Bifter
5 Nov 07, 12:45 AM
We went to the Digital Outlet store on 2981 Vineland Road last week, looking for a Sony Hard Disk Camcorder. Some friends bought a Sony camcorder from this store last year and recommended them as they were the cheapest shop they’d found. From my own experience I would recommend that people avoid this place at all costs. To cut a long story short they scammed me into paying almost $750 dollars for a ‘no name’ camcorder with no UK warranty, by leading me to believe it was a Panasonic unit.
For those who are interested here’s the full story…
I went into store and I asked for a price on a Sony hard disk camcorder and the sales guy said for a few dollars more I could buy a high definition Panasonic memory stick camcorder that was much smaller. He also said that the hard disk camcorders were end of line as nobody was making them anymore! (You do have to expect a bit of BS from all salesmen)
I asked about warranty and he said as it was Panasonic I could take it into PC World or process the warranty through the manufacturer’s website. I found it hard to believe it was a HD camcorder for just $687 + Tax, but as it was Panasonic (a name I trust) and we were in a hurry I bought it anyway.
I didn’t realise until the next morning what I’d actually bought. It wasn’t Panasonic at all, but a cheap ‘market stall’ type camcorder branded Cybertec. The sales guy was careful to show me only one side of the camcorder which had a Panasonic CCD sticker on it and the person who took the payment was very careful not to show me the box, which was also marked Cybertec. The receipt was stamped with ‘Special Order’ and looking at the small print there are no refund on special orders, which was all part of the scam.
I spoke to my credit card company and they said as this sounded to them like a scam they said they could send me a form to dispute the payment and do a chargeback, but I’d have to go into the shop and ask for a refund first.
The next day I went into the shop to complain. The same sales guy was there and when I asked for a refund he called the manager over. I told him the sales guy had told me it was a Panasonic HD unit, and the manager tried to tell me that the camcorder was Panasonic, as it had a Panasonic CCD! He also claimed it was HD as it could take HD stills! (but the video resolution was just 640x480)
When I asked about the warranty he stuck to the story that PC World or Panasonic would honour the warranty. I pointed out to him that PC World don’t sell this ‘no name’ product and Panasonic have no obligation to process the warranty on it either. Why should they fix a camcorder just because someone built it using one of their CCD’s. He even claimed that Cybertec was a premium brand in the US and just as good as Panasonic. I told him I’d looked at the big US price comparison sites like mySimon and could find no reference to this brand or model, but he still stuck by his story.
I asked him why they’d stamped my receipt with ‘special order’ when they’d taken the camcorder straight out of their storeroom, but he couldn’t explain this and avoided the question. I can understand why stores won’t refund special orders that they’ve had to order items in at cost to themselves, but in this case the 'special order' stamp was used to avoid giving out refunds.
I told them that my credit card company were going to issue a chargeback which would cost them money, at which point they offered to exchange the camcorder for a Sony unit. I suspected these were just refurbished units and I didn’t want to have anything to do with these people now so I refused this offer and told them to expect a chargeback.
To make things worse, the next day we were in Walmart and I saw the Sony camcorder I was after for just $600!
For those who are interested here’s the full story…
I went into store and I asked for a price on a Sony hard disk camcorder and the sales guy said for a few dollars more I could buy a high definition Panasonic memory stick camcorder that was much smaller. He also said that the hard disk camcorders were end of line as nobody was making them anymore! (You do have to expect a bit of BS from all salesmen)
I asked about warranty and he said as it was Panasonic I could take it into PC World or process the warranty through the manufacturer’s website. I found it hard to believe it was a HD camcorder for just $687 + Tax, but as it was Panasonic (a name I trust) and we were in a hurry I bought it anyway.
I didn’t realise until the next morning what I’d actually bought. It wasn’t Panasonic at all, but a cheap ‘market stall’ type camcorder branded Cybertec. The sales guy was careful to show me only one side of the camcorder which had a Panasonic CCD sticker on it and the person who took the payment was very careful not to show me the box, which was also marked Cybertec. The receipt was stamped with ‘Special Order’ and looking at the small print there are no refund on special orders, which was all part of the scam.
I spoke to my credit card company and they said as this sounded to them like a scam they said they could send me a form to dispute the payment and do a chargeback, but I’d have to go into the shop and ask for a refund first.
The next day I went into the shop to complain. The same sales guy was there and when I asked for a refund he called the manager over. I told him the sales guy had told me it was a Panasonic HD unit, and the manager tried to tell me that the camcorder was Panasonic, as it had a Panasonic CCD! He also claimed it was HD as it could take HD stills! (but the video resolution was just 640x480)
When I asked about the warranty he stuck to the story that PC World or Panasonic would honour the warranty. I pointed out to him that PC World don’t sell this ‘no name’ product and Panasonic have no obligation to process the warranty on it either. Why should they fix a camcorder just because someone built it using one of their CCD’s. He even claimed that Cybertec was a premium brand in the US and just as good as Panasonic. I told him I’d looked at the big US price comparison sites like mySimon and could find no reference to this brand or model, but he still stuck by his story.
I asked him why they’d stamped my receipt with ‘special order’ when they’d taken the camcorder straight out of their storeroom, but he couldn’t explain this and avoided the question. I can understand why stores won’t refund special orders that they’ve had to order items in at cost to themselves, but in this case the 'special order' stamp was used to avoid giving out refunds.
I told them that my credit card company were going to issue a chargeback which would cost them money, at which point they offered to exchange the camcorder for a Sony unit. I suspected these were just refurbished units and I didn’t want to have anything to do with these people now so I refused this offer and told them to expect a chargeback.
To make things worse, the next day we were in Walmart and I saw the Sony camcorder I was after for just $600!