Had a long time customer in the lab today. She just got her first digital camera about 6 weeks ago. Bought a Canon 20D and she was really excited because she saved over $200 by buying it online. I asked her if she knew much about the dealer or if it was a USA model camera. She told me that she called, they assured her that it was a USA model camera with full warranty. Of course, upon further review none of her paperwork says any of this.
Long story even longer, she was shooting a family gig two weekends ago and camera locked up. I don’t know what it did or how it did it, but the camera stopped working. Sent it to the address she found on the Canon web site and boom, gray market. They won’t touch it.
She will very likely get her money back when she challenges the charge on her credit card. It is getting a little harder to do this, but I think she has a fairly good chance of getting a credit. How long will it take and how much will she have to through to get it?
This could have all been avoided had she simply bought the camera from a local dealer that she knew she could trust. That $200 would have bought her an awful lot of the help that she has needed along the way and the peace of mind knowing that if anything happened that dealer would be there to back her up. Pick one. Any one. Roberts in Indianapolis, K&R in Northern Kentucky, Murphys in Central Kentucky, Midwest in Central Ohio or if you simply must go online to do it go to B&H or Sammy’s. Don’t get caught without a chair when the music stops.
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