Anybody bought from CAMETA CAMERA?

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:24 pm

I bought some camera accessories from them before and never had a problem.

Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 1

I work for a company called buySAFE and Cameta is one of our customers. They just recently signed up for our service so if you are thinking of buying something from them, this may be useful information for you.

If you go onto one of Cameta's eBay auctions and you see the buySAFE Seal, that means buySAFE and Liberty Mutual are guaranteeing the terms of sale up to $25,000 per transaction so you are pretty darn safe. This protectioin is free to the buyer and is only available on eBay and Overstock.com Auction listings where the Seller has passed a compete business inspection process. You can obviously learn more about the coverage by clicking on the buySAFE Seal if they have posted one on the item you are considering.

I hope this is helpful and good luck with your purchase.

Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 331 Location: New York

I've been a (brick & mortar) customer of Cameta for about 3-4 years.

I used Cameta for my film processing before I went digital. I have had about 140 rolls of film developed with only minor issues that were corrected.

I've also purchased a lens, filters, tripod and camera bag for the film camera. No issues there.

I purchased my current Nikon D70, kit lens, zoom lens, new bag, and accessories last year. No issues, they didn't try to oversell anything.

A couple of months ago, I lost the shutter release for the D70. They didn't have it in stock, told me to call back in a week. Called back in a week, they said they didn't have it in stock, call back in a week. I ordered it from Amazon instead, it was cheaper anyway and I got free shipping.

My fiance and I recently decided to purchase a flash for the camera. I received great information here on what I could get and settled on the Sigma ringflash that I found on B&H's website (Cameta's website only has their used inventory, not new stuff).

I called Cameta yesterday at about 2pm to see if it was in stock so I could stop by after work today, with my camera, to try it out, ask questions and make the purchase.

First off, you can no longer phone the store directly. There's a different location that just deals with phone orders and such, so you have to wait for the operator and then ask for the store.

I waited three minutes for the operator and another 15 minutes for someone, anyone, at the store. I finally hung up.

I called again at 4:30pm, same thing. On hold for 17 minutes, hung up.

I figured they might be busy with customers, so I would call first thing in the morning. The store opens at 9am. I called at 9:05am. Sat on hold for 15 minutes.

Called back, got the operator, told her what happened, she said she would page someone.

After another five minutes on hold, a gruff person from the store picked up. I gave him the info to check the stock and then told him of the total 45 minutes I was on hold since yesterday. He said he wasn't in yesterday. I said, I don't understand, if you're not in then people just wait on hold? He said he's just telling me and he's going to check the stock and put me on hold. Came back a minute later, said they didn't have the item and I hung up.

Thus, my order has been placed with B&H for the flash.

I'm not going to say they're horrible, they've gone off the deep end, just from a couple of negative things. But this is the second time they haven't had what I wanted and the customer service was less than stellar. I'm wondering if the ebay business is lucrative enough to pay less attention to the walk-ins or local phone calls.

Anyway, just wanted to share.

Joined: 25 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

WARNING! Do NOT buy an Extended Warranty from Cameta Camera !
When I called to pay for an eBay auction item (Nikon D70s kit w/ 2 lens $800) Cameta offered me a Mack Worldwide 3 year Extended Warranty which I foolishly agreed to purchase for $79.99. This is more than double the price of the same warranty at reputable online photo retailers such as adorama.com. For the money I paid Cameta I should have got a 5 year warranty for a camera worth $2,000!

Within 20 minutes of placing the order I called them straight back to change the order and cancel the extended warranty which wasn't part of my orginal eBay item. I spoke with the same salesperson who took my orginal order (Bill A. x2103) who immediately tried to pass the buck "Now it's in the system I can't do anything. You'll have to speak to Customer Service. No, I can't put you through to Customer Service because they're on holiday and anyway they won't be able to do anything until you've recieved the order. I don't know if you can return just the warranty or if you will have to return all items in the order, blah, blah, blah, ..." -- I think you get the picture. Customer satisfaction doesn't seem to be their top priority. Once they've got you to buy the overpriced add-ons and got your CC number they don't want to know. Now that you know what to expect don't make the same mistake I did.

If you want a Mack Worldwide Extended Warranty you don't have to buy it from the same retailer that sold you the camera equipment. Within 30 days of purchasing your equipment you can buy a Mack warranty from any of their authorized dealers:
http://www.mackcam.com/warranty_dealerlist.php

These warranties are provided by Mack Camera and Video Service Inc. of 200 Morris Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081 T.(800) 252-6225 http://www.mackcam.com/warranty_list.html and http://www.mackcam.com/faq.html

Digital camera equipment is under manufacturers warranty for 12 months anyway. In 12 months time your digital camera is going to be made obselescent by much better models. You are much better off putting that warranty money towards the purchase of your next camera.

See this discussion about whether any extended warranty is ever worth the money.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=164945

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