Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to convey my displeasure concerning an ongoing, completely unsatisfactory retail experience with Circuit City. Yesterday, October 28, 2008, I purchased a Nikon D90 Digital SLR camera at store number 854 for $1021.49 ($1134.99 -10% coupon) plus Maryland state sales tax. It was sold as new and unopened. Upon unboxing later that evening, I discovered the camera was in fact counterfeit. A lesser model, the D50, had been altered to appear to be a D90. Crude D90 stickers covered the model badging and a false serial plate was placed on the underside. A number of accessories were also missing and the included product information was entirely Spanish. (If needed, I can provide all serial numbers attributed to the box and its contents and photos to support my statements)

I contacted the store via telephone early this morning and explained my findings to the Floor Leader, Charles. He was immediately suspicious of me and first and foremost explained that I should not expect an immediate refund or exchange, and that they needed the camera to "investigate." I visited the store this afternoon to return the camera and review my options with Charles. Charles again stated he would not refund or exchange the counterfeit camera and stated loss prevention was going to investigate, and that I would be contacted in 24-48 hours. He was not open to, nor would he discuss any alternatives. The Manager on duty made no attempt to address the situation. The Floor Leader simply ran back and forth between me and the manager conveying next steps and my options.

I returned to the store later in the afternoon on October 30, 2008 to take pictures of the counterfeit camera for my reference and to obtain a record from the store stating they were in possession of the merchandise. The gentleman I worked with earlier in the morning, Charles, was "on his way out the door" and would not see me. The Manager on duty would not see me either. The CSA Supervisor stated he was the Manager and would help me. The record I obtained from the store to state they are in possession of the counterfeit camera was a handwritten note and initials on the bottom of my receipt. This is simply unbelievable for a major retail chain. I was told "Nikon was tracking the serial numbers." I frankly do not understand why I am being held "hostage" in this matter. The fact that Circuit City has somehow allowed counterfeit/altered products into its supply chain is not the consumers' problem, yet, the consumer is being held at fault for this issue. The store and it's staff have from my perspective, labeled me guilty until proven innocent.

The customer service staff made no effort to apologize for my inconvenience ( I live 30 miles from the store, and I'm facing four to five trips to take care of this) or for the sheer embarrassment of a major specialty retail outlet selling customers counterfeit merchandise. I am deeply disappointed in Circuit City's handling of this situation thus far.

In the end, I sit here writing this account with no faith in the company or it's store employees, no camera, and Circuit City holding approximately $1100 of my funds.

I hope to expedite the handling of this issue and pass along my observations of store personnel and vague policies that continue to damage the reputation of your company.

Respectfully,

Ronald P.

PREVIOUSLY: Casio Voids Warranty, Claims There's A Fingerprint Inside New Camera

Sam can't get his 6-month-old Casio camera repaired under warranty because Casio's U.S. repair center says the camera has been opened. Sam writes that he's even sent in copies of his fingerprints to compare to the inside of the camera, but so far Casio won't budge. We have a particular dislike of Casio and won't buy from them again due to their incompetent repair facilities, so we sympathize with you, Sam. Since he's getting nowhere with Casio's customer service, he's written the following letter to their Executive Customer Service and their Complaints Department in Japan.

Sent via Fax & Mail to: 973-537-8972 (Casio- Dover, NJ)
Sent Via Mail to: 6-2, Hon-machi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8543, Japan
To: Casio President Kazuo Kashio, Executive Customer Service, and Complaints Department:

On April 24, 2008 I purchased a Casio EX-F1 camera from Sandrian Camera shop in Clinton, NJ (USA). I loved the form factor and the capabilities of this truly remarkable product. On October 5,2008 I tried turning on the power to my camera. It would not power on and only a red status light would blink on and off. As the camera was only six months old I took comfort in the fact that I had bought it new from an authorized Casio camera shop, thus the 1 year warranty would cover this glitch.

After contacting Casio I was instructed to send in the camera, insured, at my expense to Casio's repair center in Dover, NJ (USA). About five days later I was sent an email stating that the estimated cost of repair is $470.75. Assuming this had to be a mistake I called up Casio only to be told that the warranty is voided because the camera appeared to be dissembled and a finger print is located inside. Outraged, I began a search to contact some level of executive customer service or higher management in Casio.

Eventually after leaving messages with Casio's technical representative and customer service I was told that a senior technician would take a second look at the camera. Two days later I received a phone call from Adrienne, a customer service rep telling me that Casio would not honor the warranty and my two options are to pay $14.95 to have the broken camera shipped back or pay $470.75 to have the camera repaired. Either way my camera's warranty is voided.

As a consumer and avid Casio camera user (numerous of the exlim series) I took a chance and immediately bought your flagship camera immediately after it came out. I now fear this to be a mistake. On both fronts I am at a loss to Casio's position to not stand by their product and to not honor the warranty. Now my only options are to pay for a camera that should not have been broken in the first place, and not have any warranty on it? I did not open the camera at any point in my short six months of ownership. I did not let anyone open the camera, and it has always been in my direct possession.

Using logic, why would any one open up a $1000.00US camera that is covered under warranty? I am not a technical person, I am a marketing manger, I wouldn't even know how to open it.

I bought the camera brand new and I can have, if necessary the camera shop (Sandrian, Clinton NJ) write a letter stating they sold me a brand new camera. Casio should stand on its reputation and stand behind its product and once again restore a consumers faith to purchase Casio products again, which I am confident Casio will do.

Left with no choice I will have open up a case with the Better Business Bureau (USA). I am consumer looking for options as I have reached no resolution with Casio. As an avid camera user I am a member of numerous web blogs, camera groups and consumer protection websites. While I am sure my case is an isolated one, I will begin to explain my predicament and course of action to [anyone] who will listen. As a consumer, how can I stand behind any Casio product in the future if I know for 100% fact I never opened the camera, [never] gave it to anyone to open, and bought the camera brand new from an authorized agent? I purchased your flagship camera in the correct manner (not grey market), and I have followed the correct channels to have the camera replaced, and all Casio has told me is either pay $14.95 to ship back my broken camera or pay $470.75 to have it repaired (again with a voided warranty, when in reality it that should have more then 6 month left on it ).

I am looking for any assistance. I hope I can resolve this issue with Casio as soon as possible and once again restore my faith to continue to recommend and purchase your products (as I have avidly done in the past). I simply want a 100% functioning Casio Ex-F1 with full intact warranty. If there are components inside my camera that Casio would not represent as a brand new (when I purchased it), I expect Casio to replace the camera with a brand new one. I took a chance in buying Casio's first attempt into entering a higher end camera market. I hope that I can continue to do as I had in the past and voice positive remarks and convince others with my opinions to purchase your products.

Thank you for you time.
Sam
Casio Camera user since 2002

Brett writes:

I've just failed to have my second rebate attempt honored.

The first, was a lens rebate for $100, last winter. That rebate hinged on making two expensive ($400 & $1,200) Canon lens purchases within a several month window. They never even acknowledged that the rebate had been submitted.

My second try, I've now learned the $50 rebate I qualified for has been turned down. This later rebate required that as the original owner of a Canon Rebel SLR and and purchaser of a new Canon 5D [I] hack up my product box for the original UPC, [include] copies of receipts, etc...

Annoyed by my imaginary lens rebate, I made sure that all the hoops were jumped though in the rebate fine print, only to have my legitimate claim denied. I was encouraged as they at least let me know that I had filed for this rebate. However, they now cite that my original Digital Rebel has an unknown serial number. Unknown, but promptly registered when I'd first purchased it several years ago.

I have the mailing from Canon, informing me of this, telling me to resubmit my missing rebate information by the end of October. I've now re-registered my 4 year-old camera and will be mailing their card back with a note of my own, certified mail.

Based on a quick web search, it appears that I am not the first the hit roadblocks with Canon rebates, and think it would be helpful for other Consumerist readers to know about.

A Google search for "Canon rebates" turns up warnings and complaints from people who have been screwed over by Canon. Bryan at The-Digital-Picture cautions that you'd better follow the instructions precisely, and prepare to settle in for a long wait and potential fight:

As of the original authoring of this page, the last Canon lens rebate I participated in required me to send the complete information 3 times and took about four months until fulfillment. I followed the procedures to the letter - it could not have been more clear to the rebate fulfillment center. Still, I had to play the frustrating and time-consuming game.

Meanwhile, the "Canon Rebates" page at consumeraffaiirs.com is filled with complaints—at least one for every month so far this year—from angry consumers. By their accounts, it sounds like Canon is deliberately playing the stall-and-reject game with their rebates, in an attempt to keep the number of payouts as low as possible. You might want to keep that in mind the next time you weigh the value of a promised Canon rebate against the purchase price—even if you receive it, you may end up sinking many hours into the ordeal.

(Photo: Getty)

• Amazon: Lego sale. 50% off 8 Different Items
• Walgreens: 6 Sharpies for $2 (in-store only)
• eforcity: iPod/iPhone charging cable for $7.99 (down from $43.99)
• DealExtreme: iPod/iPhone charging cable for $3.46
• Woot: It's a woot-off!

• Best Buy: Dynex DX-LCD32 32-inch LCD HDTV $490
• Tiger Direct: Unlocked Motorola RAZR V3 GSM Cell Phone $100
• Buy.com: Kodak Z1285 12 Megapixel Digital Camera $90 Shipped

"The Camera Professionals" are not actually that professional, nor do they have cameras to sell you. That's what ZDNet reporter Josh Taylor discovered when he decided to take their Google AdWord bait and buy a camcorder they were offering for nearly $300 less than other stores. He didn't expect much success, and he was richly rewarded:

While stories like mine are sadly not that uncommon, I’m still absolutely stumped at what kind of scheme The Camera Professionals is trying to pull off. They never tried to upsell me, they never charged my credit card, they simply appeared to have taken an order for an item they seemingly have no intention of trying to fill.

After reading complaints online about the company, Taylor was expecting a call-to-confirm scam that would lead to an aggressive upsell, and a subsequent out of stock notice if he didn't take the bait. Instead, he simply got nowhere with them. We wonder if it had to do with his manner of payment (Amex).

What's funniest about the experience is that the company actually paid a small amount of money to take Taylor's order:

But that’s not all. Since I clicked on a Google sponsored link to visit them in the first place, they actually paid Google for the privilege of taking an order. It wasn’t much - looks to be about a nickel a click for the search term “Vixia HF10″ - but it’s still a nickel more than they made off my order.

"The worst shopping experience on the web?" [The ToyBox / ZDNet]

When Amazon works, it's a great example of what man and machine can do together to make shopping easier. When it doesn't work, you're stuck with a higher-priced camera from Wal-Mart and a second camera you thought was canceled shipped from Amazon, with a refund taking 3-5 days to go through.

My siblings and I decided to go in together and purchase my Mom a nice camera for Mother's Day. She's a nice lady, and is getting tired of the one she has, so it seemed like a good idea. The BAD idea was trying to purchase it (along with a few accessories) from Amazon. But, they had it for a great price, and with the free shipping it seemed like a no-brainer.

So I placed my order on 5/1...all seemed well on the Amazon front. I got a confirmation email after placing the order letting me know that it would be shipped on 5/6. It's never taken more than 3 days for an Amazon order to show up in the past, so I figured it would be fine. After a couple of days, I logged in to Amazon to check up on it, and that's when I should have gotten worried.

Instead of showing my orders, there was an error message letting me know that there was a problem with Amazon, but rest-assured, they're working on it and it should be fixed shortly. Right. It gave me the same message the next day, and the next, so on 5/6 I sent Amazon an email asking them to check the status of the order, as it was for Mother's Day and I needed it by then.

I received a reply email later that day from Naresh letting me know that he would need 1-2 business days to research and he'd get back to me.

After two days (5/8) and no response, I decided to call Amazon. I spoke to a male representative (and I'm pounding my head against the wall for not catching his name, but I didn't) who let me know that he couldn't find my order, either. I explained the situation (it's for my Mom, I need it asap, etc), and he let me know that I could place the order again if I needed it quickly. This wasn't to my liking, but I wasn't about to disappoint my Mom (nor face the scorn of my siblings), so I asked when it could be delivered. His answer? Monday. This was not the answer I was looking for, so I asked him to please cancel the order, and I would purchase it locally. He said he would put a note on my account for the order to be cancelled.

So I set off into a raging thunderstorm to the closest store that had the same model camera. Wal-Mart. This is a story for another day, but I ended up paying waaaay more thanks to Wal-Mart's absolutely ridiculous price-matching policy. So, I'm out some cash, a lot of time, and it ruined my hair. Thanks, Amazon!  

Then, today [Friday May 9], I decided (just for kicks) to check my Amazon account. Lo and behold, it's fixed! Apparently, my order should be shipped on 5/11 or 5/12. Wait, what??? I am not a happy camper at this point.

So, I just spent another 30 minutes on the phone with Christine H. Bottom line? Amazon can (will) not cancel the order, and I can expect to receive a 2nd camera in the near future.

While she did try to help me as much as she could (and she was very nice), it was obvious that Amazon's policies limited what (if any) help she could offer me. When I explained that my bank account does not runneth over (thanks to a hefty veterinarian bill) and that, if charged, I would be overdrawn, she said that she would give me an advance refund on the shipment. In 3-5 days, I'll see my money back in the bank (never mind that Amazon will CHARGE my account as soon as it ships). She did send me an email explaining the very involving process of getting an overdraft fee credited by Amazon, but at this point, I'm just going to suck it up and transfer some emergency (i.e. DON'T TOUCH) money into the account.

It's not exactly what I would normally qualify as an emergency, but if it will keep me from having to deal with Amazon again, it's worth it. 

Bottom line? Amazon is the Grinch who stole Mother's Day...Boo to you, Amazon! (And I still haven't heard back from Naresh.)

Amanda

Fine, it was a one-off problem, mistakes happen and all that. But why do customer service reps promise to return calls that they never return? This seems to happen across the industry, and it may be the easiest way to improve customer service.

Before even reviewing the picture, I heard a woman yell, "What do you think you're doing?!" I looked up, seeing an angry looking woman briskly coming down the hall at me.
 
"Taking a photo of the sun," I replied.
 
"You're in a hospital!" she shrilly declared.
 
"Yes, obviously."
 
"I've called security, you stay here!"

Kurt didn't stay there, but told her his father had been there for 3 weeks now and he was going to go join him at dinner.

And so I did. I joined my father at dinner. Within minutes, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was a security guard.

"Sir, can you come with me?"

"Certainly."

"Were you taking photos in the hospital?" he asked, seemingly bored.

"Yes, I took a photo out the hallway window in the 3rd floor of the sun." I showed him the photo.

"Okay, just don't do it again. Thanks." It seemed like he was just a guy doing his job so I agreed and went back to sit with my father.

"See, they're all pinheads," commented my father.

He exasperatedly explained to me that I could not take photos anywhere on the hospital grounds because it violated the employees' rights. I was also told that I was not allowed anywhere but with my father. Failure to comply with these requests would result in being escorted by the still present security guard. At this point, he also demanded my driver's license as proof of the incident.

• to protect the privacy of employees;
• to protect the privacy of patients;
• to prevent situations where someone taking pictures may get in the way of helping the sick and injured;

It seems reasonable that those three needs can be met with a sign posted at every entrance that says something like, "Please do not take photographs of employees or patients. No cameras allowed in hallways or treatment areas." Hey, and then you could also tell employees to memorize and repeat those two restrictions one time only to offenders, along with "Hospital policy!" at the end. If they spy a repeat offender, they call security. Another problem solved! You're welcome!

In other words: We get that the hospital wants to protect the privacy of employees and patients, but obviously a simple explanation of the no-photos policy would have sufficed. Bringing two employees to twice interrupt a visitor's dinner with his father is the kind of overreaction that happens when you equate photographs with terrorism, and cameras with guns.

Kurt writes,

I wanted to point out that I didn't take a picture of any person, or that I couldn't possibly know their absurd policy since there was no signage posted anywhere. And if a search of their site is any indication, the only person who is aware of this policy is the the head of security himself.

We tried contacting Resurrection to find out what their official photo policy was, but we were transferred from the front desk to security, then given a number to guest relations that didn't work. (The security guy said it was probably closed for the evening.) Nobody we actually spoke with was willing to say anything about a photo policy for visitors.

This writer thinks there's another reason for all the photo banning currently in vogue: it's a superstitious attempt to retroactively prevent 9/11 from ever having happened. Letting a stranger shoot a photo has become a symbol of invasion and assault, of scheming and revenge. Or maybe it's also a fear of Flickr. At any rate, this writer half-seriously suggests maybe earmarking some public funds for a national re-education campaign about the moral neutrality of "Taking Photos."

"Hospital forbids photos of the sun!" [fiftytwofifty]

(Photos: security guard: Getty; seminar: kerryank)

So the first thing I did was call in to Tiger Direct and ask what was up with my order - since I had not received it and it showed both SHIPPED and CANCELLED.

I was told that they ran out of stock and the best thing they could do was give me free shipping on a comparable model (40-50$ more expensive). I explained my entire scenario and asked why it stated shipped and then later cancelled and he admitted it made no sense. I also asked him why I was never notified if my order was cancelled and after stuttering he said, "It shows up here that you were notified - by mail." I explained that I checked my email regularly and never received anything and he said it was by REGULAR MAIL. Are you kidding me? They send out order cancellations by REGULAR MAIL when someone orders online? I'm calling lies on that one. By the way, I never received an order cancellation in the mail either to this day. He said I'd have to speak to a manager to escalate the issue - told me to call back at 9:30am.

I called back at 9:30am and waited on hold for 3 minutes and no PERSON even picked up (never mind a manager) so I resorted to email to follow up.

I asked for a comparable model at the same price in email and explained the inconvenience that was caused because I spent time returning a different model at Best Buy once the order was shown as shipped.

The response I received 6 days later:

"We apologize for any inconvenience. The reason this order was canceled was because we longer had this item in stock. Unfortunately we can not go below our cost for the replacement camera that you want.

TigerDirect.com and TigerDirect.ca are part of the same parent corporation but they operate individually and as separate companies. TigerDirect.com is U.S. based with U.S. offices, employees and warehouse facilities. TigerDirect.ca is a Canadian company with Canadian offices, Canadian employees and a warehouse which accepts returns from customers in Canada. As separate companies each has its own unique and specific costs of doing business. In many cases similar or even identical products are procured from different distributors, suppliers or vendors under different terms and costs. Delivery costs, duties, taxes, returns costs and provisions for warranty coverage all play a part in determining sales price as do operational costs ranging from employees salaries to facilities leases and overhead. Each of these costs varies by market and these variances may result in different sales prices for similar or even identical products. Sales prices may differ but Tigerdirect.com and TigerDirect.ca both exist to bring value to all our customers in each of the markets in which we operate."

Nowhere did they acknowledge the fact that they messed up with the shipped/cancelled and explain why that happened. Nor did the tell me why I was never notified that my order had been cancelled - had they done this, I would have kept the camera from best buy.

Matt wrote back and explained again how he felt they should honor the original price, since they told him it was in stock when he placed the order, then told him it had shipped, and without those two pieces of information he would have never returned the other camera (which was no longer on sale) to Best Buy.

The is the brief reply I received from them where they quote me:

"I spent my time and money returning another camera to bestbuy which is no longer available on sale."

thisd was a choice issued by you as we have no involvement in the transaction between you and Best Buy

''We're trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years,'' Tom Beaudoin, Polaroid's president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said in a phone interview Friday.

Polaroid failed to embrace the digital technology that has transformed photography, instead sticking to its belief that many photographers who didn't want to wait to get pictures developed would hold onto their old Polaroid cameras.

Global sales of traditional camera film have been dropping about 25 percent to 30 percent per year, ''and I've got to believe instant film has been falling as fast if not faster,'' said Ed Lee, a digital photography analyst.

''At some point in time, it had to reach the point where it was going to be uneconomical to keep producing instant film,'' Lee said.

Polaroid instant film will be available in stores through next year, the company said — after which, Lee said, Japan's Fujifilm will be the only major maker of instant film.

Ahh!!! This is so upsetting and yet I absolutely cannot find an e-mail address for ANYONE on their website. I need to revolt. We all need to revolt!! Do you know of any e-mail addresses or anything so I can obsessively write letters?? I would really appreciate any help you could provide.

1265 Main St., Bldg. W3
Waltham, MA 02451
USA - Map
+1-781-386-2000 (Phone)
781-386-8588 (Fax)

Sorry, Jessie. This is pretty sad. Polaroid film is pretty cool stuff, and is beloved by art nerds.

Polaroid won't make Polaroids any longer [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo:Tubes.)

Privacy advocates are upset about the whole thing and considering legal action, but since the camera was a "non-working decoy" it will be hard to argue that any personal data was actually being recorded.

"There isn't any real material difference between a fake camera and a real camera,'' he said. "Whether they're real or fake, you still have the feeling of being watched.''

One patron of the Second Cup in question appeared to be more sympathetic with the owner's intentions.

"I am conscious the owner has to do something about the problem,'' said Steve Beshwaty as he enjoyed a cup of coffee.

"I don't find it particularly appealing to have a camera in the bathroom, but I understand the owner. ''

"Second Cup store removes bathroom surveillance cam" [CTV]
(Photo: Getty)

Fujifilm Professional Photography [FUJI] (Thanks to Jim!)

Like any "best of" list, we take issues with some of the selections (iPhone is best smartphone? orly?) but the list at least provides a "big picture" overview of where you can find the quality electronics.

"Slide Show: The Biggest Bang for Your Holiday Buck" [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Nokia N95)

• The Classes Scam
• The Return Scam and
• The Price-Match Scam.

benpopken: Tell me about the scams you mentioned

cyclops: The classes were originally a Chuck Wolf idea. All that was good in the company left when he did. When we bought wolf camera in early 2000 (i think) we also took on the classes. I even heard David Ritz say he wanted it to be the factor that separated us from our competitors. When I first became a teacher, we had projection screens. We had pamphlets to give to every person taking the course. The classes consisted of about 20 customers. Since chuck wolf has left, the district managers have taken more control of the classes. The classes are now pretty much designed to set up new sales.

If I'm teaching a class about wildlife photography, most of our customers will buy a nice zoom lens in the future. But i can't just recommend any zoom lens, or even mention several, for that matter. You HAVE to recommend the QUANTARAY 55-200mm zoom lens, because it's "optimized for digital." Quantaray is very much in bed with ritz camera, almost totally exclusively. The company is based in our warehouse. Now, don't get me wrong i like selling Quantaray stuff, I'd make $10 if you bought the lens. But the fact is that Ritz doesn't really allow me to talk to you about name brand equipment, such as Nikon or Canon.

benpopken: Is that the extent of the scam?

cyclops: Well, it's used as a major selling point when buying a camera that you get to take all of our classes for free. There are a total of 7. During the sale the associate will tout the classes as "not only will you get a great deal from us, but we'll teach you how to use your camera." But if you look at what most stores usually only offer 2 of the 7 per month, and classes are booked up to 2 months in advance. I stopped teaching in protest, because the company started giving us mandates on what products to offer. Like if we mentioned filters, we were directed to offer Quantaray filters. Same with flashes, bags, tripods... We were also encouraged to offer equipment throughout the class, not just introduce it. It used to be, "this is an add on flash for your camera, it's good for ....." But now it's "here is an add on flash by Quantaray for your camera, it's easy to use, it'll make your pictures better and it only costs $99." They turned a great established program into another sale.

benpopken: What percentage of people taking the class would you say ended up buying the products you mentioned?

cyclops: The classes now have between 30 to 40 people in them. After class, I'd say at least 25 buy something I've mentioned.

I left about the time when the regional trainer was giving people a hard time for not trying to sell more filters and tripods during training. At the meeting another instructor put the question out about sales versus instruction. After that meeting, 4 instructors quit teaching, including me. The sales are quite lucrative on it now, from what i understand. In the DC area, there are only 2 instructors teaching classes where there used to be 10. It's not about teaching you to take better pictures. They give you one piece of information that you could easily find online, then try and sell you something to make your camera "better." I would liken the classes now to those free bank seminars.

benpopken: Tell me about the return scam.

cyclops: The reality is that the ritz return policy is one of the most liberal policies of any company anywhere. You can buy practically any product from a store, and if it's not broken, you can return it for full price. However, while the associate will tout this policy during the sale "in case you change your mind," they frequently try and tack on fee's and penalties for returns.

For example, "Well sir, I'm sorry you didn't like the camera, I'll be happy to return it for you, however I see that you have opened the batteries that came with the camera. I'm afraid I'm going to have to charge you $15 off the return for that."

There is only one reason this is done: when you discount any product in the register, if the item had an automatic commission (say $5 when sold) then the item's commission drops off. So if i sold you camera for $200, and i made $5, if you return it for $200 i lose $5. But if i reduce the return price to $199 or lower, i keep my $5. Additionally, I may refuse to return something on the grounds that it's no longer sellable, but I will allow you to exchange it. Same thing if it's outside of the return policy. The return policy is 10 days for digital items. If you come in on the 11th day, the nicer stores will take care of you, but many stores will allow an exchange only. This keeps them from loosing sales and commissions.

Again, the policy i have seen allows the customer to return practically anything at anytime in almost any condition. The trick is to call customer service if they don't give you what you want right away. Ritz has no restocking fee's for opened items, but they try very hard to stick it to customers from time to time. Even my employees did sometimes, just to keep their commissions. We were all rather poor,and $5 and $10 per sale means a lot to us. Bt if customers knew they could go over us and force us to take a full return without much effort, that would change quite a bit in the stores.

benpopken: What's the price-match scam?

cyclops: The bottom line is that if you call 3 ritz cameras and ask them what the price match is you'll get 3 different answers. The only consistent rule is that we don't match online offers, and we only match "local competitors." Local is a very ambiguous term, especially in the dc metro area.

benpopken: The influence of the evershifting swamp beneath your feet

cyclops: Because of this, there is a lot of grey in how to price match and what to price match. This is yet another tool employees use to sell to the customer. "Well, I know that bargain city has the camera for $50 less, but they're 100 miles away and i can't price match, it's technically not local to us. but i'll tell you what I'll do, if you buy XXXX and XXXXX i'll give you $40 off the camera." That's wrong, and they don't have to do it. In my store, I fought this for the nice customers. Gor those spending quite a bit of money, we'd price match stuff from stores 300 and 500 miles away. I once price matched something from a small shop going out of business in Alabama. I was in Maryland at the time.

I've also seen people refuse to match a best buy coupon price, because best buy is based in michigan, and is not "local." The price match is just another bs tool used to leverage against a customer, but if you call customer service for the match you should get it.

benpopken: Wow, they were doing it based on where the HQ is?

cyclops: Among other techniques, yes.

benpopken: That's nuts.

cyclops: I saw that used once by a district manager when he refused to honor a customers best buy coupon, something i'd been doing for years. It was a lame excuse, but it worked.

benpopken: What would you tell someone thinking about shopping for a camera? Would you send them to Ritz?

cyclops: It depends. If you buy things online your best bet is to read a review at amazon, dpreview and cnet. then buy. I'd recommend B&H and adorama. If you're unsure about buying online, and there's a good chance you'll want to return it, Buy from ritz

benpopken: Just make sure you call customer service if they try to cut down your return price.

cyclops: Or if you have any problems for that matter. Let them know you'll call customer service if you don't get what you want. If you don't follow through, escalate! If you're in a store and you're not getting what you want, tell them you'll call customer service. If they still don't help you, call customer service. All employee's are required to give you their first name and associate number when requested. In some states, it's on their name badge.

benpopken: Escalation is always the key, most people don't realize that.

cyclops: Ritz takes upset customers seriously, to a point. Rather than figure out what caused the problem, they'll do anything they can to make it go away as fast as possible. Just give them whatever they want, so they'll leave the store.

I tried to correct this while i was there. I'd rather reward a customers patience than their tantrum, but i'm afriad i'm in the minority on that issue. They feel it's too combative and that customers when upset should just be given the keys to the store.

benpopken: There's gotta be a balance

cyclops: There are other problems plaguing the company, but they aren't of much concern to you. The photolabs are being seriously downsized, but that's another issue.

— BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY: 8 Confessions Of A Ritz Camera Sales Employee

As the author says, "The inner edge of the tennis ball is rubber, which makes a good non-slip, non-scratch foot."

Technically it's not a "tripod" because it doesn't have three legs, but hey, it's still a cool and cheap way to create a stable camera mount in a pinch. — BEN POPKEN

Tennis ball tripod [Instructables]

If you're one of these people, you may be interested in these cat-out-of-bag-lettings of an ex-Ritz Camera sales force member.

Even if you don't patronize Ritz Camera, some of the tips and tactics to watch out for may apply to your other shopping excursions as well.

So, here I am out of a job due to termination from my former employer Ritz Camera. I was a model employee I followed the dress code to the letter, always arrived promptly on time or 15 minutes earlier. I achieved the highest sales in my region twice in the 8 months that i worked there. After a short argument with a corp. manager I was terminated. So, here I am racked with guilt I am here to confess the sins of Ritz camera

1. Ritz camera employees are commissioned
Why is this number one you ask? Because you must understand what drives us as employees. Ritz employees make commission on everything in the store, we make the most money on our damage protection plan employees get 10-15% of the total cost. So if you have a Nikon D-80 and you get a two year damage plan we get 60 dollars. multiply that by a few customers and you've doubled your paycheck in one day. We will be your best friend while we get you a camera that you can't afford and won't fully understand how to use.

2. Never ever develop nudes, ever!
This may seem pretty common knowledge however some people do it anyways. Lab techs have an unwritten rule "If she's hot make copies!" lab techs aren't authorized to copy anyone's photos however it does happen. So if you have some shots of your wife in a lovely nightie don't process them or they will end up in a lab techs hands or worse, the internet

3. "Of course the damage plan covers that."
Don't be fooled Ritz employees love to up-sell the damage plan touting that if you throw your camera out of a car while moving if you can bring us back the serial number we can get you a new camera. That would be amazing if that was true, I drop my Nikon SLR of the empire state and Ritz will give me a new one, that will never happen. Don't listen to the employee no matter how much he tries to relate to you stand your ground and say no. Yes, people do come in with completely destroyed cameras expecting that in 2 weeks they will have a brand new camera, I hate to tell you this but you will never see that camera again.

4. Free SLR cleanings are only for the outside
This is often used to get people to buy SLR's often the employee will say that you can get a free sensor cleaning if you get a damage protection plan. That's not true you get a "free cleaning" and the cleaning is defined as cleaning the outside of the camera only! No internal cleanings are preformed by any Ritz employee in location. Basically if they say "oh yeah we do sensor cleanings for free in store" that's a lie... it's sent to a separate company to be cleaned and that takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months.

5. Ebay is Ritz Camera's dumping ground
Ritz often sells outdated cameras on Ebay for cheap, it states that if you have any issues you can go to any Ritz store and exchange the camera or return it. We were told by the corp. office that if anyone comes in to exchange any item we are to refer them to customer service. If you find your self in the unfortunate situation of having a broken outdated camera that you bought of RitzEbay, i hate to tell you this but you are utterly screwed. The customer service center will not help you at all. Most of the CSR's are not able to offer any kind of compensation for your camera. if you see a sweet camera on RitzEbay just remember if it fails its up to you to front the cost of repair

Now here are a few tips...

6. Always wait for an ad to come out, this is when you will save the most and get the best deal. If there's no ad running that week prices will be the same as best buy or any other electronics store.

7. If you're doing a large order ask for it in an hour, we say we can do it in an hour. If we can't and you have to wait the manager will take off 10% for the order being late.

8. Always upload your own photos never have an employee do it. I say this because of two reasons. If you need your photos quick and you leave them with the sales associate to develop he won't. Also if you upload your photos on your own and edit them the lab tech won't get the chance to go through your photos while he or she processes them.

— BEN POPKEN

The software that came bundled with my Canon Digital Rebel XT no longer works on the latest version of OS X. No problem, right? I'll just download the update from Canon. But oh ho! They've bundled all the functionality into a new application called "EOS Utility," which is now packaged with cameras newer than mine. And because it's a newer bit of software, Canon's (rather helpful) customer service people want me to pay $20 for a copy of the new software.

I understand not getting free software updates for life, but it's doubly frustrating in this case, because 1) I brought the camera in part because of the functionality promised by their software (functionality I used to have until I upgraded my Mac), and 2) it's stupid that Canon won't just let the users of their cameras download the software in the first place. Even if I had bought a camera that came with the newer "EOS Utility" software, Canon would force me to pay for a new disc if I lost or broke the original. Their rationale? According to the customer service rep: "What if someone bought a Canon from a pawn shop? Then they could have the software for free!" The horror!

I love my Rebel, but I'm extremely put out by Canon's decision to maximize every bit of profit instead of providing a person who purchased their product with the best experience possible.

We'll give our old bossman the same advice we give you: don't stop with Tier 1, escalate! Knowing Joel, he's probably already found a free copy of the new software online somewhere, but if he hasn't, anyone know where he can get it?

Either way, Canon's policy is wack. Why should it matter if Joel traded a newborn child the camera underneath the docks? Successive generations of owners shouldn't have degraded user experiences. — BEN POPKEN

Kodak was advised it could contest the termination but chose instead to resign its national membership in early March. The photography company allowed its membership in the Buffalo-based branch to lapse about five years ago.

"The presence of a third-party organization between Kodak and our customers is bureaucratic and unproductive," it added. "In fact, Kodak's customer service and customer privacy teams concluded that 99 percent of all complaints forwarded by the BBB had already been handled directly with the customer.

To Kodak's credit, the upstate New York BBB only received 183 complaints over the past three years, which is notable for a company of Kodak's size. It also makes Kodak's refusal to respond to those complaints more puzzling.

We might agree with Kodak's actions if they made their customer interactions public and transparent. Because Kodak, like most companies, refuses to do so, we rely on the BBB to independently evaluate their customer service. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Kodak Leaves Better Business Bureau [Forbes] (Thanks to Sheila!)
(Photo: LiveU4)

Go to Camera Finder and select the brand and model of camera that interests you. Right away it brings up a screen of 15 of the "most interesting" photos. You can then search across all of Flickr using standard queries, or refine your search by portrait, macro, night, landscape, action, or recent.

By comparing the results from different cameras, you can see how different cameras perform under different conditions.

And if you need that last psychic push to get you to shell out the cash, you can't help but feel inspired by browsing through all the pretty pictures.

Just make sure at checkout you give proper attribution and linkback. — BEN POPKEN

Flickr: Camera Finder [Official Site]

For example, this person's experience:

To make my point very clear, I told him, "Look Steve, I wipe my ass with Sigma lenses." (Nothing against Sigma, I just wanted to make my point emphatically.) Apparently he understood this and offered to cancel the order but still charge me the shipping and restocking fee. We went around on this point for a little while and ended with him vowing to fight me on this. I disputed the charge right away with my credit card company...

Recently, Vincent Ferrari decided to take pictures of all the "business locations" listed in Broadway Photo's BBB report.

The less than confidence inspiring results, inside...

Photo credits: Vincent Ferrari.

315 East 89th Street: M.A.N Textile Corp

321 East 89th Street is a door with an awning and a sticker with the number.

2922 Avenue L is EO Optics

1412 Avenue M is Mail-N-Pack (meaning they're using a maildrop for their mail)

5014 16th Avenue is a Check Cashing store....

....the interesting thing is that right next to it is an appliance store

BBB REPORT.

BROADWAY PHOTO
337 East 89th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11236
View Location Map

Principal: Darin Krask, Manager

Phone Number: (718) 338-1800

Additional Phone Numbers:
(718) 338-0634 (800) 951-9542 (718) 338-1352
(800) 709-4491 (866) 407-3425 (800) 432-2180
(800) 572-6152 (718) 338-0634 (718) 837-5999
(718) 837-2666

Fax Number: (718) 338-3029

Website: www.bwayphoto.com

Type of Business: Photographic Equipment & Supplies-Retail, Computers-Dealers, Electronic Equipment & Supplies-Dealers

Membership Status: This company is not a member.

The information in this report has either been provided by the company, or has been compiled by the Bureau from other sources.
Nature of Business

Complaints to the Bureau indicate that this firm uses high pressures sales tactics after consumers place their orders. After ordering merchandise consumers report receiving a phone call from the firm's customer representatives attempting to sell additional items. Representatives allegedly try to persuade consumers to buy the U.S. warranty, as well as accessories like cables, peripherals, and software, or lead consumers to believe the product will not work if additional merchandise is not purchased. In some cases, if the consumers declined, an email was sent advising them to cancel their orders because the item was on back-order despite being listed as available on the firm's website. Consumers also reported unauthorized charges on their invoices. When trying to dispute such charges, consumers report difficulty talking to management, claiming they are verbally abused by the company's staff.
Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this business has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau, because there is a pattern of complaints, and the business has not corrected the underlying reason for the complaints.

The company's size, volume of business, and number of transactions may have a bearing on the number of complaints received by the BBB. The number of complaints filed against a company may not be as important as the type of complaints, and how the company handled them. The BBB generally does not pass judgment on the validity of complaints filed.

Complaint Outcome Statistics:
Complaint Outcome Last 12 Months Last 12..36 Months Total
Resolved
Consumer received the requested resolution 152 290 442
Resolved
Consumer received part of the requested resolution 40 77 117
Administratively Judged Resolved
The Company has responded to the complaint(s) addressing the disputed issues, however, the consumer remains dissatisfied 23 69 92
No Response
The Company has failed to respond to complaints 11 16 27
TOTAL 226 452 678

Complaint Issues:

Please understand that complaints may concern more than one issue
Complaint Issue Last 12 Months Last 12..36 Months Total
Advertising Issues 21 64 85
Contract Disputes 4 2 6
Credit or Billing Disputes 39 54 93
Delivery Issues 19 29 48
Guarantee or Warranty Issues 11 11 22
Product Quality 11 14 25
Refund Practices 23 41 64
Repair Issues 3 3 6
Selling Practices 90 223 313
Service Issues 5 11 16
TOTAL 226 452 678
Additional Business Names

This firm also does business under the following names. This is not necessarily a complete list.

A&M Photo World

Cameratopia

Digital Liquidators LLC

Ghu, LLC

Preferred Photo

Prestige Camera

Regal Camera

Tronicity

Wild Digital LLC
Additional Locations

This firm also does business at the following locations.

2922 Avenue L
Brooklyn, NY 11210

315 East 89th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11236

5014 16th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11204

1412 Avenue M
Brooklyn, NY 11230

321 East 89th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11236

Report as of: 1/25/2007

— BEN POPKEN

No joke, Odd Bob, convicted of killing several people in a barn with a chainsaw and released on a technicality, was standing in Jerry's store. Not just standing, waiting, for two hours, for the store's friendly and knowledgeable star salesman to appear.

Punchline spoiler: "If you work in retail... you should be nice to people... because you never know who's standing across the counter from you." — BEN POPKEN

The Texas Chainsaw Customer [It's Jerry Time!] (Thanks to Brian!)

British slag girls love it. Meet Sally Cranham:

Like many women in Britain, I am a size 16 and sometimes my holiday photos are not as flattering as I would like. But the slimming button certainly trimmed a bit off where it counts. If it had airbrushed me down to a size eight then no one would have believed it, but it did just enough to hide some of the evidence of a few too many good nights out.

Present in the HP Photosmart R727, the slimcam setting squeezes the picture in the middle, so the main object in focus is automatically girdled. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, being marketed to vain, rather appalling women.

Camera which comes with a slim-fast setting [Daily Mail]

Sage ordered a high-end camera from Dell. When he opened the shrink-wrapped package, inside was the cheap, plastic office supply.

But after reaching Dell and telling his story, a Dell manager apologized profusely and agreed to send a new 5D free of charge with free shipping.

Yay!

Read the whole gory saga here.

By law, if an item is advertised for a certain price, then that price has to be honored by anyone requesting the published price.

Was this an illegal bait and switch or technical snafu?

You decide, plus, an encounter with apparently the highest ranking customer service representative in the Apple empire, after the jump...

UPDATE: "There is a rumour going around the internets that Steve Jobs has an open e-mail address, sjobs@mac.com. If you have had a unique problem with Apple, and can explain it coherently and calmly, and its something that can be fixed, he'll use his reality distortion field to save you," writes Ben.

"So, I dunno if this is salacious enough for the consumerist, but I'm all for spreading malicious badwill if I can. I just posted this on my blog,

Today, I found that Apple was offering the Sony FX1 DV camcorder for $2000. This was incredible, considering I was trying in vain to finance one from Sony literally yesterday for $3600. Suddenly, the $4000 (after tax) pipe dream was going to be a $2000 reality in the hands of this still-poorish ex-film student.

Things looked bad off the start. I applied for Apple's credit, because, well, I don't have a lot of cash on hand. Apple decided they only liked me for $1000, but I figured I could take the pinch (right after payday and all) and drop the rest in cash. Sure, I might face a few overdraft fees from my bank in the meantime, but as long as they stayed under $1600 worth of fees, I'm still ahead of the game.

The credit line is immediately applied to my order, and I have an option of adding a second card to complete the purchase. So I do. And I notice a funny thing - I can't change the amounts on each. So the credit I just qualified for, in the amount of $1000, was being charged by Apple to the tune of $1000. I enter in my debit information, hit continue, and . . .

Rejected. I call my bank, thinking the problem is there. Nope. I get ahold of Juniper, the bank that handles the Apple Credit, and find out that Apple is charging a $1 authorization to the account along with the $1000. So they're charging $1001 against $1000, Juniper's saying it's over limit, and the process is being rejected. AND I CAN'T CLICK ANYWHERE TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT. APPLE'S SHOPPING CART IS COMPLETELY SCREWED (this was on Firefox 1.5 for the Mac, by the way.).

The info for the Apple credit line won't be mailed for three weeks, so if I don't complete the purchase now, I'll undoubtedly miss out on the camera. And the only way to use the Apple financing now is by not signing out of the
Apple store, since it's auto-populating the information, which, again, I won't have otherwise for three weeks.

So, 6 customer service reps later, I'm connected with a super-helpful lady named Diane, who figures out a plan: I'll order a single cable, give her the order number, and then she'll remove the charge for the cable (but still
send it along, free of charge), she'll add the camera, and then adjust the amounts there. It works, and she charges $950 to the Apple credit, and the rest to my debit card. It's a lot of work to get around a poorly designed online shopping cart, but if it means getting my camera, I'm happy to do it.

I'm so happy with Diane, I ask to speak to her supervisor so that I can leave comments about how deftly she handled the situation, and just generally what a great rep she's been. Yay!

Or not, as it turns out. I get an email later saying my order's been shipped, but all I see is the DVI connector cable I ordered. No camera. I log in, and the camera's due to be shipped on Monday, April 3rd - still within 24 hours, so I feel pretty good about things.

Until I check back in an hour later, and find the camera is listed as cancelled now.

I've received no communication from Apple about the cancellation. I'm confused, and a little angry considering the fact that I spent at least 90 minutes ordering the thing in the first place.

So I call up, and am subjected to no less than six reps, all of whom tell me different variations on "We don't know" or "No one will tell you WHY this was cancelled." (I swear to god, that's a quote). I hear that the stock ran out. I hear that "It shouldn't have been on the site." And I can't get a straight answer - was there ever any stock to begin with? I can, however, purchase a Canon GL2 for $2700. Sure, it's not as good, and it's more expensive, but . . .

I end up talking to Becky "We don't give out last names", supervisor with Apple Direct, extension 42692. I give her the same line of questioning I've given everyone else - after explaining my frustration.

Me: There's no recompense? You're not going to do anything to mitigate this and attempt to leave me as anything other than a very frustrated customer?
Becky: I've noted your frustration. There's no equivalent we're offering at this time.
Me: Can you help me undo the credit line I opened? I'd rather not have an Apple account, and I'd rather not have my credit report state that I opened an account and then immediately closed it.
Becky: There's nothing I can do about that.
Me: Are you saying there's not a system in place?
Becky: That's correct.
Me: Then why don't you send me to someplace where someone can help me?
Becky: I'm empowered to help you with this situation.
Me: But you're not actually helping.

Becky, it seems is where everything ends at Apple, leading to (after much polite frustration), inane exchanges like this:

Becky: There's no one else above me.
Me: No one else? It's just you and Steve Jobs?
Becky: ...
Me: You're not even going to suggest I write a letter to corporate?
Becky: You can write a letter to corporate. I'll give you their address.
Me: That was my suggestion. That doesn't count.

Becky continues to suggest throughout the rest of the conversation that I write a letter to corporate, as though this were useful and not, in fact, an idea I made to prove a point.

Becky claims that Sony is discontinuing the camera (not true, and when I point this out, she backpedals and says that, "They aren't supplying us with the camera.") Becky offers me $50 off a $1000 purchase, and says it's something she's granting to me because of my frustration, and that they won't be granting that to anyone else. Then I point out her supervisee offered me a blanket $50 off without the steep $1000 price tag.

So I'm left without a camera, and with a credit line that's worthless to me at this point.

My general frustration is that the whole thing sounds like a bait-and-switch. I signed up for an Apple account, applied for and opened an Apple credit line, and placed an order for a camera. Then, I was told it isn't in stock (and still never confirmed that it was, in fact, ever in stock), and have a Canon GL2 suggested to me (a lesser camera, offered at $700 more). I'm told repeatedly that an email was sent to me, but I never received anything (and yes, I checked my spam folder). And there's no attempt - anything - to make me a happy customer, other than $50 off of a high ticket item. Which is negated by the fact that if I chose to use the Apple credit, I've lost the 90 days no interest offer for my first purchase.

Angrily,
Star R."

Star wrote again:

"I just got an invoice emailed for the free DVI connector. It lists it as free, with 0.00 tax and 0.00 shipping, for a total of... $225.16.

I'm not sure what's up with that math, but it's a nice bit of frosting on the cake.

I've attached a screenshot of the relevant portion of the email.

Star"

BONUS LINK: An article on how great Apple's Customer Service is. "Why Everyone Loves Apple" [CoolTechZone] (Thanks to Andrew!)

Via AdFreak, we discovered this truly creepy mutated canine advertising the new Kodak Easyshare V570 Dual Lens Camera. "Dual Vision Has Its Benefits" the ad asserts. We're not sure why the dog, which looks as if it just wandered out of a post-apocalyptic nuclear waste land looking for human flesh upon which to feast. The only connotations it evokes are vaguely nightmarish, which probably wasn't the intent of Kodak's advertising. It also reminds us of a dream we had last night, in which we mutated and discovered an extra eyeball on the face of our foot. Wearing sockless flip-flops, we spent away our time on an oneiric subway line, on the prowl for girls in skirts. But we digress...

Mutant dog helps sell new Kodak camera [AdFreak]

Undaunted by being completely exposed as scam artists by tech blogger Thomas Hawk and subsequent articles in Forbes and The New York Times, the sleazy camera shop changed names and got relisted on Yahoo! Shopping and Price Grabber, under the name Barclays Photo.

This is made all the more galling because Thomas already publicly reported the name change.

As Thomas writes, "So much for the shopping comparison search engines looking after their customers." Indeed, the slime ball shops even brag about how easy it is to get relisted on the comparison shopping sites. Check out the full scoop here.

PriceRite photo was reported back in Nov 29 by Thomas Hawk as running a sleazy only photo supply scam shop out of Brooklyn. Yahoo! Shopping admitted had "rigged their feedback system" in Forbes magazine. For his troubles he received some online acclaim, as well as Denial of Service attacks on his system and life-threatening phone calls.

Previously:

• The Times on Price Rite Photo
  
• PriceRitePhoto: Want to Cancel Your Order? We'll Sue

• If all the goofy Hot Coffee controversy didn't inspire you to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in one of its two versions on the Playstation 2, Best Buy is taking orders for the Xbox version for only $20. Ships in mid-February. [via TechBargains]

• Dell has extended their point-and-shoot camera sale for another day, with discounts in the 15 to 20% range. Ben's Bargains has a thorough index of cameras available with pre- and post-discount prices.

• Buy.com is selling the ACP-EP Memory 128MB USB 2.0 Mini Flash Drive for $4.95 with $6 shipping. Thing is, the shipping doesn't increase much when you order more, so toss in a couple dozen and give them out to your friends. [via Dealnews]

• Woot! is selling that damn InFocus 61-inch DLP HDTV again for $2,505 shipped—but this time they're throwing in a blender. You can help put feel a little sorry for these guys. It's one thing to have a whole bunch of extra USB keys sitting around, but these HDTVs have to be taking up a lot of space.

Highlights from Dealhack

• 30% off Dimension Desktop PCs (expires 1/18)

• Refurb iRobot Roomba 4210 Discovery over 50% off at Amazon

• Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR $2804 at Dell Home [This is a great deal for a great camera. -Ed.]

The last best address leads to a metallic gray warehouse by the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Trash haulers go about and there is a dull buzzing sound in the hallway. Graffiti gives information that white people are devils. [Duh! -Ed.]

Envelopes marked Price Rite Photo are stacked by a door. No one has picked up the mail since the business quit the premises two months ago, said Robert Colon, the handyman. Telephone calls to the company go unreturned.

• Staples has a $.99 Sale on a variety of office goods, including Duck Tape, a 12-inch shatterproof ruler, and a Premium 1-hole punch. You've got the mixer for the murder—now stock up on torture. Slickdeals has the item numbers from which to order.

• Macys.com is having their after-Christmas clearance, with discounts of up to 65% off.

• Yahoo Small Business has a $2.99 per year domain registration sale going on for .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, and .us domains—but only if you're a new customer.

• Today's Woot: The Mustek GSmart D50 3.1 megapixel digital camera for $75 shipped. No optical zoom, so we'd say pass. The entry level for a nice Canon Powershot is only around $150 (here's a Powershot A410 for $127 shipped), and it's worth saving up to get a real point-and-shoot.

Thus far the names that seem to be tying together include PriceRitePhoto, Barclay's Photo, Film4Less, Edigix, CP Industries, The Camera Zone, TheCameraMall, Film Shop, Film Shop Clipper USA.

Is it possible that all these bad Brooklyn camera stores are actually being run by just a few people?

PriceRitePhoto Update #21, Changing Names at eBay to Barclay's Photo [ThomasHawk]

We wish we would have then been privy to this brilliant picture archive compiled by Don Wiss, showing the storefronts of dozens of online camera retailers. Not only do we happen to find mundane New York storefronts interesting in and of themselves, but are also aghast that there is a grey market store called 'Radio Active Electronics' that we have not had the pleasure to be fleeced in.

As always, thanks to this peculiar breed of scammers, avoid discount camera dealers at almost all cost. (Thanks, Galen!)

Check out these choice threats from their 'manager,' Steve Philips:

"I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again." "I'm an attorney, I will sue you." "I will call the CEO of your company and play him the tape of this phone call." "I'm going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you." "You'd better get this through your thick skull." "You have no idea who you are dealing with."

But even though Hawk should know better than to buy from an unknown camera retailer, he does post another serious question: How does a company that is so obviously run by slimebags have a four out of five star rating on Yahoo Shopping?

PriceRitePhoto: Abusive Bait and Switch Camera Store [Thomas Hawk]

Related: Online Camera Retailer Leaves Death Threats for Customer [Consumerist]

Blogger Lee Holmes' co-worker recently had a run in with one retailer called 'WaWaDigital':

"Don't be cheap? Listen. That is ridiculous customer service. Cancel my order and goodbye."
"Cancel your order? You really want to pay the 30% restocking fee for canceling your order?"
"What restocking fee? There is no order, and you're not going to charge me one."
"Oh yes I will."
"Go ahead, and I'll dispute the charges on my card and it'll cost you even more."

Sometimes people ask The Consumerist what this site is about. Well, here's one good example: we're going to help you guys shut these pricks down. A store's modus operandi probably shouldn't be to call and leave death threats for cancelled orders.

Lee also notes that WaWaDigital is also know as StarGatePhoto.com, Stop4Camera.com, and Starlight Cameras. Stick with trusted camera retailers when you can (a few of which actually work out of Brooklyn, sadly).