You might want to correct the datet he screen caps are from, unless your computer can see into the future.

I recently purchased a CTA NB2L recharger that looks identical to the one shown above for $12.95. It works fine.

[cgi.ebay.com]

Amazing!

Yeah, I bought the exact same generic charger off ebay a few weeks ago. Works like a champ. Companies like this are filth. It sucks to imagine that they manage to stay in business with such shady operations.

@Cyco: This is all in the future!

I'm amazed that these Brooklyn camera stores are still making money with the same old bait and switch business model. I'm also surprised that people continue to order from these places, but that's another discussion.

This should be reported to the Attorney General's office. Sometimes enough minor complaints will trigger action.

Stockin em deep and sellin em cheap.

Never heard of NWV.. all my photog gear, i get from B&H, never had any problems, customer service at the mothership is top-notch!

I always buy from reputable companies. You may pay a bit more, but you don't have to deal with crap.

@rhobite: I find it hilarious to read any of the digital camera forums. On a daily basis, there are hundreds upon hundreds of utter morons who pop up with, "Hey, I just found a _____ for $____. Can this be real?"
People respond with, "No, read ____." The original poster then has the amazing ability to ARGUE that the seller might just be legit. If the first impression was to be suspicious, why argue?

There are thousands of people that are suckered into these shops every day. These shops know that they skate a thin line. Overnite shipping will cost $200. 2nd air is $125. Both take 2-3 weeks! By the time you realize that you've been sold a $139 zoom lens, $10 worth of cheap filters, a nylon gym bag, and a $12 plastic tripod as part of a $900 "digital camera kit" to go with that fantastically priced $800 digital SLR, many people fight, but then give up after they get ignored, threatened with lawsuits, or passed around for several months.

BestBuy tried to do this last week to me with the movie "Night of The Living Dead" they advertised for 9.99. for the "special edition"

Amazingly they had rows upon rows of "Night of The Living Dead" "collector's edition", but not one copy ofthe on sale "special edition".

I walked up to the counter with a copy of the movie in hand. When the salesperson rung it up it of course came up double @ 19.95.

To make a long story short I explained to the manager what Bait & Switch is and I walked out of BB with "Night of The Living Dead" for 9.99 ...

I didn't car what edition it was ... I just wanted to watch the damn movie.

Best Buy is notorious for this and I hope they get nailed for it.

@rhobite: If you really want a deal, and can resist the upcharges, it may be worth it to try. I got a super-expensive camera for a great deal from one of these stores. has worked great for the past 14 month's I've had it. (USA camera, with warranty, not grey market).

It takes some work, and a "call in to verify your order" for upselling opportunity, but once you're past that, just require them to insure the package and pay with a credit card (I used the One-time use CC numbers from my now closed Citi Card account).

This reminds me of a computer company called BZBoys.com (They also operate under TuffShop and some other name). They're notorious on ResellerRatings.com, even after nearly a decade after I did business with them.

Basically you would order a motherboard/CPU combo at their low prices, and they'd email or call you and say that the item was out of stock, but they'd "upgrade" your order with a better CPU for more money. Not only that, but most of the stuff they sold would be defective or would die within months. I have no idea how they did business this long.

They'd also try the cute little trick of saying "Please give us good feedback on ResellerRatings and you'll get some promotional item free" before you even receive your stuff.

The other way this works is to advertise the cheapest item on the Internet and there is no way to order it on-line: you have to call and talk to a sales person who is trained to upsell you and add all kinds of extras. If you fail to to order any extras, then your item never shows up at the door, oh and you can't seem to reach anyone on the phone.

@EricaKane:
EricaKane... Do you know the Bosley Boys?

@rhobite: If something sounds too good to be true...

I mean there are always great deals to be found online, but you have to do you homework to figure out which ones are legit and which ones are just tactics.

@jchabotte: Seconding B&H for photo supplies.

interesting...that charger is still listed @ $28 AND it's on the front page.

This "New World Video" sounds like a drop ship business. It's probably some guy running a business from his garage during the day, while he works nights at Burger King. It's really surprising how easy it is to get a resellers license and an account with Tech Data or Ingram Micro these days. Even though the prices are great, I usually stay away from these types of retailers. Customer service is usually lacking. And if they get too overwhelmed, they just go away for a few months and resurface under a new business name.

@zentex: you idiot, that's cause it happened in october; NOT december as the post here suggests. RTFA before you post blah blah blah

I work at a camera store and I find it hard to believe an after market charger would be 4x as much as the name brand.

I agree with jchabotte, use B&H, you'll be way happier (and that's not even where I work).

@yikz: People are greedy, one needs only to look at the current state of the economy to figure this out. They want to be the one that gets a highly desired item at the lowest price available, and will thusly talk themselves into the deal even if it looks shady, and even if others point out that it looks shady.

@chadbailey: Someone should warn Joshua not to buy that charger from them before then.

On their site, the highest selling product is the product they tried to sell him. I wonder how many bait-and-switches they've pulled.

@AMetamorphosis: I believe that there's a loophole that says that as long as they have some of the product in stock and actually sell it at the price that they advertise then it's not Bait and Switch.

Even if it's only two items and they were sold shortly after the store opened to friends of employees who hid them over in a different department the night before.

Of course just because it's legit doesn't make it any less sleazy.

Any store that feels a needs to advertise "No Bait, Switch" and "No Upsells" is suffering from an identity crisis.

This is a perfect example of a recent conclusion: if a unknown entity says "we don't x", where x is something bad, always assume the contrary.

And what the hell does "Always USA" mean on a consumer electronics retailer? None of that shit is made in the USA. They're 0/3 now on their banner, so it's reasonable to assume that "Never Grey Market" is a lie too.

@photopiate: No, that's Crazy Gideon! Crazy Gideon loves his customer! (That's the way he says it, so maybe he really only has one customer.)

@jchabotte: Another vote for B&H here. After lots of orders and no disappointments, I definitely recommend them.

@jchabotte: 3rd. They are the Zappos of camera gear- a little more pricey, but worth it.

@Michael Belisle:
Always USA means they only sell products intended by the manufacturer to be sold in the US. A lot of shady places sell equipment intended for other countries, and that'll leave you with no warranty if you buy it in the US.

The best places to buy camera stuff online are:
B&H
Adorama
Beach Camera/BuyDig (same place, different names)
Amazon.com

If the price is too good to be true, IT IS.

@mugsywwiii: I'll add Canoga Camera in California to that.

Screen Caps from 13 December 2008??? Is this Back to The Future?

Thanks for all the camera retailer suggestions. I am looking for some related supplies and the online offerings are a bit confusing.

I ran into a problem with an Amazon retailer. I ordered an in stock item only to receive an email that it was on backorder. I received a non-answer reply about why it was listed as in stock when it wasn't. Then it didn't show up by their backorder date. Ironically once I contacted Amazon for a refund the item shipped about two hours later. They were the only retailer on Amazon selling the same item for $2 less. Colonial Medical Supply, don't order from them.

@jchabotte: I've bought a few items from B&H and haven't had any problems. They beat the west coast prices on a video camera (10 yrs ago) by $400

@Cyco: Yeah...I knew the Consumerist was awesome, but not THAT awesome! How DOES one get screenshots of a website as of December 13 of 2008 on October 13 of 2008?

@DoubleEcho: (They also operate under TuffShop and some other name).

That's your cue right there to walk in a calm, orderly fashion to the nearest exit. Of course, I'm not saying you'd know before hand-- the few companies I'd been screwed on before also had that "same exact website under 3 different names" thing going.

@jchabotte: I really like B&H. I ordered a Tascam audio recorder from them. It was the cheapest anywhere online, AND they threw in a 4GB Kingston SD card!

See, the mistake is the website doesn't advertise "No Bait And Switch", it advertises "No Bait, Switch".

Which is exactly what the OP got - the bait was out of stock, so they tried to switch it with something else!

@jchabotte: I'm a lone dissenter on B&H, but my experiences happened long ago (at their old location) when they didn't always treat women with courtesy. Still, I'll stick to J&R, where I know for sure I won't be subject to a condescending attitude. :)

THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME TWO WEEKS AGO!!! I cant believe Im reading this story...I ordered a Fuji battery charger from New World Video direct,which was listed in stock..They called me to tell me it was out of stock, and offered to sell me a third party one, which was more expensive. I refused, so they droped the price to the same as the Fuji one. I refused that as well and said to cancel my order. Then they cut the price again..I was actually happy with that price and took it. The third party charger shipped out immediately and I am happy with my purchase. I never thought this might be some sort of deceptive practice until now.

My wife is a professional photog, and she buys a ton of stuff from B&H (I know because I do the books...). I'm pretty sure she wouldn't keep re-ordering if they weren't great as she has been known to rip the throats out of used car dealers for looking at her funny.

also notice how the Canon charger has 0 reviews but the off-brand $99 one has a bunch of reviews that look suspciously fake. some of that stuff people wouldnt write

Hmm, nobody remembered the Consumerist storyabout NWVDirect back in January about "Holiday Stress Drives Tim To Shout "Fuck Off!" At Customer?"

consumerist.com/343524/holiday-stress-drives-tim-to-shout-fuck-off-at-customer

@Real Cheese Flavor: when I worked at Walgreens not too long ago that's essentially what happened. We would have an advertised product and then have only two or three on the shelf when the ad took effect on Sunday. It was so embarassing to have people coming in on Monday or Tuesday expecting to find the ad products and we were ALREADY out...Of course they might have some luck if they tried to get it after our truck arrived at the end of the week...but they had to get it in that magical window of "after we unload the truck" and "before the ad expires on Saturday".

@bohemian: I've had terrible luck with the Amazon Retailers - ripped off left and right - from lies in the description or photographs to simply taking the money and running. Amazon will lift a finger - but only once or twice per LIFETIME (yours). However, I ALWAYS pay via credit card and I NEVER give up - if Amazon would rather process chargebacks than run a clean operation that's their choice.

I've had very few problems with Ebay, have never been ripped off once and the sellers have either corrected the problem or refunded my money without incident. But you need to be eternally vigilant everywhere nowadays.

Sounds like this company doesn't have a damn thing "in stock" except some massively overpriced knockoffs of OEM products they lowball advertise to bring in the suckers. I just read the OP's blog and it's hilarious what twists and turns "Scott" from New World Video does to try and justify their actions. Really, has anyone actually ordered *ANYTHING* "original manufacturer" advertised that actually shipped without incident?

Sounds like there's enough complaints against them to give a ring over to the Attorney General's office to investigate their practices. These type of dealers wreck the whole market environment by stealing business from honest retailers who actually advertise what they can ship in "1-2 days."

@theczardictates: Yeah, it was a situation in which I was replacing a bunch of fancy-pants equipment for an employer, and had thousands of dollars burning a hole in my pocket. No one wanted to help me. During another incident, I went to their repair center because said employer had purchased another piece, and it was still under the old B&H account. Again, they were terrifically rude (I encountered a few other women who had had similar experiences). They might be ok now, but I like to stick with places that have given me consistently good service.

this should be illegal and after getting fined for the first 2 infractions these types of shit stores should lose their licence to operate, period.