This is my first post here but I have been a voyeur for a couple of weeks while I was deciding on a camera and where to buy it. First a little background on myself. I am a Computer Engineer who is a gadget freak. I spend roughly $10,000 annually on computer and consumer electronic related purchases, the majority of which are done on-line. I only mention this to establish that I have had a fair bit of experience in dealing with on-line vendors. That said, BuyDig has been the absolute worst e-tailer that I have dealt with so far. My experience with them is hopefully a been a unique one, but I think that it should be posted since a forum search on buydig yielded positive or non-committal discussions with peoples experiences.
Here has been my week in a nutshell:
Sunday night - Decided on a CoolPix 995. After looking at pricewatch, yahoo shopping, and bizrate, buydig had an excellent price on the camera. I looked through the forums here, and some had posted that they had bought their camera from them and that it was the US model. I decided that they were an acceptable risk (tsk...tsk).
Monday morning - Called buydig to verify that the camera was the US version (a clause on their website specifies that all products are US unless otherwise noted). Felt comfortable with them, even though they had huge shipping charges (I don't mind companies making money, I just figure it into the actual cost of the item -- and buydig still had most beat) and their shipping policy stated that they needed 48 hours to process orders. I bit the bullet and placed my order. I received an email immediately stating that the order had processed and showed the camera "In Stock".
Monday evening - I got an email that stated that they were going to need additional information to process my credit card. They wanted my to e-mail a photocopy of my CC and drivers license. I called them pronto, ready to explain how many ways that this was the most ludicrous suggestion that I had ever heard, and I was told not to e-mail anything, but that they had experienced some "problems" with their systems (which I guess is the PC way to say we were either hacked or exploited). I should have canceled my order right then....
Tuesday -- Rainbows and lollipops. In other words, I didn't have to deal with buydig.
Wednesday -- After not-so-patiently waiting for an e-mail alert for shipment, or any other discernable signs of life from buydig, I decided to give them a little jingle. When I finally got through to a customer service rep (managed to get hung up on twice -- shoulda canceled then), I was told that the camera would ship Monday, and do so overnight. I informed him that I had a order form that showed the camera 'I' had purchased was in stock and that I was curious as to whom they sent 'my' camera. I was told that their inventory tracking was not capable of doing "real-time" tracking, and that they didn't have any on hand. After informing him that most monkeys could write a Perl or VB script that decremented a variable when an item was purchased, I was off to look at my options. This proved to be a big mistake as, stop me if you've heard this before, I should have canceled my order right then. I set off to find a dealer to order from. I finally decided to use Provantage ( http://www.provantage.com ), who is one of the VERY best hardware dealers I have found on the net. They were about $50 over buydig's price after shipping, but I decided it was worth the money ... the aneurysm that buydig was giving me was going to run waayyyyyy more that that. I decided to cancel my order and called buydig back only to find out that they had closed their offices at 2:30 and would be out until Monday ... for the holidays. WHO ON EARTH CLOSES ON EARLY ON WEDNESDAY FOR EASTER?!?!?!? I am contacting my CC company tomorrow to ensure that the order does NOT get charged to me and canceling the order via email. This company is a joke.
Now I know that there are those amongst you who will say that I got exactly what I deserved for using an online vendor, but most e-tailers (at least in the computer HW realm) seem to know how to run a business. These people do not. I hope my experience with them has been unique, but if they will deal with one customer, I would venture to say that they do it quite often. For those who have dealt with these people in the past and had a good experience, count yourselves lucky. For those who are considering using them, be warned.
If there is a bright spot, the only thing that they have done right so far is to not charge my CC.
Area
Here has been my week in a nutshell:
Sunday night - Decided on a CoolPix 995. After looking at pricewatch, yahoo shopping, and bizrate, buydig had an excellent price on the camera. I looked through the forums here, and some had posted that they had bought their camera from them and that it was the US model. I decided that they were an acceptable risk (tsk...tsk).
Monday morning - Called buydig to verify that the camera was the US version (a clause on their website specifies that all products are US unless otherwise noted). Felt comfortable with them, even though they had huge shipping charges (I don't mind companies making money, I just figure it into the actual cost of the item -- and buydig still had most beat) and their shipping policy stated that they needed 48 hours to process orders. I bit the bullet and placed my order. I received an email immediately stating that the order had processed and showed the camera "In Stock".
Monday evening - I got an email that stated that they were going to need additional information to process my credit card. They wanted my to e-mail a photocopy of my CC and drivers license. I called them pronto, ready to explain how many ways that this was the most ludicrous suggestion that I had ever heard, and I was told not to e-mail anything, but that they had experienced some "problems" with their systems (which I guess is the PC way to say we were either hacked or exploited). I should have canceled my order right then....
Tuesday -- Rainbows and lollipops. In other words, I didn't have to deal with buydig.
Wednesday -- After not-so-patiently waiting for an e-mail alert for shipment, or any other discernable signs of life from buydig, I decided to give them a little jingle. When I finally got through to a customer service rep (managed to get hung up on twice -- shoulda canceled then), I was told that the camera would ship Monday, and do so overnight. I informed him that I had a order form that showed the camera 'I' had purchased was in stock and that I was curious as to whom they sent 'my' camera. I was told that their inventory tracking was not capable of doing "real-time" tracking, and that they didn't have any on hand. After informing him that most monkeys could write a Perl or VB script that decremented a variable when an item was purchased, I was off to look at my options. This proved to be a big mistake as, stop me if you've heard this before, I should have canceled my order right then. I set off to find a dealer to order from. I finally decided to use Provantage ( http://www.provantage.com ), who is one of the VERY best hardware dealers I have found on the net. They were about $50 over buydig's price after shipping, but I decided it was worth the money ... the aneurysm that buydig was giving me was going to run waayyyyyy more that that. I decided to cancel my order and called buydig back only to find out that they had closed their offices at 2:30 and would be out until Monday ... for the holidays. WHO ON EARTH CLOSES ON EARLY ON WEDNESDAY FOR EASTER?!?!?!? I am contacting my CC company tomorrow to ensure that the order does NOT get charged to me and canceling the order via email. This company is a joke.
Now I know that there are those amongst you who will say that I got exactly what I deserved for using an online vendor, but most e-tailers (at least in the computer HW realm) seem to know how to run a business. These people do not. I hope my experience with them has been unique, but if they will deal with one customer, I would venture to say that they do it quite often. For those who have dealt with these people in the past and had a good experience, count yourselves lucky. For those who are considering using them, be warned.
If there is a bright spot, the only thing that they have done right so far is to not charge my CC.
Area
) that they had closed for passover, which is respectable.
