Need a camera? Educate yourself

There are now, thanks to the internet, a zillion ways to buy almost any product on the planet. And all the accessories you can eat, to boot. So, where to buy?

Well, after giving my Fuji E550 to my son, Max, to take with him to Israel I decided that he could keep it after the trip was over. He needed a digital camera, and I got a good 3 years of excellent pix out of that one. Hell, there’s probably another couple of years left in it, and I needed an upgrade.

So I started “The Search.” I know enough about cameras and what features I need to narrow the search so it wouldn’t be so daunting a task. The daunting part was getting the best price/service. So I scanned the sites: buy.com; digitalcameras.bizrate.com; popphoto.com; amazon.com; and a few others including 86photo/video.

After checking all the prices and a few reviews on the various sites, I chose, probably out of temporary insanity, 86photo/video.

The camera in question is not the problem. It’s a Fuji f100fd. A brand new model which has a wide angle 28mm to 140mm, fast start up time, and enough bells and whistles to keep me dinging and whistling for years.

So I called them…I like to speak with a person…and I got salesperson Steve. He sold me the camera, threw in a screen protector and case before I took my next breath (that should have been flag#1), then proceeded to sell me a ultra fast error free 2G card, and another battery. To top it off I bought, at what he called a discount, an extended 3 year warranty. I thought the deal was ok but I had some doubts. I thought the prices of the card and battery were a little high, but Steve knocked off some bucks for each item and it made the whole deal more palatable. Instead of canceling everything and doing some more research I went for it. My mistake.

After giving him my credit card info and securing the deal, I got back on buy.com and checked the customer satisfaction ratings on 86photo/video. NIGHTMARE ON HARBOR DRIVE! There must have been at least 50 negative reviews about the way this company did business, and here I was, the poster boy for most of them, experiencing the sinking feeling only a newly-realized fool could feel.

It took me only 15 minutes to get back to 86photo/video from the time I first hung up from them, but it was too late, I got on the phone with Vinnie in customer service. He asked for my order number. A minute later he came back to tell me the whole order already went out. I said NO WAY. I had just ordered it. He said UPS was there when he received my order. What luck. He gave me the tracking number. I told him I wanted to cancel the order. He said when I get the box, call him and he’d give me a return number. I said I didn’t want to get caught with a 20% restocking charge. He lied and said there is none. LIAR!!! Thank you. I hung up.

I got my f100fd a couple of days later. I must say this is the best service i have ever received from any company as far as shipping is concerned. I have to tell you that the “free” case they sent was the wrong size and the camera rolled around in it like a marble. I wonder what would have happened had I not ordered the card, battery, and extended warranty. The reviews I read (all of them) stated that if they (customer) did not order all the ‘extras’ they would get an email from the company telling them that the product is back-ordered and would take 5-6 weeks to get. People that ordered all the extras got their stuff real quick. I had to ask myself, why?

Here’s why. 86 photo/video has a return policy that’s a holdover from the Mussolini regime. There’s a 20% (at least) restocking fee on any returned items. They do not let you return any part of a shipment. You have to return the whole thing. That’s where 20% gets into big bucks. I wanted to return the unopened card and battery. No can do. He kept asking me why I wanted to return them.

The card they sent me was an SD card. The camera can use SD cards, but Fuji recommends XD. The battery was not a Fuji. In the Fuji booklet which comes with the camera it states in several places that any battery used other that Fuji may cause a fire or other problems which Fuji cannot guarantee. That means my warranty would be worthless. Vinnie didn’t care. He said he’d swap even and that would take care of it. I said no. I want my card and battery credited. It went like that for half an hour.

I was raving mad, at him, his crappy company, and at me for being so hasty and stupid. Finally he said he’d take $30 off my bill (credit my card) and send his 40″ tripod and lens-cleaning kit (more baubles). It was all I could get. And I’m stuck with the card and battery.

I admit that it was my fault in trusting this company. Still, they don’t care if you ever come back as long as they get you the first time. I doubt they have any repeat customers.

So if you’re in the market for cameras or video, stay away from 86 photo/video, make sure about the return policy of the place you do decide to use, and check the store reviews before buying. It’ll save you tons of anxiety and anger, and keep you from looking in the mirror at a dufus.