42nd Street PhotoReviews of 42photo.com

First time on their website I purchased Sony RX100 IV. Next morning a salesman left message to say "something was wrong with the order" I called back & he told me if I wanted the English info, it'd be $89 more. But since I said online I liked the ease of purchase on the site, he'd not charge me for the English info! (Isn't this a store in the US???) Then he talked me into buying their extended-warranty insurance and did not tell me it was not "returnable" if the camera needed to be returned. When I opened the camera package when it arrived, it took me about 10 minutes to see that there were no helpful marking on the dial for different settings. The dial did not even have "fee-lable" info points to know if you were coming up a to a desired setting. Of course, I needed to open package to find this out. I immediately called store to see if this camera was the only one without settings on the dial. The person answering said he was an owner and he confirmed there were no markings or feel-able indications on the dial. I explained I was buying this camera for a safari and I don't have time to be fumbling with the dial while taking animal pictures. Bottom line he was very rude and said it was policy to take a 20% re-stocking fee, not just on camera but also on the $90 warranty I paid to return it immediately!!! They kept $180 and I paid shipping ($35) to return it too=$215 for a look! :( They are clearly over-reaching and take advantage of you once your money is in their hands! It's unfair for re-stocking fee to be on camera & insurance. It's even more egregious to keep 100% pf the warranty insurance! I feel totally taken advantage of!!!!

So, I bought my Nikon D750, because I been saving for almost a year &making the transition from canon to Nikon, they had the camera on special for 1479, so I went n bought it, this was Friday morning, I did not get a phone call or something saying that it was accepted or anything until Monday , the guy that I spoke with say, sr. I am about to send your camera, but there is a small detail or problem. I say mmmm what is it, he said, the camera that you purchased is the IMPORT model. a course, I was like, no no no, I read the details on the camera and it doesn't say anything about been the import model,he said , yes you are correct it doesn't say anything about that, We pull it off so people don't get confused!!! I'm like this is so confusing now, what you mean you took it off the description, you are telling me I am buying a 1500 dollar camera with no Warranty because you don't want to confuse people over been a little more detail on your description.. . He said We apologize for that, but I can give you a great deal on the camera with warranty, he say let me ask my manager, it took him like 10 seconds and he said, ohh great news I can sell you this camera for 1699, Sr is a great deal, If I were you I'would not think it twice, is an awesome camera, and it comes with a 3 year warranty, I had to say yes since I had already sold my old canon and I had a photo shoot on the weekend! I kind of regret it saying yes but I need it a camera, but I don't agree, that if you are having something so expensive and important like a camera on sale, please be specific and stand to the price you are giving and don't do this bull.... To people, is a Scam in my opinion!

Tried to purchased an item from them in store. They pretended not to know the price and went to the computer to "look up" the price. I saw in the mirror they were using B&H's website, not theirs. I walked away. I went back a few months later to purchase another item (impulse buy). When I went home, I found out they charged less for the same item on the website. I called them up and they said I need to go to the store. Fine. I went to the store and asked for a refund/store credit. The first time I went back, they say I need to talk to Jack. Fine. The second time I went back, Jack still was not there but another salesman I spoke to said I could get a 15% refund when I talk to Jack. He also said the "online model" is a export model and not US. Fine. I went home, called Sigma, and they said there is no different export or US-only model. I went back to the store the THIRD time, still no Jack, but I found the original salesman who sold me this item. He would not look me in the eye. He said no refunsd, no exchanges, no store credit, and accused me of trying to take advantage of them. Bunch of crooks. Do not ever do business with them.

I ordered a camera from their store and from what is posted on their site explained it seemed to be a full camera as you'd expect out of the box, with all the fuji accessories. I had picked quick shipping because I wanted the order quickly however it did not go out on friday and I was surprised when I got a message to call "Adam" at 42nd street. I had no idea why.On monday I finally got through to him and he explained to me that it comes with none of the accessories normally that come with the camera and that it only comes with "the camera" and a "starter battery" (there website said it came with the original manufactures battery and it is marked with a model number). So instead of my order being sent out on time with the proper things I got a delay and a call from a salesman trying to sell me memory and an extra battery. Not only this but the salesman "Adam" was very rude and double-talky, and he was using weird sales techniques like telling me I shouldn't feel "ashamed" or "guilty" for not wanting their great battery and memory card deals. Very weird. And then he was trying to tell me I was acting emotionally and really it seemed like cheap NLP/gross sales talk. What a shuckster! I feel that they basically bait customers in with a great deals on their cameras with the hopes their salesman can make the money for them by selling the battery and memory card packs. Anyways after all sorts of banter with the jerk Adam (there was all sorts of just your typical rudeness that I won't bother going into detail about here, but take my word, the guy was a jerk) I finally got a confirmation that my order would be cancelled. I am now reading more about this company and finding out that they sell "grey market" as well. This is not advertised. While the deal did seem amazing at first, there are deals that are almost as good from reputable sources online that include a manufactures warranty and good customer service. I will never use 42nd camera again, and while I made the mistake of not reading enough reviews (I did read some but clearly not enough), I am going to do whatever I can to let other know that this store is not someone to deal with.

Great price on their web site, but they are just out of the product and won't be in from the manufacturer until 30 days from now, but the local stores have it, but the price is $250 more. Well, I want a refund of my money. Wait I see you have a coupon in your account for $100, so now the price is #130 more than quoted. And by the way it say free shipping and it wasn't. I wish I had read these reviews before placing my order. I know I won't do business with them again.

I agree with a previous reviewer who said, "Great price, horrible everything else". I wish I had read these reviews before placing my order. It would have saved me a lot of time and trouble. Despite what you see on the web site, orders don't ship without a helpful call from a sales person to tell you the camera kit you just ordered will not work unless you upgrade. Luckily for you, they'll have a special deal to offer. I agreed to the upgrade because, who spends money on a camera that won't work? The sales person said my camera kit didn't come with a battery. Ater re-checking the website and confirming that a battery was included, I immediately called the company back to cancel this "upgrade" but no one would answer the phone. I left a message. I called later and left another message. Wouldn't you know, I got through just after my order had shipped. Now I'm stuck with an overpriced camera kit that I can't return unless I pay a 20% restocking fee, paid for by money order. My calls and emails to "customer service" (and I use that term losely) have been met with rudeness, more lies, and intimidation...when I could get through. Seriously, how is this company allowed to do business? What they're doing can't be legal! Bottom line: if you enjoy being deceived, overpaying for items you don't need, and alternately being ignored or bullied, this is the company for you. Everyone one else should avoid. Update: Just spoke with a customer service rep (Tom) who was very helpful and polite and agreed to take care of everything. Thanks!

"The only thing good, was the Canon T3i being priced at $647, more than $50 less than Amazon. I buy it, and go about my business. The next day, I'm deadlifting in the gym, and get a call from a strange number. It was a employee from 42nd, who was calling me to "confirm" my shipment, asking me if I wanted a signature or not (Mind you, I never received an email of this confirmation). He then went about, coaxing me to buy a battery and lens filter. Now, we've all learned persuasion in marketing classes. But what he did was LIE. He told me the stock battery only lasts 25 minutes, BUT he could sell me a SIX hour battery for the FOUR hour battery's price. Now, how does an official CANON battery (That is also warranted) good for 25mins? He never specified if it was 25mins for PHOTO or VIDEO let alone, just "It's only good for 25mins". However, I was not home to Google this, and he caught me at a bad time where I couldn't think logically. So I bought it. He then tells me I need a lens filter (Which you don't NEED, but you should HAVE). He tells me if I touch it, it'll break, and it's real fragile and etc. I'm thinking he's referring to the lens filter itself. So I buy that as well. I went from $659 to about $739. I get the product, LMAO, this kid sends me a THIRD PARTY BATTERY. One of those batteries made in a sweatshop in China, that doesn't even work when you put them in. Mind you, the battery was $50. Canon's official batteries are $50. The lens filter was $30, for some cheap knockoff, when you can clearly get an official, MULTI-COATED one from B&H for the same price. We call in to refund, and the manager (Elliot) claims my mom was attacking him, trying to justify his own employee blatantly lying just to get a sale. My mom was talking to him calmly, and in fact, if anything, "I" was the one raising my voice, because at that point I was annoyed by him justifying and trying to play the victim role. He continues to act butt-hurt and really defensive, raising his OWN voice while my mom is still calm. After a while he said he would give us a full refund, NO RESTOCKING FEE (Which was the whole point of it, anyways) Long story short, I'm not the only one who has been scammed by someone calling 1-2 days later after the order is received. DO RESEARCH on what you need, as well as the parts that come with it before ordering from these guys. It's sad that you have to do that, though, and they take advantage of people in deceitful ways. The one star is for the amazing price of the Canon T3i. Plus I'm in the city so I received it two days later. Everything else = HORRIBLE.

I called 42nd St Photo to order a camera. Initially the sales associate seemed like he wanted to be helpful by offering me all kinds of additional products. But after I declined offer after offer he began to get pushy, basically trying to make me feel like I was clueless for not accepting things like $120 insurance coverage on my new camera, and similar products I didn't want or need. The one extra that I wanted was a memory card. I opted to take advantage of the "double your memory" special, and told him that I would pay for a 4 gb card and get a 8gb card. I expected this to be around 10 bucks and didn't think much of it. I also requested 3-day shipping, which should also be around $10-15. So I was unpleasantly surprised when I requested the total at the end, and found it would be around $150 more than expected. It turns out the associate tried to sell me a completely unnecessary and ridiculously priced 4gb memory card, plus charged at least double what is normal for 3-day shipping! He then tried to convince me that my camera would not work unless I bought this card. I pushed back and he relented, finally selling me a $70 4gb memory card, telling me that was the absolute minimum that my camera needed. After I hung up the phone I did a bit of research and found out that a $6 memory card would work fine with my camera! I called back immediately and said I wanted to remove the card from my order. He then tried to tell me that my camera was already being shipped (this is 15 minutes after placing my order) and that I would just have to mail it back for a refund. This was the last straw, so I told him to cancel the whole order. He didn't even offer to place a new order for just the camera, or didn't try to be helpful in any way. If he couldn't swindle me into paying for things I didn't need, he wasn't interested in my business.