shens & scams: the fotoconnection sting

[martyr]

so i was talkin to obfrog about getting him a digicam, and i pulled up bizrate. there was a staggeringly good price on a powershot pro 1, from a vendor called fotoconnection (http://www.fotoconnection.com/page.php?Page=policies) (which i shall now refer to as fcs, fotoconnection scam).

http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/canon-powershot-pro1-reviews.html

please note the frowny-faces next to the fcs logo and link... so i got curious, and went to the retailer's reviews on a couple different sites.

turns out fcs is a bait and switch operation, giving some nonsense lines about them not having the "north american" models or US warrantee of whatever camera you ordered, but they'll give you that for a lot more money than what's listed. they also PUSH their overpriced accessories, and it seems like if you don't buy them, they'll backorder you.



what i'm going to do:
send an email to the aol. fcs claims to be an aol certified merchant on their policies page linked above. more information on the aol program shows:
However, if the complaint is not resolved by the merchant, then AOL Customer Service Help Desk will step in to resolve the outstanding issue.
Send your complaint to AOL's Customer Service Help Desk at [email protected], and we will intervene.
my email shall be something along the lines of 'i'm investigating this merchant, maybe you should too... here are some customer reviews:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller3471.html

http://tomshardware.bizrate.com/ratings_guide/cust_reviews__mid--31423.html

http://www.epinions.com/Foto_Connection_Online_Stores_Services


a note on the reviews: in every case, there are a few positive reviews, nearly praising the site - however, suspiciously, those writing the reviews have only one or two reviews written, all in favor of fotoconnection.

so, i'm looking for ideas. what can we legally do to fcs, to either further expose their malpractice, or have some fun at their expense?

[ObnoxiousFrog]

A little borderline-legal harassment never hurts either.

[Strygun]

is there false advertising involved?

[Electrofreak]

^ gp. False advertisement is illegal. If they advertise the product at a certain price they have to sell it at that price, OR ELSE.

[ObnoxiousFrog]

OK, what they do is they advertise their cameras at ridiculously low prices, so that all of the price-scanning websites list them as lowest, thankfully the website martyr directed me to also had ratings for each of the sellers, these guys got the lowest rating possible, so we knew something was up. What they do is either try and sell you ridiculously expensive accesories (which, if you don't buy them, you get backordered 6 weeks over and over again), or they say that they dont have the "North American" model of the camera you wanted. There are also several complaints from people who say they got broken or unusable cameras (when they finally got one). So it is a manner of false advertising in that A. You dont get a camera without buying a ton of expensive accesories for it and B. Generally, when you do get a camera, it's broken.

[martyr]

so it's not false advertising, because they're selling you a different model.

or, so they say.

a good direction to go might be to contact the manufacturers of the cameras and see if they even make a north american/international model, which sounds like hot air to me.

[Duffman]

if resellerratings.com says yes then do it otherwise dont

[AztecWarrior]

Call the BBB.

[OneManArmy]

what aztec said.

[JetRaiden]

Bbb?

[Setari]

Better Business Bureau

[Duffman]

If they have a record of them at all. The BBB is kinda slow with online companys

[martyr]

there isn't a BBB that handles internetters

[AztecWarrior]

Well, make your own! "Better Buying Blog" or something. Remember the "P-P-P-P-Powerbook!!!" ?

[Dharkbayne]

This company does business as THREE different entities.

http://www.digitalnetshop.com
http://www.1stopcamera.com
http://www.fotoconnection.com

see http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2026.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was looking through the reviews and I saw that.

[martyr]

holy crap, three...

Well, make your own! "Better Buying Blog" or something. Remember the "P-P-P-P-Powerbook!!!" ?

yeah, that's exactly what i want to do to them, but i'm lacking ideas

[Infernus]

I need a digital camera... all I have is a crappy webcam that won't upload... and a Poloroid...