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doctoryou
December 28, 2008
Rip Off For Sure---but want to do something about it?
If you're reading this complaint, then you're probably already aware that this company is apparently completely fraudulent. My experience is essentially the same as dozens (if not hundreds) of others:
I've been shopping for a Nikon D90 camera and checked out "day after Christmas" sales. I got steered to a site called "DiduPrice" which listed Shop Digital Direct (SDD from here on) as having the camera for $519. That's about $400 cheaper than I'd ever seen. I was in a hurry and still had the gut feeling that this was a scam. I called the company and was on hold for 30 minutes. I tried searching for info on SDD but at the time, I somehow missed all of the complaints about them. So I bought the "number 9" camera package from SDD, and paid $30 for 3-day shipping. If I were to get the same equipment from somewhere else, it would have cost me $700 more. Hours later I felt nervous that my account was being drained by some guy living in his mom's basement...so I tried contacting SDD for reassurance but got through to no one. Thus began my obsessive checking of my credit card and bank account. And then it got weirder...
On a Sunday afternoon, someone from SDD called me on a number that showed up only as "800" on my caller ID. I answered it and was told that it was SDD, calling to confirm my order. Whew---a good sign, right? Not so much, though.
I asked for the rep's name and he just ignored me. I asked again and he said, "Look I told you where I'm calling from." Uh oh. Then he said I really should buy a battery for the camera. I asked why it wasn't included in the package, and he said that "no one sells this camera with a battery included." Uh oh---that's just a lie. I knew I wanted to cancel my order at that point but the guy's tone was really just wrong, and I had a feeling I'd have to finesse this to get out of the situation. So I let him give me the sales pitch on the battery: For a mere $175, I could get a battery I know sells for under $30. I kept going along with it, and he started up mentioning other items that I'd need to buy separately. But by this point he was annoyed and wasn't really making sense (something about cables, how the camera wasn't going to work without some part I'd never heard of, how I don't know anything about cameras, etc.). "Wow, that's great that you called" I said, "I just need it all to be here by Wednesday."
"That's up to UPS" he said. So I asked why I paid $30 for 3-day shipping, if the package was not in fact going to arrive within 3 days, and he actually called me "a****le" and started yelling at me. This was great, though, because all I had to do was say, "Golly, I'm just a customer, trying to give you money, and---" but he cut me off. And here's the best quote ever: "You're not a customer anymore, a*****e, you're order is canceled!" Then he hung up.
Disappointed that I wasn't going to get a too-good-to-be-true deal, but grateful that I didn't get too burned, I have been using the rest of the day to leisurely wait on hold with SDD (to confirm the order is canceled---which would be nice but not really necessary), having coffee, reading up on what soulless and unsophisticated sociopaths these guys are, and filling out complaints. But there's a moral to the story...
Based on my experience I might recommend these steps for anyone who is tempted or even sucked into the greed vortex created by SDD:
1) Don't buy anything from them. Your instinct telling you that it is too good to be true is correct. Based on another post about SDD, also look out for these websites that are apparently also SDD but doing business as:
Best Price Camera, Best Stop Camera, C.I.S. Brokerage Inc., C.I.S. Trading System, Century 21 (not sure about that one), CIS Brokerage Inc.,
CityWideDigital.com, Crystal International Services Inc., Digital EBuys, Enterprise Photo, Hello Camera, INF/MRAC/JF, Infiniti Cameras, Infiniti Photo, Infinity Cameras
J&K Cameras, Inc., Mr. Accessory, PhotoDynasty.com, Razz Photo, Regency Camera, Regency Photo & Video, Inc., ShopDigitalDirect.com (again, these are coming from someone else,
not me)
2) If it's too late, and you've tried to purchase something from SDD, hopefully they haven't shipped your order yet. Chances are they haven't---that's part of their scam. They seem to call you before they will fulfill your order, in an attempt to upsell (or "bait and switch"). This next part is important: Contact your credit card company, or bank, or whatever you used to make payment BEFORE you call SDD. Tell them the situation: You found a great deal from SDD, but have since found out from the web that they routinely rip off customers. Tell them you don't want to take any chances and you need their help to protect your funds/credit. Ask them what they can do for you. Your only option may be to close your account and have a new card re-issued, which is a pain, but still probably better than the alternative (you are NOT going to get your money's worth from this company---your dream purchase is not going to happen). Personally I'd rather deal with the inconvenience of getting a new card than the headache of filling out dispute forms and having my account put on hold until the dispute gets resolved. At the least, ask them to annotate your file to indicate that you called and were trying to proactively avoid a problem.
3) THEN call SDD. Make a legitimate attempt to contact them to cancel your order. Personally I'd try calling them---I wouldn't give them the wiggle room of an email. Document the call: The date, the time you started the call, and the time it ended. You probably won't get through to anyone. But if you do, start by asking their name (document that, too). Tell them that you're canceling your order. You don't actually have to give a reason. You don't have to argue. Expect to hear threats of a restocking fee or some other bogus explanation---but if your card hasn't been charged (see step 2), it's a moot point. SDD is aware of their reputation. They aren't a legitimate business, which would simply say "We're sorry you're canceling your order---here's a confirmation number." Instead, SDD will try to keep you on the hook in the hopes that they can scare you into paying.
You document all of this so that if you elect to go to step 4, you can honestly complete the paperwork, which will ask you to describe what efforts you attempted to resolve your problems with SDD.
4) File a complaint. This and other websites like it are useful but they aren't effective with a company like SDD, which is in no way bothered by their terrible reputation. They apparently still get enough business ripping people off that its worth it for them to put up with the complaints. So if you want to complain, use the sources that are actually likely to hold them accountable:
SDD is apparently based in Brooklyn, NY. However, if you google the address, you can see that it's apparently a bogus address. Still, that's apparently SDD's operating address. Maybe someone will post a different address...anyway, you could make a complaint to the Attorney General's office at: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/consumer_frauds/filing_a_consumer_complaint.html
There's a 2 page form that you can fill out online. While on hold for a SDD rep, why not take a moment to fill out the form?
Contact your credit card company. All of the credit cards accepted by SDD have "merchant policies" that SDD must adhere to, if they are to be allowed to continue accepting the credit card. Filing a dispute against SDD is not necessarily the same thing as reporting a merchant for fraud. I did this with my credit card and it took a few minutes to convey the situation: "Look, I use my Visa and I expect that anyone who accepts Visa as payment is somehow trustworthy...despite hundreds of complaints against SDD, they still get to use Visa. It's got to be bad for your business and it's certainly bad for your card holders...so what can you do to fix this?" Trust me, as a credit card "merchant", you don't want Visa or Mastercard or whoever to be threatening to cancel your account.
You might also contact the company that manufactures the camera product you were about to buy. By the sounds of it, SDD gets products and then breaks open the boxes, selling their contents in piecemeal portions. So I wrote a letter to Nikon corporate offices, clearly stating that I didn't know this to be happening as a fact, but it sure seemed fishy. Maybe SDD gets the same packages as BestBuy or CircuitCity, and then takes the battery/charger out of the box---like if you were going to buy a car but had to pay for the wheels separately. I imagine that Nikon and other companies might not like this, and perhaps they even have a way of cracking down on SDD.
As I'm still on hold with SDD, I want to add that it's surprising how many people have posted complaints that indicate that they knew they were getting scammed but were afraid to do anything to stop it. As you read over the comments about SDD, no one ever says "I got what I paid for." Sure, those people may be out there and wouldn't post any comments...but there's a clear pattern to the fraud here. SDD advertises prices that are much lower than anyplace else. If you make the purchase, you then get a sales call to try to upsell you, often for items that you would reasonably expect to be included. If you refuse to pay for these items, they tell you your equipment won't work...but if you agree to buy those items, you end up paying more than if you went to the mall and bought the same package there. If you paid with a credit card, and it's too late to cancel the order, you can still dispute it with your credit card company.
Giving up with SDD customer service now. Hope this is helpful to somebody.
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