Visiting New York before going to a meeting in San Francisco, thought I'd look around for a new DSLR. Walked into Broadway Camera & Electronics...
Salesperson told me yhat there was a promotion from Canon on the 400XSi, just $ 99.-! Since I was also interested in a single lens, he showed me a 28 - 300 Sigma lens, with a pricesticker on the box for almost $ 3000! Since this was far over my budget, he told me about this other Sigma lens (18 - 250) that also happened to be on promotion: price on the box was $ 2799, but because of the promotion I could get it for $ 1799!
He would also throw in a free suitcase I also needed, a free camerabag and a very fast 16 gig CF card for only $ 246! At the time it sounded ok; foolishly I did not do any research in advance...
When paying with my creditcard, the transaction was declined; the company informed me on the Phone that I did not have enough credit left for the total amount. So, helpful as they where, the manager said he'd try to get an approval on monday, because by then the dutch banks had closed. After the approval he would send the stuff by overnight shipping to my address in Frisco. We agreed on that and I left the shop after making a downpayment for the suitcase so to speak.
After leaving, in a hurry to check out of the hotel, I noticed I totally forgot my creditcard and called them to ask if they still had it. The manager said he 'forgot' to give it back; he had left it in the machine. So I picked it up not long after the call and headed for San Francisco.
Somehow I was a little nervous about the card being out of my hands for about an hour, so I googled the company. This brought me right to this site, with the reports already placed by Stupid Me (Virginia Beach) and Zorro (Montreal).
Through research at the Sigma site I learned that the MSRP for the lens is $ 800! The CF card could be had for around $ 40! And there isn't any promotion on the Canon or the lens! The whole deal was a ripoff! Exactly as the other reports noted.
I was immediately alarmed and called my creditcard company to block my card. As it happened, the store had already tried several times (!) to get an approval, but they were declined over and over again.in this case not having enough credit on the card saved my a..!
So my advice: Do research in advance! Look up the company and going prices before you buy. And most of all: stay away from Broadway Cameras & Electronics!
Dutchguy
Amsterdam
Netherlands
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