86th Street Photo & Video bait and switch, scam, liar, rude New York Internet

My story, alas, mirrors all the ripoff reports listed here. If only I'd found this site first.

I was trying to buy a Canon Powershot G9 camera. Full retail $499, offered by 86th Street Photo for $299 to $319 over the past week. But it's not merely that they try to upsell you with incredibily overpriced accessories, then tell you the camera you want is on back order when you don't succumb.

It's that they outright lie -- online and on the phone -- about what they're offering for sale, and at what price.

The website provided specific details on the G9 offered for sale for $319: 1-year warranty, English is one of the camera options. It doesn't explicitly say it's the US model but those facts mean it has to be.

So, I place the order online. I get an email saying I have to call the store to "verify" my order. I rebuff the hard-sell on unwanted, overly expensive extra battery etc. Moments later I get an email that the camera is out of stock, and will take 3-4 weeks. I emailed back demanding an explanation and have yet to hear back.

That was a couple days ago.

Today, I call as if I were a fresh customer (that is, I didn't mention my pending order). I ask if the G9 is in stock. Salesman assures me it is in stock, it costs $319, and would be shipped tomorrow. He takes my credit card info. Then he launches into the sales job for accessories, which I politely rebuff. Then and only then, he tells me it's a Chinese-language model no warranty unless I pay an extra $149. He says the camera's markings are in Chinese, but the menus can be changed to English, though he won't say how. He quickly changes gears and tells me he can sell me the US model for $499, which is in English and has the 1-year warranty. When I press him to explain how the cheaper camera's language can be changed to English, he tells me to do my homework and hangs up on me.

I recorded it all. (DC is a one-party consent jurisdiction, for anyone wondering). And I printed the screen shots that show the purported specs.

In case the FTC or New York consumer affairs agency is interested.

Photojournalist
Washington, District of Columbia
U.S.A.