toddv@tekmdp.UUCP (Todd Vierheller) (07/16/83)
I've had very good experience with Cameras West in Seattle Washington.
They don't pull any of the BS that most do. For instance, if you see a price
for a camera body, it includes the pentaprism, the viewfinder screen, and the
back. They price of a lens includes the "mount". Other mail order camera
stores (particularly in New York) can't make this claim.
I've ordered accesories for my flash (Vivitar 285), and most recently a
Nikon FE2. No hidden charges ever arose. The sales men were courteous
and very helpful. They also told me up front if they were out of anything.
They merchandise is shipped the same day the order is received, and they
accept personal checks (with the proper info printed on the check).
Camera World of Oregon is another place that I would recoomend avoiding.
If you call them (on their out of state phone number) they can never quite
give you the price that's in the catalogue. They do, however, give you
all kinds of excuses why this is so. I've heard everything from "that was a
misprint in our ad" (the same price that ran for many months consecutively),
to "we had a price increase." I happen to live in Portland OR, so I paid them
a personal visit. (Of course the in-store prices were higher, that's normal.)
In the store, the same old crap applied. The salesmen were trying to jack
the prices up at every turn. "Oh, I forgot. . . that's five dollars more
because of last weeks price increase." (The other salesman had'nt heard about
the price increase though, I asked.)
Conclusions:
CAMERAS WEST IN SEATTLE HAS INTEGRITY.
CAMERA WORLD IN OREGON HAS NONE.
Todd Vierheller
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CSNET: tekmdp!toddv @ tektronix
ARPA: tekmdp!toddv.tektronix @ rand-relaytoddv@tekmdp.UUCP (Todd Vierheller) (07/16/83)
I meant "their" not "they", "hadn't" not "had'nt", etc. Sorry.
Todd Vierheller
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CSNET: tekmdp!toddv @ tektronix
ARPA: tekmdp!toddv.tektronix @ rand-relayjim@uw-beaver.UUCP (07/19/83)
I live in Seattle and have done some business at Cameras West. I've never mail ordered from them, but in person they seem to be pretty good. The salesmen know what they are talking about and don't try any stuff about "oh, and the rewind knob is another $20." They have a real store in the "good" retail area, right next to the department stores.
sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) (03/01/85)
I've found that the best way to do mail order shopping, especially if I
am not sure of the mail order house, is to have my order shipped COD.
UPS COD is less than $5 for the order. All of the problems about having
your check cashed, or your credit card charged are eliminated. You don't
have to deal with excuses and mixups with shipping. If you don't want
something, because there was a screw-up, all you have to do is to refuse
the order.
Some places don't do COD, and that's a problem, but most places will
ship COD.
--
Marty Sasaki
Havard University Science Center
sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
617-495-1270jlg@lanl.ARPA (04/11/85)
ard until AFTER your order is shipped - even if the stuff is backordered. If they don't have the item in stock, they offer to cancel the order immediately and again after thirty days (they notify me when the thirty days has elapsed). I just ordered some stuff from 47th Street - the camera and lens came in right away, but the tripod and mount were backordered. When I made the order, I was assured that all was in stock. In addition, my credit card was charged for the whole order even though only half of it was filled. Oh well. Not all mail order places are created equal. J. Giles
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (04/15/85)
> If they don't have the item in stock, they offer to cancel the order > immediately and again after thirty days. I can't emphasize this enough. Let me repeat it. They are REQUIRED to offer to cancel the order after 30 days, by postal regulations. If they don't, you should report them. If you don't, then you are just contributing to the problem. > I just ordered some stuff from 47th Street - the camera and lens came in > right away, but the tripod and mount were backordered.... > Oh well. Not all mail order places are created equal. On the other hand, they are allowed 30 days to deliver the goods, and if 30 days haven't passed yet, you have no justification for complaint. I have bought very many things from 47th St. Photo, and never had any problems; they seem to be one of the most reliable around. If mail order is to work, the buyers have to do two things. First, don't put up with violations of the law. One mail order company in particular (not presently dealing in photographic equipment) makes a big business out of people's tendency to do this. Second, don't complain until there is justification for doing so. -- Full-Name: J. Eric Roskos UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC; 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642
jlg@lanl.ARPA (04/18/85)
<Eat this line only> Well, my backordered tripod and mount finally came in from 47th Street. Two weeks after the original shipment is not bad. No real problems from 47th Street yet. J. Giles
jlg@lanl.ARPA (04/20/85)
<line eater's line> > > If they don't have the item in stock, they offer to cancel the order > > immediately and again after thirty days. > > I can't emphasize this enough. Let me repeat it. They are REQUIRED to > offer to cancel the order after 30 days, by postal regulations. If they > don't, you should report them. If you don't, then you are just > contributing to the problem. They are not required to offer cancellation immediately - DAK does. Also, DAK mails their thirty day cancellation reminder ahead of time so that I receive it at about thirty days - others wait until the full thirty days elapse before offering to cancel. > > I just ordered some stuff from 47th Street - the camera and lens came in > > right away, but the tripod and mount were backordered.... > > Oh well. Not all mail order places are created equal. > > On the other hand, they are allowed 30 days to deliver the goods, and if > 30 days haven't passed yet, you have no justification for complaint. I have > bought very many things from 47th St. Photo, and never had any problems; > they seem to be one of the most reliable around. > > If mail order is to work, the buyers have to do two things. First, don't > put up with violations of the law. One mail order company in particular > (not presently dealing in photographic equipment) makes a big business out > of people's tendency to do this. Second, don't complain until there is > justification for doing so. Please read my original note again. My complaints were: 1) They claimed everything was in stock when I ordered, even though part of the order was not. 2) They didn't offer to cancel right away (I know they don't have to, but DAK does - and it seems like a good policy). 3) They charged my credit card for all the items I ordered, even though only some of them were shipped. I think the charge should only be made when the ordered item is shipped (again - I know they don't have to, but DAK does this also - seems like a good policy too). (I just bought some compact discs from the Compact Disc Center, they don't charge your card for backordered items either.) I think there is ample justification to complain about any of the above. I never claimed in my original note - or this one either - that the above behaviour was illegal or shady. I was just pointing out that there are mail order places that do more than the minimum legal requirements. Since my original posting I received the backordered items from 47th Street. Again, I think that they are probably a reputable dealer - they just don't go as far as they might in terms of customer service. J. Giles
dkw@homxa.UUCP (D.WOMBOUGH) (10/14/85)
I am thinking about buying a camara by mail order, and I have found two suppliers that I might want deal with. My question is, has anyone purchased any equipment from These Mail order places , and were you happy or not. If you weren't could you give any reccomendations. These are the names of the suppliers; Olden in NY Camera Warehouse in NY Thanks Dennis Wombough