I Strongly Suspected a Scam, but I Did Receive my Camera in the End
Written: Nov 22 '05 (Updated Nov 30 '05)
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Yesterday, I ordered an HP R817 digital camera for a very good price. Prior to ordering, I visited the Digital Electronics 4 Less website. The fact that they listed a street address and a phone number led me to believe that they were legitimate. (910 W. Van Buren St. Suite 502, Chicago 60607, (312) 803-0940)
Actually, I think I was just fooling myself because I wanted the camera for the good price.
The order was confirmed promptly by e-mail. The confirmation included a link to check the status of my order. The confirmation e-mail and the page it linked to looked legitimate.
Then I received an e-mail with the subject of "It Shipped!". The e-mail was totally generic, except for my name in the greeting. Also, it was unusually vague about when I'd receive my order, and there was no tracking link included. Here it is:
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Dear Al Cannistraro,
This email is to confirm that your order has been processed and shipped! We had your order shipped from our third party affiliate Amazon.com . Your order should arrive sometime next week. Thanks for shopping at Digital Electronics 4 Less, and we hope to see you again soon.
Note: This order was shipped by our third party affiliate, your credit card has been charged our invoice price, and not the invoice price of our affiliate which may differ . Please disregard the price that may appear on the invoice that is included in the shipment from our third party affiliate.
Sincerely,
Jeff Anderson
Digital Electronics 4 Less
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I subsequently checked the link in the confirmation e-mail to check order status, and I discovered that it did not track my shipment from Amazon. (It was a dead UPS link.) At that point, I began to suspect that this might be a scam.
Then I discovered this Epinions site. When I saw the bad reviews (below), my heart sank.
Several attempts to reach the "vendor" by e-mail, fax and phone have been unsuccessful. When you call, you get a generic greeting that does not even mention the name of the vendor. You are able to leave a message or send a fax. E-mails to support@digitalelectronics4less.com did not bounce, but neither have any been answered so far.
I'll update my saga as it unfolds, for better or worse.
The above was posted on 11/22/05.
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The following was added on the morning of 11/23/05
I received two e-mails from Digital electronics 4 Less within hours of posting the above, each with the subject, "Order Status Update." They are posted below. I believe these are automated mailings based on the fact that they are identical.
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Dear Al Cannistraro,
I Show that your order has been processed and shipped. We had your order shipped from our third party affiliate Amazon.com . Your order should arrive sometime next week. It generally takes a few business days after the order is shipped from a third party affiliate for the tracking information to update in our system. Please feel free to email me with any other questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Jeff Anderson
Digital Electronics 4 Less
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Dear Al Cannistraro,
I Show that your order has been processed and shipped. We had your order shipped from our third party affiliate Amazon.com . Your order should arrive sometime next week. It generally takes a few business days after the order is shipped from a third party affiliate for the tracking information to update in our system. Please feel free to email me with any other questions that you may have.
Sincerely,
Jeff Anderson
Digital Electronics 4 Less
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Update 11/30/05:
As a result of further investigation (using whois) into this website and others of the same individual doing business under different names, I became even more skeptical that I would ever receive my camera. The reason was that registrant addresses seemed to be bogus (a bowling alley, for example). So I reached out to E-Pinons, Amazon and Yahoo for help.
Maybe someone complained to the merchant on my behalf, maybe not.
Then I received a very brief e-mail from this merchant with a FedEx tracking number, nothing more.
Today, I received my camera via FedEx, brand new and in good condition, from Circuit City, not Amazon.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? HP R817 Digital Camera
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Epinions.com ID:
alcannistraro
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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