BestPriceCameras.com - Best Price Cameras, Ken (ext. 283) If it looks like a rat talks like a rat, and smells like a rat Internet

I was shopping around for a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi Camera and had just about decided where I was going to buy it (CompUSA - in case you were actually wondering) when I saw a link for "diduprice.com" and so I ran a search. BestPriceCameras.com came up as a 5-Star Trusted Supplier and had the cheapest price ($209 for the camera body kit).

I clicked the link, found a great deal, and after getting the nod from my wife, decided on a $500 package that included what was listed as the Camera body, 2 Canon EF Lenses, all cables, a tripod, case, and a 2GB memory card and free shipping with other "fluff" toss-ins from the company. I gave my credit card info and clicked submit. It did say that if there were any issues, I would be contacted.

My first indication that this was going to be a fun sales call was that the same 2GB CompactMemory Card (free with this package) that lists for $34 at CompUSA was listed for $159 on BestPriceCameras.com - so I knew when the call came that they would try hard to sell me on upgrades and bigger packages - I reasoned that this overcharging on accessories MUST be how they can sell the camera so cheap. EH! Wrong!

I woke up this morning to an email from ken@bestpricecameras.com saying that I needed to call him at 800-281-1724, extension 283, and confirm my order. No problem, I thought - good business. He answers the phone by saying "Hey." Bad business. I ask if he is Ken. He answers, "Yea, what's up?" Very bad business.

I then have to tell him about his email - he then pulls it up after putting me on hold (very very bad business). After a few more moments of grunting and mumbling, he finally tells me that I need to upgrade my lenses. "Why?" I ask - he tells me that the ones in this package are plastic and I need to upgrade to glass lenses if I want this camera to last.

"Canon doesn't make plastic lenses." I explain. "Oh these aren't Canon lenses - they're just FOR a Canon camera." I tell him he must have the wrong order pulled up because I specifically chose a package with Canon EF lenses and opted to pay more because of the genuine Canon EF lenses. He tells me that I read it wrong. We go back and forth for a few moments of me saying - "Buddy, your web listing specifically lists them as Canon EF 28-90 and Canon EF 90-300 USM lenses" and he of course continuing to say that I am reading it wrong. (Who in the sales business has the gumption to actually tell a potential customer that they must be illiterate?)

After hearing again that these are not Canon lenses and that they are plastic and will only last me a month or so (whatever - like anyone REALLY believes this stuff?) I instruct him to drop the package and just charge me for the camera body saying that "I have some older EF lenses that will work with this camera." He argues that "sure" I have lenses, but I need "good" lenses. I very bluntly instruct him again to drop the package and just send me the body.

"Okay, okay buddy. Uh, let's see - That'll be $672, sir."

"Excuse me?" I was dumbfounded - "You gotta be kidding me. How is the body alone somehow almost $200 MORE than the package I was ordering?" "Oh, well, we offer discounts when you order a package." "Bull. Then explain to me why the list price on your website has the body kit ON SALE for $209?"

"Well, yea, we sell one for $209 but you don't want that one, it doesn't come with anything - you need the actual body kit and it's $672." I did what Nancy Reagan taught me and just said "No". The website listed the body KIT as being on sale for $209. He explained, "Oh that's just the wholesale cost and it's just the body. It doesn't come with any cables or anything so you wouldn't be able to use it."

I'm just shaking my head at this point. Then I play my trump card "So? This purchase is for my business - a Tax Exempt, Incorporated business eligible for wholesale purchases. Sell me the $209 body."

He fires back, "I can't do that sir - we're required to sell you the retail version which is $672. Besides, you don't want just the body - you wouldn't be able to use the body without the cables, battery, software, etc... you have to have all those."

I had heard enough and just interrupted him and said, "Cancel my order." He practically fell backwards in his chair yelling "Whoa whoa whoa! Why? Why/ Why?" (My 18 month old has thrown more dignified tantrums than this...) I just told him he was scamming me and that I wasn't going to waste any more time arguing with him. "Cancel my order now."

"You're a very funny guy. Your order's canceled." - CLICK - He actually hung up on me for not buying his load of malarky.

Long story short - this company obviously is unethical, low-class, and unprofessional - and that's just their sales people. Their website is like bait on a hook - I'm a seasoned online shopper and pride myself on the deals I've tracked down (for example, 12k worth of Canon XL1s Video equipment - that I've used regularly now for 3 years - purchased for under 5k - I know what I'm doing when it comes to deals online). These guys offer deals that you know are indeed realistic if not uncommon - especially considering that this Canon XTi kit is expected to drop in average retail price to around $450-$500 after Christmas - but once you enter your financial info and click "Place My Order" - it all hits the fan. The wolf throws off the sheepskin and bares its teeth.

Do not even waste your time; you will not ever catch up to the carrot dangling before your nose; do not try to taste the cheese on that wonderful wooden slab before you; no, that worm is not just floating out there in the water simply for your pleasure - there are hooks, spring-loaded traps, plenty of strings attached, and many annoyingly long conversations ahead of you.

Read the other complaints and you'll find story after story of people who did not get what they ordered and certainly did not pay what they expected - the price is the draw, but the price OBVIOUSLY is not authentic with BestPriceCameras. I eagerly await the day these people get shut down for fraud.

In closing, I'll quote one of my favorite Monty Python films (Holy Grail).

"RUN AWAAAAAAY!"

Smalltownmedia
Katy, Texas
U.S.A.