Has anyone used us1photo.com?

[Czygany]

After having Razz photo call and cancel my order, I came across this forum and then spent the better portion of an afternoon reading the reviews and experiences of other buyers. About 9 years ago, I purchased a shockingly-cheap camera from an online retailer based outta Brooklyn, and had not had any problems with the company or the camera. It seems that the buying situtation there has since changed...drastically. I'm considering myself lucky that, so far, I've managed to escape the unethical business practices of places like Razz. This led me to the search to find a reputable dealer from which I could _actually_ buy my camera (a Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder).

The reviews here made me consider buying from Beach photo. But over the weekend, when I had ordered my SR12 from Razz, I had also ordered accessories from us1photo.com. Their prices for the SR12 were only a few dollars less than the price at Beach so I figured that at least the price was within the range of what a reputable dealer's should be. I checked out their ratings with the oft-cited resellerrattings and they had positive things to say about them here: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/US1Camera Also, I was planning on putting the camera on my AmEx, who in my experience, has always had great buyer protections, so even if I was getting scammed, at least I had some backup.

I called and spoke, for some time, with their sales person, Alex, who, despite having an admittedly rough day, was very friendly, knowledgeable and quite accomadating, answering all of my questions and requests. I was able to add the camcorder to my existing order, change the payment option for the camera, check the stock levels (the SR12 hasn't been released yet) and expected ship date. And, most importantly, I was able to come away with the feeling, that maybe, just maybe, I had actually found a reputable online dealer.

I'll have my fingers crossed until everything shows up and is ok and I'll update the info here.



So, my question is this: Has anyone else ordered from us1photo.com and had a similarly positive experience?...or, am I just being naive?




For now I'll try to be cautiously optimistic...
Thanks!

[Czygany]

Everything showed up perfect! And arrived earlier than anticipated! *cheer* I'm a very happy person!

[kinderechte]

I ordered online, received a confirmation email. When i wanted to cancel the next day the customer service # on the webpage and in the email did not work and still does not work.
I emailed my cancelation request, but still have not gotten a response back.
Charges have been made to my credit card.

[metallicblack]

I ordered online, received a confirmation email. When i wanted to cancel the next day the customer service # on the webpage and in the email did not work and still does not work.
I emailed my cancelation request, but still have not gotten a response back.
Charges have been made to my credit card.

Has your problem been corrected yet? I'm interested in this company's trustworthiness also.

[Strongbadia]

Yes, I am concerned as well.

I am thinking of ordering a camera from them. Granted they are only a bit cheaper than B&H, buy if I can save anything then I will.

I called and the guy was professional on the phone (Unlike Enterprisephoto, 1wayphoto and a host of others)

I really would like to know if the company is legit or not.

[Frog]

I don't get a us1photo.com but us1camera.com has good ratings.

[happyclam]

I ordered a Canon EOS Xsi digital SLR 12.2 Mpixels with 18-55 mm lens from us1photo.com online. They were the lowest priced of all online stores I found selling the item and offered free shipping (ground). I received the camera promptly today, brand new with all promised original accessories, well packed, and invoice enclosed. Have been using it; great camera; works like a charm. I would buy from US1Photo again. No pressure, no nonsense, and compelling prices. When I called them to find out if they had shipped my order after a couple of days of ordering it, they politely assured me that it would go out soon and not to worry. Frankly, I was a bit jittery about buying a $800+ item online from a store I had not heard about before ( unlike such as B&H, Amazon, etc.). I am glad that these people are honest and professional and are what they portray themselves to be on the web. I recommend them.

[doolpain]

I used this company before. I thought I used them twice before but my order history listed only once before.

I bought around Feb, 2008 for Sony HDR-CX7 High-Definition Memory Stick Handycam for $795 (I looked up my order history).
I ordered Nikon D300 yesterday.

On my Sony cam order, they took forever to process. No bait and switch but sales person there are as rude as hell. Never saw anyone as rude as them. All are alike, even manager. All event started by my credit card denying first order by mistake. After that got fixed by my credit card company, it developed huge mass. Called US1photo like 10 times and it took 4 weeks to get my item. At the end, the manager apolozied and gave me $20 discount on next order I would place in future. And he also gave me express order since it was so much delayed.
So, finally got Sony cam, brand new as it is stated in factory seal box and nothing wrong with it.

I ordered Nikon D300 yesterday. I called them and the sales person is rude as usual. He said 4 days for processing order and 7-10 days free shipping. That means 3 weeks (because 5 "business days/week" crap).

Bottom line: so far I think they give ligit item, but sales person and shipping department needs improvement. Since I only used once (I thought twice before, Sony cam and Canon Digital camera) and new order is pending at this time, I cannot say for sure that they always send ligit items... but it seems others have similar experience as me..

Yes, I think only good response may be fake, so listen to people who HAD problem but got items... that may be real, I think. And of course, I know that I had same experience, twice already now.

[teacher]

Same here. I ordered a Nikon D60 on November 18 and chose to spend an extra $13 on shipping, because they mentioned 2-4 days processing for the free shipping. I was thinking if I pay faster shipping their processing would be faster. Today, is the 26 and my account indicated that it was still in the warehouse. When I called I was told that the camera would arrive next week Wednesday, Dec 3. Now, that would make it 2 weeks from the day of ordering. I have been ordering items for years online, this is the absolute slowest I ever experienced, even with the faster shipping option. So, I agree with you that their shipping department needs improvement, a lot! The person on the phone was ok, defending his slow employer. I am happy though to hear that the cameras seem to be legit. I followed a link to their store from dpreview.com.

Summary: Good prices - sloooow processing & shipping!

[tomasfc]

Ordered a Nikon D90 over two weeks ago. Item never shipped, it was supposed to be delivered within 7-9 business days. My card was charged right away. After a week of "new order" status I called and I was offered expensive accessories and warranties, which I declined. Later, my polite emails asking for an estimate shipping date were ignored. When I called again after two weeks of nothing, they confirmed the item had not shipped. When I tried to interrupt the agents monologue of ridiculous excuses and tried to cancel the order, I was yelled at and chided for ordering the free shipping. I did another search for the camera and found it cheaper at reputable online stores. This place changed its name to US1Camera.com and has been dropped by Pricegrabber and other websites, beware of another name change. Don't order from them, it's not worth it.

[USRoute12]

My cousin dealt with these people a couple of months ago. He ordered a new Nikon lens, and it took over three weeks to arrive at his house, but they sent the wrong one. He ordered a 18-105mm zoom and ended up receiving a 16-85mm zoom instead. Worse yet, trying to deal with their return policy, when it's their mistake, is like trying to pull teeth from a chicken.

After sending the lens back, it took over two weeks to receive the correct one. Moreover, trying to deal with these people over the phone is a real pain. Instead of trying to resolve the problem, the person on the phone wanted to sell him more accessories and an extended warranty. When he was told no, the person was very rude to say the least. This is not how you satisfy your customers, and keep them coming back for more. :mad2:


Ron

[Mariakp]

I ordered a canon g10 on Dec 6th and since I had not heard anything from the company I sent an E-mail on Dec 11th to inquire about the status of my order....I got no response. I called the following day and talked to a person named Alex who said that they could not guarantee that the camera would arrive before Christmas so I cancelled my order and ordered the camera from Amazon. Alex said that they would refund the amount of $409 to my credit card within 24 hrs and sent an E-mail to me to confirm this cancellation. It is now January 7th and I still have not received a credit to my card....which should have never been charged in the first place since the camera was never sent to my house. I am very disappointed because Alex sounded like a very nice guy on the phone. I called the store today but all I am getting is the answering machine.

[paulfs]

I came here before ordering from US1 and was a tiny bit hesitant but went ahead and ordered a new HD Camcorder from US1Photo.

I researched the helpful web site and ordered using the toll-free number. The saleman had all the answers. The price was highly competetive. The entire package (easily and fairly modified to one particular concern) arrived in the time frame ordered. Everything worked extremely well right out of the box (Sony). Extremely satisfied!

I got the feeling there were some minor problems with auto-generated email from the web site in regards to receipt, tracking numbers but email / phone calls to customer service/ sales were sufficiently handled.

[Grandpaw]

I will post this address and let you read about them yourself, all reviews. A rating of 5.45 for six months is not very good in my book but take a look for yourself, Jeff

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/US1Camera

[songintheair]

Here is my review about this store.. which I posted today in some review site.

Be aware..

Bad bad bad retailer.
Reason 1. Do Not handle the order correctly - first of all, the billing dept can't go through the order and then the shipping dept e-mailed me that 'the product went out' (no tracking or nothing). The product never came so I had to call in and they blamed UPS.

Reason 2. not enough customer service crew - I had to call a few times and every time I had to wait more than 30 minute ( my record is 48 minute)

Reason 3. The Suspicious item - after 28 days of waiting, they finally sent me the open box of the product without a manual or an warranty. The product seems to be a new but is it wrong for me not to trust them after all this happening.
I bought over $1,000 camera from them and not coming back no matter how cheap their price is..

As matter of fact, I bought my zoom lens and flash from somewhere else.

[rdn001]

After more than 8 years with EOS D30(not 30D), I decided to buy EOS 50D.

Here is my experience with US1photo.com. I also posted this other review site too.

On 1/18/09(Sun) around 11:00PM, I made order EOS 50D $899.99 with 3 day air shipping $37.70 through the website. It is the cheapest one I found around internet. My status showed "new order" at this time.
Soon after, I found there is a same model but $1019.00 listed as well as $899.99 one on US1Photo website.
Then, I found numbers of negative reviews for US1photo in several review sites including here. I worried a lot.

On 1/19/09 (Mon), I called Toll Free number around 11:00AM asking why there are two prices. If something wrong, I decided that I was going to cancel that order.
For phone to them, I had no problem reaching live person, Bob, within 1 min. He clearly explained the difference between two. $1019 is US retailed package and $899.99 is not. I told him I want to cancel the order for $899.99 one.
He offered me $999.99 for retailed package and 3 day air shipping $37.70. Both are cheaper than on the web site prices, $1019.00 and $48.80.
He said item is in stock and I will get this Friday 1/23. I accepted his offer. EOS 50D with free kit, camera case, tripod, card reader and mentenance kit. Total is $1037.69 including 3 day air shipping.
On web site, my status changed from "new order" to "out to be shipped" soon after the phone conversation, but I did not receive any E-mail confirmation.

On 1/20/09 (Tue), around 6:00 PM, I received shipping notification with tracking number of UPS by E-mail. Shipping is free-upgraded to 2 day air which should cost $68.63. Shipping is $37.70 thus I got another $30 discount. My status changed to "shipped".

On 1/22/09 (Thu), at 10:34AM, Camera and other stuff were delivered which is one day earlier than that US1photo, Bob promised. They are well-packed and Camera and other stuff are all new in retailed box. I am totally satisfied.

From my experience, everything went well with US1Photo, such as good price, fast shipping with free-upgrade, free stuff etc. I will recommend US1photo to everyone.

Note: I can not believe so many negative reviews compared with my experience. Of course I believe they are all true stories. My guess is that US1photo become popular too quickly because of the competitive price etc. So they might got too many orders in the holiday season. They could not handle all of them promptly recent few month. And now
everything might be normal again.

[StylusFunk]

I've ordered a flash from them once in the past, and had no problems.

But last month I ordered a $1200 lens. It's been almost a month, and I haven't yet received it. I called in to customer service, and after waiting for almost an hour, someone picked up. I was told I should receive it this week.

The week is over, and still nothing, so I've called twice today. After waiting about 30 min on hold, both times someone from customer service picked up, then hung up the phone without speaking to me. :mad5:

So after 24 business days, I have nothing to show for it but a charged credit card. If I don't get anything next week, I'm gonna hit em' with a chargeback.

I'll never order from them again.

[tman6966]

Ordered a camera (Canon SD 870 IS) from us1photo a month ago. Received order confirmation via email. Never received shipping information.

Called 3 times over the next month. Each time, the hold time was over an hour. The representatives were very evasive and uninformative. When confronted about the hold times, they gave me a 'direct extension'. This was the same extension time after time...even for different representatives. It went directly to a voice mailbox.

Decided to cancel the order after a month and no shipment (claimed it was out of stock --> yet still shown as "In Stock" on website). Attempted to email info@us1photo.com and sales@us1photo.com in order to cancel since I didn't want to wait on hold for another hour of my time. No response via email.

My experience is extremely lackluster. The lack of customer service, no verbal or electonic correspondence and shifty tactics leaves me nervous about them having my credit card information.

[rdn001]

After more than 8 years with EOS D30(not 30D), I decided to buy EOS 50D.

Here is my experience with US1photo.com. I also posted this other review site too.

On 1/18/09(Sun) around 11:00PM, I made order EOS 50D $899.99 with 3 day air shipping $37.70 through the website. It is the cheapest one I found around internet. My status showed "new order" at this time.
Soon after, I found there is a same model but $1019.00 listed as well as $899.99 one on US1Photo website.
Then, I found numbers of negative reviews for US1photo in several review sites including here. I worried a lot.

On 1/19/09 (Mon), I called Toll Free number around 11:00AM asking why there are two prices. If something wrong, I decided that I was going to cancel that order.
For phone to them, I had no problem reaching live person, Bob, within 1 min. He clearly explained the difference between two. $1019 is US retailed package and $899.99 is not. I told him I want to cancel the order for $899.99 one.
He offered me $999.99 for retailed package and 3 day air shipping $37.70. Both are cheaper than on the web site prices, $1019.00 and $48.80.
He said item is in stock and I will get this Friday 1/23. I accepted his offer. EOS 50D with free kit, camera case, tripod, card reader and mentenance kit. Total is $1037.69 including 3 day air shipping.
On web site, my status changed from "new order" to "out to be shipped" soon after the phone conversation, but I did not receive any E-mail confirmation.

On 1/20/09 (Tue), around 6:00 PM, I received shipping notification with tracking number of UPS by E-mail. Shipping is free-upgraded to 2 day air which should cost $68.63. Shipping is $37.70 thus I got another $30 discount. My status changed to "shipped".

On 1/22/09 (Thu), at 10:34AM, Camera and other stuff were delivered which is one day earlier than that US1photo, Bob promised. They are well-packed and Camera and other stuff are all new in retailed box. I am totally satisfied.

From my experience, everything went well with US1Photo, such as good price, fast shipping with free-upgrade, free stuff etc. I will recommend US1photo to everyone.

Note: I can not believe so many negative reviews compared with my experience. Of course I believe they are all true stories. My guess is that US1photo become popular too quickly because of the competitive price etc. So they might got too many orders in the holiday season. They could not handle all of them promptly recent few month. And now
everything might be normal again.

Recently, there are so many negative reviews to this company. I recognized I was extremely lucky person. Sorry for everyone with trouble.

[dinub1]

I do not know about US1photo. But I used US1camera, its a quite decent dealer. They had problems with my credit cards (they all showed incorrect credit though all was fine). I ordered from them a Tokina 12-24 Pro zoom for my camera. Shipped promptly and in excellent condition. All original package and included USA warranty...
Caution: they sell also products labeled as "gray market" products.. that shows in a lower than normal prices though they are not officially advertised as such. Nothing has to be wrong with these products, however they do not bear a US warranty and they were not imported by the official manufacturer dealer. Also these products are not intended for the US market, but otherwise are of the same quality as the officially imported USA products.

[glennchan2]

Their website contains a doctored photo:
http://offtopic.glennchan.info/us1photo/

Sketchy sketchy sketchy!!!

[gsands]

I have just finished using this company but I AM NOT done with them.....This is a long post but WORTH the tine to read if you want to save your $$$$$$$$$$.....

On January 19, 2009 I put in an order to US1Photo.com for a Nikon camera lens for my Nikon D40 camera. When I got to my classroom the next morning there was a message waiting for me from US1Photo that said I needed to call them because they wanted to be sure I had ordered the right lens I wanted. So I called and was promptly connected with a gentleman named Alex. He informed me that the reason they called as to make sure that I got the correct lens I wanted. He wanted to know if I wanted the lens with the VR feature. I didn’t know what this was so I asked and he told me VR stood for vibration reduction. It would cost a bit more but it was worth it and he wouldn’t even let me walk out of the store with the non-vr type. I thanked him and said that sounded good so I upgraded my order to the VR model. He then asked if I wanted to purchase a filter package with the lens and proceeded to tell me about the filters. I ended up purchasing only one filter for the lens. He began to tell me about an item called a Teleconverter and said this would turn my newly purchased lens into a $600 or $700 lens because of the functions it provided. I declined at that time and said I was fine with the lens and the filter. He thanked me, said I would get a new order and the merchandise would be here in 7 – 9 days.

After hearing nothing from the company for 10 days I emailed info@US1Photo on January 29, 2009 and inquired about the status of my order. At this point I started searching the company a bit more deeply and found many forums discussing this company and scams that many people were involved in. Many of the folks on these sites we put through the same events I had been through. Hearing nothing I again emailed to the same address on February 2, 2009 both in the morning and afternoon. However in the afternoon my email stated that I would contact the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint. I also sent this email to sales@US1Photo.

On February 3, 2009 I received an email stating that due to an unforeseen shortage in their supply of merchandise the order would have to be canceled. I emailed hen directly back and said I assumed that this was to be the case after reading what I had about their company.

On February 4, 209 I sent yet another email stating among other things that I would be expecting a full refund. That email did not go through so I resent it later in the day. By February 10, 2009 I had not heard back so I sent emails on three consecutive days and on either Thursday, February 12, 2009 or Friday, February 13, 2009 I received a phone call from Alex wanting to discuss with me my order and that it had been canceled. HE acted as if this was the first time I was hearing about it. He also told me that they could not refund my money and I would have to go through the credit card company to have that dealt with.

I let this go for sometime wondering if I would hear from US1Photo.com. I did not so on March 18, 2009 I created a new email address and emailed US1Photo stating that I was in the market for a 55-200mm lens for my Nikon D40 with vibration reduction. Within 20miutes I received an email stating that they did have that lens and could get it to me within 7 -9 business days. I emailed then right back stating thank you for the quick response and that I didn’t need it within the 7 – 9 days but I wanted to make sure they had it in stock. They emailed me back within 10 minutes stating that that was no problem. I then asked if I should order from the website or by phone and they sent an answer saying I could call 877-300-5070 ext 321 to get help with an order.

I then called the company on March 18, 2009 around 3:45pm myself and spoke with John. I asked him about my order, and he took my number saying that it had been canceled. I stated I understood this but because they had the merchandise in stock and I hadn’t received a refund yet, they still had my money, if I could still get the product. John asked me how I knew they had the product in stock and I told them I had received an email fro them saying that it was in stock. He said my order was canceled and there was no way he could help. I mentioned that they still had my money and they had the product in stock and I wondered why I couldn’t get it sent to me. He had no answer for this. He then began to explain what I had to do to get a refund. I told him I knew all about this but couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get the merchandise from them if it was in stock. He then proceeded to tell me I could call their new wholesale company, Photo Loon, and put in the order myself. He also said it sounded like I didn’t want the money back at all and this is when he began to get a bit angry. I asked if I could get the name of the bank their company dealt with and he aid he didn’t know. I asked if anyone there could tell me and he said no and besides it didn’t have anything to do with me anyway. I asked him the name of the wholesale companies they used that had gone under due to the economy and he said that also had nothing to do with me. I stated once more I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t get the merchandise sent if they have it now and that’s when he said he had done all he could and hung up.

My next step was to call the my credit union.

[RSalaska]

Mediocre results, misguidance, no follow up, and RUDE once they have your money.

I had to send my first order back because of poor communication for which I take some responsibility. However in setting up my camera package and pricing I never did see itemized pricing. When asked about the pricing I was told that I was getting a good deal, that I was receiving about $500 off the total page price. When I went back online i could not confirm those savings, the added up itemized individual list prices showed only a about $70 difference. I was told I was being given the good battery that the one with the camera is not as good, on investigation I found that this camera was so commercially new and different that there was only one battery made on the market and available at this time, and it’s rated performance by owners was excellent and raved about. When they told me they would call the next day, they never did, even days latter. When they told me they would ship, they held the order several days extra beyond the charges on my credit card, and I am forced to pay 2nd Day FedEx, because of where I live, no FREE Shipping as advertised. When they did ship they did not send a tracking number. When I tried to explained that this was not reasonable to not follow though on verbal commitments that they made, I was balked at and hung up on even in the absence of any arrogance on my part. I found them to be slippery, and their pricing average, but at $4 grand plus on the purchase I don’t need someone to be misleading and RUDE. There are worst places to shop but I am not coming back to US1photo.

[Caesurus]

My father ordered a D-90 + 18-55mm AF VR lens:
http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id=7257
The description on the lens was:
Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens

He got a phone call from them saying that the package had an "analog lens" and that he needed the "digital upgrade" package if he wanted an autofocus lens. That would be an extra $200. He agreed to this on the phone and then told me about it. When I heard this I nearly hit the roof.. "WHAT?" So they advertise a AF-S with VR and call it an analog lens and want an extra 200 to upgrade to this package:
http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id=7261
which... guess what has this lens:
Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens

I'm sorry, but I don't get it. On top of this they want an EXTRA $50 for insuring the package.

When phoning them I got a sales person who then offered me an extra $50 off when I asked to cancel. When I still wanted to cancel he offered me $100 off. I still wanted to cancel, so he put me through to the support department, who were closed already (for 2hours already). I then phoned back and couldn't get hold of him again...

There will be a complaint to the better business bureau for false advertising! We will NEVER do business with this site again. You be the judge but I'd steer clear from these people.

[Frog]

Thank you for adding your story, though I'm sorry for the situation.
Good thing for your dad that you knew it was a scam. An analog lens, eh!
The more posts posted on these businesses, the more likely it is for others to find them before they fall into the traps.
If your dad ordered with a credit card, call them to stop payment.