Broadway Photo RipOff

[smithson234]

Everyone should be aware to stay away from Broadway Photo. I bought a Nikon Coolpix 5000 from Broadway Photo and when it broke 5 months later tried to send it to Nikon for repair, only to find out that it was a "gray market" camera. Apparently it is illegal to sell these cameras which are not intended for the US market in the U.S. without the customer knowing it. This company is a scam and a rip-off.

[beast11]

I talked to Broadway yesterday. They told me many lies and when they were all done quoted me a price $20 higher than on the e-mail confirmation. The charge was for insurance even though they said shipping and handling was included. Their internet ad stated battery and charger included but when I called to confirm the order they were not included nor was the one year warranty they quoted. STAY AWAY

[cihindy]

so wish I had seen all this info before my purchase!! BUT...I did just get off the phone with my credit card company and canceled my card so the charges will not go through. My 1500 bill went to 1900 with all "the extras". I was so mad at myself for letting him do that to me! Gonna stick with Adorama. So glad the transaction had not gone through yet. AND so glad I had instincts about the website and the salesman demeanor, all that lead me to research more and when I found all this info on the site...I canceled my order..ASAP!!!! thanks everyone for their input.....

[ted2018]

Credit Card Theft at Broadway Photo?

I placed a telephone order with Broadway Photo in New York and made a credit card purchase of a camera (ironically, I looked at their web site and decided that I wasn't comfortable giving all my info to them via the web).

Within two days of calling them, someone was running around the New York, Delaware, Connecticut, and North Carolina area using a counterfeit credit card with my info on it to get a series of cash advances from gas stations in those states. I am working with my credit card provider and hoping for a successful Federal prosecution of whoever it was who was stupid enough to try to steal from me. It may just be a coincidence that I called them and suddenly my card info gets stolen, but my card usage pattern is such that, if it is just a coincidence, it is a truly remarkable one.

[dcabajia]

these people are outright thieves. same bait and switch was tried on me as well as a 9% handlling charge that wasn't included when i placed the order. i called and canceled the order and was told rudly, 'good luck on finding it cheaper' when I told them the reason I was canceling was that I had no desire to deal with such a disreputable company. I got an email that verified my cancalation (they wouldn't give me a cancelation number on the phone when i asked, but did give me the name of the guy I was talking to 'David'). the cancelation said that if my credit card was charged to allow 24-72 hours to have it reversed. I replied to them that if my credit card was charged it would be rejected immedately without any waiting because they are not trustworthy to believe I'd ever get a credit.

[Sue-Ann]

You must have read my mind.On Sunday I placed an order with Broadway Photo for a Canon Powershot A720 and a battery charger with batteries. The next day my husband got a call from them asking for him to "verify" my credit card number. He said the guy on the phone was aggressive in demanding the number. My husband refused to give it and called me at work. The phone number the guy gave was not the one listed on the site and had too many zeroes to sound right. When I called the (same) guy on the phone using the online number, he lied and said he hadn't asked for the credit card number but had asked for verification of my address. Then he went on to tell me that the camera I had ordered was made overseas and not in the US. Talking fast he said I should upgrade to a higher more expensive model. He also told me that the SD cards I had wouldn't work in this camera and that I should buy the high speed kind. Then he told me I shouldn't buy the battery charger I had ordered but a much more expensive one that would cost much more money. The final straw was when he said I would be charged an additional $15.00 for insurance. I told him that charge was nowhere on my receipt and he cockily responded with, "Of course, we have to pay for insurance." He was pushy, rude, and miserable on the phone at which point I told him I was canceling my order. He then hung up on me! What a terrible experience...I'll NEVER buy from Broadway Photo again! This was the ultimate in Bait and Switch I have ever heard of.

[perfect165]

I have also joined the ranks of many who have been ripped off by Broadway Photo...I could never recommend this company to any one. On 3/17/08, after having checked on a camera through a local office depot, I got this great idea that I could save on taxes & shipping. W R O N G.....I ordered a Pansonic for about $184.....received an email later for me to call & verify my order. It was on 3/19/08...I called on my cell phone from work...by the time my conversation was over my order was up to $408.....I felt pressured to buy things for the camera which was not needed..I insisted that I wanted to cancel my order...this person I spoke with would not relent...I stupidly agreed to $384 with all the neat things promised...I just wanted to get off the phone....later in the day at about 3:35 p.m. New York time I called to cancel the order...they told me their systems were down and would call me back in 10 minutes...in the mean time I contacted my credit card company and they said they were unable to help me at this time...I had already agreed to the purchase..I called Broadway Photo again and the person I spoke with was R U D E. He told me it was too late to cancel the order as it was shipped out the day before...I told him no way...I had just confirmed the order at about 10:15 A.M. that same day....I even emailed after the telephone conversation...They shipped it out to me at 9:24 P.M. that same evening....I refused the order...After a week they refunded all but $18.11 go figure.

[JAMR]

Here's a couple things to add:

Got talked into ordering things I didn't need based on lies.

Tried to cancel the order a couple hours later, but was told it had already shipped.

Tried to return the order once it arrived, but was hit with a 15% restocking fee although nothing was opened. The restocking fee is 30% if you open the box.

Was told that the camera was discontinued, although this is a lie.

[liequan]

Here is my experience with broadwayphoto.

A couple month ago, I tried to buy Olympus E-510. I ordered it on broadwayphoto website and at the time the website said it is in stock. A day or so later, I asked for verification call(you all know that). I did it. Later I got an email stating that the product is out of stock. So I canceled it. -- Not too bad, the problem was just inconsistency between the website and its actual stock.

On 04/07/2008, I am looking for Olympus 1030 SW. The simple google led me to broadwayphoto again. I ordered it online with $306 and free shipping. And again, I got a request for calling them for verification. I called this morning. The other side of the line treat me like kids. First, he told me that the battery coming with the camera would only last 10 minutes and he recommended additional battery for additional 39.99 with very authoritative voice. I did not believe that but the extra battery is not bad so I said yes. Then he told me I would need to buy a battery charger for that. When I questioned him that "should the charger comes with camera in the package", he avoid the question and asked me to forget about the charger. Then he told me that the total price is 399.99. I learned the simple addition in my primary school so I immediately questioned why the total price is that amount. He stated that the extra battery would be 59.99 (which he mentioned it is only 39.99 just a minute ago.). I said that I do not want extra battery. This time he gave me another price which is about 350. Again I asked why it is different to the price shown during my online order. He said the difference is because of shipping insurance and it is non-negotiable. I feel fishy and said I wanted to cancel the order. He canceled the order. I feel that I am really lucky that I canceled the order after I googled the word broadwayphoto and found this site.

[vapor85knight]

BROADWAY PHOTO - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!

I ordered a Canon Rebel XTI w/ 17-55mm lens because the price was over $100 less then the other companies. This ended up being to good to be true! A couple of days after ordering the product I received a call to "verify" my order. I was pressed hard into buying a battery for over $100 saying that the battery that came with the camera would only last for 15minutes??!! which I thought was odd and raised my suspicions immediately as i had already done prior research on the camera and battery from the actual canon site and even spoke with a Circuit City salesperson. Well I ended up not buying the battery and a few days had passed and no tracking information was on my account! So I called a representative who informed me that the item was out of stock and they would receive it within a few days or so. BS! Their site clearly lists it as In Stock!

I quickly googled their company name just to see if this had happened with anyone else and that's when I stumbled upon this post and many others from different sites. In addition, I came across this article from PC World about what they found at this store and a few others when they went under cover; THIS IS VERY INTERESTING: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,10...1/article.html

Basically, these New York companies are able to sell these products for so cheap because they are GRAY MARKET products and will also try and get you to purchase more very expensive accessories and if you don't buy them the item is all of a sudden out of stock! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!

Luckily nothing had been purchased to my card so I immediately canceled the order and received a confirmation e-mail............I will also be changing my card # for my safety, just in case! I will be buying this item from Amazon.com.

[Ichigo55]

So the camera I got is ok as stated prefviously. All the same problems, but like a week after I got mine, I noticed the battery charge they sent me is not the right battery charger for the battery I have. I had called them and stated this and it took me time to convice them that there is NO WAY that the charger could charge the batter as the contacts are in defferent locations and the guy finally said ok I will test it and if doesn't work I will send you a different one. I was very skeptical that he would do this, needless to say 2 weeks later and still no charger. Unfortunately I am no good at arguing with people so it looks like I am out that money and will use the charger that came in the box. Which of course the original call said that the camera did not come with a charger that it had like an AC adaptor that you had to charge it through the camera itself. NEVER AGAIN will I go the cheaper route, I turned out to spend more money than I would have had I gone to best buy or another reputable store. Expensive lesson learned

[Jimbo]

Reviews and information like this help others not to make the same mistake. Perhaps reviews such as these will run "crooked" businesses out and off the worldwide web.
Your information helped me decide not to buy from such companies.
Great Thanx,
Jimbo

[ileong]

Thanks for all the postings - looking for a Canon S5 is - Broadway was the cheapest, but thought I'd google them and found you guys. Not touching them - they are selling it at $261. Why bother when Dell has a special on for &279.99...

[PatriciaRossi]

Because of a so-called "5 star rated company" seal of approval from lowpricedigital.com, I placed my order with Broadway Photo, on April 11, 2008. They never sent me any information on my order. I purchased the camera because I wanted to be able to take great pictures at my daughter's graduation from the University of Pittsburgh. I will be leaving North Carolina to drive to Pennsylvania on April 29th. Today I began getting very nervous that5 I had not yet received my camera.. When I called Broadway Photo to check on my order, I had to hold 20 minutes on the phone before reaching a human voice. I was told that my order had not yet gone out because the Olympus SP-570 Camera I purchased will burn up if I use regular AA batteries, that batteries only last 20 minutes in the camera, and that I must also purchase the special charger if I want it to operate properly. Now 12 days after ordering my camera, I am being told my order had not shipped because I must also purchase an additional charging unit. No one from Broadway Photo called me to tell me that they were holding my order. I told the salesman that I needed to contact the Olympus Company about this problem, and did not wish to order a recharging unit at this time. He told me I would get my camera by Friday, but it's hard to trust a company after having my order held up for 12 days, to sell me a charging unit. I have no camera to take pictures of the graduation!!! I called the Olympus Company and they said Broadway Photo was incorrect in what they told me and that they will tell me anything to make a sale. I picked this company because of the high rating it got from Lowpricedigital.com. When I went back to complain on the low price digital site, there was no way to put in my unhappy rating about Broadway Photo, so I think their ratings may be fraudulent as well! I researched for so long before picking this camera, and now it looks like I picked the wrong company to order from!! Broadway Photo has unethical practices, and I am in desperate need of a camera.

[Frog]

Hope you find a camera in time. Always google up reviews and the best places for reviews are, of course, here and also http://www.resellerratings.com/ , which as far as I can tell is the only reliable source on the net besides here.

[gbukgb]

I found some info on the BBB website, just a heads up when ordering from any of these websites listed as they are all part of Broadway Photo...

Website:
www.bwayphoto.com
Additional Websites:
BuyeRetail.com
www.amphotoworld.com
www.cameratopia.com
www.digitalliquidators.com
www.kingcameras.com
www.preferedphoto.com
www.preferredphoto.com
www.prestigecamera.com
www.regalcamera.com
www.thedigitalexpo.com
www.tronicity.com
www.wilddigital.com

[opa1944]

PLEASE SEE EMAIL I SENT ON THUS 04/24/08::

I always send copies of " FRAUDULENT INDIVIDUALS/COMPANIES" to 2 Internet Fraud Email addresses I found which are:

spam@UCE.Gov
OIG.HOTLINE@SSA.Gov

P.S. I did receive an email confirm of my Cancelled order but no other comments about my complaint!!!

QUOTING CHARLEMAGNE LOOSELY-

" IF ANYONE HAS TRIED TO RIP ME OFF, LET HIM DIE THE DEATH; LET HIM BE FRIED IN A PAN;LET THE FALLING SICKNESS AND FEVER SEIZE HIM;LET HIM BE BROKEN ON THE WHEEL, AND HANGED. AMEN"



**********BEWARE OF BROADWAYPHOTO.COM **********
(SEE BELOW)


----- Original Message -----
From: Sal Russo
To: Internet1 Fraud ; Internet Fraud ; Orders@bwayphoto.com
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: Your Order# W1827524


I just had a very "UNCOMFORTABLE" conversation with one of your telephone reps (Mr. Ext 288) in response to this email!!!

1) He tried to sell me a better battery that I dont think I need and appeared to mis-represent the product!! He also told me I could buy it now for 1/2 price but would pay full price at a later date-I dont belive him!!
2) He tried to sell me a memory card because he said the camera takes a new hi speed card-I dont believe him!!
3) He told me the internal memory provided by the manufacturer only gives me 4-5 pix-I dont believe him!!
4) He also told me I was buying a camera with a Japanese warranty-I dont want it!!

********CANCEL MY ORDER IMMEDIATELY AND LOSE MY EMAIL ADDRESS********

BROADWAYPHOTO.COM WILL NEVER GET A POSITIVE WORD FROM THIS CONSUMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WOULD LIKE AN EMAIL CONFIRMATION OF MY "CANCELLED ORDER"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----- Original Message -----
From: Orders@bwayphoto.com
To: opanomi@optonline.net
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:30 AM
Subject: Re: Your Order# W1827524


Dear Salvatore Russo,

We thank you for choosing bwayphoto.com as your choice for all your photographic equipment.

In order to further verify your order #W1827524, we will need to speak with you on the phone. Please call our processing department at 1-800-307-1148 Extension 288 so we may verify and process your order.

Store Hours:
Sunday: 10 am to 7 pm EST
Monday - Thursday: 8:45 am to 9 pm EST
Friday: 8:45 am to 5 pm EST
Saturday: Closed

Once again, Thank You for choosing bwayphoto.com.

[marklp]

this is my first post. hello all!

gosh, am I glad I found this forum.

I placed an order on Monday for the new Canon Rebel Xsi and received an email confirmation for the order. After 3 days, I noticed I had not been charged for the purchase. I went back to the website and there was a "please call to verify order" message next to my order number. ??????? Since when do you have to "verify" internet orders? Something doesn't seem right.

I googled broadway photo and found this forum, called to cancel my order, was on hold for 1/2 hour, the rep says: "we'll put that through order through right away". I ask: "why did I have to "verify" the order? Rep says: "Just standard security procedure". His voice was as though he was trying to force the order through. I said: "Cancel my order." He says: "You waited all that time just to cancel the order?" I say: "Yes". He says: "You know, if you call 12 other dealers, you're going to end up cancelling 12 orders". We'll see, but I doubt it.

Thanks everyone for posting your experience. I'll pay the little bit extra for the peace of mind, if need be.

I'm new to photography. This will be my first digital SLR camera.

update - they did send me an email confirmation of my order cancellation, immediately.

-Mark

[cvete]

Hi,
As of today, Broadway Photo has not changed its deceiving practices. I tried to buy Panasonic DCM - TZ5K camera from them. 4 days after placing the order online, I received an e-mail that I need to call them, so I can confirm it. When I did, they lied to me that the supplied by the manufacturer battery was good for 10-15 minutes of camera use only and that I simply had no other choice, but to buy an extended-life battery (Talked to Panasonic. They said the battery is good for up to 300 pictures and they had not heard of an extended-life battery for this camera or most of their cameras). When I asked Broadway Photo if they could guarantee the item would be received within a week, they said I needed to pay $40 for shipping, although their website stated $24.99 (considering they promise free ground shipping on their website). They tried to sell me different packages that I do not need and I ended up canceling the order, because of their rudeness and unwillingness to work with the customer.

Who in their right mind would pay for these "kits" of Broadway Photo and other similar companies, when on e-bay a lens cleaning kit is $5, a mini tripod is the same price, a carrying case is $8-10, and a high capacity (1300 mAh) battery is $16.99.

[opa1944]

Just a word of advice (which I forgot):
If you use Amazon.com they usually direct you to the best sources at the best prices!!

If you shop often enough during a 48 hr period you may find the same item for less/more but you have Amazon to stand by you!!

Consumers dont need these " Blood Suckers" to get a good price on cameras/accessories!!

Another good source is Overstock.com for everything you need in cameras!!

Let's put these SOB's out of business!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guyduc]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion about my situation:

A friend of mine had ordered from Broadway before with no trouble, so when I saw a good price on a camera I bought it from them. I got the whole "call us to confirm" email, so I did and ended up buying a battery, charger, bag, and warranty from them. I guess I wasn't ripped off because I actually need all those things (I film birds 20hrs a day out in the woods) but they sent me the wrong battery and charger (everything else was in perfect condition). My invoice states the entire price as a package and I was wondering if it would work to just return the entire package and if I would actually be able to return anything to them. Since reading this forum I do no want anything from them and would like them to get as little of my money as possible. Any thoughts a suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[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.