Opinions on 42nd street photo needed

[Grandpaw]

I have been asked about 42nd street photo and would like to find out our membersr opinion of this dealer. There are a lot of good reviews out there but several places I have checked have mentioned scam and bait & switch tactics. I am relying on members here to give me additional input about these folks so I can add them to one of the lists. Do they belong on the GOOD or NAUGHTY list, Jeff

[OldClicker]

Be careful that you (and the reviewers) don't confuse 42nd Street with 47th Street. I've dealt with 47th Steet Photo with no problems. (There is also a 17th Street Photo and an 86th Street Photo & Video.) - TF

[grummanite]

Does anyone have any feedback on this dealer allnewshop? The deals are great on a Nikon 300S Kit

[Grandpaw]

Does anyone have any feedback on this dealer allnewshop? The deals are great on a Nikon 300S Kit

This is what I found, Jeff

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...tems=25&page=3

[cybermancer]

42nd Street Photo? Everything I've heard about them is OK but I think many camera shops do a bogus upsell from time to time, and I wouldn't put it past them.

[deseroo]

Yes, I agree...42nd St. Photo tries their best to up-sell other items relating to your purchase. They could be called mildly aggressive in their approach. I recently purchased a Panasonic DMC-FZ35 and simply wanted a lens filter. Next thing I know I was sold an adapter tube and three lens filters! When I received everything, I was very disappointed. The lens tube itself appears in the images. I explained that I wanted a filter that I can use all the time that remains on the lens. The sales person insisted that I had to have an adapter tube. I am trying to determine if he is correct or if I can simply purchase a lens filter alone. The jury is still out on this one!

[Frog]

At this review site, http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pa...mc_fz35-review . I see Panasonic has neutral density and polarizing filters as accessories. I don't see whether the lens on it is a standard size, (30.5 mm, 37 mm, 40.5 mm, 43 mm, 46 mm, 49 mm, 52 mm, 55 mm, 58 mm, 62 mm, 67 mm, 72 mm, 77 mm, 82 mm, 86 mm, 95 mm, 112 mm and 127 mm).
I would think that if the lens is not a standard size that the Panasonic filters would fit without an adapter tube. If, however, Panasonic has chosen to not have a standard diameter lens or one without screw mounting ability, then filters other than Panasonics may need some sort of adapter.
Altogether, I think you were took but thank you for posting your experience.

[lidguy]

A bit late for the discussion, but I have some feedback on this place. You should all keep as far as possible from 42nd street photo! I just had the worst shopping experience in my life there.
I checked about the new Canon sx30 and they claimed to have it. I came to the store only to find out the they don't have the camera yet. But they promised me to get it by 4 pm next day. i asked if they need to take my name, but the answer was no. When I showed up next day, there was no camera of course, and salesmen were very insulting, claiming that I didn't place any order, so they didn't bring any camera. I will not go into more details, but the impression I got was that they don't want to make business, they are liers, they don't care about customers and they don't know what a proper service is.

So pay a few dollars more in a place that knows how to treat customers!

[dantaylor1]

watch out--they don't do refunds!

[boicee]

What a RIPOFF!!! I received a phone call after I placed my online order and told my camcorder does not come with a battery. The salesperson sold me a "package" for $199. Later found out I was charged $299 and the camera DID come with it's own battery! Same battery "package" found on Amazon for $62. Wouldn't take product back unless I paid a 20% restocking fee. Talk about ripping you off twice!!!

[weekendshooter]

Avoid this place like the plague. After I place an order online yesterday, they call me today to confirm the order. After confirming they tried to sell filters that 2 to 3 times the normal price and a warranty. After I got tired of listening, I told them to cancel my entire order. That' when the fun starts. I hung up on them I was so upset. The salesman called my place of work five minutes later (using my invoice info that specifically said use my cell and did not list my work number), was upset on me on hanging up on him, then threatened to come visit me, but this would all go away if I continue the order. He also said it would be an extra $100 to cancell which I was even willing to do. He transferred me to his supervisor who threatened to sue for giving grief to his salesman, complain to my boss if I don't complete the order. He said if I make his life difficult by canceling the order, he would make mine difficult, too. This was for a $600 lens. Yes, I finally did get it canceled.

[The Man from Mandrem]

I did business with them recently. My experience was fine, but I would say that I lost alot of sleep because of the internet reviews and horror stories here and elsewhere. I did alot of research on the store after ordering because of these kinds of comments and called American Express

My experience:
1. They do follow up with phone call after showing "Shipped" status.
2. They were polite in the phone call and did take the opportunity to see if I wanted anything else (Robert was the guy who called I believe and he was very nice and very polite.-- I would not classify it as a high pressure sale)
3. They were polite and accurate in info as well when I called store earlier.
4. They were $20 less for camera bodies than the rest of the pack usually. They were slow to update pricing when the pricing changed for old model with a new product release so were $70 cheaper for a camera body when I bought mine
5. When they called I found that being polite, knowing what warranty the camera came with (is US product with standard product warranty from the manufacturer), knowing what I want made discussion at point of sale quite quick.
6. Their Online Chat is disused and they don't answer e-mails there.
7. Items recieved were as advertised: New, perfect condition, warranty cards and everything I believe (will doublecheck).I didn't order a lens (just body) so I don't know if they do grey imports for lenses.
8. Not that many BBB complaints for this place.
9. Their return and cancellation policies are on their web site.

Knowing that the margins on cameras are pretty low, the $20 less per body factors into a different level of service (and different return policy) you should expect vs. BH (who have many times the sales volume as well). I don't know how their RMA process is so cannot comment how good they are with returns, but I suspect this shop is similar to when I used to buy Ray Bans in big stores run by Israelis in one area of NYC 25 years back. A better price, the same good, just don't add things you don't need and you are better off to deal with manufacturers for any service required.

[Grandpaw]

I did business with them recently. My experience was fine, but I would say that I lost alot of sleep because of the internet reviews and horror stories here and elsewhere. I did alot of research on the store after ordering because of these kinds of comments and called American Express

My experience:
1. They do follow up with phone call after showing "Shipped" status.
2. They were polite in the phone call and did take the opportunity to see if I wanted anything else (Robert was the guy who called I believe and he was very nice and very polite.-- I would not classify it as a high pressure sale)
3. They were polite and accurate in info as well when I called store earlier.
4. They were $20 less for camera bodies than the rest of the pack usually. They were slow to update pricing when the pricing changed for old model with a new product release so were $70 cheaper for a camera body when I bought mine
5. When they called I found that being polite, knowing what warranty the camera came with (is US product with standard product warranty from the manufacturer), knowing what I want made discussion at point of sale quite quick.
6. Their Online Chat is disused and they don't answer e-mails there.
7. Items recieved were as advertised: New, perfect condition, warranty cards and everything I believe (will doublecheck).I didn't order a lens (just body) so I don't know if they do grey imports for lenses.
8. Not that many BBB complaints for this place.
9. Their return and cancellation policies are on their web site.

Knowing that the margins on cameras are pretty low, the $20 less per body factors into a different level of service (and different return policy) you should expect vs. BH (who have many times the sales volume as well). I don't know how their RMA process is so cannot comment how good they are with returns, but I suspect this shop is similar to when I used to buy Ray Bans in big stores run by Israelis in one area of NYC 25 years back. A better price, the same good, just don't add things you don't need and you are better off to deal with manufacturers for any service required.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us, Jeff

[PeterL]

I checked there website online before and the prices seemed ok for what I wanted - Pentax dslr for my partners birthday. I went there with her and asked if they had the camera in stock and he said yes and showed me the picture of the camera on the website which I had seenmat home. I said I am interested and if I could look at the box. Then he became very aggressive!! I was shocked and taken aback. He said "why do you want to see the box? The information is on the screen" ....and it went on and he wanted to make me feel like an idiot. We left very quickly feeling disappointed. In the end we bought a Sony alpha in the Sony shop and were pleased with the service there.

[JanineB2012]

I want to warn everyone that 42nd Street Photo is a dishonest business. I bought from them because they were recommended on Consumer Reports' "Price & Shop" feature that gives you the lowest online price for a product they reviewed. I was so disgusted with my experience with 42nd Street Photo that I am posting my review here in hope that others won't have to go through the same experience as I. I had posted this review on Yelp (it got filtered) and on Reseller Ratings (it got buried under all of the fake 5 star reviews). If you look at 42nd Street Photo on Yelp, you'll find more experiences like mine giving them 2.5 out of 5 stars, and more interestingly you'll also find that out of 406 reviews, only 17 are posted and 389 are filtered! 389! That's because so many are fake 5 star reviews that they authored themselves! Here is my experience...
WARNING! DO NOT BUY FROM HERE! 0 STARS IF IT WERE POSSIBLE!
I just got off the phone with my credit card company to file a dispute to have my credit card refunded for the camcorder I ordered from this shady business. Robert has been calling and e-mailing me to "confirm" my order after I had placed it online on Friday, 8/24. I called Robert today, Tuesday, 8/28, to find out I "forgot to indicate whether I wanted the package signed upon delivery." As other reviewers have mentioned, this is no where on the online order form. It's an excuse to get you to call them to try to sell you more products. As expected, Robert then tried to push me to purchase a charger. It wasn't, "would you like to purchase a charger to go with the camcorder." It was, "which charger do you want?" as if I had no option in the matter. I didn't want to have a debate about this, as most people know you can plug the camcorder in the wall to charge the battery, but I digress. I stated I didn't need a charger and just wanted the camcorder and he made me feel like I was stupid and that I was going to have a dead, useless camcorder upon arrival because the camcorder doesn't come with one.
He then put me on hold to run my credit card through to process the order. I knew this was a bunch of baloney because I was simultaneously online looking at my credit card account activity and saw that they had already put the transaction through on 8/24, 4 days ago, and that it already went through. He then gets back on the phone and says my credit card was declined. I told him I was looking at my credit card online and that they had already received the funds. Robert says that they haven't received the funds, that they're not going to ship the camera until they do, and that I need to call my credit card to see what happened and then call him back. This must have been an act to save face at this point. The whole phone call was so uncomfortable and no customer should ever have to go through that.
So, I filed a dispute with Amex to get refunded and wrote Robert an e-mail to officially cancel the order. This shouldn't be a problem since they "never received the funds," right? We'll see what happens and then I'll update my review.
What a headache. I'll gladly pay more to a reputable, respectable, honest vendor that treats their customers with respect than give my money to this shady business. I used to live in their neighborhood and walked by their store every day and feel like I got shammed by my neighbors. Wish I had listened to fellow Yelpers. Don't make the same mistake I did! It's so not worth it to save a few bucks on something like delicate camera-ware. Who knows how they handle their products after seeing how they handle their customers.

[dellarossa13]

hallo, i'm dellarossa.. i'm interesting with Canon EOS 70D Digital SLR Camera product on amazon, i've read many reviews, but im still not satisfied with it.
anyone can give me more reviews ? i saw it here
Amazon.com: Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (discontinued by manufacturer): Rosewill: Camera & Photo


thank you very much.. :*

[dellarossa13]

very nice your post..

Amazon.com: Marvel Comics: Rogue Bishoujo Statue: Toys & Games

[birdygirl]

I wish I had read this before I decided to purchase a Tamron 150-600mm lens for Canon from these jerks. I purchased it at the advertised price on the Internet which was slightly higher than B&H but B&H is perpetually back-ordered on this item. I normally deal with Amazon.com because it's no hassle - if they suggest something extra, I can make the decision whether to purchase additional items or not. But Amazon.com was selling it for $300 more. After I ordered from 42nd Street, Robert called me a couple days later to confirm my shipping address and then proceeded to hard sell me a filter even though I insisted I did not want any filters. He said "Haven't you been reading about this lens? You'll need a polarizer for"- this, that and the other thing - even suggesting that I would need it indoors. What on earth would I be doing with a 150-600mm lens indoors? Anyway, he insisted I take a filter package instead of the polarizer because it was exchangeable in the same price, without ever telling me what the price was. So I had no idea I was paying for something extra until I got the shipment. When I opened the box, there was this cheap-looking filter kit that I didn't want for an extra $149. I called and Robert was rude, called me a liar, yelled at me - so I hung up on him after I promised I would give them a bad review when he insisted that I could not return the filter set for a refund, that I had to return the entire shipment, pay a restocking charge, and reorder the lens again. He called me back and insisted that I apologize for hanging up on him! I did not. He said the reason why he was calling was to give me a promotional $75 discount from the manufacturer (this was suddenly available, how convenient!) on the filters which would save me the restocking charge and him the headache of having to deal with the paperwork. I could NOT get rid of him, so I agreed to this, he sent me a "revised" invoice in the email and I have yet to see the credit. I am keeping this because I don't want to deal with them and I want the lens, but I will never order from this shop again. Beware the bait and switch. And I wonder why B&H, which is reputable, is forever backordered and yet outfits like this have the lens in stock. Something is wrong with this picture.

[andyflower01]

i do not want to say anything

[JuliaCo]

I think you should not trust unreliable companies, now there is a big choice of such companies.

[licsantos]

i do not want to say anything