Grand Central Photo Sales Scam and Dishonest Behavior , Internet

My experience was very similar to the recent reviewer who posted on the website ResellerRatings.com on July 2, 2010. On June 26, 2010 I ordered a "CANON T1I ADVANCED PACKAGE W/ Canon 18-200 and More!" kit from the website. This package is to ship with the following lens: "1 of New !!!!! 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S IS LENS For Canon ($1,199.99 value!)" This quote is directly from their website. I was sent an e-mail receipt with an order number and transaction summary. My wife received a call at home on June 29th with one of their sales reps telling her that I needed to purchase a battery for the camera because the one that came standard would not perform properly (see other reviewers with a similar scam reported). She told them they would need to talk directly to me and that I would call them back.

I called the company back promptly on the morning of June 30, 2010 and told the sales person that I wanted the exact package I had ordered and that an extra battery was not desired. The representative told me the order would be filled and to "enjoy" my camera kit. Much to my surpirse, I called today (July 12, 2010) at 11:10 am ET and spoke with "Joe" about why my order had not been shipped. He informed me that according to their records the order had been cancelled on June 29 by the "customer" (notice I called them on June 30th and was told the order was being filled - strange??) I told him no such thing occurred and that I wanted my package as promised. He said the order would be reinstated and shipped accordingly. We hung up. I was suspect of their promises, so I called back to get a confirmation number and to verify that they were going to honor the original order price.

Joe answered and proceeded to tell me that the lens I was ordering was not an autofocus lens. What? Go look at the Canon website for this lens and you will see that is is indeed a fully auto-focus lens. Joe then admitted that the lens was not "available" and that the original order had been cancelled by their company - contrary to his claim just five minutes prior that I was the one who cancelled the order. This company is obviously operating with false promises and lying salespeople. Although I wanted to force them to deliver on the legal sales claim based on my oder summary, I cancelled my order promptly because I will not do business with dishonest people. My conclusion - they never had any intention of fulfilling my order and would have done just about anything to delay or postpone the shipment before I would have received my camera kit. That is not worth the agravation, wasted time and financial risk. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!