Digital Home Thoughts: PriceRitePhoto: Abusive Bait and Switch Camera Store

"I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again." "I'm an attorney, I will sue you." "I will call the CEO of your company and play him the tape of this phone call." "I'm going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you." "You'd better get this through your thick skull." "You have no idea who you are dealing with." These are all direct threats that I received today from an individual who identified himself as Steve Phillips, the manager of PriceRitePhoto in Brooklyn, New York when I called to inquire about my order with them. My crime? Telling him that I planned to write an article about my unfortunate experience with his company regarding the camera order I had placed with him yesterday. How are these people able to stay in business?"

An amazingly frustrating story from Thomas Hawk that's worth reading. I've heard of things like this before, which is why I try to only buy from companies that I've heard good things about or have dealt with in the past. The basic scam these guys pull is they sell you the camera at or even below cost to pull in the bargain hunters, then they coerce (read: force) you into buying accessories at inflated prices - and make more profit in the end. I have no sympathy for any vendor that uses these tactics. Looks like they got what was coming to them, and I'm sure that's not the last of it.