I bought a 20D from Samy's when Canon first introduced them so they've been around for a while. I don't remember any issues but perhaps they've changed their MO. Those ratings Andre posted sure don't look too great! I've noticed a lot of Calif sellers will offer a better deal to offset the sales tax we have to pay here.
Their pdf ad had a couple Nikon bodies that were offered with $100 off. It's possible that they made a mistake and it carried over to the new SKU when that added the D7100. Or, it was intentional to compete with Amazon gift cards, and other giveaways... Or even a way to compete nationally due to ridiculous Kalifornia sales tax. Who knows...
I don't think Samys is a bad store front. I've bought and rent lens from them a few times in Tustin, CA. They also have another store in Los Angeles as well. Mistake maybe but not scam. Not sure about the ratings, but I've never had any issue with them. They do price match with on-line stores like B&H and Adorama. You just have to ask them. I've done it a couple of times.
They are a reputable dealer, I've visited their Costa Mesa store and took a friend to their West LA/MDR store to buy a starter SLR. They have 5-6 locations throughout Socal. Most likely this was a pricing error, since the original link no longer shows a $100 rebate.
The $100 rebate is available on other stores like BHPhoto as well. However the rebate is only for the kit version, not for the body only version - they probably added the rebate to body only option as a mistake. In fact NikonRumors had already posted a few days ago that D7100 kit will be launched in stores with a $100 rebate.
Yeah I just got off the phone with the store in Santa Ana. Rebate on-line was a mistake.
The good news is they have 18 D7100 in the warehouse in LA. 11 of the 18 has been spoken for. If you want one for tomorrow, you have to call them quick so they can call the warehouse and have it truck to the store tomorrow. I just put 10% deposit down so I can have one to play with on the weekend....
ShutteredMe wrote:
I don't think Samys is a bad store front. I've bought and rent lens from them a few times in Tustin, CA. They also have another store in Los Angeles as well. Mistake maybe but not scam. Not sure about the ratings, but I've never had any issue with them. They do price match with on-line stores like B&H and Adorama. You just have to ask them. I've done it a couple of times.
It may or may not be a scam, but the ratings speak loud enough for me. They'll not get my business.
Andre Labonte wrote:
It may or may not be a scam, but the ratings speak loud enough for me. They'll not get my business.
There is something wrong with those reviews. Either there is somebody out there who is trying to get them and is inventing fake reviews (very poorly though), or there is something wrong with some of the people who visit the store and then write those reviews. I only read the last two poor reviews. One was a guy who claims he can never close a transaction in that store yet he keeps going back again and again, 4 times by himself, plus other times with friends. Another guy complains that the extended warranty he bought would only cover repairing the camera and not a free upgrade to a better model. Give me a break.
All I heard about this store were good things. I don't have personal experience so I can't vouch for them. But I'm certainly not going to put any stock into those insane write ups.
Mar 15, 2013 at 01:50 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Thorsten wrote:
There is something wrong with those reviews. Either there is somebody out there who is trying to get them and is inventing fake reviews (very poorly though), or there is something wrong with some of the people who visit the store and then write those reviews. I only read the last two poor reviews. One was a guy who claims he can never close a transaction in that store yet he keeps going back again and again, 4 times by himself, plus other times with friends. Another guy complains that the extended warranty he bought would only cover repairing the camera and not a free upgrade to a better model. Give me a break.
All I heard about this store were good things. I don't have personal experience so I can't vouch for them. But I'm certainly not going to put any stock into those insane write ups....Show more →
Seriously, you only read 2 of the reviews and you have never done business with them personally and you are criticizing my position? I'll go with the statistical data of your non-data driven antedote ... and for all I know you are an employee there ... either way, it's not something I can verify.
To each their own. But to me it's all about risk mitigation. There are enough other reputable dealers out there with excellent ratings why would I wast my time or risk it with Samy's just to save a few bucks? Good luck to you.
Samy's is an authorized Nikon reseller. Don't confuse bad customer service with online scam because of a rebate mistake posted online. I'm all for avoiding them if their customer service is poor but I'm not going to flame them as being scammers.
I can understand looking at reseller ratings as one piece of information on a company. But discounting, or ignoring actual testimonials by known members of the FM community right here regarding a company, and placing more weight on those nameless, faceless "reseller ratings" internet postings is silly. Use common sense, weigh all the evidence.
Mar 15, 2013 at 07:44 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
ckcarr wrote:
I can understand looking at reseller ratings as one piece of information on a company. But discounting, or ignoring actual testimonials by known members of the FM community right here regarding a company, and placing more weight on those nameless, faceless "reseller ratings" internet postings is silly. Use common sense, weigh all the evidence.
I don't know these FM's any better than the people on reseller ... a few testimonials here are antedotal ... 50+ reviews on resller is starting to become statistical and much more valid.
Part of it is this ... there are so many OTHER vendors with excellent ratings, why take the chance?
Mar 15, 2013 at 08:44 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
VinnieJ wrote:
Samy's is an authorized Nikon reseller. Don't confuse bad customer service with online scam because of a rebate mistake posted online. I'm all for avoiding them if their customer service is poor but I'm not going to flame them as being scammers.
Agreed on both counts. But given the bad rating, I will not discount scamming either ... authorized Nikon dealer or not ...
Andre, I can see where you're coming from. Not having a Samys near by, have never work with them before and seeing all the negative reviews, can make people suspicious. I get it, but calling them scammer because of a pricing mistake? Com'on man! B&H and other larger Internet presence make pricing mistakes all the time. Do we call them scammers?
Fortunately for me, they are near by and I have been buying from them a lot since early 2000s. I'd never have issue with them regarding my purchase and will most like will do business with them in the future.
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