The Camera Incident

J. Kevin Tumlinson

I recently started my own video production business (Hat Digital Media!). It’s not an easy line of work, to be sure. For one thing, there’s a tremendous misunderstanding among the general populace as to what a video production professional does. The biggest part of that misunderstanding can be answered with one phrase: “I don’t work for free.”

I could spin a few yarns on that topic, but this week I’m actually playing the part of consumer watch dog. There’s a scam out there, and I’m not sure everyone is aware of it. I don’t know if there’s a name for it just yet, so let’s just refer to it as the “What you see is what you get” scam, or the WYSIWYG (pronounced “wizzy-wig”) scam for short.

For my small video production company I decided to purchase what I knew to be an excellent camera… Panasonic’s AG-DVX100A. I have worked with the immediate predecessor and I’ve researched just about every word that has ever been written about it. So it’s safe to assume that I was more than just "well prepared" when I went shopping for the best price. I used Google’s “Froogle” search engine to track down a couple of online dealers who could cut me the best deal. My results brought me to two promising vendors: USA Photo Nation.com and RoyalCamera.com.

My practice for dealing with companies I’ve never heard of is to check them out pretty thoroughly before committing any of my precious, precious money. I check the consumer watch dog sites, the Better Business Bureau, etc. If I find any negative reports on a company I try to dig deep enough to see if it’s a chronic problem. In most cases, the companies I use check out. But in the case of RoyalCamera.com, I discovered that a large group of customers had the exact same complaints about the outfit.

The accusation, in the case of this company, was that they advertise an extremely low price on the equipment in order to draw customers in. You, as the unsuspecting customer, are thrilled to find the thirty-five-hundred-dollar camera you’ve been wanting for $1,500. You purchase the camera and then receive an e-mail verification. But wait… it says, “There was a problem with verifying your purchase. Please call 1-800…” You call the company to find out if your card was turned down or what other problem there might be. Here’s where the complaints start. Once you’ve reached someone, according to online sources, they ask you if you want to upgrade your order or add a great deal of costly accessories. Most of these accessories are items that would normally come with the camera, such as batteries or chargers or even the manual. They’ve stripped down the camera to just its body, in order to offer it at a low price. You, as a discerning shopper, decide that $250 is a little much for a $50 battery charger, so you decline the upgrade. You are then told that OOPS! Sorry! This camera is actually out of stock right now.

If you think about it, it’s actually a beautiful scam. They make more money selling the accessories. You are fooled into thinking you’re getting a good deal on the camera, but you spend a lot more money on the things that should have come with it in the first place. And since it’s likely that they’re buying these cameras as a complete set and breaking them to sell them as individual parts, they don’t want to sell just the camera body. It’s the item that brings the customers to the table for the accessory buffet. So, it’s suddenly “out of stock.”

My experience was like this. I ordered the camera and what I thought was a spare battery from USA Photo Nation.com. I found what I believed a reasonable price, just under $2K. I received an e-mail verifying my purchase, and there was nothing stating that I should call for verification. But I called anyway. The gentleman I spoke with verified that my order had been placed. And then, things went horribly, horribly wrong…

“Well, do you want to just order the camera and the battery, or did you want to get the whole kit?”

“What’s in the whole kit?” I asked, alarmed.

“A battery, the charger, the manual and cables,” he replied.

At this point, I got worried. “Wait a minute, what comes with the camera I ordered?”

“Just the camera body,” he said.

What followed was a startled exchange. I verified, verbally, that the camera I’d bought had NO accessories. I expressed my shock at this. “It says nothing on your web site about this being just the camera body,” I said.

His reply? “Does it say anywhere on the web site that it DOES come with these things?”

That’s right… his claim was that since it doesn’t specifically state that the camera comes with the accessories, they have no obligation to send them. I was outraged. “This sounds like a scam,” I said, with my usual tact.

At this point he became annoyed with me. He claimed that I wasn’t a professional because I had only ordered the two-hour battery. I tried to explain that I had THOUGHT I was ordering and ADDITIONAL battery, and that in fact I was a professional of many years in video and television production and I even owned my own video production business. He laughed at this statement, claiming that anyone who owned their own video production business would already have all of the accessories for this camera. After a few heated comments from both parties, and a threat on his part that he could sue me for claiming their service was a scam (which he can’t), he cancelled my order and hung up on me.

I reported USA Photo Nation.com to the BBB.

For grins, I contacted RoyalCamera.com. After my experience with USA Photo Nation I thought I’d start by pinning them down on a few facts.

“Do you have the AG-DVX100A in stock?”

Yes.

“Is it just the camera body or does it include all accessories?”

It includes everything.

“Ok, I want it.”

Did you want that camera or did you want the much more expensive model?

“Just that camera, please.”

Oh. Well, in that case that camera is out of stock until October 9 th. Would you like to buy the more expensive model now? It’s available right now.

“No thanks, I’ll just try to get the one I want from somewhere else.”

I laughed as I hung up the phone, and spent the next hour talking to representatives at Best Buy, to see if I could find the camera through them. I talked with a very nice lady named Patty, and a really good guy named Terry. They couldn’t help me find the camera, but they were willing to go to great lengths to try.

After I finished with Best Buy, I called Royal Camera.com back. I got another sales person. “Hi, I was wondering if you have the AG-DVX100A in stock?”

“Sure do,” said the salesman.

“Great! I mean, is it really in stock? You actually have one?”

“I’m looking at it right now,” he said.

“Very cool. Is it just the camera body or does it include the accessories?”

“No, it’s just the camera body.”

“Oh, ok. Welll, thanks anyway.”

The moral of the story? Well, it’s a two-parter. First, don’t deal with USA Photo Nation.com or RoyalCamera.com. They are openly practicing deceptive policies that are meant to mislead the public. Even if something they are offering is not a scam, you’re better off steering clear of any company that would openly deceive or trick you either on the phone or on their web site. Second, this type of deal is a scam and it’s becoming more prolific. In an effort to educate consumers, I would say that you should really spend a great deal of time checking out any online company you might deal with before purchasing from them. Make sure you’re getting what you THINK you’re getting. The price may literally be too good to be true.

If you have any complaints about a company such as these, contact the Better Business Bureau. They’re web site is www.bbbonline.org. You’ll need address and phone information, usually.

Be smart. Shop around. Ask questions. A good trick is to just type the name of the company into Google and see if there are any web sites that are complaining about it. Any red flag is a good enough reason not to buy from them.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Publisher and Editor for ViewOnline Magazine at www.viewonline.com. He is a Houston Baptist University graduate with degrees in English and Communications. You can reach him by e-mail at kevin@viewonline.com. He can’t spell “bureau.”