camera wholesaler, friend or foe?

[bearbo]

i just placed an order with camera wholesaler on the phone for the no where to be found nikon 18-200mm VR lens, i just wanted to see if anyone here dealt with this store before and how's your experience with it...

i found two reviews of this store that both say positive thing about them, but what makes me feel unsure is that no confirmation number, no email, and no tracking number (i'll have to call them to track it)..

so any comment is very welcome! thanks!

 

[bearbo]

someone anyone

 

[CanadaRAM]

Yah OK Lets see; you want comments on the supplier you ordered from, whether you are going to receive the part, ever, or are going to get ripped off.

Ummm. Sorry, no the crystal ball ain't workin'.

How about you start with telling us who the seller is? All we know so far is that they have a phone, and they advertise a product available nowhere else.

 

[Squonk]

A vendor name would be most helpful.

Also, you may want to ask in the forums over at dpreview.com. There are lots of vocal people over there when it comes to specific vendors.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I just had two customers receive their 18-200VR's last week, after they prepaid back around 10/15. Of course dealers are at the whim of Nikon - so YMMV....

 

[bearbo]

Yah OK Lets see; you want comments on the supplier you ordered from, whether you are going to receive the part, ever, or are going to get ripped off.

Ummm. Sorry, no the crystal ball ain't workin'.

How about you start with telling us who the seller is? All we know so far is that they have a phone, and they advertise a product available nowhere else.

the name for the store is Camera Wholesaler

if you have bought anything (which is the people i'm asking opinion from), you would have known this is the name, otherwise, i doubt you can provide me the things i'm asking for, but thanks

edit: okay, i apologize for my meanness

 

[srf4real]

I nearly got ripped off by a NYC "wholesaler" two weeks ago when shopping for a new camera. The price was almost too good to be true, which should have been my first clue that this was a scam artist of which hundreds are selling camera equipment online... I found this site very helpful in weeding out the LOSERS check it out.

After looking through all the pitiful stories of extortion and deception, I went to retail for a reliable product only one month old - Panasonic FZ50 -that can't be bought much cheaper online anyways.

I was called back by the rip off store to 'confirm my order' and I did not authorize any transaction on my cc info, said I had merely registered. They said I ordered one and I said no, I DO NOT AUTHORIZE any transactions... I had already got scared and had my cc number changed as a precaution...

 

[failsafe1]

The rules apply here like any other shopping experience buyer beware. If the price is too god to be true run away. If the price was in line maybe it will work out. After 27 years of buying gear I have found only two shops I deal with KEH in Atlanta and B and H in New York. I have had trouble with other New York dealers. I have no experience with the place you were shopping. A lack of info is a bad sign from the start. Cancel if you are uncomfortable and star over with a different vendor. Perhaps you can talk with your CC company and cancel from there?

 

[bearbo]

it's supposed to be delivering tomorrow, so i'll either be extreme pissed tomorrow evening, or i will be extremely happy.

 

[bearbo]

i got it, it's nice i now need to get the camera

749.99 + 22(shipping) = 771.xx

 

[mkrishnan]

Yay! Enjoy! There seems to be a particular group of nefarious individuals in the NE ... mostly in NYC, who run a bunch of front web sales sites for camera gear. They have very low prices (~25-40% lower than the best pricing elsewhere online) and they engage in a lot of bait and switch tactics and other no-good-ness. They have lots of different site names... and are very notorious on FredMiranda and DPReview. So glad to hear that this site does not appear to be affiliated with them.

 

[macdaddy121]

Is it US version or grey market?

 

[srf4real]

I'm still suspicious, like the crooks keep an eye on MacRumors and gave you the deal just to fool twenty others into going there and getting ripped off.

Seriously, I am happy for your success!

-It's hard to not be paranoid when everyone is out to get me.

 

[bearbo]

how do i tell if it's gray market version? it says it's made in thailand, but so does a lot other ppls?

 

[failsafe1]

If you have a US warranty from the manufacturer then the lens is not gray. If you have a third party warranty from someone else like Mack for instance then the lens is gray. Somethings price can be an indicator of gray but not always.

 

[Abstract]

But even if it was a grey market one, that's still quite a bit of savings. You wouldn't get that kind of discount on a grey market item from B&H, but maybe because it's a high profile store?

Anyway, grey market items don't come with the manufacturer's warranty for that country. Mack offers international warranties, and that's what a lot of these imports come with --- either a Mack warranty, or you send it back to the store and they try to fix it themselves. There is one particular store in Australia that does this, although it's somewhat well known in the Aussie online camera store market, and they're respected and have been around for ages. I have a lens from them, and my friend bought his Canon 350D + 2 kit lenses + another lens from him.

 

[bearbo]

from the look of it, it has US warrenty... for one, everything's in english

it has these few piece of paper says something along the line of "you need to present this and proof of purchase and proof of purchase date in order to get warrenty" and on the left upper corner there's the model of the lens and a number i assumed is serial number...

i also found a similar thing from the 50mm 1.8 lens