Did I make a bad purchase of TZ5

Hi, I read a few comments in the forum about Broadaway Photo a couple of days ago and I had been nervous because I bought a TZ5 in blue from Broadway Photo last week. I paid $310. with handling & ins. They tried to sell a few extras: longer life battery, they said the original would only last 25 min but I said no, the original was enough, SD card - I had one.

I received the camera today and it is working ok. I received it in the original Panasonic box with the cd, cables, original operating instructions (not a photocopy), and a Panasonic mail-in registration card to Denver CO.

After all I read about Broadway Photo does this mean I got lucky and got a good one? Or am I missing something here. How can you tell if it is gray market and without a USA warrantee.
Andy32901

Hi Andy,

I would say that you got lucky. I had to check my warranty card, because I thought that Denver, CO seemed odd. But it matches your card. The battery should say LUMIX on it... indicating that it's original. I would just check the serial number on the bottom of the camera and make sure it matches the box it came in. From what you describe, it sure seems like you have a USA warranted TZ5!

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Regards,
Kirwin
http://timebandit.smugmug.com

Kirwin,

The battery is Panasonic Lumix and the serial number on the box and camera match. I went online and registered the camera with Panasonic and it took so I guess everything is ok.
I was worried for 5 days until the camera arrived.

Thanks,

Andy

I'd have been, too, if I had checked the ResellerRatings.com for Broadway Photo! 1.87 out of 10!!!

andy32901 said:

Kirwin,

The battery is Panasonic Lumix and the serial number on the box and
camera match. I went online and registered the camera with Panasonic
and it took so I guess everything is ok.
I was worried for 5 days until the camera arrived.

Thanks,

Andy

Click to expand...

I think it has turned out fine for you. You got a good price, your warranty card goes to the USA office in Denver, and you rejected add-ons pushed by the seller.

Now you should enjoy your camera and post some nice pictures here.

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I appreciate this forum.
Say Hey

Thanks everyone for your replies. I feel better now. I will do a lot of checking before I buy anything online again. I'll put some pictures up when I get familiar with the camera.

Andy

i would stil call panasonic and check with them to see if the serial number is either a US model or international

i ordered from them too but then canceled in time when they informed me it was the international version with the warranty not working at all in the US

There's a lot of hype around about "USA warranty", where it's really a pretty lousy warranty in comparison to what other countries get. I got an FZ20 from one of the reseller-ratings-challenged dealers, and it didn't have a card with it, which worried me. I registered it with Panasonic as you did, and it turned out there was the standard US warranty anyway (which I never needed, as nothing went wrong, and as of 3 1/2 years later, still never needed any repair).

The really shabby dealers will ship something without the accessories, or hastily packed in the box letting you know that it's not really 'new'. For that reason, I always use a credit card if buying from someone with those ratings. But that's very unusual, and it sounds like you did fine.

Reading some of those ratings it's more a question of whose fault it really is. People buy something and a bunch of the overpriced accessories, don't pay attention to order details, change their minds and change their order, nag them on the phone, argue with the salesman about the baloney sales pitches then expect them to ship the camera only, etc. Many of them do use less-than-honest sales pitches, but this is well-known, and if a buyer goes in and bites the hook, part of the fault is theirs. People often don't realize they don't HAVE to sell you anything, and if you're not buying expensive accessories, the rockbottom camera price is not making them much profit, so if you're rude to boot, they can tell you where to go or just put you in an endless loop of waiting for an 'out of stock' camera.

So don't worry...get out and use that new camera.
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Gary
Photo albums: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse

i bought a 50mm 1.4 nikon from them. they tried to sell me everything under the sun. Then they said that this was gray market, USA lens would be $30 more. No problem. Paid for the U.S. lens they sent grey market lens. I called Nikon to check with them.They had no record of the ser# meaning it's gray market. I would never buy anything from them.
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frank d
just have fun with it ! (NIKON D3)
http://www.pbase.com/frangee/photos_by_frangee&page=1

I have read all the commments here. All I can say is "Paranoid R us""

Enjoy!