[net.rec.photo] Mail Order Stories

ward@ttidcc.UUCP (Don Ward) (02/12/85)

I have ordered photographic equipment from Focus, Spiratone, AAA
and Cambridge.  I have no complaints about Focus or AAA.  In fact,
the latter really impressed me favorably when I recently bought a
Canon 85/2.8 Soft Focus lens.  They never tried to pull the "Do
you want to buy the case and hood?" line since that lens is shipped
from the factory thus equipped.  Spiratone has been both very good
and very bad (I'm currently awaiting delivery of some studio lighting 
equipment ordered three weeks ago).  Cambridge Camera service (in
this instance, the only one I have personal knowledge of) has been
lousy, to say the least.  Normally, I wouldn't have ordered anything
from them since their prices aren't that good, but they had the best
price on a Wein 1000 Flash Meter.  When I called them three weeks ago,
they assured me that they had the item in stock.  After the passage
of three weeks with no delivery, I called them this morning and was
told that the meter was back ordered but was expected in this week!
This strikes me as blatently dishonest.  It appears that the order
takers for this company are under instructions to always tell the
customer that the item being ordered is in stock.  Pretty shabby
way of doing business.