Grex Photography Conference

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Grex Photography Item 19: Mail order photo equipment
Entered by mcpoz on Sun Aug 20 12:40:33 UTC 1995:

Have you had any experiences buying photo equipment by mail order?  If so,
were your experiences good, bad, or ??   How much did you save and was it
worth the hassle?

6 responses total.

#1 of 6 by rcurl on Sun Aug 20 19:36:02 1995:

I've bought a camera and film by mail order. You have to buy a lot of film
to make it worthwhile and I'm not doing a great deal of photography now,
so I haven't ordered film again. The camera came in it's box and has
worked fine for years, and it cost a lot less than buying it locally.
However I ended up not looking forward to making calls to New York photo
stores, because I thought most of the salepeople were curt to the point of
rudeness, and also often difficult to understand (but that's New York for
you, now 8-{).

#2 of 6 by mcpoz on Sun Aug 20 22:07:41 1995:

I agree with you about the sales people being rude.  I bought a lens and
was given one which did not link with my camera (I was concerned about this
and they assured me this model would like with the meter).  They refused a
return.  My wife called VISA.  A VISA rep called me, asked me my complaint,
and said put it in a letter and forget the bill.  He said they would take care
of it.  About a month later, I got a call from the New York firm, asking me
to withdraw my complaint.  I was told I could get a "deal" on anything they
carried.  I declined and that's the last I ever heard of it.  

Lesson:  If you buy mail order, use a major credit card.  They give you a lot
         of consumer protection.

#3 of 6 by vrondi on Fri Jan 1 23:01:19 1999:

I had a very frustrating phone conversation with a fellow in a New York Photo
Store once.  He had a very thick Bronx accent, and I'm this gril from
Appalachia, and we may as well have been speaking foreign languages.
(oops, gril=girl)

#4 of 6 by rcurl on Sat Jan 2 06:38:30 1999:

Glad to see this item revived - because I had another phone interaction
with a New York camera company. I called their 800 number to buy a camera
they list in their Pop Photo advertisement. The salesperson asked for my
credit card number. I said I would like to know when it could be shipped. 
They said I would have to call another (toll) number to get that
information. I told them to forget it. (Subsequently I looked up the
manufacturer on the web and sent them a message. They responded the same
day with an 800 number to call to order, where an extremely pleasant
salesperson took my information and promised (which was kept) 2-day air
delivery - all for a lower price than listed by the New York dealer.

#5 of 6 by mcpoz on Mon Jan 4 01:48:31 1999:

I haven't checked lately, but the discount camera stores that advertise in
the photo magazines must have some very good competition on the web.  Anyone
have any experience with web-based photo equipment purchaes?

#6 of 6 by rcurl on Mon Jan 4 02:21:16 1999:

It is interesting that some (but not all) photo magazine advertisers list
web addresses, but none have web ordering. I wonder why....

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