I wish that I had researched these guys before making my order. The entire situation makes me sick to my stomach.

I ordered a camera from them, because they were the least expensive website on yahoo shopping or bizrate.com. (I totally forget how I found their site.) Anyway, I do lots of shopping over the internet and have never run into this sort of scam before.

These guys did the call back routine and called every number that I listed during the initial purchase process. They ruined the birthday surprise for my wife by calling our home. They eventually contacted me at work and gave me the full court press about add-ons and losing the opportunity for their discount if I did not purchase right away.

During our phone call, I was interrupted by my manager and had to get off the phone really quickly. I knew that I needed additional memory and believed that I might need a more powerful battery. I wouldn’t know for sure until I had the camera in hand.

The salesperson told me that I absolutely need additional memory and couldn’t believe that I would stick with the substandard battery that came with the camera. With my boss waiting for me to get off the phone, I said that I would take the battery upgrade and would like to know the size of the memory upgrade. He told me that the upgrade would store either 300 or 600 photographs. I asked him the size of the upgrade in MBs, he said that they aren’t listed in that manner. I said give me the 300 photograph option and had to end the call. He said that he would give me his package deal and would throw in a Lens Cleaning kit.

When I finally got the package, I noticed that I didn’t have an extra battery. I inserted the memory upgrade and the battery that came in Sony packaging and tested the items. I noticed that the battery seemed great, the memory was only 512 MB and the camera worked well. Included in the package was a lens cleaning kit and an extra battery charger.

I called Prestige Camera the following morning. I wanted to know where my upgraded battery was and how this could possibly cost me over $200 in additional charges, because the receipt was not itemized. The customer service representative told me that they carried both the Japanese and US models of this camera and had given me the US model that contained the upgraded battery.

I’ve since researched this a bit more thoroughly, without the Prestige Camera guy on the phone and without my boss looking over my back. I’ve found that the discounted phone was not advertised as a Japanese model and I’ve found that I can purchase a 512 MB SIM from Sony for $29.99. Had I bought this from Sony, it would have cost me $260 total without shipping. Prestige Camera has $396.47 of my money and will not take anything back, because I inserted them into the camera. Their return policy makes it impossible for you to even verify that you purchase works.

Thes guys are crooks!