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Early Addition
We know you hate the exclamation points, but seriously-- this story deserves them. Thomas Hawk tried to buy one of the new Canon 5Ds (retail price: $3000+) from PriceRite Photo in Brooklyn, and had what can only be described as a surreal bait-and-switch experience:
"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."These are all direct threats that I received today from an individual who identified himself as Steve Phillips, the manager of PriceRitePhoto in Brooklyn, New York when I called to inquire about my order with them. My crime? Telling him that I planned to write an article about my unfortunate experience with his company regarding the camera order I had placed with him yesterday.
The long version is well worth reading, but long story-short: if you see a camera on sale for a really low price on the internet, best to be wary-- and definitely read the negative feedback on Amazon or Ebay-- not just the positive ones. For fairly competitive prices and good service, we recommend B&H Camera or Adorama-- both get crowded during the holidays, but you know you'll get what you pay for. Do you have any advice for good camera stores in NYC, or ones that are worth staying away from?
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i've gotten things from willoughby's, they had what i needed and the prices weren't that bad.
How do we get Elliot Spitzer's office to look into this? Just reading stories like this infuriates me.
all those Brooklyn Jewish Camera dealers are sketchy...a lot of them are greyboxes (not legal to sell in the U.S.) meaning you will get no support from the manufacturer including warranty coverage
yeah, willoughby's is king. I had my eye on a camera on their website, when the price dropped significantly. I went in to buy it and they said that they accidently put the wrong price on the website. Instead of jacking me around they gave it to me at the cheap price.
i like buying from amazon - no hassle of the salesmen, occasional free shipping, and that whole tax thing...
Like! Ohmigod!
This kind of stuff is nothing new. I've had a similar experience with one of these dealers in Brooklyn while buying video equipment. When I complained that their service was awful and they were screwing me over by telling me things were in stock when they weren't, they kept pulling out the line that they supply huge money clients like CBS. Working in TV now, I realize that that was all complete bullshit. Anyone in their right mind would avoid these places like the plague. B&H all the way for small orders. For larger stuff or if you're a production company, there are lots of other great retailers and camera houses that will work with you.
Here's a great article on the subject from a little while back:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,107855,pg,1,00.asp
I recomend J&R Music World, right across the street from City Hall Park. They are good for cameras, electronics, computer stuff, as well as CDs and DVDs. Like B&H they are an authorized dealer of a lot of camera and electronics lines, but they will match prices. I have even ordered stuff over the internet from them and had no problems with them.
Now if someome threatens you like that, you may want to file a police report.
Also, here's a great set of photos of some of these camera "stores":
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/
Also, here's a great set of photos of some of these camera "stores":
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/
I'm sorry, but I have to follow up on that earlier comment and ask - Is the camera store bait and switch a jewish thing? Is it a Russian immigrant thing? Because it's obviously a Brooklyn /Borough Park thing and we know who lives there. Of course, we know good folks like B&H are jews, but I wonder how the unethical business model operates for people in such a supposedly orthodox sect.
Don't ever buy from 42nd St. Photo!!! They had a Sony Cybershot camera advertised online for a certain amount. I went to their store here on 5th Ave to go buy it in person. When I spoke to a sales guy he priced it at more than $50 above the advertised price. When I asked him why it cost more in the store - he ignored me and looked somewhere else - twice! When I addressed him a third time - he snickered and rudely said "When you pay my bills, then I'll tell you." (His ignoring was a little surreal at first so I wasn't sure if he really didn't hear me). I thanked him for the customer service and walked out.
If they could give two sh-ts about their false advertising and customers, then they don't really need your business do they? Buy from B&H instead.
Actually, I like the exclamation points.
I always try to go to smaller shops when I can (Book Court, Gotham Bikes, etc.) but I hate to and have to to admit it... for big ticket items or electronics, you gotta go to the chains, either in person or online. Not all of them are great, certainly, but at least you know they are on the up and up and you won't have to look over your shoulder for a few weeks post-purchase.
J&R is the best of my experience, though I've also found Circuit City good for some stuff (be warned, know what you want and don't have any questions).
Anon beat me to it with his comment at 2:51 p.m. (see above), but ethnic and religious stereotyping has to be challenged at every turn. There are good dealers and bad dealers in every industry and every community. B&H is a shining example of fair prices, expert sales help, and perfect customer service. Virtually everyone I've dealt with there is a member of the Chassidic community, at the most traditional end of Jewish religious practice. Other dealers may fail to live up to their standards, but that's a personal failure, not the characteristic conduct of a religious community. Bias is shameful in any setting, including a product or industry review.
I've considered buying a camera from the stores in Brooklyn but ended up buying from buydig.com due to two reasons
1) no tax because they're based in NJ
2) they're not in Brooklyn
Got my camera with no issues two days after I placed my order. Internet gods were on my side, yea!!
Call me skeptical, but does anyone know that this whole thing isn't completely a made-up story? Everyone is automatically assuming that the origianl blogger is completely on the level. And he probably is, but I guarantee the next time it'll be someone using the same methodology to unfairly target an innocent and defenseless small businessperson with the same phone phreaking, denial-of-service attacks, and mail bombing that is happening here.
This business may deserve bad publicity, but nothing justifies the illegal acts that people are performing in the name of "revenge".
Preface: I'm Jewish, tada!
But this camera store phenomenom is not a Jewish or Russian thing. It's an Israeli thing. And everything else connects to that. Even as a teen I remember going to Harmony Video to get a disk drive for my computer and the place--then near the corner of Coney Island Avenue & Avenue U--was a wretched backroom place with a bullying Isreali asshole barking at me behind the counter.
And mind you Israeli doesn't necessarily mean Jewish. There are tons of Arab Israeli dealers in NYC who really don't know how to do business without screwing someone.
Most Russian electronic stores are 100% fronts for something else.
And most of the decent camera places in NYC like Adorama and B&H are run by Orthodox Jews who might put some pressure on you, but nothing more than normal sales pressure.
I can't believe you're recommending B&H. Every woman I know who's tried to buy there, including people placing extremely expensive orders for top-level equipment, have run into amazing misogyny.
Don't know if they're still there but many, MANY years ago I went to Olden Camera (All run by Orthodox Jews) with my beloved Fuji, because the light meter was no longer working. I'm expecting rude service because I'm a young woman and, well, you know, stereotypes & all that crap. I sez to the guy, "I need a new light meter for my camera." Guy barely speaks English but barks that it's only a few years old, the light meter couldn't be broken. So we're arguing, I'm getting annoyed and I'm feeling condescended to as well, finally I let him take a look at it if he's so smart. He opens the back compartment to show me how the battery corroded with age, pops in a new one, and turns his back on me. Light meter's working fine now and I'm red in the face and feeling more than a little stupid. I call out, "How much do I owe you," and he turns around, grins, winks, turns back to the next customer. I manage a weak "thank you" and leave the store.
I was about to write that it's a Brooklyn thing, as many of my dealings in the BK have been pretty sketchy, but I must give a shout-out to Court Street Office Supplies. It's Orthodox/Hassidic run and the service is absolutely wonderful. I've never experienced a moment's misogyny - seriously.
Adorama? Not a chance! I recommended them to a friend upstate once and he placed an order online. The website said the item was in stock. Three weeks after the order, he got an email saying the item was out of stock and being back-ordered. He never did receive that item or even heard from Adorama again, although they never charged his card.
J&R? Hell no!!! Back in the early 80s, I bought a Walkman from them. Brought it back the next day after I changed my mind. They took it into the back room (out of my view) then emerged a few minutes later saying it wasn't returnable because it was scratched. They showed me the scratch, which was only visible if you held it up to the light just right. For all I knew, they scratched it in the back room. Fine. The jackasses may have gotten their pound of flesh from that sale, but they lost my business in the 20+ years since, and I've always recommended other places to any of my friends who asked for advice, so they've lost even more. Short-sighted fools.
Call 311 if the store is in New York. File a complaint with DCA, (Dep. of Consumer Affairs) if it’s a licensed business. They can actually do something to improve the situation and reprimand the asshole.
I bought my Canon Powershot at CompUSA. You can find good deals on cameras like that if you just look through those sales ads that come in the Sunday Times (or just check their websites on Sundays).
Gothamist! Please! Stop! Writing! Heds! Like! This! And. this. one. too. Really tired.
Check out http://resellerratings.com whenever you want to check up on a store.
Like Rose, I too was treated in a blatantly misogynistic manner at B&H (on 2 occasions), once when I had $3000 in my pocket, ready to buy a piece of equipment. I know they're not the only place condescending to women, but I've never experienced this at, for instance, J&R.
I have had good experiences with B&H but terribles ones with 42nd Street and Adorama. B&H might be somewhat misongynistic but I feel they are honest and have excellent customer service. Sometimes in person a salesperson won't be very helpful but their phone sales is top notch. They usually have good prices, will work with the govermental bidding processes, and will offer alternatives if they are out of stock on something.
I have used them for work and personal purchases with no problems for the last ten years.
I have had several dealings with the Orthodox run photo stores. The above comments are all true -- they seem to prefer cheating to honest business. I mean actually prefer it.
The comment about them being Israeli is absolutely true. Many Jewish people will tell you that Israeli is an entirely different attitude; I even saw something about it on Frontline, about this Israeli attitude -- they don't merely want to do business, they only feel right about a deal if the "get over" on the victim.
As for B&H, I dealt with them for many years as a professional photographer in New York. Then I found out one important thing and I will never do business with them again. They are ultra-Orthodox hassids (nothing wrong with that) but they are also one of the biggest financers of ultra-right wing Jews building illegal settlements on the West Bank.
In other works they finance people actively trying to steal Palestinian land from Palestinians. These are evil people and must be stopped. Jews already have Israel -- why do they need to steal more of Palestine on the West Bank?
Here again, their attitude becomes clear "We deserve to take anything we want because we are superior. The Palestinians deserve nothing because they are not Jewish." The attitude is despicable.