Adorama Camera Reviews

By this time I made more than 10 calls to their hopeless customer service to make sure everything is in place. I called them on 08/25. They said, "We received it completely and we are going to process and issue a new laptop in 8 business days." I waited and called back them on 09/08. They said the returns department didn't started the process yet will expedite it. The very same day, I got a refund of $411 as I bought the same laptop for $499 (I asked for an exchange. They didn't do that and on top of it they charged me a restocking fee.). I called them back almost immediately asked to speak with their supervisor.

Here starts the actual drama. She told that the returns department is not able to find the charger I sent. That's why they charged me with the restocking fee. I provided all the tracking information and she promised me to call me back on 09/09 with a solution. She called me today and explaining that the laptop was not defected that's why we are charging a restocking fee. She was rudely asking me like take this defected laptop or go to hell.

Let me explain about this supervisor (Her name is Aira **). She was the most disgusting customer service lady I have ever encountered with. She know that they sold a defected piece. In return she is blaming me on purchasing that laptop. How would I know it's a defected one when you guys advertised it as brand new one. Every time I called these people they kept me on hold for so long time and on purpose irritated me like anything. I asked Aira to get hold of their returns department evaluation guy who evaluated the laptop - I can explain it to him. She was not able to do that (Why because the reality is they don't have a guy who evaluated that and moreover they didn't evaluated it). She was so rude to me asking me take that defected laptop or we already charged the restocking fee (That means literally telling me to go to hell, we already charged, you can do nothing).

I need to tell this to Adorama. In the first place never advertise refurbished or defected things as new ones and don't cheat your customers. Secondly when a customer complained about some defected items, please evaluate properly and don't lie to your customers. Thirdly teach your customer service people a minimum courtesy and how to deal with customers especially to Aira **. And finally this will be my last purchase in Adorama and I will play a significant role in publicizing about your false and fake items you sell and how falsely you mint money from customers to fill your pockets, And I will try to stop as many people as I can visiting and purchasing from your Junk website.

Tip for consumers: The only tip I give to everyone is stop buying from this website. This is a totally fake website. They sell all defected items and when you find and returned it they will charge you a restocking fee of close to 20%. PLEASE NEVER EVER EVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS WEBSITE.

Adorama is willing to give Customer Information Out to Other Customers! I incorrectly thought someone I know ordered the same product as me the same day I did but did over night so their order wasn't back ordered. I called and complained and Customer Service; Jason was his name; was all ready to give me the Order Information of this person if I had the Order Number. That's right they were going to give me Order Information on someone else's order.

When I called a 3rd time to found out when my Order would be filled as the week had lapsed in which supposedly it would "Exactly Maybe be Filled" by I was again informed that Warehouse Information wasn't linked to the Website and they couldn't give me an Exact time frame. Not even an Exact Maybe this time. I inquired about another Order that was also Back Ordered and Customer Service checked the Warehouse and said it was still not available with No ETA. 3 Hours later it shipped. That's right their Customer Service Reps can't even see when something is or isn't in Stock.

I have reviewed them on Yelp and Facebook. Five Days ago I was asked to e-mail a Relation's Rep directly. She choose 5 Days later to publicly blast me on Yelp instead of dealing with me directly, including lying about the situation. This Order has cost me more money than I was "Discounted" in the purchase. Don't EVER use them. Their Policy is to Blame Customers.

The replacement did not include the scope at all. It was a very old torn up box with dozens of labels scratched out and covered up and inside was a MESSENGER bag & not a scope! So I arranged for yet another replacement, this time was for the item I actually requested, an unbroken scope & kit. But instead of a scope I got an email that said they returned the money to my credit card. This is not what I asked for! After looking on the Adorama site, my scope was no longer available for sale. No one from the company told me that the item was discontinued, the item in any of the (3) phone calls or (5) emails. This company wasted over a month of my life and never addressed my concerns. I think they fraudulently sold me a broken scope & then tried to pawn off a Vanguard cardboard box with a messenger bag in it - which would have been difficult for me to prove that it didn't include the scope I originally requested.

Customer service was rude & unapologetic. I asked for a supervisor, which none was provided to me. It wasn't until AFTER I emailed them today indicating I was going to report them to the BBB & NY Attorney Gen's office for fraud that they emailed me to apologize that the item was discontinued. This would have been nice to know from the start; however, they tried to pawn off broken and wrong products instead of being honest from the beginning. Bottom line, don't do business with this company! I don't need an attorney to contact me about this complaint - my husband is an attorney and we just wanted to warn others about Adorama's bad business practices.

When I realized Adorama had the email address notated incorrectly, I corrected her, and she sent me an email supposedly with the Tracking numbers for two boxes, but in fact she only sent me the Tracking No. for one box. I called back. Got yet another salesperson with limited capability. He recited the same erroneous email address as the first clerk had - not five minutes after I had just corrected them as to what my proper address was!!! He then sent me two emails with tracking numbers for Box 1 and 2 except they were both the same tracking number. Fortunately I deduced that the tracking number sent by the first sales clerk was different - thus obtaining the two Tracking Numbers.

I certainly didn't want to waste any more time speaking with anyone else there. Called UPS, and they had in fact already attempted to deliver the boxes. Five days prior, when I first made my order, I had given the Adorama clerk explicit information for the UPS delivery. Adorama assured me my information would be given to UPS. None of that information had been given to UPS. I'm thinking the majority of my problem with this organization is the lack of responsibility to us as paying customers. Too many mistakes that could easily have been avoided. Hire people who understand English or who tell the truth, or don't attempt to sell things over the phone. Simple. I certainly won't be doing business here ever again.

I call again to speak with the manager (can't remember her name but I recorded that too). She clearly did not want to admit that there was a 30 day return policy at first but of course there is so she finally said that they would honor the 30 day return policy but her wording was suspicious as she kept saying over and over again that if it is not packaged right or anything at all it would be rejected as a return. She kept speaking in this manner so I obviously found that somewhat suspicious as if she has predetermined that they would not refund me when I return it. I told her that nothing was missing from the package and again brought up their return policy and she finally said they would honor the 30 day return policy and refund me the full amount minus $30 for the free shipping for initially sending me the camera. I am shipping it back to them in the morning and will see if there is a problem from there getting a refund...I'm sure there will be a problem considering the hassle I've already had with this but if not I will take that statement back. This process is so questionable that I video recorded me packaging the camera with all the items in it back up. I will come back to these review sites to follow up on this story.

When the box arrived, I opened it right away and set it up. I was very disappointed that they had sent the V750 with only the USB connection available. I was in a situation where I needed a scanner right away and did not have time to send this one back and hope that they would eventually either send the correct scanner or refund my money. It involves a lot of trouble, time, and expense to box up and send back such a large item.

I sent them an email right away letting them know that I was very disappointed with their service and felt that they had been advertising falsely, offering a product they did not have and sending me an alternative scanner without asking me first. I asked for an apology from them at least if not, some other compensation. I stated that the offer of a V750 scanner with a FireWire connection at a reduced price would be very tempting to me. I am not adverse to owning two V750 scanners as long as one of them has a FireWire connection. They replied that I must send photos of the box and the scanner to them before they would investigate. They did give me an apology. After all, apologies are free.

I sent about 10 photos of the box and the scanner including the back where the USB only connection was. That was 08/01/2014. I still have not heard anything else back from them and it is now 08/12/2014. They did not even send an email to let me know they received the photos and would start an investigation as they had promised. I know they got the photos because I checked with the email service and it was delivered properly.

Since they are not offering to give me a reduced price on a second V750 scanner with FireWire connection, I do not plan on ever buying anything from them again. I will stick with the web sites I know and trust from now on. It is obvious to me that Adorama has no intention of trying to make this right or even investigate as they promised. My advice to other buyers is not to buy anything from this company. They have not acted as a professional and trustworthy business should have behaved. An honest business would have been willing to properly investigate and then try to make the sale right in some way.

I order items from web sites often. My experience has been that others who sell over the internet are eager to correct their own errors and make things right with the buyer when a sale is not satisfactory for whatever reason. In this economy, competition is fierce. Those who sell need to treat buyers with respect or they will have no buyers. I hope this information helps someone else.

I called adorama customer care and request them to reach out to that person and let me explain him about the defect. Why I am sure is I am a technical manager for a well-known organisation. They have charged the restocking fees. Now my question is about the knowledge of Adorama technical team. Honestly speaking, trust me, if you want to throw some dollars you can shop from here. I am suggesting you not to buy any refurbished items from Adorama. It is an advice. Please try with some others like rakuten, new egg, etc.

Original Review: June 17, 2014

I ordered five (5) Western Digital RED Hard Drives from the company and patiently waited 1 week for them to arrive. I opened the box to discover all of the hard drives piled up on top of each other with no protective bubble wrap, no foam, no peanuts or any other protection. So the hard drives and their delicate circuit boards rubbed up against each other even tearing the seals open. Hard drives are extremely delicate and require thick protective foam around all corners and certainly between other drives. Their warehouse is obviously incompetent and I now must return them and hope I receive replacements with proper packaging. And that means I'll have to wait 2 more weeks while I have no storage. I should have read the other complaints before I ordered from this company.

They refused to let our card go thru (thanks to Visa) so I was still on the phone with Adorama when my husband relays this info to me. I told them what our credit card company told us and told them I preferred to just buy somewhere else. We then got red flags going up and called our credit card company back. Two hours later Adorama was STILL trying to use my credit card to get it to go thru! We closed the credit card! SCARY!!!!! I had heard good things about them in the past and have bought several things from them! BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

Till now (18 days later) I didn't hear anything from them at my many emails, telling them of my time lost and holding my money forever! My advice to you is avoid them at all cost!!!!! Worst company e-v-e-r encountered!!! Go with Amazon or B&H!! They advertised a product then send to you something different, and then they ask you for more money for the right product! You're going to lose a l-o-t of your t-i-m-e w-a-i-t-i-n-g for a refund or an answer from them!!! Atrocity. How come this type of company is still in business is a mystery! How come they have "good" reviews is another mystery (except their employees write them all day long!!!). Buyer be aware!!!!

Now, when the goods were shipped by Adorama through Express International shipment through UPS for which I paid for all the shipment charges. When the shipment arrived in Kuwait, local UPS agent denied to deliver the goods to me assigning a reason that the shipment contained restricted commodity. They however mentioned that the supplier can instruct to ship the parcel back to them if they wished. Even when I informed them that the local embargo on Samsung products only applied to bulk imports means for business they did not alter their decision. The latest shipment status till this day says "The shipment contains a restricted commodity. It is being processed based on the sender's instructions."

I contacted Adorama Customer Service and related the incident in details to them. Adorama said that if I agreed to bear the return shipment charges then they can recall the shipment and return the balance money or give me equivalent Credit to for other purchases on Adorama. I agreed to it immediately. After following up a few times I was told by Adorama that the parcel had been seized by the local Customs department as it contained restricted commodity and cannot be allowed to ship back. This sounded absurd to me.

Also, when I contacted local UPS office, they informed me that the parcel had been seized by local Customs. I then cross-checked with local customs to ascertain the facts. The local customs confirmed to me that they cross-checked all records and confirmed to me that they had NOT seized my parcel and that the parcel must still be with the courier. I approached the courier back, but they still maintained that the parcel has been seized by Customs and the parcel was now in the custody of Customs. When I asked for a Seizure Document duly signed and sealed by local Customs department, the local UPS staffs told me that the parcel had been seized from their custody by Customs without any document. I immediately smelt something fishy going on at the local UPS office.

I informed Adorama about it and asked them to demand the Seizure document (given by customs) if really my parcel were seized by local customs. But immediately with a few hours, ADORAMA informed me the following "We are truly sorry but there's nothing we can do about this issue". My grievance with ADORAMA is as they have accepted payment for the goods ordered, they are liable to deliver me either of the following: 1) the ordered goods, 2) provide me a copy of the Customs Seizure document if it has been seized and the items cannot be recalled back, 3) give me refund/credit voucher for failing to deliver me the goods

ADORAMA DID NONE OF THEM. HOW CAN ADORAMA WASH OFF THEIR HANDS AFTER ACCEPTING MONEY FOR WHICH THEY GAVE ME NEITHER THE GOODS/SEIZURE DOCUMENT/REFUND? It is really a very poor and shabby handling of the case and shows lack of seriousness in ADORAMA's intent of delivering quality customer service. I will refrain from ordering from ADORAMA henceforth.

I was shopping online for a new digital camera. I wanted to change from a DX system to an FX system. Adorama has a lot of positive reviews online so on January 3rd I called the store. I had read that they would buy your used gear. I did my homework before I called and got the going prices for my camera and five lenses. I researched several places that were selling used photography equipment.

I talked to Avi ** and he was very helpful and friendly. He ask what I had to sell, consulted his computer and gave me what I thought was a fair price, $1550.00. It was about two hundred dollars less than what I was asking for my gear. He also told me if I purchased my new camera from them I would get a discount on the prices they were asking online. I was excited and, right away, packed up my gear took it to UPS on Jan 6th. I even added a lens I was planning on keeping because he had given me such a fair price. With the added Macro lens my value now stood at about $2150 (based on his offer of the other gear).

I received an email from them on Jan 14th that my camera and lenses were there and had arrived in good condition. The email said someone would be calling me in eight to ten days. After one inquiry the sales department called me on Jan 28th. I talked to Jack ** who told me they would give me $1,100 for all my equipment. I was stunned based on what I had been told by Avi. When I hesitated trying to figure out if I wanted them to return my stuff, Jack quickly said they would also be giving me discounts on anything I ordered. By now it has been twenty-five days since this process had begun and my emotions are running high. I spent all that time studying cameras and lenses that I wanted. I was ready to get this deal done.

I said okay to their offer and placed my order. As it turned out, they did not give me any discounts, they sold me used or reconditioned items. Jack told me the camera (a Nikon D800) was a floor demo. Avi said in an email, "I understand your hesitation. We take great pride in making sure everything is in perfect working condition. If you have ANY issues you have 30 day return policy. If you need me please let me know. Thanks again!"

Adorama advertises they will ship an order the same day if placed before 8PM New York time. That did not happen and the order went out on Jan 29th. When I received the confirmation email the next day two items were incorrect. I called them and they sent the two (corrected) items along with an RMA so I could ship the wrong items back at their expense. The order arrived on Jan 29th (8 days after shipping). This entire process had taken a total of thirty-three days.

My order was a Nikon D800 and three lenses. One lens had an original box. Everything else, including the camera was wrapped in bubble wrap. It all came undamaged. They do pack well. Ten items were missing with the camera. If you buy a new one you get these ten items with your order. Since I was told this was a demo off the floor I would assume everything would come with the camera. Here are the ten items they left off: The owner's manual, a Nikon EN-EL15 battery (an off brand was substituted), Nikon MH-25 charger (an off brand was substituted and it is very poor quality), UC-E14 USB cable, AN-DC6 strap, cable clip, BM-12 monitor cover, BS-1 accessory shoe cover, Nikon View NX2 CD ROM and the original packaging (the box the camera comes in). The value of all this is only about $150.00 but it was things like this that I was never informed of that made this all so frustrating.

When it is all said and done I saved about $350 to $400 on the camera. In my estimation, it is not enough to warrant buying a reconditioned item. Knowing what I know now, having been through this, I would have gone straight to Amazon and bought the camera new and had it in two days. I honestly feel like I have been taken and it is a sick feeling to spend that much money and not be treated fairly. I have much more photo gear to buy and it will all come from Amazon and B&H because of this feeling of mistrust I have with Adorama.

Just beware, if you want to sell Adorama your gear, be prepared for a process like this. I was suckered into sending them my stuff with the inflated price they gave me in the beginning. I could have told them to send my camera and lenses back to me but then this month and a half long ordeal would have started all over again with another company. I will have to say in their defense, all the equipment was in good condition and the camera seems to be functioning, as it should. If you decide to go through this, good luck and be prepare to virtually give your used camera gear away to them and just know that they use bait & switch tactics.

The two incorrect items went back to them on Feb 6th. The refund was issued for the two items which were sent incorrectly on February 18th and 19th. That entire refund and mail back process took 14 days. It took a total of forty-nine days from the day I called Adorama to get a price on my gear until all items were delivered correctly and all refunds were issued back to my account.

In the past, I have considered Adorama for photographic and other consumer electronics but my experience has always been the same. Poor answers or none at all if using email and they simply do not have sufficient phone personnel to handle customers. Studies show that people simply will shop elsewhere. Also Adorama often has offers and "deals" which turn out to be somewhat deceptive. This may or may not be by design but you have to be very careful. I have my own explanation as to why Adorama is challenged but this would go into an area that is not appropriate for this venue.

There are many other online venues where the prices for consumer digital items such as cameras, PC's, Tablets, and other devices are competitive - where, as a customer, you can obtain quick answers and they have people who can actually answer your calls. They are not all in New York so shop around. I will now avoid Adorama. It should be noted that I purchased three mid-range DSLR's for myself/gifts during the past year and actually went to Adorama all three times. However, they simply seem to fall on their faces when it comes to responding to an information or pricing request.

I was aghast at myself for being nowhere near thorough enough to even notice that, PLUS I have well over 1,000 positive feedbacks and 0 negatives on eBay (better than Adorama!) and so was horrified that I had unintentionally victimized my client (through my failure to be thorough), but also horrified that Adorama had lied and sold me a very defective camera and then removed the serial number to escape any culpability!!!

I file an immediate claim with eBay, but unfortunately the time period for claims had expired. I filed the claim anyway because I could not believe Adorama had stooped to such a low level of lies, deceit and thievery! I later found out that what they had done is a felony offense of committing international mail fraud. I pointed this out to PayPal, eBay and Adorama. PayPal froze my funds because my client received this same broken camera through my being too trusting and not thorough.

I was on the phone with PayPal and eBay for more than 24 hours, diligently explaining over and over the full circumstances and finally one eBay supervisor told me that my solution I had created to have my client deliver the camera back to Adorama for full repair at no cost made sense and would be a fair and equitable solution. Several days later ebay contacted me and basically said Adorama did not have to repair the camera or refund my money and that I had to refund the money to my client. I of course did not have a problem with my client receiving a full refund but I have a major problem with PayPal, eBay and Adorama all working together to steal my money!!! DO NOT EVER TRUST ADORAMA, PAYPAL OR EBAY BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL LIARS AND THIEVES!!!

After dragging the claims process for 3 weeks, Adorama is now saying that their policy is to save the box for issuing a credit and denying any wrongdoing and they are not crediting back my money. Adorama is basically cheating the customer by not issuing credit for an undelivered item. Claims process was dragged out for 3 weeks and Adorama Customer Service person (Teena) lied that she told me to save the box (when she did not) and quoting some Adorama policies (which was never advised to me on phone or by email when filing the claim). Their missing item policy on their website also has no mention asking the customer to save the box. I still have all the emails and pictures as proof. Terrible Company - Do not use!

They would not sell me the other one; they would not fix it and they would not sell it to me as is and their posting says as follows: “Items Included: Fujinon TH13x3.5BRMU 13x 1/3" JVC ProHD Lens, Lens Hood, Tested prior to listing. Images are of actual items you will receive. Auction Info: Bid & Buy with Confidence!” All items have a Buy with Confidence! Buy with Confidence! Scammers! Buy at your own risk. They will waste your time and may cost you money if you are a business as they have done me.

This is really frustrating, not knowing what’s going on in the background. There is no ticket number or something that is assigned to you which you can use when calling customer care. Also, why should I suffer and keep waiting for my order until claims are done. The missing camera should have been shipped immediately.

They did offer to sell me an additional camera lens for a reduced price. However, their reduced price was not much less than if I'd have bought it online. What really upsets me, makes me angry and dissatisfied is that they were so unwilling to compromise one ** cent. It's obvious they have only one bottom line in mind when dealing with complaints: They won't budge and Adorama is to come out without any compromise. I would strongly urge others to reconsider dealing with Adorama.

They send me a bunch of crap about they didn't like the feedback I had left on eBay, which had nothing to do with me ordering from them at their website. These people are complete amateurs. They have a nice web presence, but they operate like a freaking Baghdad flea market. The only thing I can think is that these scam artists advertise low-ball prices online, in order to get search engine preference, and bug their competition, but they have no intention of selling at their advertised low prices.

As a result of their "abah-dabah" routine, I got jerked around, and had a PayPal charge to be reconciled, but eventually bought the item, and a lot more from their competition. People do need to know to stay away from these wannabes, because they are ricking getting get jerked around, lied to, and inconvenienced. They have a nice web store front, but under the surface, these amateur clowns are complete jerks. The New York Attorney General needs to put a muzzle on this operation for their fraudulent advertising and sales practices.

I notified them 14 days ago and still no resolution. The TV still sitting in the box in my garage, new car parked outside and they still have my money. I had 12 emails to Adorama and they still haven't even scheduled someone to come out and look at the damage so I can ship it back! Amazon is now involved to try and resolve, but that can take 14 days. Stay away!

Upon further examination, I noticed that the factory box had been opened and resealed at the bottom. I immediately called Buy.Com and was told Adorama was responsible, so I called them but their customer service department closed at 1:30 p.m. I then called Buy.Com back and was told that they would intervene on my behalf. I called Buy.Com back yesterday (Thursday) and was told Adorama responded and stated that I did not meet their return policy (which I did) and also, that I need to call the manufacturer and make arrangements for repair. I also e-mailed Adorama but never received a reply. Buy.Com is still working on this for me.

I also noticed that the bottom of the factory box had been opened and resealed. I tried calling Adorama, but their customer service closes at 1:30 p.m. on a Friday. I immediately logged a complaint with Buy.com and they contacted Adorama on my behalf. Adorama is stating that I exceeded the time limit for returns, which I did not. I also contacted Adorama by e-mail and received no response. I am awaiting Buy.com to resolve this. Stay tuned.

Anyway, this went on for a bit and was finally forgotten. Recently, I place an order through Buy.com for an item (NOT knowing), that Adorama would be the shipper.

To make a long story short, the item was shipped, and while it was out on the truck for delivery they recalled it.

Now, a company that bites off its own nose, to spite its face-- is not a good company to do business with anyway. I am also glad that they recalled the item that was out for delivery.

Anyway, as I never would have ordered, if I had known that it was this den of thieves that I was doing business with. Stay far away from any type of company that has complaint after complaint behind it, and some full-time clown doing damage control.

On the 21st of January 2011, I had purchased from their online store what I thought was a used Leica m 35mm summicron 7 element version. It was made in Canada (note the 7 element bit as this identifies the lens as a v.4. Summicron). Why did I think it was the 7 element version? It's because it was listed as the 7 element version (there is only one 7 element version that is made in Canada, the V4). This was purchased for $1249.00 (the invoice does not include the 7 element bit). Because it was such an expensive item, I decided to email them, just to make sure that they had listed the item correctly. This email was sent on Friday, January 21, 2011 at 4:32 pm. Adorama then replied on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011 at 09:32:38 -0500, with this reply: “The lens has already been sent to shipping. It is not available for inspection.”

Because it was an expensive item, I knew I had to pay tax on it, and hence I needed to track the item. So a few days had passed, and I emailed them to get a tracking number (via UPS). And on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at 10:04:15 -0500 (a week after I had bought the lens), they wrote this: “As soon as the order ships, you will get a confirmation email with the tracking number.” What? I thought the lens was sent for shipping. I thought you didn't have the time to check whether you sold me the item that you listed. By the way, that's a week after I bought the item!

Then, I emailed them back. They confirmed that it has not been shipped yet. So, I waited. When it arrived to Australia, I had to pay $200 of the import tax (which I knew about and factored into my purchase). But to my surprise, they had sent me the Leica 35mm Summicron the 6 element or v3 version, not the v4 version which I thought that I had purchased. For those of you who are not familiar with the Leica lens line up, the v3 is much cheaper than the v4 version. I have seen them sold used for under $1000. Hence, I had good reason to think that I was purchasing the v4 version, especially when it was advertised as the 7 element version.

I have tried to contact them via email, and I am yet to get a reply. To me this sounds like a scam. They falsely advertise an item (especially to an overseas buyer). They reply to their email dishonestly. The buyer gets charged $200 tax on a lens that he did not intend to buy. They cease contact with the buyer once they have ripped him off.

Missing were the following: eyecup, wide neck strap EW-100 DGR, video cable VC-100, USB interface cable IFC-400PCU and no data cable, which is necessary to download files, no video cable, which is necessary to view images on a TV monitor and no neck strap, which is standard when you buy any new Canon camera body.

But most telling of all is that this camera has at least 9,000 shutter actuations on it, 8,870, to be exact. My first shot with the camera, using a newly formatted card, was 100-8871. The "8871 is the shot number using Canon's "continuous" numbering system. Like new! Little or no signs of use? With nearly 9,000 shutter actuations registering on the card, hardly! When I buy a demo or "like new" camera with "little or no signs of use", I do not expect there to be nearly 9,000 (or more) shutter actuations on it.

I feel ripped off and am now going to have to fight with the credit card company to reverse these charges, unless Adorama makes good on this by either giving me a full refund or a credit which reflects the difference between the fallacious "Demo" rating and a much lower rating, e.g., an E- or lower. E- camera bodies go for around $1050-1100 on their website.

Helen@adorama.com

Original Review: May 3, 2010

We received an order from a customer for a Meade 9mm illuminated reticle (this is a $70 eye cup, not a "piece of precision astronomical equipment" as is claimed in his posting on your site). Upon receipt of the item, the recipient emailed to advise us that it was clearly used and was "in a horrendous condition". Our shipping records lead us to believe that this is blatantly untrue; nevertheless the customer stated that unless we gave him a 25% discount to keep the item, he would post bad feedback on every possible board in an attempt to bring down both Adorama Camera and to put me out of employment.

We immediately sent him an apology and a pre-paid label to return it (actually, we sent 4 labels), but he is blasting us in every forum he can find. He has reduced his demand to 20% of the cost to keep the item. However, he has been advised that this is against company policy; if the item is in fact used, that is how it arrived to us as part of our inventory from the manufacturer and we need to return it. You need to be aware that in the posting on your site, this person has materially altered some of the emails which he claims to be from either myself or a member of our sales team. He has also quoted the experience of one customer whose case I dealt with personally, and who I remember very well was refunded and compensated in full.

Coincidentally, this member has placed a significant number of defamatory and harassing comments across a number of other websites and review sites, (which have subsequently been proven to be fictitious), involving other retailers and service providers in an attempt to reap financial gain. You are most welcome to contact me directly for additional information. In the meantime, we request that you consider the removal of the individual's posting. Thank you.

Would you want to do business with this company? Google "Adorama complaints" are no fewer than 20,400 complaints! I'm sure Adorama believes that they were all trying to rip them off also. I make a very good living and do not need Adorama’s 20% discount. But what I do need is for companies like this to stop sending out used merchandise as new. Enclosed please find the letters of harassment:

First Email: On Wed., Apr 28, 2010 at 5:11 am, Helen wrote: Mr. ** before you speak with Monique, a question; why Adorama? I actually fretted about you last night and slept badly, believing that we had treated you very badly. The Internet is a very big and powerful tool, in both honest and upright hands, as well as being a weapon for the dishonest and unscrupulous.

Second Email: **. Following your scurrilous and altogether unacceptable postings on certain websites, we have instructed our legal team. We have been advised by our legal team, following their initial investigations, that you filed for bankruptcy in Arizona, that you have claimed, falsely that you were formerly a licensed commercial pilot and that you have a Ph.D in Science. We are also aware that you use a number of aliases to attempt to solicit funds from retailers and service suppliers. I feel it is only fair to warn you that each and every false allegation that you make against Adorama will be refuted, and will be used in evidence against you. Therefore, be warned; this 'case' as you call it, is most certainly not closed.

Email from Jerry **: "Raymond, Based on your classless email to Helen, and yesterday's verbal abuse towards our customer service representative, it is quite obvious that your attempted blackmailing at trying to get a cheaper price and failing has upset you. It didn't work at some other companies as well as you are well aware (just google it). We gave you your final offer to return it and now we retract that offer. While you may have a lot of time to waste, we on the other hand are confident that for every customer we lose, we can gain another. The internet is a powerful tool and we use it to our advantage. Have a nice day. Sincerely, Jerry **, Supervisor/Adorama, Inc., 42 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011"

These people like to post lies about other people and go on a campaign of revenge when those people complain about their service.

Three choices are possible now:

(1) I can return the item postage paid by Adorama and stop billing on my credit card.

(2)A 20% discount will be applied to my merchandise for receiving an open and repackaged box not marked as such, and notification of the proper authorities will be dropped. (Local BBB, YouTube video, Ripoffreport.com, Astronomy boards) among others.

(3) You can send me out a "new item", overnight it. This was my first order via Adorama and quite possibly my final one. The outcome is dependent on your response. I will also email the owner(s) if I receive a blow-off. This package tells a marvelous story about Adorama.

The shop insists in the blind reading of their website's text, which says in the event a shipment is refused and returned, any taxes, duties, custom fees, brokerage fees or shipping charges incurred from this return will be the responsibility of the customer. But if it would apply to a cracked product also, it means that any Adorama's fault will cost the consumer at least the loss of his duties money. Since I cannot legally ship to them the product in the way they requested, in fact they forced me to choice between two options, both of which imply losses or only my duties refund or remain with a cracked binocular. In other words, instead of investigating and putting the blame on the one responsible for the crack to whom these costs must be ascribed, Adorama insists in this grievance against consumer's rights, understanding that what I did was a frivolous refuse, without taking its own charge. Thank you very much for your attention.

I had to wait (after an initial wait of 10-12 minutes) another 15-20 minutes to speak to an associate. I explained what I wanted and had a print out from their website. He said I would be getting the same bag I got before. They are two completely different bags. I thanked him and the store for wasting my time and told the associate the store needs to change what is online because it is defective and inaccurrate.

As a result, I was not able to go to a competitor store, as I had not more time on my lunch and the store hours do not comport to my work hours (and Fridays they close earlier for Shabbos observance). I believe this is probably not the first time this has happened. And I would have been just as angry even if I got the product elsewhere but now I have nothing and I needed it for a trip.

The item I intended to purchase was described online and in the store as the letter D or Demo or Demonstration. The aforementioned terms describes the item as (the act of presenting something; "he gave the customer a demonstration" Excerpt: showing; exposition, demonstration; exhibition, production..."). I was appalled by the treatment I then received, and is it your policy that if a customer disagrees with your rating system he is then subjected to treatment equivelent to that of a Criminal?

I am hopeful that this letter reaches the appropriate individual(s) so that they may take a PRO-ACTIVE position rather than a re-active one when another customer disagrees with these individuals.