Shady NY Camera Store Offers to Pay User to Take Down Amazon Rating

[2ndclasscitizen]

If you look on eBay, Cameta Camera actually has a really good rep, and I've seen plenty of recommendations for it on the DPreview forums.

[Jack_Bauer]

So... if you bought a brand-new Jaguar and I delivered it to you with the tires all worn out, several hundred mi. on the odo, spills on the leather, and over-heated brakes, but with working mechanicals (ignore the brakes), would you gladly accept it if I refund all the delivery money?

That analogy doesn't make any sense. The guy admits that the camera was delivered in full and perfect working order.

Seems like the retailer has been fully apologetic (despite the fact that there was absolutely no evidence of any wrong doing) and has been pretty generous in offering any kind of refund at all on a product that was delivered in full working order. Internet retailers rely massively on their perceived reputation, whether it may be in the form of points on ebay or in terms of word of mouth. Having one guy being a bit pissy and giving a negative feedback is bad enough. For that guy then to go badmouthing it to the world at large via the interwebz could be enormously damaging.

If the story has got as far as UCP you can be sure it'll be on a hundred other forums. It's totally understandable that the retailer will want to do whatever it takes to get the guy to back off. The company's name is being publicly dragged through the mud, seemingly for very little reason.

[Niko_Fx]

For what, though - not putting bubblewrap in?

Which would have lead to exactly the same result - a camera arriving on time in working order.

They jeopardized the camera though, and you'll never know if it'll break down in some time due to hits taken during the delivery. I used to work at a pack & ship place, a $5000 item would have been handled accordingly, with Styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap.... and let me tell you, both of those packaging materials are quite cheap, so why not prevent the hassle and add them to the box?

My only worry, considering that this post is hitting internet forums, is that buyers will try leaving bad rep in an attempt to get something back to remove it. A trend might just have started.

[Rockefella]

Yes they can, easily.

1) There is no evidence of what was said to him on the phone - no proof that they were actually rude. They may have merely failed someone's unrealistically high expectations of what can reasonably be considered "polite".

2) The package arrived on time and there was no damage to the goods - Q.E.D the packaging was good enough for what was required of it, it needs to do nothing more, no additional packaging was required to ensure safe delivery.

Furthermore, the company went out of their way and contacted him, rather than him having to make a complaint, and apologised to for the allegedly poor customer service, with no proof that anyone was rude to him, and offered reasonable compensation.

How many companies actively track people down to apologise after finding an alleged criticism of their service online?



Would it not, therfore, be the fault of the unnamed S&H company for treating the package so poorly?



You have no idea who answered the phone, or what was said.

It is sad that you are so quick to judge with no evidence. The whole thing could be a lie:

Here's "proof" of MadeupCompany's poor customer service:

OMFG! Email everyone and put it on every blog, forum and youtube comment. NOW!!!!

So this customer went out of his/her way to file a complaint to the company, leave negative feedback, post the interaction with company reps online as well as refusing to accept the $75 refund all as a joke or lie? Right, that makes tons of sense.

[Coventrysucks]

So... if you bought a brand-new Jaguar and I delivered it to you with the tires all worn out, several hundred mi. on the odo, spills on the leather, and over-heated brakes, but with working mechanicals (ignore the brakes), would you gladly accept it if I refund all the delivery money?

For that analogy to be analogous it would mean that he received a damaged camera. The camera was fine.

If you received a new Jaguar that was fine, but the delivery truck was a bit dirty and dented, would you be unhappy?

[Coventrysucks]

So this customer went out of his/her way to file a complaint to the company, leave negative feedback, post the interaction with company reps online as well as refusing to accept the $75 refund all as a joke or lie? Right, that makes tons of sense.

No, I'm saying that you only have a one-sided, unsubstantiated rant to go on. There is no actual proof that confirms any of his allegations are true, other than his word, which could include embellished details, leaving other things out, etc.

Considering that a customer got what they wanted, it seems that going out of their way to file a complaint, leave negative feedback, post the interaction with company reps online as well as refusing to accept a $75 refund over a dented cardboard box does seem like a joke. A sick, twisted joke with no punchline.

Amazon.com: Nikon D3 FX 12.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) - includes Mack 3-Year Diamond Warranty: Camera & Photo

Idk whether this is the right link - it is a Nikon D3 for sale on Amazon for $5,000 via Cameta Cameras, but I can't see any complaints...

[IBrake4Rainbows]

working in customer service I know that there will be some people who just won't be happy. no matter what you offer them.

This person may have gotten Cameta Cameras on a bad day or a bad sales person, and they've done their best to rectify the situation. so acting so incredulous (z0mg they are paying me not to neg rep them lolololol) was a mistake.

But on the other hand it is up to the company to make sure the package they send the customer is going to survive rough transport - and not packing it properly could have caused even ore drama for them.

In my mind what started out as a bad customer service experience has only been made worse by Cameta's handling of the situation - they've now gained a reputation as rep-hungry faceless internet shifty types. which, I suppose, was the entire point of the exercise in the disgruntled customers mind.

You get what you pay for, I guess.

[Gt1Street]

No, I'm saying that you only have a one-sided, unsubstantiated rant to go on. There is no actual proof that confirms any of his allegations are true, other than his word, which could include embellished details, leaving other things out, etc.

Considering that a customer got what they wanted, it seems that going out of their way to file a complaint, leave negative feedback, post the interaction with company reps online as well as refusing to accept a $75 refund over a dented cardboard box does seem like a joke. A sick, twisted joke with no punchline.

Amazon.com: Nikon D3 FX 12.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) - includes Mack 3-Year Diamond Warranty: Camera & Photo

Idk whether this is the right link - it is a Nikon D3 for sale on Amazon for $5,000 via Cameta Cameras, but I can't see any complaints...

Amazon.com Feedback: Cameta Camera

I went through 45 pages of feedbacks to find it but here it is, and there were quite a few other bad feedback mostly concerning packing and shipping