Author Topic: Be careful out there. (Read 6111 times)

Bateleur · « **on:** October 28, 2006, 06:23 »

I just found this site offering the most amazing deals on photographic equipment ...

http://www.aigars.co.uk/

It looks totally genuine and very professional. But further research revealed that it seems to be a highly sophisticated scam. Check out this page ...

http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/blog/?p=62

The bottom line is always, if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Be careful out there.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2006, 20:11 »

Thanks for that tip!! I am still leery about buying stuff online, not that I'm techno-phobic, I just have a hard time putting access to my credit or cash out there. However, I'm just leery and cautious, I do buy online, not just anywhere/everywhere.
This may sound odd, but I have been buying a considerable amount of my photographic needs at Amazon.com. I just bought my wife a Canon A620 there. I've purchased remotes, lenses, studio lights... My daughter just bought her new Rebel XT on Amazon. It is not always the absolute lowest price on the web. But I've always been happy with the low amounts I pay and so far, everything has been perfect when I got it. I also get what I order in far less than the quoted ship time. Usually 2 or 3 days after the order.
I'm sure some people have had bad experiences there, I've never seen any of the outfits with a 100% rating. But for me for now, I'll probably buy there again.

leaf · « **Reply #2 on:** October 29, 2006, 05:19 »

bhphoto is a really great cheap place as well. I have bought a fair bit from them.

GeoPappas · « **Reply #3 on:** October 29, 2006, 07:40 »

Quote from: leaf on October 29, 2006, 05:19

bhphoto is a really great cheap place as well. I have bought a fair bit from them.

I was born and raised in NYC and used to purchase all of my equipment from B&H Photo, since they were the cheapest place and had a fantastic selection. I have been doing business with them for over 20 years. With the advent of the Internet, they are no longer the cheapest, but they have great customer service and you can't go wrong with them.

I recently purchased a Canon 30D from them. I got the camera, took about a half-dozen photos, and the camera died. It wouldn't start up no matter what I did. They exchanged the camera, and even paid for the freight charges both ways. I can't recommend them enough...

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #4 on:** October 29, 2006, 09:13 »

B&H DOES have a good rep. I delt with them, .... I want to say way back in the late 70's...

? And always had great mail order service. It is true that they arent' always the best price now with the internet...I checked them out for my wifes latest camera, but as mentioned, best price doesn't always equate to the best service, sometimes it's better to pay a little more up front. I would still buy from b&h..

Keefo · « **Reply #5 on:** October 29, 2006, 21:19 »

A good place to get information on a site (e.g. is it a scam, is the service decent, etc) is: http://www.resellerratings.com. I check it every time I buy something online from a business I haven't dealt with before.

Bateleur · « **Reply #6 on:** October 30, 2006, 00:42 »

Quote from: Keefo on October 29, 2006, 21:19

A good place to get information on a site (e.g. is it a scam, is the service decent, etc) is: http://www.resellerratings.com. I check it every time I buy something online from a business I haven't dealt with before.

Thanks! That's a great resource ... didn't know about it before.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #7 on:** October 30, 2006, 18:16 »

Sweet!! Thanks!!!

Striker77s · « **Reply #8 on:** October 30, 2006, 18:20 »

Quote from: Keefo on October 29, 2006, 21:19

A good place to get information on a site (e.g. is it a scam, is the service decent, etc) is: http://www.resellerratings.com. I check it every time I buy something online from a business I haven't dealt with before.

I can second the usefullness of resellerratings.com. I have used it for many years and it has saved me from many possible mistakes. If I can't find the company at resellerratings then I don't bother because it usually means they are brand new and have just set up a fake store front to scam people out of money. You also have to take the ratings with a grain of salt. Many times people will only rate companies if they have a bad experience and don't bother if things turn out well. So the ratings are disportionate towards negative ratings. But if a company's rating is overwhelmingly bad then stay away.

Mark

Keefo · « **Reply #9 on:** October 31, 2006, 13:49 »

Just to add to what Striker777s said about taking the ratings with a grain of salt, I would suggest reading through a good chunk of the feedback people leave so you understand why they're getting the numbers they are. Don't just look at the numbers. Like Striker said, the numbers tend to be negative. If you read through the feedback you might find that the negative comments are things like, "I received my camera and it broke 2 months after I bought it" or "UPS lost the package and it took them a month to find it." Basically things that aren't exactly related to the company, or things that might mean the service isn't great (maybe they take a long time to ship, or maybe they call you back and try to sell you extra equipment, etc) but you're still willing to put up with for the discounted price.