RitzCamera.com

Purchased a Nikon D40 over Christmas. As camera was in short supply and prices

were about the same all over, I was sucked in by Ritz's offer of a free $50 gift

certificate. Ritz failed to deliver the $50 gift certificate and has ignored

many emails. Ritz may be big but high prices, failing to deliver on its promises

and ignoring communications puts them in the same league as the storefront

rip-off new name of the week camera "stores" that pollute the internet. Pass

them by; there are so many better and cheaper camera sellers around.

 

Michael

A bug got me one day and I went in to a Ritz Camera store and bought a Nikon D50. I took a sales flyer out with me and read it later that day. I realized they forgot to tell me about the free Epson printer (a $149 value) they gave away with every digital camera purchase. Either the sales staff was mal-informed, or it was shady at best. They did give it to me when I went back in... along with the stuffed bear I was also supposed to get<g>.

Apparently Ritz Camera Centers licenses the trademark "Ritz Interactive" to Ritz Interactive Inc. which has a number of webstores including RitzCamera.com and CameraWorld.com. Apparently at one time Ritz Interactive contemplated an IPO but as far as I know they are not a public company and probably RCC and RI have common ownership. Looking around at the negative comments they all seem to spell trouble.

 

One would think the speed and power of forums and blogs would cut short scammers but I guess if you are big enough you gather so much momentum you are hard to stop and can screw your customers with impunity.

Should the moderators move this thread to another location on PNet where it will get

maximum exposure and alert as many as possible other members/readers to the

experiences of Michael Schub?

I am very weary of Ritz camera because of the lack of knowledge the staff has, and the fact they have nothing in stock when I need it. Plus I'd have to go 30 miles to another ritz camera if I want big prints because they only have the film developing for 4x6 or this kodak machine that does only 4x6. I also purchased a D80 for $1000 and my son was with me and wanted a bear. They weren't going to give it to him they wanted me to pay $25 for it! Well he yelled and screamed and I told them fine I'll pay for it. Well a nice guy came in and said "If she just spent $1000 on a camera you could give the bear to her son!" They ended up giving to him, but I won't go in that store again.

I would stick a nice thread here under the Ritz area:

<br><br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/neighbor/view-one-about?id=2&about=Ritz+Camera"> The Ritz Comment Thread </a>

<br>

They're a chain store. What do you expect.

Here in Charlotte NC, they're Wolf Camera, and OK for a chain, luckily we have three independent stores full of folks who know what they're doing and talking about, and aren't always running off to do something else when you're trying to shop

I'm very happy with Ritz Camera here in Augusta GA. They're very helpful with their orientation when I bring my "card" for processing. Well, after 40+ years of wet darkroom, sure, I need help with the digital capture.

First: RitzCamera.com is a separate company from the sister companies that own the brick and morter stores and has different warehouses, staff and computer programs.

Second: RitzCamera.com is an e-merchant operation and can't be compared with its sister chain or even a one store specialist shop - it sells huge quantities of merchandise with little or no personal service; all you can expect it that they don't charge your credit card for out of stock merchandise, ship promptly, send what they agree to send at the price they agreed to sell at, honor all warranties and other promises and respond to customer service inquires and complaints.

 

Apparently RitzCamera.com falls down on many of these points. Look at

 

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Ritz_Camera_7 and http://www.resellerratings.com/store/CameraWorld

 

Getting a float by charging a credit card for out of stock merchandise is illegal and easy to avoid with software. While every big operation will garner its share of complaints, the most telling thing to me is the total refusal to respond to emails.

I recently started to use Ritz online printing <a href="http://www.ritzpix.com">www.ritzpix.com</a> to send pictures to relatives. If you think about it it's really great: you can print your pics at ANY Ritz/Wolf/whatever-is-local-brand store. I upload my pics and in 1-2 hours my parents who live 700 miles away can pick up the prints. Very convenient.