You call up and order a 5D at $1,300. The salesman is a bit pushy,
with the $300 batteries, and how you really need two or three of
them so they don't cut out while you're taking a picture, plus $200
for insured delivery, and if you want there's a $600 warrenty
add-on... They won't sell you a 5D if you don't buy all this stuff
that ultimately pushes the price up into the $4,000 range, but
they'll take your order, and bill your card right away.
So, a week later, you've been charged, but you still don't even
have a tracking number, let alone the camera you ordered. You call
them up, and they tell you they're out of stock, but they're
expecting a shipment later today. You call back a day or two
later, and get the same story, or put on hold for an hour. Now the
game is how long can they hold onto your money before they have to
issue a refund.
Interest on $1,300 for half a month isn't that much ... but if they
snare a hundred gullibe customers, it's not so bad. Not a whole
lot of work involved.
The laws were designed to protect the customer, but can be worked
around. What I just described is clearly illegal if it's a
pattern, but if a tragic commedy of errors like that happened at a
mom and pop store, once in 60 years, then it's not illegal.
The difference is obvious, but what it takes to shut a scam artist
down is for enough would-be customers to complain to the right
people, and either the attorney general to shut them down ( like
MSFT & Spitzer have been with a few spammers ) or for enough
lawsuits to bankrumpt the scammers. And then half of them start up
under a new business name.
PT Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute," and Darwin
said "There's a bottom-feeder born every minute to latch onto the
sucker."
the $1299 might be for a used one. But then again, not many people
selling their 5D's at the emoment so it's probably a con.
$300 for the battery, $250 for the charger, $300 for the manual and
discs.
--
It's an L of a life, this photography lark
http://gordon-walker.fotopic.net/
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