Lies and Blackmails: Don't give your credit card to this company
Written: Sep 20 '05 (Updated Sep 22 '05)
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Preamble:
I looked at the reviews on the web and noticed that PriceRitePhoto had OK reviews, not very good and not very bad. I have been shopping online ever since online shopping came into existence - have had many good experiences - , but have never written a review. So I thought only those with negative experiences would be most likely take time to write reviews (like I am doing now) and ignored some of the bad reviews. It was definitely a mistake.
I was looking for the Panasonic GS250 Camcorder and wanted to get it as soon as possible as we are expecting a baby. I compared the prices and saw PriceRitePhoto had it for one of the cheapest on epinions.com. Both the epinions.com and priceritephoto.com mentioned that they had this in stock. So I ordered one online on 09/19/05.
The dreaded call from the sales person:
My saga started when I received a call from a sales person wanting to “confirm” the order. Note that I never received an email confirmation of my order. I called back, I was given the order number and told that I would get my email invoice shortly and was connected to his voice mail. A couple of hours passed, I never received my confirmation. I had a feeling something was wrong, so I called back again and I was connected to a different person who told me that the order had just been shipped and I would get the tracking number soon. She also told me that she was forwarding me an email invoice immediately. I never got the email invoice and I called back again. This time I was connected to the person who was my “sales representative”.
The lies and blackmails:
Of course this time I was told the camcorder was not in stock and could not be shipped for another 3 to 4 weeks. He then started to tell me about the short 20 minutes battery life of GS250 and why I should buy a long life battery and an UV protector among other things. I declined and asked for the shipping date. Then he told me that they would not be able to sell at the advertised price unless I buy the special kit that cost more than the camcorder itself. His reasoning was that they were selling the camcorder about $300 below MSRP, so the only way they could make money was by selling this kit. At this point I asked for the cancellation of my order. He refused and threatened me with charging my credit card anyway. I told him I was canceling the order and going to write an online review of my worst experience with them. In response, he threatened that he would charge an additional 10% on my credit card if I go ahead and write the review.
After this, I called my credit card company and found out that a fraudulent charge had been made from PriceRitePhoto, after the cancellation of the order. I had to dispute the charges and cancel my card to get a different account number. I have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and considering filing a criminal complaint for the threats.
Buyers beware!! These con artists also go by the name TheCameramall.com. After my nightmare with this company, I went back and checked out some of the other reviews on epinions.com and other sites. There is of course a pattern: 1) Advertise with the lowest price (bait) 2) Try to sell overpriced special kits 3) If the customer doesn't budge, refuse to cancel the order and blackmail the customer with extra charges on their credit cards 4) Fraudulently charge the credit card after cancellation, with no plans of shipping any products.
If anyone knows a better and more effective place to file a consumer/criminal complaint (other than BBB), please comment. I do know the stated name of the sales representative, his extension, his supervisor's name/extension.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Panasonic GS250 Camcorder
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Epinions.com ID:
idoshoponline
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Reviews written: 2
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