Broadway Photo RipOff

[Lao]

Why don't you give them a call? Anything someone here will say it's useless until you call them and see what they have to say about that.

By the way: what does your camera sticker on the bottom say? Made in China or Made in Japan?

[Guyduc]

It doesn't say where the camera was made, but it mentions that it is a Japanese camera. "victor company of Japan" to be exact. I just realized that I bought a 2 year warranty from these guys. Is the warranty legitimate in any way? Has anyone ever tried using it?

[MEM]

Another story along the same line:
Bad service as posted by many other fellow customers. They advertise a price way below market then force you to call to confirm the order for phony reasons (mine was that I supposedly entered the incorrect ZIP code which I know was not the case since I have a printout from my initial order confirmation with the correct ZIP code). After finally reaching them many days later (line busy and endless waiting), they offered me overpriced accessories. Once I turned these down I was told that the item is nevertheless in stock and will be shipped the same day (already 4 days after ordering it as 3 day delivery at an extra price). This never materialized and my order status changed from confirm order to item on backorder despite the item (Canon XSI) still being indicated as being in stock in the search result of broadwayphoto and despite the customer service rep explicitly assuring me it was in stock. I cancelled the order and brought the item somewhere else after losing many hours in ordering it and attempting to contact them.

[Guyduc]

Okay here is some progress report on my situation, in case this can help anyone: I called them and stayed on hold for half an hour, talked to customer service. The guy was very nice and said that he will email me the return authorization number and that I can return everything paying only for the non-refundable shipping fee. I recorded the conversation on my phone as evidence in case they decide to screw me. I also have a lawyer looking into the matter (and the company) in case I want to sue them later. I will update the information as I get it so as to help everyone who has been screwed by BroadwayPhoto.

[suckeredincolorado]

STAY AWAY from this outfit and their affiliates!! Unfortunately I also got swindled by Broadway Photo and took the time to sign up for this site to warn others that they are still BAD NEWS. Like so many others, I wish I had checked this company out more carefully. I ordered a camera online last week and received the email asking me to confirm--as I've been learning more about them I've discovered that even if I hadn't called, they probably would have called me. They convinced me I needed an extra long-life battery and charger. The sales rep did it all so quickly, saying that I'd get two batteries and the charger as part of a package in their holiday catalog (which never materialized, by the way) and save money over buying the add-ons separately. This is my first SLR, I didn't know!! He gave me "discounts" as I was agreeing to each item, but somehow the total at the end seemed like much more, and it was, basically double the price of the camera. When I tried to find these items online after the "better deal package" arrived, it turned out they are probably $10 and $20 items. To make it worse, a long-life battery and wall charger was also included in the box with the camera, so I didn't really need them after all. Speaking of the camera itself, they Japanese "version" is what arrived--not what was in the picture on their site. When I opened the box and saw what was there I knew I'd been suckered. So nothing is what they promised. What really stinks is their site is made out to look reputable--complete with 4-star "ratings" which I've come to find out are actually false, probably just invented by these scammers to fool people like me! Oh, and by the way, they also claim to offer free shipping. They charged me a $39 "handling" fee. Right now I am trying to return the whole thing and they are trying to charge me the infamous 15% "restocking fee." The funny thing is, since I've refused to sign their confirmation agreeing to this, they're now calling back and offering to increase the amount by $30. I'm planning on contacting my bank, the Office of the NY Atty. General, the post office, FTC, etc. Not to mention posting on as many review sites as I can find.

[MySide]

I just had problems with them myself. On 04/28/08 I purchased a Panasonic HDC-SX5 AVCHD 3CCD. I recieved an email that within 2 days the item should ship and I could call to check on the order which I did 2 days later. When I called the first guy said that he could get the camera shipped out that day but he would have to send me to another extension. That guy told me that my order would not ship until the next day and then tried for 10 minutes to sell me on extended warranty. Which I did not purchase.

The next day I recieved an email stating that my camera was back ordered. I called and spoke to a very rude man who stated "You can either wait until your camera comes in or cancel the order." When I asked to speak to his supervisor he said "I have cancelled your order.' and hung up the phone. Shocked I called back and spoke to someone different who said that my camera was cancelled and it listed "Customer Requested". This man told me that the camera was on back order and it would be up to 8 weeks before I could get one.

I told him to leave the order cancelled. I will never ever do business with this company again.

[azianna]

I Am Surprised They Have Been In Business Since 2005!

[hgleiche]

My experience with Broadway Photo is about the same as all the other posts. They bait and switch, cannibalize the boxes to remove manufacturer supplied items then tell you they are throwing them in for free. When you call to return you are told about their "restocking fee" which in my case was $170.00. My guess is that the restocking fee is greater than the items profit margin. Great business, buy one camera and resell it over and over. I assume everyone out there who is not from NYC knows that Broadway camera is a Chasidic outfit.
My only recourse is with American Express who tells me that since I was not told about the gray market camera when I specifically asked for USA warranty that I may be able to fight the restock charge thru them.

[hgleiche]

I successfully dealt with Broadway Photo, although it took some patience and some threats that worked. I was, as all the poster stated, a bait and switch victim when I purchase a Canon Xsi camera and accessories. They shorted me a high capacity card, a high capacity battery and a USA warranty.

My first step was to call American Express and stop ALL payment pending the outcome. Amex did just that. Amex is by far the best at this type of dispute and any yearly fees thay may charge well worth it if you are doing business on the Internet.

I called the store to get a return number then was informed that there would be a $170 restocking fee. I told them, or they already were aware of the Amex action. Amex had informed me that they had dozens of complaints against Broadway Photo and that the Broadway Photo Account was being looked at by Amex. I told Broadway that I was returning the merchandise and they could fight with Amex over the $170.

In a few minutes I received a phone call from a Broadway Photo manager who made a deal for me to drop my case. He tossed in an additional high speed battery, an additional 4gb card a full size tripod and the extended 3 year warranty. To go one step farther to make it go away he deducted $100 from the total.

Now the whole transaction included 1 Xsi Canon Digital SLR - 1 2gb + 1 4gb high speed cards 2 high capacity Canon batteries, 1 tripod, 1 3yr extended warranty

With the $100 deduction the total came to $1020.00

All merchandise was new in sealed boxes.

[parker49]

resellerratings.com is no longer accepting reviews of this company, probably because of the bogus positive reviews flooding in. I felt I needed to vent so I am positing my review here:

They say you can’t cheat an honest man. If the price is significantly lower than mainstream retailers, particularly if it is a high demand new camera model, beware!
I was lucky not to get burned by this company. Lured by the low price on the hot new Canon 450D I placed an order online for about $150 less than retail. The “order confirmation call” came the next day (Sunday) and I was told that I had ordered the Japanese version (Kiss X2 Digital). That it did not have a US warranty, did not have an external battery charger (?) and that the manual and camera menus were in Japanese. All complete transparent lies. All versions of this camera have selectable menus languages and external chargers.
Any way I wanted the camera and assumed that they actually had them in stock. After a short but intense haggling session where I deflected a whole grab bag of overpriced extras, we agreed on a stripped price, camera only, $50 below full retail including shipping. Filled with foreboding after I hung up I looked up their rating. Alarm bells went off! Judging by what I had read and my own experience, I felt certain that they had no intention of fulfilling my order properly. I called my credit card company and froze the account. Fortunately the charge had not yet cleared, possibly because it was Sunday, a narrow escape.

[sebahlke]

I had a similar experience. Placed an order for a GPS online. Received an e-mail back to call and verify the order. After waiting hours on the phone they talked me into a package deal. Extra long lasting batteries and a memory chip that was obviously not included. I ended up paying $ 400 more than I would have with a different company. They also said "free shipping" and charged me $ 88.00 for handling and insurance. Since they were a lot more expensive at the end I decided to return the package. After waiting for hours again to talk to somebody they told me that they have a 5 % re-stocking fee plus extra return fees for GPS's. My invoice ended up being $ 1187 and the credit for returning would be $ 921. Given that I get the GPS at other places for $ 799 this is really a bad deal. I will still return it because with this company it is a total RIP OFF! I will never ever place an order again.
I also called my credit card company to put the amount in dispute and the gentlemen told me that the name Broadway Photo is a very well-known name for disputes. I think that says something.

[gcv]

Just wanted to say that I ordered a 40D through Broadway and, though I had to call customer service due to an opened box the first time, they immediately sent out exactly what I ordered along with a great camera bag, a 5 year extended warranty from RepairTech and a 2gig CF card for my inconvenience.

Not sure I would order from there again unless I did so through Customer Service rather than Sales. That is where the problem was. Once I talked with Customer Service it was all good.

Great deal. It took an extra two days (they expressed shipped it), a little hassle, but with what I received for under $1k, I'm pretty happy.

GCV

[fx101]

Just wanted to say that I ordered a 40D through Broadway and, though I had to call customer service due to an opened box the first time, they immediately sent out exactly what I ordered along with a great camera bag, a 5 year extended warranty from RepairTech and a 2gig CF card for my inconvenience.

Not sure I would order from there again unless I did so through Customer Service rather than Sales. That is where the problem was. Once I talked with Customer Service it was all good.

Great deal. It took an extra two days (they expressed shipped it), a little hassle, but with what I received for under $1k, I'm pretty happy.

GCV

GCV... this is your first post, you have no profile information, AND you had a positive experience. How are we supposed to believe that this is true?

[Grandpaw]

My suggestion from research and this forum tells me to stay as far away from Broadway Photo as you can, Jeff

[dumpy]

It seems like it's getting to the point where there should be a sticky that just says:

"Broadway photo is bad and avoid anything in Brooklyn, just order from Adorama or B&H"

That would save lots of server space, time and effort.

[Kukujang]

Beware of the stores with the 718 area code. That is Brooklyn, N.Y. There are only two major camera dealers in Brooklyn that I'm aware of that are legit. . .Abes of Maine and another but cannot remember the name. All others are the same shady practice. Broadway Photo, Digital Liquidators, A&M photo, and I think CCI are all the same operation. They have no storefront here in Brooklyn, but are run out of a private house with the stock kept in a garage locally. I was going to purchase a lens a few years ago from them and wanted to go and pick it up since I live in Brooklyn. They told me to come by the address at a certain time, and cash only if I was not paying for shipping. This all sounded too shady for me, and i rather spend a bit more to support the legitimate dealers than these hoods.

[oseymour]

I understand that you are hurt about being cheated by Broadway Photo and other dealers but not everyone who sells in brooklyn is a bad dealer and deserved to be called "hoods". I live in Brooklyn

Tried to buy a Canon Rebel XTI about a year ago, They tried to sell me the canon battery for 119 even though it comes in the box and can be bought for about $20 on ebay.
Salesman was rude and arrogant.

Beware of the stores with the 718 area code. That is Brooklyn, N.Y. There are only two major camera dealers in Brooklyn that I'm aware of that are legit. . .Abes of Maine and another but cannot remember the name. All others are the same shady practice. Broadway Photo, Digital Liquidators, A&M photo, and I think CCI are all the same operation. They have no storefront here in Brooklyn, but are run out of a private house with the stock kept in a garage locally. I was going to purchase a lens a few years ago from them and wanted to go and pick it up since I live in Brooklyn. They told me to come by the address at a certain time, and cash only if I was not paying for shipping. This all sounded too shady for me, and i rather spend a bit more to support the legitimate dealers than these hoods.

[LeanneW]

I really wish I knew all of this about Broadway Photo! I purchased all of my other photo gear from B&H, over 10 yrs experience with them, absolutely no problems. I decided in April that I wanted the new EOS Rebel XSI as soon as possible, as I wanted to be comfortable with the camera before my baby was born. So I believed the quoted price online, got suckered over the phopne into buying additonal stuff, wound up spending $1799 for a $800 camera package. Didn't get the iSI, got the grey market version, "Kiss," which does not work at all. I called Bwayphoto today, complained, now they want me to send the camera and batteries back for them to inspect it. I am sure I will be scammed in this process. I have the 3 yr warranty, another thing I was suckered into buying that will probably not provide any coverage. I am sure, based on what I read here, that they will find some excuse for not sending me a new camera, or will charge me another exhorbitant price to restock this garbage camera, so they can sell it to someone else. They'll say it works fine, etc. and I will be like everyone else here, no recourse but to write the attorney general etc. In the end, I will not have a camera before my baby arrives (any day), unless I order another, though that is not ossible, as the money is spent. It's almost 2 months since my credit card was charged, so I don't think that route would help. I bought the camera, didnt discover the problem until now (go figure, with a baby due, I had little time to spend time with and test the camera). Now I realize the thing can only take 2 pictures before going dead, get an "Error 99" message. Lesson learned!Stay away from BWay photo!

[Kukujang]

hat does your camera sticker on the bottom say? Made in China or Made in Japan?

[tbone]

Similar experience, looks like a good deal on-line and hardball up sell when you have to call to confirm your order. They get really mad when you do not bite. But the fun only starts here; when I received my order the extra item I ordered from the up sell was not even in the box, it was on the shipping invoice. But the invoice is one total amount no price by item. Plus, they charges by $45 more than what I agreed and the charged $70 for 2 day shipping, not the $25 on the website. I called the next day and after 45 minutes on hold I got a person. He was actually cool and credited me the difference and sent out the unshipped item.

But the next day when I went to the Nikon site to register it turns out to be a gray camera, so no factory warranty. Pay the extra and stay away.

[Lenzman5]

It's very interesting to see this forum; but somehow I had a feeling that a forum like this was probably out there simply because of the experience I just had with them. I attempted to buy a Canon XL-H1S that no one seemed to have but Braodway was offering cheaper. When I queried about it and they asked if I wanted the US or Gray, I chose US as I am aware of the warranty difference. I gave the necessary information to the sales person who then proceeded to attempt to sell me accessories and an extra warranty that I already knew I wouldn't buy so I let him know that upfront and then he tries to tell me I am being rude by not letting him finish this high pressure sale. Up to that point I was only being direct...not rude. However, after that it's a matter of opinion.

I believe that they did not actually have the camera in stock as they claimed based on what I am reading here as well as experience from another place called Tri-State that swore they had an item, which they didn't have but didn't want to lose the sale, so they decided to send me the wrong thing despite my having told them I was absolutely not interested in getting put on back order.

The salesman's attack on me for not dragging out a sale was enough for me to cancel the order on the spot and call my credit card company and tell them not to allow any charges from Broadway. This is a good forum but it is apparent that they need to be put on notice that their actions border on fraud.

[azianna]

I have recently ordered a camcorder a couple of days ago. They emailed me stating they still need to complete my order and ask for a phone call back. Then they said the camera I am ordering is in German, not English and if I do want the US one, it would be $60 more. They also said the factory made battery (JVC) lasts only 15 minutes and tried to sell more batteries. I was lucky because I got fed up and canceled the order. Can we report them to BBB or something?

[cindy from CT]

I just ordered a digital camera from Broadway Photo yesterday. Today they called me at work and said they'd give me a good deal on a memory card. I said I didn't want one. So he said he'd give me a half-price deal on a battery. I said I didn't want one. So he got all nasty and said that I was getting my camera in all Japanese and if I wanted the English version I had to pay another $60. I canceled the order and he sort of laughed and hung up on me. I ordered it through Wal-Mart instead -- they have a $1 shipping fee, no restock fee, and 30 days to return it to any local store.

[Mulechicken]

You Can Beat Broadway Photo, There is Recourse

June 17, 2008

If you are one of the many victims of Broadway Photo’s tactics, don’t be let them get away with it, there is action you can take to mitigate the problem. If you take matters into your own hands you should be able to, at best, get your products for a reasonable price and, at worst, get a full refund and put the credit card companies on their backs. I got overcharged 260 USD on a Broadway Photo and Video order and was able to get most of my money back after contacting customer service, using the “iron ass” style of negotiation, threatening to dispute the order with American Express and return the shipment, and constantly repeating five words: “I will not accept that.” Below I’ve detailed my experience in the hope that others who’ve been cheated will have the courage and knowledge to fight back.

I looked Broadway Photo and Video up for a new camera purchase based on a recommendation from a friend. They had the Nikon D80 bundled with a Nikkor 18-200mm lens for under 1,200 dollars, a killer value. Purchasing the Nikon D80 body with the 18-200 lens on B&H would come to about $ 1,470 after shipping. After placing the order with a couple of filters I called Broadway the next day to change my shipping from express to overnight. I was warned that they could be pushy, and oh man, were they ever. I ended up having to pay extra for accessories that should have come with the camera standard, mainly a battery recharger, warranty and rechargeable battery. I upgraded to “multi-layered” UV and polarizer filters and eventually talked the extra battery and recharger that down to just 18.95. They hassled me about memory cards, 278 dollar 3-year extended warranties, camera bags and everything else in the book. Bundled with a one-year warranty that otherwise wouldn’t be included I ended with, what I thought to be a total purchase of 1,450 USD, a price way more than I originally intended to pay, but hey, at least I’m getting all those great “multilayered” filters…

When my shipment arrive by UPS the following evening, I opened the box and the first thing I examined was the invoice. The total was 1,710.99. I was shocked. The invoice was oddly itemized:

Nikon D80 with 18-200 AF lense pack: 1,710.99

Multi filter kit: 0

Cleaning kit: 0

1-year warranty: 0

Extended life Battery: 0

It was obvious that some shenanigans were going on here. The Multifilter Kit was a set of three filters, something that I was pressured to add to my purchase but refused, and here it was in my box. I checked on the internet and my heart sank when, after a simple search, I found story after story, article after article of Broadway’s scams, bait and switch tactics and high pressured rip-offs. I felt like such a sucker, but I definitely wasn’t going to let my money escape so easily.

Preparing the Counter Attack

First I contacted American Express and explained that I’d been overcharged by a rather unscrupulous merchant and asked what my options were. American Express explained that, if negotiations with the company were unsuccessful, I could return the product and dispute the order. Although the payment had already gone through, American Express would happily refund the amount to my account and they would handle getting the money back from the company. I could also dispute the order for just the part I was overcharged and American Express would pay me the difference. When asked how successful they were in getting the money back in disputes like this the rep confidently replied “oh, we win these disputes most of the time.”

Next, I researched all the stories on the internet about Broadway to familiarize myself with their tactics. It was obvious these guys were machines and ran by a system of pressure under the assumption that customers can be easily worn down and tricked. They lured people in with impossibly cheap deals, then rip them off with accessories and “deals” claiming that products are back ordered for those customers that refuse to buy anything in addition to the camera. Many victims were threatened with a 15% restocking fee and others just gave up after their protests went nowhere. Broadway claims to record the conversations and will look them up to prove their claims. Others were scammed into accepting the order with a few added-on extras to “increase the value” of the order. However, there were a few who stood their ground and were able to get refunds after much headache and hassle, so there was hope.

I talked to some of the people around me who had successfully resolved similar situations from internet purchases and learned that if you’re persistent and unwilling to be deterred by their pressure tactics, you can win most of the time. Companies like Broadway, while unscrupulous and manipulative, are companies in legal standing and do not want to face the Better Business Bureau and lawyers from credit card companies if they can avoid it, especially since the undoubted mountain of disputes and complaints on their records put them at a disadvantage from the start in any legal dispute. They can be persuaded to negotiate.

The next step was to itemize what I should’ve paid, and what kind of amount such a deal would cost from reputable sources. I used B&H and Wolf Camera as benchmarks. I wrote everything down and worked out exactly what I’d been overcharged, how much other companies charge for the same thing, and decided on a maximum amount that I would accept the order for, which was about 100 dollars more than I originally expected to pay, but 175 dollars less than what I paid. Of course, I could’ve just returned the camera, but since I live internationally, being able to find the camera for a reasonable deal would have had to be put off. I wanted to use my new toy.

The Battle

With all information laid out in front of me I was ready to take on their frontline of soldiers. I knew that the fact that I specifically refused the three filter kit added on was going to be a major card in this match. Since I definitely didn’t order it, I had every right to return it.
The following Monday morning I called up Broadway. Once directed to customer service I was put on hold for 30 minutes. Eventually a rep answered and I explained that I believed I’d been overcharged for an order. He asked what the order was and how much I’d believed I’d been overcharged. I gave him my order number told him what I purchased and how much I think I should’ve paid for it. Just as a disclaimer, I’m paraphrasing what was spoken and can’t guarantee word for word accuracy.

“Well sir we have here that 1,710 is the amount agreed upon by both parties.” He said.
I argued that this was not the amount I agreed on and asked if he could explain the price breakdown of the order. “I’m sorry sir but it says here you bought it as a package so I can’t bring up an itemized order.” I responded by breaking down the order as I saw it. “Are you getting those prices from our website?”

M: “No, these are the prices that we talked about on the phone.”

B: “Well sir it says here that both parties agreed upon this price.”

I calmly replied “I’m sorry but I did not accept this price, I did not order this filter kit included, but ordered a UV filter and a polarizer separately. I will not accept this and will be forced to dispute the order with the my credit card company and return the shipment if I’m not refunded.”

B: “Sir, this is the amount you agreed upon and it cannot be changed.”

M: “Then I have no choice but to contact my credit card company and return the order.”

B: “Sir, it says here you agreed on this price. We record all conversations like this one now. Let me go back and check the recording. Could you hold for a minute?” I agreed to hold.

I was the put on hold for about ten minutes, the Broadway rep would intermittently interject “just a sec’ every now and then. Eventually, he came back. “Sir, you definitely agreed upon 1,710 as the total. Do you want me to play it back for you?” Of course I did. I then heard my own voice talking to the original sales rep. They had indeed recorded my phone call from the week before!

The part he played was towards the end of the conversation after I’d been exhausted by his aggressive pitches over the course of the long conversation that was originally just a simple call to change my shipping. The salesman spoke in this low, grumbling voice. It was as if he was making a sale after being woken up at three in the morning. “Sir we can give you the extra battery as a package with your current purchase for an extra 18.95 will that work?”

“Uh, well…yea. Yea, that’ll work” my voice said.
In a hushed but hurried voice he replied “OK so that’s sixteen forty-nine and with the battery we’ve got seventeen-ten, is that fine sir?”

M: “Yea, yea that’s fine” my voice replied. The final price was spoken so unclearly I had to get the recording repeated. But then I understood it. I’d been tricked, on tape, to agreeing to pay 1,710 for the set. He had me! I could almost see the customer service rep’s smug look on the other side of the line. Even though the equipment we had been talking about didn’t come anywhere close to 1,649 dollars he arbitrarily raised the price in the last sentence, hoping I wouldn’t catch the mistake. Then he didn’t just add 18.95 to that imaginary amount, but whopped on an extra 40 bucks betting, correctly, that in my impatience I wouldn’t do the math and trust his sum. Ah, I was such a sucker! But I was determined not to fall easily.

I disputed the 1,710 saying that you couldn’t really tell if he was saying seventeen-ten or seventy ten. It could’ve been seventeen dollars and ten cents.

B: “It’s definitely seventeen-ten. This is the price you agreed upon, we have proof of it on the recording.” he was starting to get aggressive now.

“Mmm, I don’t know about that. I’m sorry, but I will not accept that price. That’s not how I saw the agreement.” He then agreed to refund the 40 dollar difference admitting that was Broadway’s fault but wouldn’t refund the money I wanted. We kept going back on the issues. When asked how the 1,649 dollars broke down he was unable to give me any details since it was a “package.” Finally I calmly said to him. “I’m sorry but I will not accept this price. I did not agree on this price and did not order the extra filter kit of three filters but ordered two filters, no package. If we can’t cut a deal, I’m prepared to dispute the price and will be forced to return the shipment and file a complaint with my credit card company.”

B: “Sir, American Express will not accept this, we’ve had it happen before. We have your recording agreeing to this price—“

M: “I’ve already talked to my credit card company extensively on this. If we can’t reach an agreement they’ll happily reimburse me. Then it’s between you and them.”

B: (agited now) “Sir we have the recording and will fight this. All you’ll get after you’re reimbursed is then get charged by the credit card company again when they see that we’re in the right—“

M: “But you’re not in the right, I didn’t order the filter kit and I did not agree on this price. When you look at the items we talk about on the phone, it is clear I’m being overcharged. I will not accept this.”

B: “OK, so to return it I’ll have to give you a confirmation number. There’s a restocking fee as listed in our Terms of Service that you agreed upon when making the order. We’ll refund you 1,450 dollars but the difference will be the restocking fee.”
M: “That just ridiculous. I will not accept that.”

B: “It’s in the terms of service that you read and agreed on! We have the right to charge you a restocking fee and that’s all you’ll be able to get. American Express won’t refund you.”

M: “Are you kidding? I’m not going to pay an outrageous restocking fee for stuff I didn’t order at a price I did not agree upon. I’ll send it back to the address it came from and let American Express deal with it.” We went back and forth again and again, mostly with him repeating the above and me calmly repeating “I will not accept that.”

B: (Sigh) “Let me put you on hold while I talk to my manager.” I listened to the pretty music for a few minutes.

Let’s Make a Deal

When he came back on the line his tone was more positive. “Ok Sir, since the sales rep overcharged you we can reduce the price and even add some items to add value to the package.” His tone was rehearsed, I knew when I called that they would try to add some useless junk rather than refund the money. “We value you as a customer and can add valuable services and accessories to your order, even increasing its value beyond what you originally paid. This can--”

“Just tell me what you got.” I interrupted. He offered to knock the order down to 1,650 and add in an “extended life battery” and a 3-year extended warranty. Not acceptable, but on the right path. We negotiated back and forth, me still maintaining my iron-ass negotiation tactic and the sales rep continued to act as the aggressor. I told him I was not interested in add-ons only in refunds. Eventually he brought it down to 1,550 USD, ten dollars within what I was prepared to pay.

“Make it 1,545 and you got a deal.” I said. After a short pause he agreed. He asked that I reply to a confirmation email that he would send with the renegotiated deal. The refund would take five business days to show in my credit records. This was consistent with what the credit card company told me.

In the end I got the D80 body, the awesome 18-200mm Nikor AF lens, a UV filter, a polarizer filter and a fluorescent filter (WTF?), a “cleaning kit” (some q-tips and shammy wipe in a plastic bag), one of those tiny bendable tripods, two extra batteries, an external battery charger and a 3-year warranty with overnight shipping and a s&%#load of hassle for 1,544.99. Not a “great” deal, but assuming that the warranty, batteries and filters are adequate (quite presumptuous of me, I know) I’d call it a “fair” deal. Part of me wonders how much farther I could have driven down the price (and I’m confident I could have gotten an extra 50 from them), but I had more pressing issues at hand, like hanging out with my family and relatives while I’m still in town visiting them.

While the whole event caused me a lot of disappointment and stress, the actual confrontation was fairly painless. I felt calm and in control the whole time, and anyone else in this position should feel the same way. Broadway is not an offshore scam artist, just an unscrupulous NYC based company run by humans. They have to abide by US laws and know that they only stand to lose, in reputation and directly in revenue, from disputes with credit card companies, complaints to the better business bureau and complaints to the attorney general. Credit card companies are only hurt from companies like this due to returns and the expense in resources involved, so you can bet they do everything possible to win such disputes as to deter other companies from doing the same. You don’t need to be a hard-nosed negotiator, you don’t need to yell or sacrifice your integrity to beat them. Just know your options, lay the information out and be persistent, they’ll always strike a deal or be forced to accept your return if you hassle them enough.

But if you really want to be a winner, don’t shop at Broadway in the first place. It’s just not worth the hassle, especially since there are so many better companies that deserve to receive your business. In my internet search I found the following websites to comparing prices from reputed companies. Companies with dubious reputations like Broadway are removed from their price listings. They also have a valuable feature for examining the reputation of businesses. Broadway, of course, is a one out of five in customer satisfaction.

www.pricegrabber.com

www.resellerratings.com

Here are some good articles from PC World on what to beware of when shopping online. Broadway photo comes up many times.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,10...5/article.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,10...1/article.html

[HughYeman]

Hello all, and thank you for the warnings.

Two days ago I was stupid enough to think that the "TRUSTED SELLER" rating at http://www.everyprice.com actually meant something, so I ordered a Panasonic DMC-FZ50 from Broadway Photo. This morning I got an e-mail like the ones you describe. I called the number and got put on hold for ten minutes or so, during which time I found this site. I not only responded to the Broadway Photo e-mail telling them to cancel my order, but called my credit card company to ask if I could block transactions from them. The credit card rep offered to cancel my card and send me a new one with a new number, and I figured that was the safest option.

I have a question that so far hasn't been addressed here: Is there anything one can do against sites like everyprice.com? Based on this thread I can only assume that disreputable sellers pay them for a "TRUSTED SELLER" rating. I suppose all one can do is warn other people about the worthlessness of such ratings, yes?

Thanks again for the information.

-Hugh