F11: Prestige appears to have turned over a new leaf ...

All the defensive preparation for nothing. No extra charges, took them 3 days from the order to the factory fresh camera arriving on my doorstep.

Threw in a 1GB card and I'm ready to play.

I am new to this thread but have purchased a few years back from Brooklyn camera shops. They ALL say lowest price Guranteed---Most of the shops belong to the same community. They all know each other and most are even related to each other. They DO buy together as a group. If you tell them who is giving a lower price they will say that person should not be doing that.

The stores act as a consortium in some ways (just my opinion). They do know each other and they do buy together.

I am not passing judgement at all just passing info.

Mind Expansi0n said:

Probably the most unfriendly post I've seen on this forum to date.
I apologize; this is not what most people are like here. Caveat
Emptor!

Click to expand...

You probably mean reader beware ...

Just for future reference, I am not in need of an official apologist. But thanks for the effort.

--
My gallery: http://letkeman.net/Photos

Good luck with your juhad against Prestige. Just don't make it a jihad against the people who save a few bucks while the getting is good. Those that get ripped off have the choice to pay a few more bucks at a reputable dealer and choose not to. It's very sad when they are elderly, but it happens every day in every city on the planet.

If you go back and reread the posts where I have responded as strongly as I did to you, you will note that every one of them has been in response to an ad hominem attack.

And if you remember, I said "or you are ..." because I have no idea whether you were being a rampant nationalist or the other thing. But your remark was deeply insulting, so you got it right back in kind.

I am happy to apologize for the ferocity of that response, but I would do the same again in response to any similar comment.

--
My gallery: http://letkeman.net/Photos

Topcat said:

Kim Letkeman said:

a) You never buy accessories from them.

Click to expand...

I didn't, I bought the memory from Ebuyer. I only got the 5 year
Mack warranty from them for 39.00 which I thought was a decent
price although others have found it for less.

Click to expand...

Ah ... that was not clear. Good choice.

Topcat said:

Topcat said:

b) The cam comes with a 16MB card, not a 64MB card. The card is
worthless.

Click to expand...

Mine did not come with any card.

Click to expand...

Sorry ... I was not clear here. The cams that do come with cards get the 16MB card, which holds a few images at best. Not worth anything so no loss at all from the F11 packages.

--
My gallery: http://letkeman.net/Photos

I just purchased the Sigma 70-200 f,2.8 EX for Pentax mount. The price was $634.00. I had to call them for verification. They asked me if I would like to buy any filters or secondary warrantee. They were very polite, no pressure. I said no thanks and the lens was shipped. I will look at them for pricing on my next purchase.

Suprise Suprise Suprise they are still up to there old tricks. Now they tell me the lens is backordered. Maybe ten days till they get some. I cancelled quicker than it took to place the call.

I have some recent first hand experience.

I purchased an F11 a week or so ago and paid for 2 day shipping. They immediately send me an e-mail telling me I had to call them to validate the purchase. I tried calling, twice, and only received an answering machine.

I sent an e-mail back indicating that I could not get back in touch, that I didn't need accessories, and please validate the order. I then received another e-mail back telling me they had to do validation by phone only.

I tried calling again...answering machine. I left a somewhat terse message about not liking this process, that i needed nothing, and to please ship the product i paid for.

And shortly thereafter, I received notice that they were all set to ship. I received confirmation of ship that night and received it 2 days later.

There was no memory card in the package. Everything else seems to be there and so far everything works fine.

I've e-mailed about the memory card but I suspect this is a lost cause.

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Best Regards,
Theresa Zittritsch

Perhpas a link to a picture.. we all like pictures. smiling
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0180.htm

--

Cheers!!
Vernon
Great photography is know where and when to stand!

You say your are wasting your time and you are going to stop but you
don't stop. You just keep on posting, don't you?
No one should ever be tempted to give this supplier a second chance.
You should not try to waste our time by trying to persuade us to give
them a second chance. How much are they paying you?

The gray market kits do not come with the memory card. It's size is a joke and not worth any effort ...

Your experience is typical of others ... they are extremely reluctant to ship before they speak with you. Your experience is new though, in that I've not heard of anyone else being unable to get them on the line.

--
My gallery: http://letkeman.net/Photos

I was able to talk to them three times to tell them I did not want to add anything else to my order and then they gave me the old, sorry that item is backordered and we dont expect shipment for three weeks.

--
http://www.natemetz.com

Sounds like the same old Prestige

Robert Shapero said:

I was able to talk to them three times to tell them I did not want
to add anything else to my order and then they gave me the old,
sorry that item is backordered and we dont expect shipment for
three weeks.

Click to expand...

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tyromax

on sunday i ordered an f11 from prestige. i knew these guys would possibly be a problem, but i couldn't find the camera anywhere else. i'm amazed that fuji doesn't bring it in- i guess they know the old saw "nobody ever lost any money underestimating the taste of the american public". anyway i emailed them to ask if it came with a battery and charger, since i know those are things they take out and hold ransom. they responded that yes the camera was factory sealed. this is on their website, not a real email i have record of. on monday i got an email saying that i needed to "confirm" the order. i called the number and took care of the fact that i have a different

shipping/billing address. then he asks what i want to do about a battery. when i asked about the included one, he said fuji puts one in that only lasts 15 min. or some such foolishness. i was told the good one was 69.95, but that i had a 30 credit due to something or other. i agreed since i knew in advance it would cost more than $188.

i declined their memory at $69 for 1G H Xd, which i didn't think was too bad, but i found a 2G one for $69 somewhere else. i paid for 3 day ups and have received tracking info which says it will arrive on thur. if i do indeed get a working f11 , i will be happy. i saw a really outlandish UK price somewhere. i will report on my experience. i don't worry too much- i've beeen known to dispute charges with my card companies and they will suck the $ right out of the merchant's acct.

Hi all,

I have not yet dealt with Prestige but my experience has taught me to be careful when dealing with those companies.... Those companies have been having bad reputation not for nothing. If you have some time, please follow and read about my real experience with CCI Camera.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=21712447

To be safe, stick with those well-know camera companies that people have been using for years. B&H, Adorama, Crutchfield, J&R, Ritz, etc. to name a few.

Not that all new companies are crooked. There are still decent people out there but please be extremely careful. Watch and ask lot of people which companies that most would recommend. I've never heard of Onecall.com before and it was recommended by online people to me for its excellent service. I decided to try them out and order a Nikkon lens for my S3. They were corteous and very quick. From my one transaction so far, they are offering excellent service.

Just be very careful to pick who you place your order with!

Andy

Kim Letkeman said:

I work with someone who decided to order an F11 for his wife last
week. He placed the order on the phone with Prestige on Tuesday at
lunch time and the camera was in town (in Canada!) on Thursday
afternoon. No muss ... no fuss. I will definitely try them for my
next cam.
--
My gallery: http://letkeman.net/Photos

Click to expand...

--

Understand the light and let it shine through your photographs... YOUR WAY... AndyN111_the Amateur

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyn111/

It would be very interesting... I'm eager to hear the news...

Andy

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tyromax said:

--
tyromax
on sunday i ordered an f11 from prestige. i knew these guys would
possibly be a problem, but i couldn't find the camera anywhere
else. i'm amazed that fuji doesn't bring it in- i guess they know
the old saw "nobody ever lost any money underestimating the taste
of the american public". anyway i emailed them to ask if it came
with a battery and charger, since i know those are things they take
out and hold ransom. they responded that yes the camera was factory
sealed. this is on their website, not a real email i have record
of. on monday i got an email saying that i needed to "confirm" the
order. i called the number and took care of the fact that i have a
different
shipping/billing address. then he asks what i want to do about a
battery. when i asked about the included one, he said fuji puts
one in that only lasts 15 min. or some such foolishness. i was
told the good one was 69.95, but that i had a 30 credit due to
something or other. i agreed since i knew in advance it would cost
more than $188.
i declined their memory at $69 for 1G H Xd, which i didn't think
was too bad, but i found a 2G one for $69 somewhere else. i paid
for 3 day ups and have received tracking info which says it will
arrive on thur. if i do indeed get a working f11 , i will be
happy. i saw a really outlandish UK price somewhere. i will report
on my experience. i don't worry too much- i've beeen known to
dispute charges with my card companies and they will suck the $
right out of the merchant's acct.

Click to expand...

--

Understand the light and let it shine through your photographs... YOUR WAY... AndyN111_the Amateur

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyn111/

I got my F11 from Prestige with no problems at all - everything included, and factory sealed. Just had to turn down their expected hard sell tactics. Took all of 60 seconds.

But when I found I could buy a new F30 for $210 a few weeks back I sold my F11 for about $180 to someone else and made the switch. I like both cameras quite a bit, but I took a few shots side by side in the house of my family and preferred the F30. With how cheap they are now (after the current $50 Fuji rebate), I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy the F11 instead.

Lack-Of-Prestige Camera.... BAD BAD BAD

I network with hundreds of Realtors across the United States... and we often buy dozens of the same item.

One told me about several people who ordered from Prestige Camera - great price... so I placed an order.

I usually look at different shipping rates before deciding... they didn't pop up the rates so I clicked each one. Was curious how much truck was (had to be less than next day air, no?) Air was probably about $50; Truck for a $600 item was $250 (yes, two hundred fifty dollars)

So I placed the order for 2nd day air.

Printed the receipt as PDF .. just had an order information with no details; logged back into their site and same thing (Clue 1). Clue 2 - I didn't notice any actual address on the web site.

Got an email to call Bernard to verify my information.

So I called him.. he did a soft upsell .. did I want the soft or hard case with that (but after the rest of the conversation, I hope the only question he'll be asking is whether I want fries with that)... told him to put it on hold while I asked friends who already had the unit.

Went to the Toshiba Web Site... and the box includes a soft case, so called back and said no.

Then he asked if I wanted a warranty

No

Then he asked if I wanted a bulb to go with that. Bear in mind, I'm buying a Toshiba Projector.

And I said no

And he said.. it's not included.

And I said .. really? I find it hard to believe that a Toshiba Projector which requires a bulb to run doesn't have one.

He says "does it say on our web site that the bulb is included"

And I say no.

And he say "why did you assume that it's included if it's not in there"? (I guess it doesn't have a power cord or instruction manual either - I don't think those showed on the web site)

I'm a Realtor and deal with lots of people every year... this is not giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I said let's just do the order and I'll return it if it's not what I want.

He said "you waive the right to return the item if we told you that it didn't have something and you still order it"

So... I'm curious how long he can continue with this line.

I go to the Toshiba web site and it talks about the unit and $699 list price.. to which he says "We'll have to match that.. the best we can do is $679 on a $699 list price item.. which is advertised for $604 on their web site.

I thanked him for his help and information, and immediately cancelled the order... and told all my friends what I experienced.

It was the same experience I had with a New Jersey Camera Shop (Can't recall the name of it) which pulled a similar stunt. I was angry with myself for days for falling for that stunt... and returned the items they sent me ASAP.. and got a full refund.

My thoughts.. They advertise a price which gets people to call them, then make their money on the upsell.

My theory - if you go out of your way to order what you think you ordered... they go out of their way to p*ss you off so you cancel the order.

It worked

So.. they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!

--
Ira Serkes