Express Cameras rip-off! Industry leaders of the bait and switch and horrible customer service techniques. Edison New Jersey

I hate to resort to an online complaint, but expresscameras isn't giving me much choice. I purchased a camera from them on April 7, 2004 at approximately 7pm. Before my purchase I did quite a bit of shopping between online companies to see who offered the best deal. I chose expresscameras.com because they offered the best price I found for a Fuji S2 Pro camera body....$1289. That's around $10 cheaper than the closest competitor I found.

I had plans to purchase some accessories at the same time but since this was my first "high ticket" online purchase, decided to wait and see what their customer service was like. Thank goodness I waited. On April 9,2004 at 9am pst I called their customer service line to verify that my purchase was going through smoothly and to find out when shipping would occur. I was informed by a "salesman" that the unit I had purchased was for "overseas use only", and that if I was planning on using it in the U.S.A. that I would need to purchase the "Fuji S2 SLR Kit" at a price of $1649 I believe. That price has changed this morning to $1899 so I don't have the exact figure for this morning.

After asking the "salesman" Marcos, what the difference between the cameras was I was informed that all the documentation on my purchase was in Japanese and that the accessories included would not work in the US. NONE OF THIS INFORMATION IS INCLUDED IN EXPRESSCAMERAS.COM ADVERTISEMENT. In fact the advertisement for bothe cameras is identical as far as I can tell. Marcos laughed at me a few times during our conversation when I mentioned the unsavory business practices they use and that this was a classic "bait and switch". I'm not used to being laughed at when I am unsatisfied with a $1300 purchase.

Because of his "sales skills" I asked Marcos a few times to transfer me to his manager "Steve". Of course Steve wasn't in the office to address my concerns. I was told that I could be transfered to customer service(which strangely enough, has a phone option to speak with a manager....hmmm makes you wonder if they recieve a lot of complaints, doesn't it?)Needless to say, I feel as though I was treated like crap.

I hope my bad experience with this less than reputable company will save others from making the same mistake I did and I hope this reaches someone who can do something to companies that use false advertising to bait unsuspecting customers. Based on this experience I'll keep my online purchasing to small items on ebay and will never purchase anything expensive online. From now on I want to put my hands on my purchase at the same time the shop is putting their hands on my money.

Todd
Aliso Viejo, California
U.S.A.