Heather
Joplin,#2Author of original report
Tue, January 10, 2012
The Owner of Digital Depot contacted me personally in December 2011 and again offered to reimburse me for my travel expenses to the hearing in New York. He had remembered me after the tornado that devastated Joplin and wondered if I had been personally affected. He expressed genuine concern and was very polite.
This time he did not ask that I completely remove my report about my experiences at Digital Depot but instead that I remove his personal name from the reports. I am comfortable with that. Though I see by the additional reports filed against them that the store continues to practice predatory sales tactics on tourists from out of town, perhaps he is no longer associated with the store. I believe removing his name from the reports is a reasonable request.
I kept all my records from the trip and was able to give him an accurate figure. I am not being paid any additional money other than what I spent on my flight, hotel, cab fares and a few meals. I have actually received a check for $732.28 and a nice note from him. I am posting this update until I can contact Ripoff Report on the phone in Arizona and remove his name properly from my updates while leaving the general reports up.
I want to thank Ripoff Report for providing a forum for consumers to be able to advocate for their right. Technology make a store's and a person's reputation on the internet instantly available.
Heather
Joplin,#3Author of original report
Fri, December 17, 2010
Mr Hakak contacted me yesterday (December 15th 2010) offering reimbursement for the expenses for my trip to NY for the hearing before the Department of Consumer Resources in the summer of 2009 in exchange for updating or removing my comments on this site. This is an offer out of the blue quite unexpected, unsought and is definitely beyond what he is legally required to do. Perhaps it is a sign that Digital Depot has decided that customer relations is more important in an era where people can look up a store's reputation on a wireless hand held device like a i-phone or blackberry before they make a substantial purchase.
I had written off my losses considering them just part of doing the right thing and helping other prospective consumers avoid an unfortunate situation. Mr Hakak was very polite both at the hearing and again on the phone yesterday. I will consider his offer but will look first to see if Digital Depot has had any additional reports filed against them for the same type of incidents since my case.
IF they have not had additional reports filed on them since then perhaps they have changed their business model to be more fair to the consumer and I will accept their offer of reimbursement for my plane ticket, hotels and meals and cab rides etc...
BUT... if I see that Digital Depot has continued to prey on the uninformed and naive customer by charging much more than the MSRP for their products... then I will not agree to the offer so that my report might continue to be a warning to tourists near Broadway in NY not to purchase camera equipment anywhere including Digital Depot unless they have a wireless device like an i-phone that allows them to do a comparison with the Manufactures Suggested Retail Price on a site like Amazon.com.
I want to do the right thing by everyone: for my fellow consumers by warning them if I still believe Digital Depot to be a predatory establishment, for myself by getting the refund of several thousand dollars travel expenses, and for Digital Depot by assisting them in repairing their reputation if they have indeed changed their sales and pricing practices.
I will let you know with an additional update if Mr Hakak and Digital Depot have had additional reports filed against them recently or not and if they do indeed follow through on their offer to reimburse me for my travel expenses for the hearing at the Department of Consumer Resources.
Heather
Joplin,#4Author of original report
Tue, April 13, 2010
I did go to NYC for a hearing at the Department of Consumer Resources. It was not a court style "hearing" but rather a mediation that concluded with legal papers being signed by both sides. Usually these complaints do not get taken this far as it is inconvenient for the consumer to take time off and can be expensive for the consumer to return to NYC for the meeting.
Heather
Joplin,#5Author of original report
Sat, July 11, 2009
I shipped all the merchandise to Digital Depot and they only accepted the Pentio camera (which was the only item that was priced anywhere near the actual Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price). They did credit my credit card with both the amount I paid on my credit card for that camera and the $50 cash that the salesman got me to give after they had already run my credit card and he persuaded me to "upgrade" to the next better model. I was surprised that they admitted and refunded the $50 cash. They then shipped the rest of the merchandise back to me claiming it was not purchased in their store and that I was trying to defraud THEM by returning the batteries and memory cards in the packaging bought elsewhere when I had sent them photo copies of the cards and batteries that were "out of the packaging". As I said in the previous report I believe it is a strategy of the store to remove the original packaging in the store to prevent the fulfillment of their return policy. I followed up with Bobby Sibblies of the DCR and told him this was NOT acceptable to me and I requested a hearing. He put my case up for review to see if I qualified for a hearing. In May I received notice from the Department of Consumer Resources that I had been approved for a hearing and that I would receive a hearing date sometime in the next four months. In late June, I received notice that my hearing date would be July 14th. Digital Depot also was notified. I then received a phone call from someone different at Digital Depot saying they wanted to resolve the issue without the hearing and asking me me to ship the merchandise BACK to them again and they would THIS TIME give me a full refund once they received it. I was told I had not sent it the attention of the right person (though I had sent it to the attention of the person they had told me to Afshin Hakak) There was not time to accomplish this before the hearing. I do not trust them to refund the money therefore I am pursuing the hearing and will ask for a cashiers check rather than give them my credit card number again to process a refund. I had my husband ship all my records for the hearing and the camera merchandise back to me to prepare for the hearing. I booked a flight to NYC and 2 nights stay at a hotel in Manhattan (about $500). I will be flying in July 13th for the 9:30 a.m. hearing and will ask DD to refund all of the remaining amount of my purchase and my shipping costs and my travel costs. I am sure that they hope that consumers who are ripped off by them will 1 not recognize they have been ripped off 2 accept their loss as a "life lesson" 3 not research their consumer rights or file a complaint with NYDCR 4 not follow up their complaint with all the required paperwork 5 accept a less than fair settlement and call it "good enough" 6 not have the time or financial wherewithal to return to the city for a hearing.