General Tips

Know What You Want

Local dealers are also a better bet: you can see the thing before you buy it, take immediate delivery, and yell at somebody in person if you have problems.

But for many, price is king. They'll go to great lengths to spend as little as possible. And that often means dealing with merchants who are unknown and far away. You can often find deals using shopping services like DealTime, MySimon, PriceGrabber, PCWorld.com's Product Finder, PriceWatch, Streetprices, Froogle, etc.

The same shopping services that help you find a great deal usually have a rating system that can be used to see if the merchant does a good/honest job. But some fraud sites stack the deck by posting bogus good reviews.

These sites may help you in your research:

site	link	description
ripoffreport.com	http://www.ripoffreport.com	file & document complaints about companies or individuals who ripoff consumers
resellerratings.com	http://www.resellerratings.com	ratings of sellers, good and bad
Better Business Bureau	http://www.bbb.org	ratings of sellers, good and bad
epinions.com	http://www.epinions.com	reviews of products, good and bad, from cat litter to cars
site	http://www.photo.net/neighbor/one-subcategory?id=2&by_date_p=t	review of camera stores

Also, try using Google or your favorite search engine, looking for company name plus the word scam.

If things go sour, credit card companies appear more willing to refund your money.

If things really go sour, and you feel that the seller might attempt fraudulent transactions or identity theft, contact the credit card to cancel your card and issue a new one.

A deal that looks too good to be true might not be true!

Special Warnings

New York And New Jersey

Without a doubt, there are some ethical merchants doing business in New York. But the situation has been so bad for so long that many people have simply decided "Never buy from any photo store based in New York or New Jersey."

Questionable Sales Tactics

This doesn't necessarily mean that the tactic is bad for the consumer.

Example:

Do your research first and then stand firm on it. Don't let anybody push you into buying more than you originally wanted.

Gray market goods usually don't have a warranty, aren't eligible for rebates, and may have instruction manuals written in another language.

If saving a buck is important, these factors might not be an issue, and you will be happy with gray market goods.

Lessons:

• Make sure that you know what you are getting.

You can easily end up with accessories and gadgets that you will never use.

When I bought my Nikon Coolpix 8800, the salesman tried to sell me a 2X teleconverter. I had selected that camera because it has a 10X optical zoom built-in. I didn't need no stinkin' 2X.

Lessons:

• Know exactly what you want (no teleconverter).
• Know the exactly what normally comes with the camera (camera has built-in 10X zoom).

A salesman offered me a good deal on an an item, if I would buy batteries to go with it - a fast charger and 4 2,200 mAh batteries "highest capacity available" - for $50. My local Fry's sells a fast charger and 4 2,400 mAh batteries for $15.

Lessons:

• Know what a good price is - before talking to any salesman.

Note: If you are not told about the restocking fee before placing your order, you can get it thrown out in court. But who wants to go to court over a trivial sum?

Lessons:

• Know exactly what you want. If you only order what you want, you won't have to send it back.

"OK, you can send back that $20 accessory, but you'll have to send the camera back, too."

This saves the seller from maintaining an inventory, but adds considerable delay to fulfilling orders.

If you don't need the accessories, and know that you're not getting them, it could be a good deal.

Lessons:

• Know the exactly what normally comes with the camera.
• Verify that you are getting exactly what normally comes with the camera.

Outright Fraud

Undisclosed Use Of Questionable Sales Tactics

Usually the different product is more expensive, but it is possible for the replacement to be less expensive, but with a higher profit margin.

I don't suppose that it is fraudulent to encourage you to buy something else, but insisting on it, or forcing you (by having the offered merchandise mysteriously go out of stock) is fraud.

"Free upgrade to overnight shipping if you post 5 good reviews about us!" or "Free camera case if you post 3 reviews about us that are five-star!"

Sometimes this causes buyers to artificially inflate the feedback. "Their service really sucked, and it took a long time for them to deliever, but I finally have the thing now. It wouldn't hurt to give them a good review, so I get a free case."

Unfortunately, it does hurt - because other buyers rely on the feedback of previous buyers. Every time that a buyer gives in and takes the bribe, they are helping unscrupulous sellers to hurt other buyers.

If a seller was really great, he wouldn't have to bribe buyers to say so!

Determined buyers will stand on principle and resist, but sometimes they cave - especially when threatened with things like "we have your credit card number" and "we won't send the rest of your merchandise".

When reviewing sellers, check for a large number of feedback entries that have been either changed or withdrawn.

Figure Out What's Really Wrong With The Deal

• Failed to deliever the product?
• Delieverd product not as advertised?
• Product damaged or defective?

It is important to think about this in advance, because you will have to explain, clearly and concisely, what is wrong and what you would like as a fix.

It might help to write down some notes.

Contact the merchant, explain the problem, and ask them to fix it.

I suggest that you call, then follow that up with a letter. Keep a copy of the letter, in case you need evidence later.

Don't just do this once and trust that the problem will go away. A bad merchant may pretend to work on your problem, while playing some kind of waiting game.

Call and ask for a manager, explain the problem, and ask them to fix it, follow up with a letter.

I usually give the merchant three tries total, working up the chain, until I decide that the merchant will not give me satisfaction and I break out of the box.

If you retract your feedback, you are revising history. You are pretending that nothing ever went wrong. You are depriving future buyers of a warning.

Instead, offer to post a follow-up, stating that the problem has been resolved to your satisfaction.

Look at it this way: Everybody runs into problems now and then. A good merchant has a track record of resolving those problems. A bad merchant tries to hide the problems.

• state Attorney General's office
• state Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• U.S. Postal Inspector's Office

• The New York State Attorney General's office forwards most complaints to the DCA, which has jurisdiction to follow up.
• The DCA has no authority over stores that sell strictly via the Web or mail order.
• The U.S. Postal Inspector's office has that authority but declines to comment on its investigations.

I believe that, when it is time to escalate to the level of complaining to the government, you should send the complaint to all of the offices, and let them forward as necessary. Don't tell any agency that you are contacting another (e.g., "CC: Federal Trade Commission"), because it may suggest that the issue will be covered by somebody else.

Then write a letter to the merchant, sending copies of your complaints.

Let's be honest: The government is slow, ponderous, and often ineffective. The resolution will most likely come from the merchant. The government is most useful as a club to beat the merchant into submission.

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