p.15 #1 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
RoamingScott wrote:
This the same user you've been singing the praises of for the last year?
Hey Scott! Hope you are well.
I have bought from mutiple different FM members who are selling new warrantied gear coming from multiple different authorized dealers, and have 'sung their praises' when each of those individuals have provided me excellent service and promptly shipped exactly what was described - one of those members was the same exact one who you bought your short-lived deeply discounted new in box A7RV from.
@ysultan has provided me excellent service. He has 449 perfect feedback rating here.
@Lpvasam has likewise been excellent and trustworthy to deal with. He has 496 perfect feedbacks.
Some members have mentioned buying new in box warrantied gear from an FM member with ties to a Texas authorized dealer who provided them great service, but I don’t have personal experience with them.
I’ve been shooting and buying gear for 47 years so I’ve also had excellent business dealings from many others. One is a small dealer in the West who I continually support, and they have frequently been able to get me high demand new items on day of release including some NPS orders. Another I mentioned in a previous message is B&H - I’ve been a customer of theirs since the early 1980’s and they have not once done me wrong.
Each of us is free to spend our money where we choose. If a certain dealer is making you happy, great, enjoy your right to keep buying from them. Likewise if a certain dealer is repeatedly failing you, by all means exercise your freedom to not buy there. I have no stake in what anyone else does
p.15 #2 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Ross Martin wrote:
Hey Scott! Hope you are well.
I have bought from mutiple different FM members who are selling new warrantied gear coming from multiple different authorized dealers, and have 'sung their praises' when each of those individuals have provided me excellent service and promptly shipped exactly what was described - one of those members was the same exact one who you bought your short-lived deeply discounted new in box A7RV from.
@ysultan@ has provided me excellent service. He has 449 perfect feedback rating here.
@Lpvasam@ has likewise been excellent and trustworthy to deal with. He has 496 perfect feedbacks.
Some members have mentioned buying new in box warrantied gear from an FM member with ties to a Texas authorized dealer who provided them great service, but I don’t have personal experience with them.
I’ve been shooting and buying gear for 47 years so I’ve also had excellent business dealings from many others. One is a small dealer in the West who I continually support, and they have frequently been able to get me high demand new items on day of release including some NPS orders. Another I mentioned in a previous message is B&H - I’ve been a customer of theirs since the early 1980’s and they have not once done me wrong.
Each of us is free to spend our money where we choose. If a certain dealer is making you happy, great, enjoy your right to keep buying from them. Likewise if a certain dealer is repeatedly failing you, by all means exercise your freedom to not buy there. I have no stake in what anyone else does
I appreciate these details Ross, it benefits all of us to know which sellers here are trustworthy by name instead of vaguely referring to them.
We've had long conversations about the ethical nature of resellers providing services on FM, which I will not rehash. It's more important to know which will stand by their practices.
p.15 #3 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
RoamingScott wrote:
I appreciate these details Ross, it benefits all of us to know which sellers here are trustworthy by name instead of vaguely referring to them.
We've had long conversations about the ethical nature of resellers providing services on FM, which I will not rehash. It's more important to know which will stand by their practices.
Thank you Scott, I agree with you and I do think it's helpful to know what others here may have experienced from certain dealers or the folks who have ties to them.
I recall now that it is Competitive Camera in Texas that I’ve seen good comments about from some here on FM, but I don’t know the ID of the FM member who may have sold items from them.
p.15 #4 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Ross Martin wrote:
Thank you Scott, I agree with you and I do think it's helpful to know what others here may have experienced from certain dealers or the folks who have ties to them.
I recall now that it is Competitive Camera in Texas that I’ve seen good comments about from some here on FM, but I don’t know the ID of the FM member who may have sold items from them.
I have bought directly from Competitive as it's the closest authorized dealer to me, and would strongly encourage folks to buy direct. Eugene is very helpful and runs a good store, and it's worth keeping these smaller LCS open and thriving.
It's one thing to scrape EDU deals and resale from B&H, but it's another to hit the pockets of a local single-location mom and pop looking for a deal.
p.15 #5 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
RoamingScott wrote:
I have bought directly from Competitive as it's the closest authorized dealer to me, and would strongly encourage folks to buy direct. Eugene is very helpful and runs a good store, and it's worth keeping these smaller LCS open and thriving.
It's one thing to scrape EDU deals and resale from B&H, but it's another to hit the pockets of a local single-location mom and pop looking for a deal.
That’s good to hear.
Living in the West for most of my life, I’ve had excellent dealings with Glazer’s in WA (disclaimer: used to work there), Pictureline in UT, and B&C Camera in NV. In the East I’ve had solid dealings with Unique Photo in NJ, Service Photo in MD, AVC Photo in FL, Midwest Photo in OH, and Robert’s Camera in IN. There’s nothing like being able to walk into a good brick & mortar shop minutes from your home and purchase from people who know their stuff and care about the community.
p.15 #6 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Ross Martin wrote:
Thanks to all the longtime respected FM members who have shared information about Cardinal. I received a body and a few lenses from them via the FM member here on our b&s board that ships from them on his forum sales (I think he does EDU), but I will not be dealing with Cardinal again. Based on the poor customer service, imagine the rudeness and hassle should you get a decentered lens and try to exchange (B&H customer service in that situation is impeccable). Cardinal's practice of charging you even when they have no stock, and not bothering to notify you they don’t have the item, is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age. I hope they see this thread and decide that cleaning up their act is worthwhile. Problems such as you all have shared usually start at the top and trickle down to staff, in my experience (especially attitude)....Show more →
Forget about returning/exchanging. Their recent attitude is like they are doing you a favor by selling you the stuff. I can imagine their margin is pretty low for the price they are willing to sell but that rep I talked to on the phone was 10 times worse than some of the people at MVA. Maybe they are really doing that much business so they can't be bothered.
p.15 #7 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I have gotten a couple of good deals from Cardinal. But my most recent experience was a trifecta of shipping delays, horrible customer service and refund problems. Never again.
p.15 #8 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I have to chime in here with my personal experience with Cardinal. I have bought my last two a9iii's, a 300mmGM, 70-200 f/2.8ii and many other GM lenses and Westcott mono's from them....mainly via text with Kurt. I've probably done 18 transactions over the last few years, half with next day delivery (flat $50), not once have I had a problem. The few minor items have been debit card rejections from a wrong # or something, solved within an hour of ordering. I even had him offer to take a 50 f/1.4GM back for what I paid for it about a month later for credit towards something else. I didn't ask him, I just said I was gonna list it on FM. I was shocked to be honest! So, yeah this is my experience and opinion but A+ in every way.
p.15 #9 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Every place has its hits and misses. I ordered an a1ii from Cardinal on December 7. I spoke with a manager and he said that he thought they had some coming in, but not to get my hopes up. On Dec. 9, he said it didn't look like anything before Dec. 20, which was the day before I was leaving on a birding trip. On Dec. 12 the manager called to tell me that one came in and they'd send it to me asap. He was true to his word and the camera arrived before the release date (he made me promise not to say anything until after the release date).
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan.
Steve
p.15 #10 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I have had great experiences with Cardinal like many others. My experiences have not been through Greentoe. So, I have to wonder how much of this is Greentoe, and how much is Cardinal?
If you are dealing with Kurt and Cardinal directly I think you will be very happy.
p.15 #15 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I bought my A9iii, A7RV, 70-200mm 2.8 GMii and my R1 and a lot more in the past from Kurt at Cardinal and I've had nothing but great deals and service.
p.15 #18 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Just completed my 3rd camera body purchase with them. Never a problem, registered with Sony without a hitch. Takes a couple days before shipping but otherwise a seamless process.
18 transactions over the last few years, half with next day delivery (flat $50), not once have I had a problem. The few minor items have been debit card rejections from a wrong # or something, solved within an hour of ordering. I even had him offer to take a 50 f/1.4GM back for what I paid for it about a month later for credit towards something else. I didn't ask him, I just said I was gonna list it on FM. I was shocked to be honest! So, yeah this is my experience and opinion but A+ in every way.