411 Wednesday |FRAUD ALERT| Clayton, NC Photographer-

What started out as a joyous moment quickly turned to anxiety and dismay.

Last week I had gone searching online for a "deal" for a Canon 5dMkiii (the camera my dreams are made of).  I like to be "thrifty" with our money, and was really wanting to find the camera with all the manufactures warranties, software ect. But, for a "good" price.  So, I decided to Google "Canon 5d Mkiii".  A bunch of places popped up on my search.  I decided to click on "AJ Richies".  BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!

They had a great deal on the mkiii.  And after discussing the purchase with my husband, we decided to go ahead and purchase the camera online.

A couple of "warnings" should have stopped me from actually purchasing from them, but it didn't register with me at the time.  One being that during checkout a message had popped up that they had been experiencing difficulties with their customer log in/data base and to just complete the purchase as a "guest".  The second being that there wasn't any sales tax on the purchase.

"Click".  The purchase (I thought) had been made.  Then the "receipt" popped up and I printed it.  At the bottom it read: "This order confirmation does not constitute a final offer or contract. All orders are subject to management review and approval.  If there is a pricing, stock error or the order is found to be invalid for any reason, the order is subject to cancellation by management.  All packages require signature upon delivery.  We will email you tracking information when your order ships."

The next day a salesman called me.  They said in order to verify the sale they needed to confirm my address.  Weird.  That is when he started to try and add on and sell things that I didn't need.  He asked what kind of lenses I was shooting with.  If I had pro high speed cf cards, long life batteries, ect.  Finally, he started to persuade me to upgrade the body of the camera, since during checkout I didn't realize that the body I had (thought) purchased didn't have the Canon warranty, or the software.  That is what I DID NOT WANT!  So, then he started playing dirty car sales man on me, and being very brash.  Red flags should have gone up, I should have cancelled everything right then and there.  He was telling me that the other model was made better, that the battery life was better, really just feeding me line after line of crap.  But, he was making a deal that I couldn't buy online.  I told him I needed to consult my husband, it was another price jump and wanted to make sure it was ok.  We decided that we wanted the camera with the warranties/software ect.  Because we didn't want to be up shit creek without a paddle should some repairs or defects need to be serviced.  I called the salesman back and told him I'd like to switch my order to the preferred camera.  And just like that over the phone he told me the new price that was going to be charged.  I told him I'd like to be emailed a new receipt stating that I was buying the warrantied camera.  NO receipt as such ever came.

That is when I started investigating the reviews for this place that calls themselves a business.  Bad review, after bad review, after bad review... I was literally sick to my stomach.  It was past closing time, and it was too late to call back and cancel.  That night the money was taken from my account, and I was unsure of what I was purchasing, as I never got confirmation.  The next day at 10am I called to cancel my order.  The guy on the other end told me to call back at 11am as customer service was closed, when on their website and other information clearly stated 10am.  From that time on I made MULTIPLE phone calls, only to be given excuse after excuse after excuse and to be transferred and told I was going to be called back (which NEVER happened).  Finally on my last phone call I had SOMEONE (they never gave me their names) tell me that they had cancelled my order and that I should see it back in my account within 24-48 hours.  He said that they had sent me an email stating the cancellation...NO email.  "Check your spam folder"....NO email.  I demanded that an email be sent to me stating they had cancelled the order.  NO EMAIL WAS EVER SENT!

After patiently waiting for my money to be rightfully credited back to my account, I called my credit union to report fraud. They called "AJ Richies" on my behalf and finally got someone with a name on the phone.  Now, I had the credit union representative on the phone, myself, and a customer service rep.(if you could even call him that) from the shop.  He was stating that the order was never cancelled.  WHICH IS A COMPLETE LIE!  I told him that I had a recorded audio conversation stating otherwise. (Which I do).  I thought it would be wise to record my conversations with them, since NO emails were going to be sent from them that I need some sort of "evidence" supporting the truth.  I have 4-5 different conversations recorded should I need them.

SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM AJ RICHIES.

This whole experience has left me feeling anxiety, guilt, and hopelessness.  I hate the feeling like I have to "question" everyone and everything.  Whatever happened to integrity, honesty, and compassion?  I'm saddened that there are people still left like this in the world.  I guess I had to learn my lesson the HARD way.

Please share this with EVERYONE so that no one else has to go through what I have/am.  And DO YOUR RESEARCH before clicking that "purchase" button!

~Kim