So after all the reading I did here about camera places ripping people off, what do I do? I go and order an expensive camera from www.usaphotonation.com. They had 700 plus 5 star reviews at Shopping Cart USA.

Can't beat that right? No reviews here yet (Ohhhh I will be reviewing them after I get the name added).

I ordered, all was well. I got the dreaded letter saying to call them. We did. They said no battery was included and no charger. Bull. We had checked that out before calling and a battery and charger is standard. Big run around until I said I work for epinions.com and I have every intention of letting the public know their tactics.

The salesperson, "Donald" at extension 211 (1-800-872-3143) worried I would "Make a big stink" over it. I said Damn right I would and I plan to. He wanted to connect me to a supervisor but I said I wanted to cancel the order. He said there was a $92 cancellation fee.

I don't THINK so. I told them if they want a shred of a reputation at all, they will cancel quietly and without charge and not bother me again.

They agreed to cancel the order free of charge. I was not charged anything thus far for the camera or that fee.

I guess I understand now why so many people get sucked up into these tactics. Until I can get the link added to review the site, please know you should avoid USA PHOTO NATION at all costs. Those 5 star sterling ratings are all bogus.

Whatta bunch of rip offs.

Now, I'm doing the ranting. I guess it can happen to anyone, eh?

Are there ANY discount camera/photo places on the web that are legit? I spoke with someone from Dig4Less.com and he seemed legit, even saying those others give all camera places a bad name. I may try to go with that company. He promised no bait and switch tactics and a battery and charger would be included et al. The price was higher by quite a bit but I guess you do get what you pay for cases like this.

Edit: I warily went with Abes of Maine even though lately there has been a rash of negative reviews. I talked to the salesperson and warned him I am going to write a review here and he offered me 2 day air for the ocst of regular shipping. Hmm, we'll see...

Patty

I love the fact the the web site says nothing about the camera being a 'replacement' camera and that it comes in the Manderine Chineese language. In speaking with Mr. Wood on the phone, the company sales tactice was very clear. They are very willing to 'up sell' your unit for you to a complete camera package. After a lengthy discussion with Mr. Wood in an attempt to cancel the order (because the product was not was what was stated on the web site), he threated to "black list" our company from all future internet sales and then again employed standard high pressure telemarketing techniques to 'save us from a restocking fee by purchasing the upgrade'. All hail credit card buyer protection services. He finally agreed to cancel the order; an order with had supposedly which had been shipped and could not have been cancelled with out us actually receiving it and returning it minus the restock fee.

Glad to hear it isn't just me. I wrote a review of the site. Please feel free to do the same, even if it is just an express (under 200 words) review.

The more people who expose this site, the better. I would hate for others to go into a an expensive transaction without them knowing they are not who they claim to be.

You go to the reviews (that are starting to pile up) here:
http://www.epinions.com/USA_Photo_Nation_Online_Service/display_~reviews

Add your experience so others don't go through what we did.

Patty

Bait and switch ripoff. I ordered a camera from USAPhotoNation.com and they sent an email stating I needed to call regarding the order. When I called they tried to sell me batteries and memory, which I do not need more of. Then the representative said this was a grey market camera that only includes the camera, no manual, cables, etc., but that I could get the full USA version for $90 more. Once I threatened to call my credit card company he offered to cancel the order for free (without charging 20% "restocking fee"). STAY AWAY from USAPhotoNation.com.

Glad to hear it isn't just me. I wrote a review of the site. Please feel free to do the same, even if it is just an express (under 200 words) review.

The more people who expose this site, the better. I would hate for others to go into a an expensive transaction without them knowing they are not who they claim to be.

You go to the reviews (that are starting to pile up) here:
USA Photo Nation review Page

Add your experience so others don't go through what we did.

Patty

I found dealing with USAPhotoNation.com a sad experience. I am sold a camera advertised online and assured 3-5 day shipping by salesman. A week later: It takes me 20 minutes of calling and being hung up on to finally gain the truth on 12-07 that the camera is on backorder! Then to top it off, Jamie tries to sell me a "kit" for $40 extra to assure my camera is in stock. This tactic is called "bait and switch". It sucks to deal with such pressure sales bs for a $300+ order. The initial salesman on 12-05 tries to sell me a 1Gig card for $347! discounted to $147 because of a "package deal" -- oh gimme a break. This company overcharges on shipping compared to other New York dealers by over 200% compared to B&H's 3-5 day UPS for $10 vs their bs $25. This sucks folks!

So I go to B&H, they are so courteous and helpful that I order a REAL camera in STOCK, (no backorder crap), no USAPhotoNation.com "white box" / "blue box" bs (nice try guys) folks -- just the real deal and I get a 1 Gig card from them for $70 versus USAPhotoNation.com bs $147 charge. So these schmucks lost my $334 and the $374 they tried to leverage out of me and instead B&H gets my money -- NOT USAPhotoNation.com! And, guess what? B&H IMMEDIATELY confirmed my order and got my e-mail correct the first time. Amazing aren't they! AVOID USAPhotoNation.com!

I CAN NOT believe how horrable one store can possibly be. I ordered a camera from usaphotonation.com and I then get an email telling me to contact them about my order...so I call and i am told that my camera does not come with a charger and that I will have to pay $89 dollars for the one I need and the "Bob" had the balls to lable me as an "amiture shooter" and tried to sell me other lenses and unnessisary things. I just said no and I let him sell me the charger and he then said it was put on rush order for me, well after hanging up and thinking wow $89 dollers for a charger is insane I decided to look it up on ebay and I found the EXACT charger for 12 bucks!! 12 BUCKS!!! so I orderd it off ebay and then called to cancel the one from usaphotonation.com and they told me I couldn't cancel it because it was alreayd shipped and on the plane so I started asking how I can return it and he played dumb and just kept answering with I dont know you'll have to talk to costumer service so I waited a week to get the camera so then I could call about returning the charger and still I didn't get anything in the mail so I called to ask about my order since it was suppose to be on rush order and I said how come i havent gotten my order yet and he said oh because the camera has been discontinued and i said well when i tried canceling i was told it was already on its way to me so how can I not have it yet and he said because its been discontinued (what a stupid shmuck) so then I said ok then how come I wasn't informed...no answer..he then tried to sell me another camera and I said no i just want to get a refund and he said ok your all set then and I asked how long it will take and he said about 24 to 48 hours...well here i am two weeks later and still didnt get my refund, i called back AGAIN and waited 20 minutes on hold and when I spoke with him again he said oh by tomorrow..mind you I heard that same sentence from him about 3 times now so i started to get very angry at him and he AGAIN tried to sell me another camera so i said very stern I do not want another camera just my money and he gave me an attitude telling me to go call my card company as if he is all cocky and powerful and is gonna play games now so I said ok I will and if I dont have my money back then i will have you investigated and i hung up on him. So I am STILL waiting for my refund so i can get a camera but deffinately NOT from usaphotonation.com i think i would rather chew off my own arms then to ever even THINK about buying something from them, they are crooks and have horrable sales reps and they treat you as if you were a no life off the streets that know nothing and can be easily fooled. I wish the whole world could read this because i am extremely stressed, sick and fed up with dealing with this company and i cannot wait til my problem is all done and over with.

They are awful. Rarely have I done business (well, I didn't do business with them but tried) with such a fraudulent and misleading company.

I am glad that some people are reviewing them as I did in the main review area so that possible future consumers can see and heed the warnings. There is a link further up if you want to write a review and tell your story to consumers who look for opinions and experiences on websites before deciding whether to shop there.

I would strongly suggest avoiding USA Photo Nation completely. They are a bait and switch company that is not to be trusted.

Patty

talked to "ken" at usaphotonation.com, who is "kevin" at radioactivedeals.com; you can call either company, but this maggot answers at extension #213 at either place. i got the bait-and-switch and they (ken and kevin, who are the same person - he actually said his name was "ken kevin") would not let me cancel my order, and got very hostile. now that they have my credit card numbers, who knows what might happen next. i received an email telling me i needed to contact them, then was told the camera i ordered "only worked in china."

usaphotonation got a 5-star rating at pricesplash.com, which is now suspect.

DO NOT ORDER FROM USAPHOTONATION.COM, RADIOACTIVEDEALS.COM, or trust PRICESPLASH.COM.

I had the same experience with the crooks at usaphotnation, I went to etroniocs and within two days the camera (complete with all the batteries and cable that belong with any new camera). I can't believe no one has "visited" those thieves at usaphotonation

I was ready to hop in my car and find the SOB who called me after I placed my online order and told me that the JVC Everio that I had just ordered was a replacement only and came with no "accessories" such as cables, battery, manuals, disc, etc. and that I had to pay $150 more than the advertised price to get the complete camera. When faced with a charge of 7% for cancellation I suppose I lost my temper a little...OK, so I screamed some obscenities...he (and his company) deserved it and more. I ended up going ahead with the order after being offered a couple of "free" items and a "free" shipping upgrade to next day air - plus the fact that I didn't want to pay 7% for a cancelled order. When I look at the price of the actual camera (with all the "accessories"), I didn't get a horrible deal - the price was in line with many online retailers - but it was not the best and FAR from the price that was shown on the website. What a waste of time and money. Jackoffs... Oh, and that 5 star rating and the list of reviews HAS TO BE a complete fabrication or a generic purchased list or something. IT HAS TO BE... I hope someone can find a way to make them pay (no violence - just hit 'em in the pocketbook).

Many unscrupulous websites have "testimonials" that are pure fabrication. They even try to game review sites such as this one by writing 5 star short reviews about how wonderful their service and prices are. Usually we can pick up on a trend of a many reviews of a company with recent poor reviews suddenly having many 5 star short reviews saying basically the same things.

When I go to a site and see 50 testimonials all glowing and giving out 5 star ratings, I am instantly leery. Either the site filters their testimonials and posts only the best ones or they just make up a bunch if fake ones because even the very best of sites has a less than stellar rating from SOMEONE who shopped there.

USA Photo Nation, in my humble opinion, should spend less time writing 5 star reviews of themselves and more time becoming reputable because, sooner or later, it WILL catch up with them.

If enough people complain, go to th BBB, and make a fuss, eventually USA Photo Nation (and their affiliates) will be shut down, slapped with a fine, or have a class action law suit on their hands.

Patty

Except for the BBB part. Go to Consumer Affairs locally or your state's Attorney General's office. They have true power, can do lots of things that the BBB can't and won't do.

George
who has learned something from being married to a consumer advocate.

F usaphotonation.com they are thugs! same routine, only i got order cancled as soon as fraud was brought up. report sent to bbb, and consumer affairs office. wish i had an address! i know they are located in NY, i need to track them down!

hi

could someone provide me information about the address of usaphotonation, i am in the same boat as everyone else here and want to file a complaint with bbb.

the bbb requires postal code etc for filing the complaint, hence the physical address is needed.

I think Joubert above gave very solid advice about going to the Attorney General first. BBB is limited to what it can do and is an option but the AG can really put pressure on sites I have learned.

Patty

hi

would anyone know how long it takes for the credit card authorization to be released after the order is cancelled (I mean at usaphotonation)? I cancelled the order yesterday and they told me that my money would be released the same day, but I dont see that happen yet?

I am waiting for that to be done and then I will cancel my credit card number to get a new one, just to prevent future fraud.

You should call your credit card company. I had to do that with one company who said they were refunding me "the next day". It can take a whole billing cycle for the refund to appear but the credit card company can tell you if there is a refund in process.

Patty

I have called up my credit card company twice since usaphotonation promised me a refund. but there is no refund in process yet. i called usaphotonation today again, at first the guy started yelling at me for cancelling the order and finally put me to customer service, who again assured me that the refund has been done. but my cc company says there is no refund yet from their end.

What should I do? I normally wouldn't panic if this were a regular store like bestbuy or staples..because i know it takes time for a refund to be processed. but with these scandalous guys, i am not too sure.