Good News: Crooked bait and switch camera web sites busted

There have been many threads over the years at POTN about sleazy outfits that offer photography gear at prices way lower than usual as a way to entice people into scams. They'll typically do something like advertise a camera model $400 lower than the going rate; then when a person tries to order it, they hard "up-sell" things that are already included like the charger or the strap or the kit lens (if it's a kit), etc. Or they'll try to bundle grossly overpriced CF cards and then refuse to sell if you don't want it. Numerous times I've researched these outfits at resellerratings.com to see a host of such complaints.

Well, this is great news: The State of Texas has busted some of these criminals. The article:

Texas Takes Action Against New York Electronics Retailers

Two firms accused of bait and switch in offering rock bottom prices


Consumers looking for the best deals on electronics gear sometimes turn to New York-based retailers who offer rock-bottom prices, but Texas officials say some caution may be in order. The low prices aren’t always what they seem.
The Lone Star State has ratified judgments against Starlight Camera & Video Inc. and Broadway Photo, LLC, both based in New York City. The judgments require both firms to make restitution to Texas consumers.
In addition, Starlight agreed to cease doing business in Texas and will dissolve as a corporation. The two agreements resolve the Texas Attorney General's investigation into allegations that the defendants misled customers about the descriptions and quality of their electronics products.

Broadway Photo and its owner Albert Houllou may continue doing business in Texas, but must conduct business in a straightforward manner that does not violate Texas law, said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. In settlement of that lawsuit, the defendants agreed to pay $35,000 in civil penalties and $65,000 in attorneys' fees to the State.

Rest of article at following link:

http://www.consumeraff​airs.com …lectronics-retailers.html

Kudos to Texas for trying but they'll be back in business under a different name and address inside of a month...

Broadway Photo continues to advertise in all the photo magazines as a legitimate business just like Newegg, Adorama, and B & H. Would like to see these magazines bite the bullet and not accept their deceptive ads.

Broadway Photo LLC has decided to close its doors.
Our full customer service staff will remain onboard handling all calls, concerns, exchanges, and repairs.
Any warranty coverage on any registered product will remain valid through the length of the warranty coverage.
You may reach our customer service department at 1-800-687-1740 during our regular business hours which are Mon-Thu 9AM-5PM EST and Fri 9AM-2PM EST or you may contact us via email at support@broadwayphoto.​com
Thank you for your patronage.

---

Taken from their website.

This has been going on for decades. Something as small as Texas won't be able to stop them. They will work around it.

At least it is a step in the right direction.
I do agree that they will re-open under another name.

Its a good news but I fear the penalty is too light for these fishy business owners. They will likely close down their current business and reopen in another form with new ways to scam people.

kenwood33 wrote in post #12096916
Its a good news but I fear the penalty is too light for these fishy business owners. They will likely close down their current business and reopen in another form with new ways to scam people.

Maybe so but nonetheless at the very least it creates a hassle for them and, more importantly, costs them both time and money to start up once again. Bravo Texas!

bettyn wrote in post #12093287
Broadway Photo continues to advertise in all the photo magazines as a legitimate business just like Newegg, Adorama, and B & H. Would like to see these magazines bite the bullet and not accept their deceptive ads.

+1.

As long as there are greedy people who have to "beat the system" and feel as if they're trodding a path that others don't know about, there will be fly-by-night dealers and scam artists just waiting to take advantage of them.

+1

Imagine if all 50 state governments and the Federal government aggressively went after these criminals. It would make it much harder for them to defraud people. In the cases of blatant fraud, I would like to see the criminals do time.

Can someone explain me why New Yourk ? I do not think it is possible to operate such companies somewhere on the West Coast, at least I do not know any. NY and PA seems to be a breeding ground for such activity. It is so simple to fish out and take care of these companies but for some reason the responsible authorities never do. The authorities that are willing to tackle the problem like is this case Texas often have little jurisdiction over out of state business.

ThomasOwenM wrote in post #12099935
+1

Imagine if all 50 state governments and the Federal government aggressively went after these criminals. It would make it much harder for them to defraud people. In the cases of blatant fraud, I would like to see the criminals do time.

Once I received $6000 or equipment sold by a PA company. Some of it was physically damaged but repackaged in new boxes. The company that sold it bluntly refused to deal with the problem. I also found on resellerrating that they do it regularly. My conscience made me open a case with PA attorney general, I sent them all the documents I had including official reports by experts hired by the shipping company what happened. And guess what ? The attorney general office refused to deal with the problem saying that I should file a law suit ! I guess this is the real reason why these companies exist.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #12099777
As long as there are greedy people who have to "beat the system" and feel as if they're trodding a path that others don't know about, there will be fly-by-night dealers and scam artists just waiting to take advantage of them.

So are you that greedy people that do not buy from Ritzh Camera and prefer Amazon instead ? Not everyone has time to spend hours on the internet like we here and learn all the fine details of online shopping. Often it can be a grandmother buying a gift his favorite grandchild.

i remember calling broadway a few yrs ago to buy a 40d that was ridiculously priced - naive as I was, I fell for it and called with credit card in hand. before i bit the bullet though, the guy on the phone - who by the way sounded like someone they pulled off from the street - asked me if i wanted to upgrade to the magnesium body. after i asked a few questions, the guy hung up..

stinkin shady. I'm so pleased to see them go. you can't conduct business that way!