Broadway Photo, others fined by State of New York

Peter Moretti · June 30th, 2009, 08:15 AM

Gotta love this quote:

"I bought a High Def Video Camera from one of these stores when they just started coming out, and received a camera in the mail that was obviously meant for the Japanese/Chinese market - all the buttons were marked in Japanese/Chinese symbols only, no English at all."

Paul Miley · June 30th, 2009, 09:36 AM

"The challenge is sorting out the legit places from the scam shops with fake "ratings".

When a company shows up on Ebay with good feedback and the price is reasonable, you are not too worried about purchasing.

When that same company gets bad feedback, suddenly disappears then re-opens selling the same niche items with a different company name (and your money is gone/your goods didn't arrive/all of your complaints are ignored), THEN you find others have been 'suckered' - you don't feel quite so foolish.

"They should go after Google, Yahoo and others who knowingly permitted them to advertise despite the long list of complaints."

In the case of the Indie-Snap, FlexDolly posts below (there are other postings that are a LOT less polite). He gives every excuse why your goods don't arrive, promises a new delivery, promises an investigation, drags it out and takes you past the 45 day cut off then he knows that Paypal, Ebay, and the Credit card Companies can wash their hands of the problem. You have to make a police report in your own country, they then have to liase with the police in his country (Canada) etc., and it is a very long process.

Indie Snap indiesnap.com beware [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

Indie Snap Complaints - Fraud and cheating

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/985501-post6.html

Rip-off Report: Todd Poirier, Indie Snap, FlexDoli Todd Poirier from Indie Snap and FlexDoli is a total scam and fraud.... Calgary Alberta

Rip-off Report: Indie-snap On Ebay - Indiesnap.com - Todd Poirier steal money! Calgary Alberta

Warning! Don't buy a Flex Track Dolly from Todd Poirier on ebay or indiesnap.com! - Page 2 - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

John Stakes · June 30th, 2009, 10:48 AM

What can I say...FINALLY! I am SO surprised that companies like this are able to advertise on google, in popular photography magazines, etc...In fact, I was at Barnes N Nobles researching before I got into the industry, and this is how I found out about Broadway! They had a full page ad!

Anyhow, the BEST thing you can do before making any online purchase is check DVInfo ; ). The second best thing you can do is check Store Ratings and Reviews by Real People - Trusted Online Shopping!

JS

Gene Gajewski · July 1st, 2009, 05:41 AM

I woudn't confuse greed with gullibility.

The vendor consumer relationship is asymetric - the consumer doesn't know what the vendor paid for his goods and must accept on trust alone that a quoted price is 'fair' - whatever 'fair' is (which is debatable).

Greed is the affliction of the vendor - he can certainly charge a fixed fair markup on a product - or he can charge whatever the market may bear at the moment and assuage his conscience that it was demand that made him 'take' the money - that is assuming he did nothing to artificially manipulate availability (which is done all the time).

A consumer may certainly be stingy - but unless he plans on reselling what he just bought, he's just being smart (or gullible in this case), not greedy, as there's no profit in it for him.

June 30th, 2009, 08:15 AM	#16
Peter Moretti Trustee Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 1,259	Gotta love this quote: "I bought a High Def Video Camera from one of these stores when they just started coming out, and received a camera in the mail that was obviously meant for the Japanese/Chinese market - all the buttons were marked in Japanese/Chinese symbols only, no English at all." __________________ Avid Media Composer 3.1.3. Boris Red and Continuum Complete. Vegas 8.0c. TMPGEnc Xpress Pro 4.0

June 30th, 2009, 09:36 AM	#17
Paul Miley New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Dorset UK Posts: 21	"The challenge is sorting out the legit places from the scam shops with fake "ratings". When a company shows up on Ebay with good feedback and the price is reasonable, you are not too worried about purchasing. When that same company gets bad feedback, suddenly disappears then re-opens selling the same niche items with a different company name (and your money is gone/your goods didn't arrive/all of your complaints are ignored), THEN you find others have been 'suckered' - you don't feel quite so foolish. "They should go after Google, Yahoo and others who knowingly permitted them to advertise despite the long list of complaints." In the case of the Indie-Snap, FlexDolly posts below (there are other postings that are a LOT less polite). He gives every excuse why your goods don't arrive, promises a new delivery, promises an investigation, drags it out and takes you past the 45 day cut off then he knows that Paypal, Ebay, and the Credit card Companies can wash their hands of the problem. You have to make a police report in your own country, they then have to liase with the police in his country (Canada) etc., and it is a very long process. Indie Snap indiesnap.com beware [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking Indie Snap Complaints - Fraud and cheating http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/985501-post6.html Rip-off Report: Todd Poirier, Indie Snap, FlexDoli Todd Poirier from Indie Snap and FlexDoli is a total scam and fraud.... Calgary Alberta Rip-off Report: Indie-snap On Ebay - Indiesnap.com - Todd Poirier steal money! Calgary Alberta Warning! Don't buy a Flex Track Dolly from Todd Poirier on ebay or indiesnap.com! - Page 2 - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

June 30th, 2009, 10:48 AM	#18
John Stakes Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 558	What can I say...FINALLY! I am SO surprised that companies like this are able to advertise on google, in popular photography magazines, etc...In fact, I was at Barnes N Nobles researching before I got into the industry, and this is how I found out about Broadway! They had a full page ad! Anyhow, the BEST thing you can do before making any online purchase is check DVInfo ; ). The second best thing you can do is check Store Ratings and Reviews by Real People - Trusted Online Shopping! JS

July 1st, 2009, 05:41 AM	#19
Gene Gajewski Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Edgewood, NM Posts: 162	I woudn't confuse greed with gullibility. The vendor consumer relationship is asymetric - the consumer doesn't know what the vendor paid for his goods and must accept on trust alone that a quoted price is 'fair' - whatever 'fair' is (which is debatable). Greed is the affliction of the vendor - he can certainly charge a fixed fair markup on a product - or he can charge whatever the market may bear at the moment and assuage his conscience that it was demand that made him 'take' the money - that is assuming he did nothing to artificially manipulate availability (which is done all the time). A consumer may certainly be stingy - but unless he plans on reselling what he just bought, he's just being smart (or gullible in this case), not greedy, as there's no profit in it for him.