Broadway Photo RipOff

[boneman335]

What a nightmare! I'd like to add my horror story experience to those already posted. However, it's too unbelievable to bother posting here. Suffice to say, I'll never go near them again, no matter how attractive their offers seem to be. DON'T EVER BUY FROM BROADWAY PHOTO!!!!

[honestabe18]

I bought a NIkon D40 at Broadway Photo. (I know, ignorance costs.) My first complaint is that like all the posts above this one say, they tried to tell me I needed something different and more expensive. But what really ticked me off is that I checked out online and the GRAND TOTAL was $435. When I receive the package it has additional charges on the bill for something they call insurance and handling and the total is $460!! I never asked or settled for something like that. How can they afford to do something like that? How come they haven't been closed down yet? What can I do about it besides regret that I ever gave them business?

[JAMESKARLMERRI]

I ordered a refurbished Fuji hybrid slr. No problem except no strap or lens cover. ok

Although advertised as free shipping there was an undisclosed $15 additional charge on my credit card bill. Their CS explained this was for 'shipping insurance'. They agreed to send me a free case and the missing strap in lieu of a credit. We'll see.... I will never order from them again!!!!!!;

[Frog]

Just sorry you didn't find this thread first.

[amusia]

Hi Everyone, I just want to chime in on this Broadway Photo forum. They had the best price on a Canon S31S a year or two ago, so I called them - couldn't order online. The person who answered the phone told me I'd get this and that with the camera, so I ordered one. He sold me a few lenses (wide-angle and zoom) along with it for another hundred dollars. Then it came, but not everything was included in the box. So I called to complain, and the person who answered the phone this time said the other guy would never have said what he had said. He told me "You know, we record all these calls, so I can hear exactly what was said!" I replied, "That's great! You can listen to our conversation, and you'll see I'm telling the truth!" He replied, "I haven't got time for all that ****!" I got the feeling they were forbidden to ever give back money. So he offered to give me not only what the other guy had forgotten to pack, but a 3-year warrantee, free. I accepted (and there was no alternative). I do hope the Attorney General puts them down. Bad dog.

[Frog]

Thank you for the report! The more we get, the more likely others will find this thread before they make the blunder.

[richkohm]

CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DOG A NEW TRICK
This is what I thought after asking Broadway Photo to cancel an order that I placed today. The salesperson asked why I wanted to cancel and I said it was after reading all of the reviews on the web. He said, "Those days of bait and switch and trying to rip their customers off is all in the past. They are under new management now and that I should read all of the great reviews at resellerratings.com." He said this after he charged me over $200 for shipping and insurance. Nothing could be further from the truth. They have just found new methods to do the same thing. When I asked to cancel, I was told that I would receive an email in one hour to verify my request. Now you know with their reputation, that is not going to happen anytime soon. This was another one of those moments that you say to yourself, "What the hell was I thinking?"

[Frog]

Being the cynic that I am, I suspect they've decided to have pay people to write reviews.

[Grandpaw]

richkohm, Thanks for adding your experience to our long line of comments on Broadway. With nearly 177,000 times this post has been viewed over the last four years this thread gets read around 3500 times a month. Broadway has built a reputation with the members here for being the NUMBER ONE site to stay away from. Because of the tremendously bad reputation they have built up over the years they have started going under many other names to get around the bad publicity they have built up.

I have a sticky post, which means it stays at the top of the page so it comes up each time you come to this forum , that has a list of Recommended Sites and Sites to Avoid. I read everything written in "Camera Dealer Feedback forum " and update these lists as needed. There are sites being added and taken away every day on the Internet so my lists will never be complete but I do check out each and every site on each list and keep it as up to date as possible. Thanks for coming by and adding your comments and you may want to check out my lists here, Jeff

Recommended sites and sites to avoid

[unhappytourist]

I don't know if anyone can help me here. I went to NYC in October. I bought a batter charger from this store and the man said that he would charge me $19 for it. I get my credit card statement and I was charged over 140. Does anyone have an advice as to who I should contact or report them to? I called the man, and he said that he never quoted me 19, and that I must have misunderstood him. Or is this a case of buyer beware and I have learned my lesson??

[Frog]

You didn't get the reciept?
Will charge?
Talk to your credit card company.
Didn't know they had a store you could go in.

[unhappytourist]

I did, but they said they only would charge me 19, and I guess I misunderstood what he was saying. I wouldn't buy a charger for htat much, I would probably just have bought a new camera. Ugh. It seems as though it is a case of me knowing better next time. They do have a store it is in times square. Would you suggest the Better Business Bureau or the attorney gen?

[Frog]

If you have the receipt, show it to your credit card company.

[pageantportfolio]

They tried all their same BS on me but I got my item by confirming the item was in stock first when I called back to confirm and then told them the lenses for the item where purchased a few days earlier from them by my fictious business partner and if I can't have the camera in a few days (they tried the out of stock BS with me before) we will have to return the $5000 in lenses we ordered a few days earlier (but did no such thing). Got the camera and everything at the price advertised.

[FloydTillery]

I purchased a EOS 5D body. Camera body is shipped in Pro Kit Box after 24-105 L lens had been removed. I don't have a problem with the lens being removed since I only bought camera body. Here's the problem. After the lens was removed, the body was packaged and shipped without the protective lens cap being placed on the camera body. This particular body has a problem with sensor dust and has to be cleaned by hand. This is the second 5D that I have owned and am aware of the sensor dust issue. I also know that over time I will have to send it off to get the sensor cleaned, but I don't expect to take delivery of a new camera body and find that the sensor has lots of dust before the first photos.
This is the first time I have dealt with this business and will never, I repeat, NEVER deal with them again. I usually do business with B&H Photo but they didn't have a 5D.

[CUDA]

Thank you all!!! I was all set to order a Nikon D3100 from these guys until i found this site.:thumbsup:

[bbybls]

I purchased a D80 body in 2007 from Broadway Photo. I let them talk me into all the upgrades. I loved my camera until one day in 2010 when I got it out to make sure everything was working before I took it for a weekend of shooting. To my horror it had an error on the lcd which I could not clear for anything. ERR. I sent it to 42nd St Photo to see if they could repair it, after a couple weeks I finally got out of them that it was not a US version. They asked me where I bought it and told me they would see about trying to get parts for it. About 2 months later they told me that it would cost the same amount of money to fix it as I paid for it to start with. At which point I told them to just ship it back to me and started looking for a new camera. Buyers beware of Broadway Photo, if I would have known that they were selling grey market products I would have never purchased from them. I paid the US price for a grey market item. I thought I was getting the US version the whole time and did not know it wasn't until I tried to get it repaired.