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Friday, December 02, 2005 12:14 PM PT Posted by Andrew Brandt
A Cautionary Tale for Online Holiday Shoppers
When Thomas Hawk, a San Francisco photographer and blogger, found an expensive camera he wanted at a discount price online, he immediately snapped it up. But, if what he reports in his blog earlier this week is true, he almost became a victim of an online retailer who, at best, was rude and, at worst, well, you judge.Hawk's experience with the online camera store PriceRitePhoto sounded eerily familiar to Dan Tynan, one of the authors of our investigative story Camera Confidential, which we published in February 2003. "The description on that blog is what [PC World editors] Tom Spring and Grace Aquino and I encountered in our story. Not at every store or on every call, but often enough to be accurate. The level of abuse was also the same," Tynan wrote in an e-mail.
Hawk's entire experience, documented in detail on his blog, can serve as a cautionary tale this holiday season, when many of us will do at least some of our gift shopping online. It pays to do your homework and really check out an online store before you click that Buy button. To do this, you can use the BBB's online search tool to look up a store's history.
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heard about this a few days ago; apparently the store owner called to apologize, but you KNOW it was only because the story grew legs and was being widely distributed (digg and slashdot both ate it up).
moral of the story: spend the few extra bucks at Amazon or wherever to avoid the IMMENSE hassle of the d***s at stores like these. (Or, i guess sepnd a bunch of time researching which stores are good, but who has any free time during the holidays!?)
I read the story and if you think the shipping charges were outrages for a camera, try ordering a Dell referbished desktop PC
($160.00 for a PC that sold for $401.00, minus $70.00 for good behavior I guess).I think PC Mag needs to investigate something like this.
just because its refurbished doesnt mean it weighs less, does it?
seriously, anybody that buys anything from these people are *really* asking for trouble!!
read the whole story here:
http://digg.com/deals/Abusive_New_York_Camera_Store_Threatens_Blogger
Good Gravy! I skimmed the link posted above about this at digg.com and was flabbergasted. I guess that is why I tend to pay a little more from companies with good reputations than look for the "best" deal. On the whole, all of my internet transactions (including Ebay) have been positive; I have been buying online for about 10 years now.
I agree with the poster that Dell's shipping charges are outrageous. A standard computer systems with flat panel 19" monitor shouldn't cost more than $15 or $20 to ship; maybe even up to $30 but more than that is a ripoff. My girlfriend's sister just bought a system from then for $700 that was $100 in shipping! Dell, I like your pcs but your shipping costs are unholy.
I think this story unfairly targets one company who will probably lose a lot of business. Do they deserve to? I'm not sure - obviously they have some employees (or did, I guess) who are awful with customers, and should not be working there. But why do we all assume that just because this person, and a few others whose stories have "come to light" recently were treated poorly, that all of their customers are? It seems like they are being made a scapegoat for all the poor transactions experienced online. While they certainly deserve some negative press, the extent to which they have been hammered may not be justified.
Give me a break, Chris. These companies are predators, and they deserve everything they get.
I have as much sympathy for the buyer as I have for the merchant - none. It's almost 2006, people; and that means if you don't do your research before making your purchase then you probably deserve whatever happens next...