Complaint Review: ShopDigitalDirect.com

Found a Canon SLR camera at a great price online. Placed my order. Two days later, I'm contacted to "confirm" my order and then asked whether I wanted to buy a battery and charger for the camera. I was surprised it didn't come with it. So I'm offered a high price for a 'regular' battery with 2 hours at about $97 and a charger for the same amount that takes 24 hours to charge the battery. I thought the price was very high and also the time to charge a battery. So I was offered a "high-capacity" battery (5 hours) for $129 and a rapid charger that takes "1 hour" for $149. I was shocked at this extra amount to get my camera and could not afford it. So I was talked into a 'less expensive' camera that had less megapixels but "enough for what you need. This will save you $200", enough to allow me to get the rapid charger and high-capacity battery.

Turns out, now that it has arrived, that it is just a standard battery you can get for very little cost and a standard charger. When I called Canon, they said that batteries are not rated by "hours" but by how many pictures you can take based on 'flash' or 'no-flash'. The chart is in the manual.

I was completely lied to. And I did a search on the net (should have done this first, live and learn) and found that this is common practice for this company. I feel like a complete idiot because now I've not only paid way too much for what I bought, but I didn't get what I wanted to begin with as I had compromised in order to afford the battery/charger.

It amazes me that with all the complaints online about these folks that they continue to operate like this with impunity.

Rick
Rogers, Arkansas
U.S.A.