NY Attorney General Fines, Closes Down Infamously Scammy Camera Stores
If you bought cameras or electronics from any of these stores recently you were probably scammed: Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Photo, Broadway Photo, Camera Whiz, and Sonic Photo. Or perhaps you bought something online from one of their astonishing array of alter egos and websites (see full list).
Despite their fancy ads in reputable photography magazines, these Brooklyn-based con artists have been ripping people off for decades: using bait and switch, calling up customers to harass them into buying extra batteries or accessories, leaving threatening voicemails, overcharging credit cards, and charging phony "restocking fees".
Following a lengthy investigation, the NY Attorney General's office announced yesterday that it has closed down two stores completely, fined all seven businesses a total of $655,000 plus $100,000 legal fees, forced the remaining stores to overhaul their work practices, and is monitoring the businesses to ensure they comply with the law.
According to the AG's office:
Once an order was placed, the companies would call consumers and try to sell them additional or "upgraded" merchandise at inflated prices. If the consumer refused to purchase the additional merchandise, the companies would cancel the sale or claim the item was backordered for months. If the consumer did agree to purchase the additional merchandise, the companies would send them lower-quality merchandise than what was promised, or merchandise that the consumer never ordered in the first place. When customers tried to return the items, they would either be denied or be slammed with undisclosed fees.
All of the companies further limited customers' ability to return merchandise by requiring them to speak to a live customer representative during limited business hours, and then refusing to answer those telephone calls.
If you believe you were ripped off, submit a claim to the New York State Better Business Bureau through December: (212) 533-6200.
Bait and switch: Online electronics stores caught in fraud [cnet] (Thanks to Joel!)
(Photo: SoulRider.222)
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Comments:
So they remaining stores had to pay about $125,000 each. My feeling is that crime did pay in the long run for this guys by a large margin.
One problem, a lot of the other ones have moved to Jersey.
Love it, though the fines seem low. The ones allowed to stay in business should be told that if they're caught at it again the fine will be 10x higher or they'll be shut down for good.
Bought one from "Bestpricecameras.com" once. No issues, aside from the call-in to listen to our upsell spiel.
Wasn't so bad, really, and their price was better than anyone else out there at the time.
@Shappie:
YES. ANDREW CUOMO FTW AGAIN. I've always despised these stores pulling the bait and swtich.
Did consumerist ever do a story on any of these companies in the past? Foto connection sounds famliar
@I Love New Jersey: Well, Beach and Adorama aren't actually scammy though. Butterfly I've heard... issues about.
@zigziggityzoo: Yeah, but it's kind of like Russian roulette. Never understood why people would risk the headache.
Andrew Cuomo is the man. He is everything Governor Idiot should be.
My policy, which I'll admit is a shotgun approach:
If I go to their "about us" page, and they list an address around New York City, I don't want to shop there.
Example: [www.ibuydigital.com]
@BuddyGuyMontag: I bought from Butterfly once, several years ago. Resisted the hard-sell on the phone. My item arrived as described and they never tried to contact me again or bill me for something I hadn't ordered. I will admit to being a tad wary before ordering, though.
Oh man, what about grey market items? I remember back when the VX2000 first came out a bunch of my buddies got them at crazy deals, refused all of the extra add-ons, and ended up getting a Japanese model that made using it near impossible. Anyone know what "Focus" looks like in Japanese? Yeah, not like "Focus".
Why are handcuffs being shown when nobody was actually arrested?
I went to one of these places in Times Square...I had to practically take a bath after leaving, I felt so dirty.
@mantari: I buy from B&H pretty frequently and they are awesome, but for websites I dont' know the combination of price 30% lower than the rest of the world plus a brooklyn address = headache that Geoff does not need. These places always call back to 'confirm your credit card information' and then try and upsell you a pile of crap. If you decline the upsell then suddenly the model is out of stock, or the unit is only gray market or some other crap and you've just wasted two days of your life.
What took so long? Seriously these guys have been ripping people off for years.
@BuddyGuyMontag: I'm not sure how official those pictures are - could someone get Cuomo on the line? We have an important question for him.
Mazel tov!
@deconecon: Gub'ment works so slowly when it's working in our favor, I'm shocked to see it work at all sometimes.
I'm certain their profits FAR outweighed these fines.
bought a camera from broadway, they tried hard to sell me a bunch of extra cap, when I said no they canceled the order...then whaddyaknow, the camera showed up, no xtra charges. (go figure) but I am glad they are shut down, they tried HARD to scam me so I know it was routine.
@mantari: That's gonna filter J&R and B&H from your list. B&H, in particular, is a GREAT place to shop. Not particularly cheap though.
All the scammy shops operate from Brooklyn.
@BuddyGuyMontag: They had a photo booth in back where, for extra $$$, they'd cuff you and snap your pict.
Film is extra.
And the seat.
And the feather boa.
And the Mickey Mouse leather codpiece.
And the person moaning off-screen, "Oh Mickey, OH MICKEY!"
@boxjockey68: Also a while back in my less-informed days I saw an ad for Broadway Photo in PC Mag and found a camera I was looking for for a "too-good-to-be-true" price. Ordered it then had to "call to confirm my order" and was given the old "The price you bought for is the Japanese model without a US warranty..." crap from a real jerk sleazeball who, after I tried to cancel my order, hung up on me. I froze my credit card account and never got charged, but boy am I glad that finally they have been taken out of business.
I wonder how a person like that guy sleeps at night. I know humans can be serious douchebags, liars, thieves and murderers, but what kind of living is that? Does he go home to his family at night and tell tales of all the people he ripped off that day? A fine is simply not punishment enough.
I've dealt with these places before, but never bought anything. When their stock would show up in a shopping search, I would call to check availability. That's when I got the "that price only includes the unit; the battery and cables are extra." Even though the item was advertised as "new in box" they obviously open the boxes and sell the parts separately.
I just got tired of arguing with them, and have resorted to more-reputable dealers (many in New Jersey, when us New Yorkers can avoid the 8.375% sales tax, and one-day UPS Ground shipping).
good job NYAG!
A lesson potential camera/lens buyers need to learn is to not try and shop around for the lowest price. The only things that are going to turn up with significantly lower prices are scams.
Photo equipment holds its value well and sales are very rare. Canon/Nikon equipment never goes on sale. Rebate programs only make a small dent in prices and are reflected everywhere anyway.
If you want to save money, you need to look to third party lenses (Especially discontinued ones that go on clearance, like the Sigma 24-60/2.8 EX at Cameta last year) or look at used equipment (Adorama, B&H, KEH, eBay). For bodies you sometimes have the opportunity to pick up 'old' models on the way out - For example, refurb 40D's for $700 (Adorama).
Years ago, I purchased a camera from Broadway Photo and my experience was similar to zigzigity. I had to listen to the hard upsell but I declined and ended up getting the camera I wanted at a great price.
I have heard loads of horror stories about these places though. Good to see the AG take action.
Before they were selling cameras, they were selling stereo equipment. back in '69, I bought an AR turntable and when I received it the warranty card was missing. Fortunately, I only lived 2 hrs away by car, so I drove to their warehouse in Brooklyn and insisted they swap me for a brand new turntable. Success. Most people, of course, don't have that option.
Kind of a surprise they've manged to keep in business so long being so slimy.
@Ouze: @zigziggityzoo: I have not been into one of these stores in NY, but does anyone know if this is similar to all of the "camera" stores around South Beach Miami? I have been there a few times in the past and the area is lined with electronics (mainly camera) stores that all seem way to sketchy.
@mantari: A better (though not foolproof) policy for camera gear: check Popular Photography magazine's list of "check-rated" stores.
A few months back when I was looking for a camera, I checked a lot of these places out. Once I'd finally decided on a camera (Rebel XS, love it!) I ended up spending more time researching these dealers than I did the camera.
I just couldn't get past the bad reviews and shady practices. Sure, the its with more lenses! Cleaning supplies! Bag and tripod! were appealing.
Fortunately, Newegg got more supplies in and I got my XS for $450 and a free gift of peace of mind.
Yeah, I fell for the scam when I bought my first digital camera (1999). Still, the camera worked as advertised and wasn't fully retired until four years ago.
@boxjockey68: Was the camera you received the U.S. model with a warranty valid here? Usually if you refuse the upsell, they send you grey-market products.
@BuddyGuyMontag: Beach is more of a crapshoot IMO, and resellerratings.com tends to agree from what I see. Love me some Adorama and B&H, though.
I grew up in scammy camera land in Brooklyn. The folks who run those shops tend to have a "Screw you" attitude towards those from outside their insular, ignorant little community. I should know, I was raised that way- Glad I left. Back when I lived in NYC, I loved B&H and Adorama. Just avoid brooklyn camera stores like the plague.
man this great to see, and i'm so glad my order never was processed because the camera was discontinued. they sent me an email with a number to call to finalize the purchase, whereby someone would try to peddle more junk.
i was a sucker to try them for a discontinued camera because of their low price despite reading their reviews.
good riddance.
You're buying a camera in NYC and you don't have enough sense to go to B&H?
*smack upside the head*
What's the matter with you?
I dealt with these people before. Ordered a camera they said was in stock and when I got the call to up-sell, I resisted and they told me the camera was on back order for 3-4 weeks.
Atleast it was easy for me to cancel my order.
Finally, its about time someone started doing something. At least its a step in the right direction.