tri state camera

[maurice jolly]

has anybody had any dealings with tri state camera out of new york city, good or bad?
need to make sure if they're legit or not. thanks people

[henryp]

See for yourself here.

[hobb]

The link above will lead you to a number of vendor reviews.

All I can say is that I found their customer service to be horrendous. I ordered a camera two weeks ago and..

1. my order has not shipped
2. their is no order status information available on their web page
3. they don't return phone calls, at least not within 3 or 4 days (so far)
4. I am told that only one specific person can help me with order status
information & he does not answer his line directly or return calls
in a reasonable number of days. I also emailed about my order 5
days ago & no reply yet.

As you might guess, I will not be ordering from them again after this recent experience.

[dante]

just priced a few things (canon xti and canon 70-200mm) and their prices seem almost identical to B&H and buydig.com, but their website looks VERY amateurish. very sparse description, no mention as to whether the lens was USA vs grey-market, and judging by the reviews I'd probably pass anyway.

[sblessley]

I did an Ebay transaction with them. All went well -- timely shipping etc -- but I believe they shipped a gray-market lens. :blush2: No indication of this in their ad. When I sent a note prior to providing Ebay feedback, they said I'd have to call them back.

More recently, a couple of weeks after the transaction, I got a UPS shipment notice. Maybe they're sending me another lens? Could be fun!

[paulandre]

See for yourself here.

woa. thanks for the link. it explains alot [IMG]http://**************/img/1858/y08m1110mhmd/2.gif[/IMG]

[sbastoky]

Do NOT use them. I ordered 2 items and they sent me 3 additional items I did not order. I cannot get my money back from them as of this e-mail. They said they do not know when they will pay me back. I am filing a complaint again them with my bank,

Stay way from Tristate Camera.

[sherryl hibberd]

I am a teacher, I turned in an order for 12 Pentax bundle packages that came with two lenses for each camera and received the order in a little over a week. I didn't expect that large of an order that soon. Especially going through the school several people must approve the oder before tri-state sees the order. The order was correct-and the cameras are being used by students. I thought they were fabulous.

has anybody had any dealings with tri state camera out of new york city, good or bad?
need to make sure if they're legit or not. thanks people

[Paul S]

Beware of Tristate Camera!

I ordered a lens and it was defective (unsharp, front focussing problem). Sent it back, paid shipping, next copy was even worse (slight front focussing, heavy lens vignetting and a bubble in one of the glass elements). Sent that one back and got a third copy which was also defective (also lens vignetting and the part holding the lens hood was loose - the hood was actually clicking on the lens while moving it around). I tested all lenses on three different cameras (Nikon D300, D7000 and D200). And btw, I later bought the same lens (a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8) used on Craigslist and it's working like a charm since then.

I not only did spent a fortune on shipping, but I had to call them twice to get my money back. And then I figured out they kept $80 restocking fee!!!
I did call them and they acted like I'm an idiot because 3 lenses can't be defective and it must be my fault. Right... I'm a professional photographer who has fun shipping lenses forth and back paying shipping each time.
I did send them photos of the faulty lenses as proof and requested my money back. Guess what - no money back. They charged me a restocking fee for an defective item and that's it.

Seriously, this is the worst experience I ever had with any online retailer. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Tri State Camera and order on Amazon or elsewhere.

[tom_m]

-- EDIT:
I'm sorry... Totally sorry. I just put my foot in my mouth on this one.
Yes that was the experience...but here's the rest.

The lens came UPS later on in the day!

I was not given a tracking number nor told I would have two different carriers delivering my order....
So I don't know. Everything came as promised.

Still not 2 day shipping. Oh they totally cheated me on that one...But at least I don't have to go through a crazy return process. Eeek except the B&H order...If I can quickly cancel it, I don't know.

That stinks. I was so worked up and paranoid because of online reviews...
But I don't know what else to think...More patience? After nearly 2 weeks of waiting? On 2 day shipping..... With all that I've read negative about the company....

I think I likely just dodged a bullet is all. But looking back at it, I have to say they were friendly. I did get my order...But I can definitely see the shadiness.

[Grandpaw]

I registered just to leave some feedback about this store. I felt it was important enough to leave this story here for some people. Really important because I really don't want anyone going through what I just went through. What I'm still going through. We're not talking about buying big macs here, we're dealing with expensive equipment.

Personally, I would NOT buy from tristate camera. Without a doubt they are thieves.
Now. That said, I am going to try to get my money back for a recent order and I'll post back on how that experience goes. Who knows, they literally could be thieves. They certainly are shady and will take advantage of you and WILL rip you off if you let them. I'm hoping they are decent about this incident and simply give me a refund.

But here's the story...
I ordered a lens and a filter. The person I spoke to on the phone was very polite and knowledgeable. However, he did not tell me the lens was out of stock and on their website it also did not say it was out of stock. Hell, we actually had a good conversation about the lens! He said he just got one himself. On the phone he told me the filter I ordered (a Sigma filter) was not as good as the Hoya. I honestly am not a filter expert, what do I know? So I said ok. He said, oh it's $10 cheaper so you'll have that coming back to you. Cool. Sounds good. I still don't see the credit on my PayPal account for that over a week later. Last, I paid for 2 day shipping. He said he'd take care of it all that day. Who knows, maybe he did.

All was quiet for a while. I assumed everything was ok, but I wanted to check in since I did not get a tracking number. The same guy who helped me before helped me get the tracking number. At this point I really liked this guy. He was fast to reply too. Again, maybe he took care of things and it was their shipping department. I can't fault the guy yet.

Great. All still good. Well, 4 or 5 days later I get the package. So much for 2 day shipping. I was all sorts of pissed when I saw a USPS tracking number come in and not something for 2day delivery like UPS or FedEx. But hey maybe the good old post office can get it to me in 2 days. Nope.

So I was patient and finally got my package today. In my mailbox! Hey, that's a pretty small lens! Hey, wait a minute.... Yea, looks like I got an $800 filter!

The invoice has in pen a note about the lens being out of stock! What?! No one ever told me this. Additionally, I see the S/H charge at $24. Awesome. I paid $24 for regular mail shipping on a filter. That's just amazing. NOW I can fault this guy because he lied to me by omission.

Well. I guess I got burned good here. I am going to try to get my money back. I will flag this in PayPal and escalate it as far as it needs to go if need be. I'm ok with the filter, their prices are fine. You know, I'd probably like this store if I just walked into their physical store location where I would be certain the item was in stock, I'd physically have it in my hands. They were nice in conversation and they didn't overcharge for the products. However.... Their handling of online business is absolutely terrible.

Now, why would I even walk into their store in NYC when B&H is right around the corner? Haha. Well, why wouldn't I order from B&H online too? They process orders the same or next day and get them out FAST.

The answer my friends... They didn't have the lens in stock... But today. Today, they do! $10 for 2day shipping from B&H and an estimated delivery for Thursday. Now THAT is how you do business. Funny that tri state also overcharges for the shipping and handling. I wasn't going to complain about $25 I would've been fine with that too...But it's just one more shady thing.

Please do yourself a favor and NEVER buy anything from tri state camera. They will definitely steal your money any way they can. Whether its on shipping or some other way. I really hope getting a refund isn't going to be a lot of trouble. It shouldn't be. I imagine I'm going to lose out on the shipping costs here. They'll likely come up with some story about how it somehow did cost $25 to ship a filter in an envelope via normal mail. We'll see what PayPal says...But if tri state just refunds the lens cost in a timely fashion I won't even worry about the $25. I'll just consider it education.

I hope someone reads this and learns from my experience too.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to write down your experience and share it with all of us, Jeff

[piperurhy]

I like the tri state camera

[oelectr]

Another Wedgehead here. Count me in. DomG