Bait and switch in person?

A friend was traveling in Florida and said he was offered 40D with 28-135 for

1100USD from stores on the street. I've only heard of bait and switch for phone

orders, never in person. Does this type of scam exist in person at a store you

can actually step foot into?

 

It was in Miami, Florida.

 

Sorry, I don't know the name of the store or else I'd look it up on

resellerratings too.

Yeah, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. I'm sure they'll do the same thing - you'll whip out your credit card, and they'll say, "....oh BTW, that price is for the plastic framed version made in Bangladesh. It's $600 for the Japanese one."

It happens all the time in car dealerships, real estate, music stores, electronic shops, restaurants--even vegetable stalls. It's called salesmanship: say whatever to get you in the

door and say whatever to sell you the cheapest stuff at the highest price...

I'm glad this question has been brought up, especially with a reference to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

 

Last year, I was on the market for an entry-level dSLR. I settled on the Rebel XT, which priced at $570 online, including the kit lens. Prior to purchasing the XT online, I visited Fisherman's Wharf and got some really great offers, like $400 for the body only, no lens.

 

For now, let's discard the ethical discussions on whether the cameras were stolen goods. Also, let's assume that I couldn't care less about the manual (for which I could find a .pdf online), batteries (for which I could find a $10 generic replacement), and software. With that said..

 

1) has anyone dealt with a dealer like the shady vendors at the Wharf? has anyone successfully negotiated a price that wouldn't have been obtainable online at a reputable place like B&H?

 

2) should I have been concerned about the integrity of the camera itself?

 

I was mostly concerned that their camera stock might've been composed of returned items that could not be sold anywhere else. Maybe they acquired a set of cameras with manufacturing defects? I wouldn't be surprised to find that those vendors had been stripping cameras like a thief might do to a stolen automobile. Also, if Chinese/overseas knock-offs have advanced to a point where you could build a counterfeit rocket, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they could make an entirely fake XT!

Bait and switch, and many other scams, are perennial and ubiquitous. Why take a chance when there are reliable and easily accessible alternatives like B&H, Adorama, KEH, etc.?

Actually the term "Bait and Switch" originated in stores, in Person and is still happening all the time. Let's say a store puts out an add in the paper to sell some type of equipment. It doesn't have to be camera equipment. The item is listed as "On Sale" or " Big Discount".

 

A person reads the add thinking they can save money, but when they get inside the store, the salesman tells them the item is sold out. Or, they were only selling promotional items, or they made a mistake in the advertisement or some other type of excuse.

 

While they got you inside their store they use hard-core sales tacticts to get you to buy another item, usually a more inferior item.

<blockquote><i>has anyone successfully negotiated a price that wouldn't have been obtainable online at a reputable place like B&H?</i></blockquote>

<p>

That's a valid question, but what's the point of giving a "yes" answer to it? Does it mean it will be repeatable? Not really. Does it incite more people to drop their guard and get scammed? Quite likely...

"Why take a chance when there are reliable and easily accessible alternatives like B&H, Adorama, KEH, etc.?"

 

That's an easy one - because to a student like myself, even $100 means the difference between healthy, "real" meals vs. oatmeal, frozen pizza, and ramen for an entire week.

 

"Does it mean it will be repeatable? Not really. Does it incite more people to drop their guard and get scammed? Quite likely..."

 

That's a good point. I just asked on the off chance that it's common for people to deal with these kinds of vendors and walk away without regrets. You're right that it's probably not common and strongly not advisable.

 

So for question #2 in my first post, does anyone have information about the market for counterfeit cameras & lenses? Is it likely to extend to the kinds of equipments we use and discuss on this forum?

Other than an occasional really bad fake, I don't know of any counterfeit cameras, at least in the DSLR world. The cost of tooling is so high as to make it impossible to fake a DSLR unless the target is someone from another planet who's never even seen a DSLR.

 

As for dealing w/ street vendors, the old sayings hold: Caveaet Emptor and If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

<Chas>

Car Dealership, for example, have you ever seen a car ad that says something like "4th of July sale, 2007 Fuller loaded Black Toyota Camry XLE V6 for only $15000? by law the dealership has to have one with that price, and they have to sell one, whoever gets to buy that car, good for him/her..but for the rest of us who show up to dealership hoping to get a deal like that only to go home with anger and dissapointment. The sale person's respond is something like this "ohh we're sorry, but it was sold just 5 minutes ago, but come on in we have some other "great deals"".

Numbah Wan asked: <i>...has anyone successfully negotiated a price that wouldn't have been obtainable online at a reputable place like B&H?</i><p>

 

Yes. I made a package deal for a 30D, BG-E2, S3 IS, 2x CF: Lexar Pro 133x 2GB, 2x SD: SanDisk Extreme III 2GB & Remote Switch RS-80N3.<p>

 

I did the dealing over the phone and then went in person to get the gear. The savings weren't huge, but it was worth doing.

So with the knowledge that Canon don't generally make "plastic framed version made in Bangladesh", is there any harm in taking the seller up on their offer?

 

"Thanks, yes, I want the plastic version from Bangladesh - oh and if you happen to have a plastic bodied 21MP 1Ds Mk3 built in a Chinese sweat shop, I'd be more than happy to take it off you for half the Japanese price".

 

I'm guessing if they're selling it in person then they'd appear pretty stupid when you agree and then they suddenly remember that they don't actually have one!

Funny, I had no idea my San Francisco experience was so typical. I was there in -93. I was a student on a limited budget but I had previously worked in a camera shop for a year, so I knew a good deal when I saw one. This guy offered a Nikonos camera for an unbelievable price. I said OK and wanted to pay. He tried to sell me a lot of extras, to which I said no. When he realized the scheme wasn't going to work he flat out refused to honor his original offer. I yelled a bit, but he just claimed he had never made the offer. Hard to prove him wrong...