Don't ever deal with Royal Camera

[ThePhantomsGirlfriend]

I saw an ad in one of the Photography magazines for a place called Royal Cameras. They had a price for the 10D for $949.00.

When I called he immediately tried to switch me to the Rebel - telling me - get THIS - that the REBEL IS CANON'S BRAND-NEW CAMERA AND ALL THEIR CUSTOMERS ARE GOING WITH THAT.

I told him I knew what I wanted and he persisted. I ended up hanging up. I called back a little later and the guy told me that they wouldn't do business with 'someone" like me.

He went on and on about now I didn't know what I was talking about (i.e. that Canon JUST released this camera and it's so much better than the 10D). He also told me that THEY are doing customers a favor by being in business.

Any way after a rather nasty conversation (and I wasn't nice either I will admit) my advice is that this outfit is really bad.

Holly

[DonCoon]

Make sure to go to www.resellerratings.com and www.pricegrabber.com and post your experience.

You'll save people some ugly experiences.

You should always visit both these sites before contacting a vendor the first time.

FYI they rate .74 on a 1-10 scale at reselleratings and 1.9 out of 5 at pricegrabber. Guess you could rank them as "Cream of the Scam"

Cheers

[ilya]

ThePhantomsGirlfriend wrote:
I saw an ad in one of the Photography magazines for a place called Royal Cameras. They had a price for the 10D for $949.00.

When I called he immediately tried to switch me to the Rebel - telling me - get THIS - that the REBEL IS CANON'S BRAND-NEW CAMERA AND ALL THEIR CUSTOMERS ARE GOING WITH THAT.

I told him I knew what I wanted and he persisted. I ended up hanging up. I called back a little later and the guy told me that they wouldn't do business with 'someone" like me.

He went on and on about now I didn't know what I was talking about (i.e. that Canon JUST released this camera and it's so much better than the 10D). He also told me that THEY are doing customers a favor by being in business.

Any way after a rather nasty conversation (and I wasn't nice either I will admit) my advice is that this outfit is really bad.

Holly

That's nifty! I think I'm gonna call them up just for fun. In fact, lets all do :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

There are a bunch of these con artists, and they will do a whole lot worse to you than harsh language of you ever palce an order.

Do avoid vedors like this at all cost.

Royal, A&M, Broadway Photo, HotBuysElectronics, etc....

[ThePhantomsGirlfriend]

You are so right. Guess I thought maybe I could get below the $1499 price everyone seems to have. (I've seen posts that say that's high).

I don't really have the little local camera shop here to give my business to. I'll end up going with one of the ones that are rated highly. Guess you DO get what you pay for.

I am still getting a chuckle though - for this guy was trying to tell me that the Rebel was JUST released (like maybe 3 seconds ago) and was the far superior camera. He was like, "didn't you know they JUST released this and it's the NEW one?"

No offense meant to any 300D owners or those who want one.

Smiles,

Holly

[KarlJones]

Just curious, Holly... did the ad also have the Digital Rebel listed? If so, if they advertised the 10D at $949, what was the price of the D Rebel?

[ThePhantomsGirlfriend]

KarlJones wrote:
Just curious, Holly... did the ad also have the Digital Rebel listed? If so, if they advertised the 10D at $949, what was the price of the D Rebel?

I don't know, sorry. I never asked because that is not what I was buying. And I can't recommend buying from them no matter WHAT the price.

Smiles,

Holly

[Spinners]

you can add adorama to that list as well. my reasons

1) none of them speak proper english.

2) they are rude.

3) if you don't know something then obviously you should'nt be in photography.

4) anything i ever ordered from there came damaged!!

just my 2 cents.

[NILOLIGIST]

That sounds like fun, but calling them is a waste of time. But, I would like to call them and have the guy tell me how much better the Rebel is, then I can tell him how it isn't. I might tell him that I will report him to the better business bureau...See how they like that.

About Adoroma, that are not that bad, the people are rude but that can be said of any retail store. Also, you might want to note, Adorama and B&H Photo are almost the same, it is the same family that owns both.

I live in NYC and I am always at B&H...

NiL,

[DonCoon]

spinners wrote:
you can add adorama to that list as well. my reasons

1) none of them speak proper english.

2) they are rude.

3) if you don't know something then obviously you should'nt be in photography.

4) anything i ever ordered from there came damaged!!

just my 2 cents.

Adorama's rated 4.32 of 5 on pricegrabber.com and 7.07 of 10 on resellerratings.com.

I've had nothing but excellent service dealing with them; nothing damaged -- everything as ordered. Evidently so do most users as post after post indicates.

I must admit I've never dealt with them by telephone so I can't comment on items 1 and 2.

[scottbergerphoto]

niloligist wrote:
That sounds like fun, but calling them is a waste of time. But, I would like to call them and have the guy tell me how much better the Rebel is, then I can tell him how it isn't. I might tell him that I will report him to the better business bureau...See how they like that.

About Adoroma, that are not that bad, the people are rude but that can be said of any retail store. Also, you might want to note, Adorama and B&H Photo are almost the same, it is the same family that owns both.

I live in NYC and I am always at B&H...

NiL,
If you had ever been to Adorama or B and H you would realize what a rediculous statement that is. Adorama is a seedy little store, where the salemen are behind the counter and don't let you see their computer screen. Their web site doesn't indicate when items are not in stock. B and H is a world known Photography Superstore. They are up front about stock levels and pricing. When I got into studio lighting, the knowledgeable people at B and H walked me through it.
Adorama is not in the same league.
Scott

[KarlJones]

niloligist wrote:Also, you might want to note, Adorama and B&H Photo are almost the same, it is the same family that owns both.

I live in NYC and I am always at B&H...
Really? Must be by marriage. :D Well, perhaps that isn't fair. But they do seem to be merchants of completely different philosophies.

[mwinog2777]

Shouldn't we include Ritz Camera? They took thousands of orders for the 10D when it came out, with no hope of filling the orders in a reasonable time.

[Canuck]

Hi!
I can speak for RitzCamera. It took a month for them to get my 10D over here. Once it was in stock, it took like 4 days to get here. I ordered it the end of March, 03 and got here the end of April, 03. They didn't charge my card till it was shipped, unlike B&H who charge immediately. I have no problems with B&H and that is the place I have been going for camera stuff of late. Lets see here, the Sigma 120-300 F2.8 lens CPL/UV filters too, Canon 16-35 F2.8 L lens, Canon RS-80N3, EOS to FD adapter, and CPL/UV filters for the L lens came from B&H. The people I have talked with at B&H are top notch! BTW, I have used FD lenses on the 10D and it takes a fair bit more guessing but it can be done. One catch, you loose the metering and the aperature setting as this is manual on FD lenses. It can be used if anyone has FD lenses!

Just FYI, I managed to weasel one bit of info out on RitzCamera and this is according to 2 separate prople that they had in the middle of Apr, 03 in the order of 2000-3000 backordered! I was one of those about to cancell and shop elsewhere. I didn't though.

Cheers from England,
Canuck