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Cyberhood Watch

These are my friends' and my own personal experiences with merchants and individuals from whom I've made purchases (either on the Net or in person). The whole idea of this webpage is so that we can all benefit from each other's experiences. For example, if I got ripped off by somebody who falsified a product for sale, I would not wish for it to happen to one of my friends. Ideally, the word would then get around and this low-life individual would become powerless in the online commerce community. On the flip side, if I had a favorable experience with a particular merchant or a private seller, I would want others to know about it. The references below are sorta' biased towards the photography industry and online merchants in general, but this was not intentional, but instead a result of my own repetitive purchasing habits.

For an exhaustive reference on camera equipment sellers and retailers, I think there is no better source than the Photo.net Community's Neighbor-to-Neighbor website.

RECOMMENDED

B&H Photo - I've spent hundreds of dollars on camera equipment and supplies at this online retailer. It doesn't get any more straight forward than this and these guys stock EVERYTHING.

John Barclay - I purchased my LowePro TopLoad Zoom AW (a high-end weather-proof camera bag for the common folk) from John. Very honest.

Scott Gardner - I bought a Tokina 20-35/f3.5-4.5 II from Scott. Would do so again.

Helix Camera - a Chicago camera retailer with a few locations throughout the area. I typically frequent their Highland Park store. Decent selection, especially their main downtown facility. I even found that some of their equipment is sold at prices which rival that of internet retailers. Buyer's Tip: If you walk into one of their stores to buy film, tell them you want the "website price."

Mike Kovacs - I purchased from him a used Canon 50mm f1.4 EF USM. The transaction was fairly uneventful, which is definitely a good thing, especially when you consider that Mike lives near Alberta, Canada! Reputable seller.

Richard Snyder - I had almost purchased a lens from him. A Canon 50mm/f1.8 EF in fact. I sent him payment for the lens, and he shipped it right out to me. When the lens arrived, I found it displayed erratic behavior on my camera. He gladly accepted it back and even refunded my shipping charges. We then spent the next few weeks exploring the problem which he was able to duplicate (he owned the same exact camera at the time). Regardless, we had such a pleasant exchange that I wouldn't hesitate purchasing from him in the future.

AVOID Like Outdated Mayonnaise Decaying in the Midday Sun

SimplyCheap.com - A friend of mine, Seola, had a terrible experience with this merchant this past 2001 Christmas season. Her comments follow:

"I want to tell you and warn you about this store called www.SimplyCheap.com . This store will not only fail to fulfill your order but it will fail to notify you. They will make you believe that the product is on its way but the truth is, they didn't even have the product in stock.On top of that, the customer service is the poorest that I have ever experienced. When I called to check on the status of my order, the person on the other line got mad and yelled at ME for asking one too many question. She made comments such as "Let's! just forget this order, OKAY?" and "I will send it out whenever I get the product in, OKAY?". I fought back on the phone, of course. The thing is, I paid that extra shipping charge to have something shipped in 3 days for Christmas and I gave myself at least 8 business days to have it delivered (My order was placed on Dec. 13th). However, not having the product delivered even with that much cushion is not acceptable nor is having yelled at by someone in customer service. The least they could've done was to notify me so that I can make other arrangements. Luckly I was able to find another merchant that had this same product in stock and was able to have it delivered on time. Anyway, this has been the worst online shopping experience I have ever experienced and I will never do business with this store again. I wrote a nasty email rating on this merchant already. I just wanted to spread my frustrations with people and also prevent them from doing this to other customers..."