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Abusive New York Camera Store Threatens Blogger

thomashawk.com — "I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again." "I'm an attorney, I will sue you." "I'm going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you." Just a few of the fun things I got to hear today from someone who said his name was Steve Phillips over at PriceRitePhoto.

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  • iworkforus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9ouch, now i know to stay away from them
  • djrbx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9This deserves the front page
  • Greg-J, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This definately deserves the front page.

    Come on diggers. Do this man a favor and shed some light on these a$$holes.
  • DavisFreeberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Unfortunately, it's not just this camera store the uses these questionable tactics. I refuse to use shopzilla, pricegraber or yahoo shopping because they choose to include disreputable tactics. You have better luck on Ebay with a total stranger then with these outfits.
  • thomashawk, on 10/19/2007, -0/+48Of course I should have known better. But still it ***** me off that companies like this are allowed to stay in business and operate and abuse people. After doing some more research and finding similar stories about the company it just made me cringe. It also points out though how totally unreliable the store ratings are from places like Yahoo! shopping. This place had a four star rating with several hundred reviews. I think that they, well they have been reported as, bullying people into not writing negative reviews and then probably seeding the reviews with fake positives.

    People like this should not be allowed to be in business and we should all be doing better research about the companies we buy from -- myself most of all. I'm embarrased that I didn't do a better job researching this outfit before buying from them.
  • diggthiscrap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4That's ***** up, too bad America doesn't punish people who to try to screw other out of their hard-earned cash. Can't these retailers earn money, like the rest of us instead of trying to constantly steal every penny? Did this guy ever get his money back?
  • spanner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Vote this article up, it deserves the attention
  • Lyph3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7diggthiscrap said "That's ***** up, too bad America doesn't punish people who to try to screw other out of their hard-earned cash. Can't these retailers earn money, like the rest of us instead of trying to constantly steal every penny? Did this guy ever get his money back?"


    http://www.bbb.org/

    And when shopping online, concentrate on the BAD ratings more than the POSITIVE.

    Sort by low ratings, they're more important to read than the "OMG GUD STURE ROFFLE" comments.

  • theman8631, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In the world of relationship marketing the customer is more then king, he is god. And this is the reason why, because we can give negative viral word of mouth. Vote it up! +digg
  • alceria, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah, that's crappy, but seriously, most photographers know that these seedy camera stores exist and will try to pass off greymarket items in place of what you thought you were ordering, or do some other kind of bait and switch. That's why most people stick with B&H, Adorama or the other photo supply companies that have a great reputation. I would never make such a pricey purchase from some company I had never heard of, especially a photography related purchase. I've heard too many scandalous stories, especially from camera stores in NY.

    No doubt the salesperson is off their rocker, but I find it a bit amusing that people are gullible enough to buy from such dealers in the first place, especially since this guy mentioned that he new a lot of these camera stores are shady.
  • Lyph3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6As a follow up to my previous post: http://www.bbbnewyork.org/businessreports/Default.aspx?id=1026

    "Based on BBB files, this business has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau because it failed to respond to one or more complaints."
  • chiefwahoo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Dugg...for the cause.
  • Sonic84, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1hehe, if a business doesn't treat it's customers right, they'll have the whole internet after them! Or at least the fine folks who read Digg!

    Dugg!
  • pox05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.resellerratings.com/ search any store or product - this is where i first found out about them, i was looking at panasonics FZ30K, but i went with newegg. it was a bit more money (40$), but i will not have to put up with ***** like this.

    i cant wait to get it, i just ordered it yesterday!!
  • theman8631, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2In the world of relationship marketing the customer is more then king, he is god.

    The reason is for the very thing we are doing, negative viral word of mouth.

    Vote it up!

    +digg
  • Samus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"In other news, Internet Camera Store gains control of all shopping done via the net"
  • XsolidusX, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0lol @ samus
  • athanfrost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2how ridiculous. Steve Phillips sounds like a stupid little kid, from your quotes of what he said to you.
  • pox05, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1and after reading the story, the 40bucks is WELL worth it
  • 7477696700, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sue for harrasment.
    +Digg
  • jaspinDroid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I registered a Digg account just to Digg this article.

    -jaspinDroid
  • zeth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's very strange that companies in the US are getting away with this kind of behavior. I mean, is there no justice in "the land of the (not so) free" at all?

    As a side note though, I really like the author's writing style.
  • PunkFenixJT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2damn...i sure hope that "priceritephoto" gets the Digg-effect, gets DoS'ed, and then gets shut down from angry people personally...though...they mihgt threaten to never sell KRose a camera after this...lol
  • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5you said he was operating out of brooklyn? if these guys have a location, have a few friendlies pay their store an anonymous visit. make sure your name isn't mention, just have them walk in knock over a shelf of camera's and go.

    on the more legit side, i'm not aware of the government agency in the usa that handles it, but i'm sure there is some form of fraud squad in the usa that would love to know about people extorting money out of you by threatening to charge your credit card unauthorised transactions, and threatening to post you cc on the internet. my guess would be these guys are already involved in cc fraud and very minor digging by authorities would result in jail time.
  • mmike6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1digg'ed ... down with him .)
  • HavokTG1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Makes you want to go take that $2800 out of his a$$! I'm sure the guy isn't anywhere near being in the legal profession.

    Very unprofessional behavior!

    I hope he gets shut down.
  • dstart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The sad truth is, the retailer can give us a-lot more aggravation than we can give them. No doubt that customer will be taking them through the court justice system at another expense.
  • 87rounds, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ahh... makes assholes I meet seem like saints.
  • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Skypeout can do free calls to toll-free US numbers, for free. Go download skype if you haven't already.
    Their phone number is +18883654300, call them up and tell them what you think. Have some fun. You DO NOT need to buy skypeout credit - the number is toll free.
  • shakebabies, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1crap suck. I'm all for this being on the front page. Kind of makes you think about those retailer ratings. There really is no thing as douche-proof retailing.
  • EmileVictor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Company name: PriceRitePhoto.com
    Street address: 1274 49th Street
    Brooklyn, NY 11219
    Web site: http://www.priceritephoto.com
    Number of years in business: 3
    -------------------------
    Phone: 888-365-4300
    Fax: 888-375-6700
    Email: sales@priceritephoto.com
    Hours: 9am est-8pm EST
    ---------------------------
    Phone: 888-365-4300
    Fax: 888-375-6700
    Email: sales@priceritephoto.com
    Hours: 9am est-8pm EST

    Contact details.
  • daza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Absolutely shocking. I've had bad customer service experiences, but they pale in comparison to this. In a legal stance, what can you do? In Australia there would certainly be quite a case, some of these people could claim extortion (threat to post credit-card details on internet) amongst other things. Really very disturbing. If there's been one time I would like to digg an article more than once, it would be now.
  • HerbSolo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Hey - that reminds me of something - when i was 14, i visited NY with my parents. The prices for photo-products were a lot lower than in Europe so i went into a shop to buy a bag for my camera.
    Very soon my parents and i were surrounded by three guys, most propably the shop owners, who apparently didn't want to sell me the bag for 20 Bucks but instead 2 of the bags and an infrared filter for 150. They took my dad's cam and screwed the filter on it, praising the thing as highend new invention, allowing you to take photographs in the dark without flashlight (yeah - of course), and when i told them i just wanted to buy one bag, one of the guys started throwing the bags through the store, cursing and insulting us.
    Seems to be some some sort of standard procedure ;)
  • superwick1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"I registered a Digg account just to Digg this article.

    -jaspinDroid "

    me too haha
    damn corrupt ny retailers
  • stark23x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Wow, this is going to KILL his business. This is all over the net.
  • ekai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Look at all the complaints lodged against them with the BBB. Insane!

    Complaint Issue Last 12 Months Last 12..36 Months Total
    Advertising 0 9 9
    Advertising Issues 5 3 8
    Billing or Credit 1 32 33
    Credit or Billing Disputes 7 5 12
    Delivery 0 5 5
    Delivery Issues 14 7 21
    Guarantee or Warranty Issues 5 3 8
    Product Quality 8 12 20
    Refund or Exchange 1 0 1
    Refund Practices 12 12 24
    Repair Issues 3 0 3
    Selling Practices 29 23 52
    Service Issues 4 2 6
    TOTAL 89 113 202
  • ekai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1forgot, above BBB info came from link posted earlier.

    http://www.bbbnewyork.org/businessreports/Default.aspx?id=1026
  • Morph_Ball, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Confucius say, "Dugg ftw~"
  • deaxes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Makes me sick to my stomach! It's disgusting that these assholes are New Yorkers! (my hometown)
  • JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeh. Charging you for a product you never get.... isnt that... I dunno... Theft?
  • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2>Yeh. Charging you for a product you never get.... isnt that... I dunno... Theft?

    Damn right it is.
  • julian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Put in your 2 cents,

    Call the 800 number and hang up...

    LOL
  • JoPettitt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, scary thing is that there are probably a lot of companies out there like this!
  • julian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0just kidding
  • Hoss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Here's a site showing those wonderful camera "stores" in Brooklyn.
    http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/
    As a professional photographer I know to stay with someone like B&H for all my equipment.
  • evanfraser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This article was the push I needed to finally register.

    My first Digg
  • weezyweazel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good god what a bunch of hustlers. Will avoid like the black plague.
  • FrogEngine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Irritating to say the least.
  • Marshy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2lets spam this
    sales@priceritephoto.com

  • Hoss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here is their "storefront"...

    http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0121.htm
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