Brooklyn Camera Exchange : Defective Merchandise

Richard Oesterling , May 29, 1997; 12:00 A.M.

I ordered a Mamiya RB PRO S in EX++ condition from BCE that was supposed to be in perfect mechanical condition. What I rcvd was a camera with foam rot and a broken mirror, not to mention a big dent in the front of the camera and material coming un-glued inside the mirror box. When calling them on the phone, they were quite courtious and told me to ship the camera to them and they would fix it or send another. They sent a different camera, one which looked better cosmetically but had worn out bellows rails that made the lens take a big flop towards the ground when extended past half way when focusing (not good for focusing when the lens is not parallel to the film plane). I called BCE, they told me that I had 'bad luck'. I believed that it was more t=like they had bad worn out camera equipment. I called my VISA company and disputed the charge, (sending the camera back again, costing me $60.00 in shipping so far). Then I get a call from BCE when they recieve the camera, the BCE saleman yelling at me for sending the camera back and disputing the charge. Apparently he didn't like the '3 weeks of paperwork' that he would be pushing through this process, and he let me know how displeased he was. I get two bad camera's, and he's yelling at me for protecting my rights as a consumer? I have a msg for all of the New York based camera outfits that insist on doing 'bad business', the internet is here and we can voice our disapproval and let millions of people know not to do business with you. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE PEOPLE, THEY ARE CROOKS! THEY HAVE BAD ATTITUDES! THEY SELL DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE! THEY HARASS THERE CUSTOMERS! THEY DO BAD BUSINESS! DON"T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

Comments

Jeff Scott , June 09, 1999; 03:12 P.M.

About a year ago I ordered a Minolta 7000 w/ 50mm 1.7 lens for my daughter's graduation. They only charged $149 and about $10.00 shipping. I believe it was an excellent deal with no hitches what-so-ever. The camera looks and continues to operate just fine. I look forward to doing business with them again

susan leigh , October 06, 2005; 01:52 P.M.

I had the same horrible experience. Yes some people get good cameras from BCE. They are the lucky ones. I don't think BCE checks the cameras - if you happen to get a good one, good for you. If you don't you are completely out of luck.

I too had the saleman yell at me (the owner actually). The story is long. But the simple version is that i needed a second Kiev body because one of my cameras was down. I could have bought it on ebay (for a lot less money) but i didn't want to take any chances. (The Kiev 60 camera has a tendency to have film winding and shutter sticking problems.) The owner told me that it was his friends personal camera and he promised me that it was in perfect working condition. I explained that i would not have a chance to test the camera and that i was going to use it for a job, i asked him if he checked for the specific common problems, and i asked him to give me his word that it was working perfectly. He gave me his word. I had it shipped overnight. I used the camera that weekend. When i got the film back i was horrified. The two problems i was most worried about (and asked about specificallly) were the cause of the problem. I shot 30 rolls of film that weekend and about half of them were with the BCE camera. Luckily, some of the images were salvagable but many were not.

When i talked to the owner he kindly said to send the camera back. Once it was in his hands everything went downhill. First he signed for it on Friday but by Tuesday of the following week he hadn't even opened the box. The he called me on Wed. and claimed that they didn't find anything wrong with the camera. He started treating me like i was trying to scam him (the old smoke screen trick). He told me that the only way that he could refund the money without taking a 10% restocking fee was for me to send him all of the damaged film. I explained that i would be happy to send him a negative (or at most one roll of film) but that i could not send him all the film (it was from a job). I tried to compromise by offering to send him copies of the contact sheets. He said that he would only refund if i sent him the exact film that went through the camera, not one roll but all 14. I of course was wondering if he had smoked some bad crack that morning. What are 14 rolls going to tell him that 1 roll wouldn't?

The bottom line is that he is a CROOK! LIAR! THIEF! So today, instead of scanning negatives i have devoted my day to making sure that i warn as many people as possible. After a long, long, heated argument he agreed to refund the cost of the camera but not the shipping. Which we all know is not fair.

BEWARD OF BROOKLYN CAMERA EXCHANGE!

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