Lessons in online shopping

Ok, I finally broke down and ordered a HD camcorder, Canon HV20. I have done a lot of research on it and it seems to be the best choice right now. So, it’s time to go compare shopping online. I buy online not only for the cost but convenience.

I went to www.lowpricedigital.com and compared price for few weeks. The price fluctuates wildly during that time from several vendor. I chose one vendor that was 5 star rated place called wisetronic.com. I ordered it online, where it was listed as $819, which is a decent price. I also ordered high capacity battery, 5 pack tape, bag and a UV filter. The total came to $1,179.97 with 2-3 day shipping on UPS at $42.70. Final total: #1,222.65.

I get a call from then asking to confirm the order. Which I thought was odd because it’s online order but didn’t think much about it. I called them and got on with a sales guy. First, he confirmed the address then asked if I wanted a charger. I thought that wasn’t too bad since it’s something I may need with two batteries. It came to $149 for it. The total should have been $1371.65.

Then he got in to the mode of hard sale. He tried to pass me an extended warranty, which I refused. Then he tried to sell me a lens set for $150. I said no. He came back with it no less than 3 times with the final price of $50. I refused. He then said the total with the charge $1450. I said, woah that’s wrong. It should be $1371.65 with the charger and maybe just a bit more with additional shipping. He said there is a handling charge. I said, I paid for the handling charge on the previous order from online, which I printed on to PDF.

He then said there is a state law that requires to charge insurance so that’s what the charge was. I said to show me the law. He said, oh I didn’t say state law, it’s internal requirement. I told him that I printed out their terms of use and it mentioned nothing about these requirement for insurance. He started to backpedal and finally got it down to $1399, which was just a bit more than $1371. I didn’t want to argue so I said to go ahead.

After it was over, I went to check them on the NY BBB. They had over 80 complains in last 3 months on sales tactics complaints alone. Next time, I will avoid these schemers for sure, never trust those star ratings, lessons learned.