Complaint Rating:

This was by far the worst shopping experience I have ever had. From beginning to end they proved to be dishonest and incompetent; it is amazing they have stayed in business as long as they have! The fiasco started on June 11, when I placed an order for a Canon Xti (for which I specified two day shipping). During that conversation, sales reps were rude and unprofessional but I decided, with great hesitation, to purchase the camera anyway. After reading about other peoples' experiences with "the camera professionals" I became very uneasy about this company and decided to call and cancel the order in the morning.

At 10:00 AM on June 12 (when customer service opens), I called and waited on hold for twenty minutes. When I was finally connected with my sales rep I attempted to cancel the order but was told that it had already been shipped, though strangely, the company was unable to give me a tracking number for that package when I asked. Given what would have been $243 restocking fee for my order, it was certainly in their best interest to say it had already been sent.

The following day when I received the package, I called UPS to track when it had left "the camera professionals" warehouse the day before. As I suspected, "the camera professionals" had in fact lied to me on the phone; the camera was shipped out eight hours after my cancellation phone call.

Without even opening the box, I took the camera to the post office and paid for insurance and delivery confirmation. On June 16th, I had another phone conversation with "the camera professionals" and was promised that my card would be recredited the day the camera arrived. According to USPS the package was received by the camera professionals on June 18th. Despite three conversations with them over the next three weeks, nothing changed. Not surprisingly, during my last conversation with them I was told that my name was no longer in their system. On July 11th, after hours of hassle, the money was recredited.

Ultimately, the company the company did not charge me a restocking fee, but the entire process was frustrating and dishonest. I can imagine that many people just give up... As Brian Regan would say, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever ever" even think about doing business with this company. Be sure to listen to the sound clip below - pay special attention to how unsure the sales rep sounded when asked for the tracking number. That's my favorite part

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/fleming/thecameraprofessionals.html.