterbug, and other magazines. In my understanding many stores gave high pressure bullshits and try to sell you more "items" for a larger sum, and they simply hang up the phone or don't respond to your order if you are only buying items that are advertised at low prices. A lot of people are familiar with stories like they try to charge more for the identical item if you want to confirm if it's made in Japan (if you don't pay extra, they'll tell you it's made in _____ (fill in a favorite southeastern asian country). They also charged more if you wanted to confirm that the lens mount was metal. If you don't pay extra, they'll tell you that the lens is plastic mount, or even plastic lens. Other classic story is to charge extra for manual, battery case, box, etc. that come with standard factory package anyway. A lot of nonsense stories are known. I always avoided those companies, but as a general rule when I see a high pressure salesperson or a salesperson with more than average amount of nonesense talk, I won't deal with them. I also check for customer satisfaction rating on the internet when I deal with a store for the first time. It's usually a waste of time to deal with someone else if B&H or Calumet has the product. Anyway, did you tell your visa dispute officer that the merchandise was falsely described and the salesperson didn't even describe the price? I don't know your exact situation, and I don't know about other states, but at least in Massachusetts, there is useful law like MGL Chapter 93A. You might want to check if there is anything like that you can use in your situation. At least in MA, it's a pretty simple matter for a lay person to use 93A as a vehicle to bring a case to a small claims court when an unfair business screws a consumer. Also, state's attorneys generals office should have some means of pursuing something against such business. You can probably find more info at your state's web site, but if not, ask your local legal expert for these options... On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 13:36:56 -0700, "Christina Z. Anderson" <zphoto@montana.net> said:Dear List, I feel that the below is necessary to share for those of you, like myself, that are buying camera equipment and searching for a good deal, even if it has nothing to do with alt. Sharing it is very embarassing for me, but I hope it will profit the group. I normally purchase large items from B and H, but B and H still does not have the D200 in stock. I need the camera by March 10. I found,on kenrockwell.com, the cheapest site to order the Nikon D200 body--$1549 I think it was. www.thecamerapros.com I called them to order. I did the mistake of asking "What else might I need?" He sold me the high speed battery and charger, as "the battery did not come with the camera". He sold me a 5 year warranty for quite a bit of money. He sold me a lens that he said was cheapest anywhere on the web for around $500. He sold me some superior 1 gigabyte card for another exorbitant price. Actually, I am not even sure of what prices I paid for anything. I agreed to the sale, figuring that the bill would detail everything and if I wasn't happy I could return it. I was in a rush to go to work. I also have no recording of the call., and can't find my notes on it, either, as they were on the back of some piece of paper. When the camera came, the battery as you are probably all aware, is the one that comes with the camera anyway--the company apparently broke Nikon kits apart and sold items separately so the $1549 price is not really true. The card was a cheapy. Nothing was itemized on the bill--it said "bulk camera package" and the total price. I called them to find out the prices of everything and they would not give them to me as they did not know either. No record. At the bottom of the bill, it said "Returns are subject to AT LEAST a 10% restocking fee". He quoted me, when I said I was returning it, a 25% restocking fee. I tried to get a return authorization code out of him and he was not forthcoming. They finally called me back a couple hours later with the return authorization code, reminding me of the restocking fee. I called the Visa fraud unit, and the dispute process is lengthy with lots of paper work. Aside from the fact that legally I did agree to the purchase. What happened to me is termed "slamming" and the dispute officer was well aware of it. The clincher is that when i priced B and H for comparable items, the lens is a $200 lens, the card is a $75 card, the warranty is maybe $150...you get the picture. I estimate I overpaid anywhere from $400 to $700 (still can't figure it out). But being caught between a rock and a hard place, I am keeping the camera and losing the money. I feel that my best recourse is to "spread the word" to prevent others from having this experience--to my students, to the alt list, to everyone I come in contact with. As my husband says, at least I have the camera I want, even if I overpaid for it (he's grasping at straws trying to make me feel better...) Chris
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