On Sept. 12th we arrived in New York city, to celebrate my daughter's 21st birthday. That night, at approx 22.15, I noticed that a camera shop was still open, and as I looked in the doorway, I was immediately approached by Andy, who asked me if I was looking for a camera. I replied in the negative, and he took one look at my digital camera and told me that to enhance my photographs, I must buy a number of lens converters, a cleaning kit, a filter, and especially, a life-long battery which would never need to be re charged.
At first, I refused his sales talk, and then he began to suggest 'huge' discounts for immediate response on my part. Not one of these items had a price tab on them, as Andy had removed them before handing them over. My bill amounted to $1400.
To make matters much worse, my daughter asked Andy for an 8.0 pixel camcorder. He was able to show her a Vivitar model, for which she paid $650.
Back at the hotel, I inspected the camcorder, and was very annoyed to see that it was actually a 5.0 pixel model, which would sell for 49.00 in the UK.
Early next morning I was back at the camera shop expressing my disappointment with my purchases - the camcorder; one of the lens converters was not compatible to my camera; and the life long battery which needed to be charged within the hour. My first reaction was to contact my credit card company who were willing to cancel this transaction, if the shopkeeper would telephone a particular number in the UK.
Of course, Andy had no intention of refunding me. This situation became quite ugly, as we were wasting a lot of time, so eventually I asked for something else to cover the value of the camcorder ($650). I chose a small glass model of Manhattan, which was on sale for $150, and also three small glass apples which I as charged $100 a piece. Over the road, a shop was selling the small apples for $20 each, and the model of Manhattan was on sale for $19.
A letter of complaint to the shop was returned to me unopened.
June
port talbot
United Kingdom
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