I was fooled into shopping with this company because of their deceptive advertising techniques which is essentially price baiting you into purchasing a piece of equipment you don't want, then only finding out after you order and having to pay more for the item you actually need.
I was searching the internet pricing out a Canon 6D camera. Of all the stores out there, digitaloutlets.net had a crazy low price. I followed the link which took me to their website for a Canon 6D camera.
I purchased the camera but after a few days had not received any shipping updates.
Not until 5 days later did I get a email from the store saying I had to call because there wasn't something wrong with the credit card information I entered and my order hadn't processed and won't until I call.
So I called.
The individual on the phone said I entered the wrong information when I punched in my credit card and that's why my order hadn't processed. What he said specifically is that I typed in the 3 digit security code backwards.
This was a lie.
So why did he call rather than just processing the card from the beginning?
After I gave him my credit card info on the phone I said thanks and kept trying to end the conversation and hang up. However, he kept saying over and over... wait, but you do know you ordered an import model, correct? I had no idea what he was saying or what he meant so I wasn't really following or understanding. I just wanted to end the conversation and have him process the order for the Canon 6D.
But he kept refusing to let the conversation end, he kept repeating I ordered an import model.
So finally I asked, what do you mean. He says, you ordered a Japanese version so all the language on the camera will be in Japanese. You'll be fine if you speak japanese, but if not you need to order the english version.
WHAT???
He says, yeah it says so right on the website where you bought the camera that it's an import model.
While he's on the phone with me, I hope onto the website and look over ALLLLLLL the details on the page where I got the camera. I could not find this info ANYWHERE until I clicked on a tab that opened up the specs and burried there was the phrase "import model".
He said I could not cancel the order, becaues there would be a 20% re-stocking fee. 20% on $1400!!!! So now I have to pay $280 to cancel an order? Well of course I didn't want to do that. So now he tells me that I need to buy the english version which is several hundred dollars more and more expensive than the company I normally buy my electronics from.
So I have no choice. I now have to buy the camera through them or else they threated to charge me the 20% re-stock fee (not sure what had to be re-stocked when the order was never processed anyways).
So I tell him to go ahead now and charge me for the english Canon 6D because what choice do I have.
As soon as I got off the phone I googled rip off report and saw the exact same scenario playing out over and over with other people.... they order, get an email a few days later telling them to call in, then they're told they entered their security number backwards and that they also imported a non-english version of their item.
So then I go back to google and keep googling other cameras and lenses. Every single ad they have on google leads you to a non-english import version of a product. Then I go to their website, EVERY item on their main page shows a low price and leads you to a non-english import version. It's all a scam to get you to order with them then be forced to have to pay more money.
So i get off the phone, call my bank and ask for the credit card to be cancelled because now I realize this lying company has my credit card information. I disputed the claim so that the transaction would not go through... my intent was that the credit card would be cancelled, the transaction wouldn't go through, and digitaloutlets.net wouldn't send the camera.
The camera actually does arrive, but when I open it up... guess what... it's in Japanese. So I was baited into a 'japanese' import and told I had to pay more money only to have a camera show up and actually be in japanese... but all you have to do is change the langugae setting on the camera back to english... which shows that they're just changing the language on the cameras to japanese so they can make claims about the japense import model that you just purchased.
My credit card was charged by digitaloutlets.net and then I received a letter in the mail from the credit card company saying if I did not complete the form they mailed me, the dispute would be ended and I wouldn't be refunded.
Since I did get the camera I did not complete the form.
This morning digitaloutlets.net calls saying that the $$ got deducted from their account and he wanted to know why I disputed the charge. I told him flat out that they lied (at this point the person on the phone is the same person I talked to before). I told him he lied about me entering my credit card the wrong way and the whole setup was a scame from the beginning. I told him that I cancelled my credit card and disputed the trasnaction because I wanted to cancel the transaction but since I couldn't with him (remember 20% restocking fee) I only had the option of cancelling the card and disputing the charge.
I told him I did get the camera and never followed up on the dispute because I never completed the form. Unforutnately teh bank went ahead anyways and deducted the funds from their account.
With all this said, the guy was being a jerk so I raised my voice with him because he was still lying about what happened in the beginning. At this point the guy used the words "jerk", "***hole", and "****" towards me. Then he said if he didn't have his money back in 30 minutes they'd file a lawsuite against me and destroy my credit.
He insisted they were a reputable company.
1. a reputable company doesn't bait you in with prices on items that may or may not exist
2. a reputable company doesn't have their low prices all over the internet lead back to import models where that information is completely hidden so you do end up ordering teh wrong item and getting into their scam
3. a reputable company doesn't flat out lie and say you entered your credit card information when you didn't (they just need you to call so they can tell you that you ordered the wrong item and now need to pay more to get the right item)
4. a reputable company doesn't stand behind a 20% restocking fee for an order that was never processed especially since the whole point is to make you now spend more on the item you wanted
5. a reputable company doesnt' call you a "****", "jerk" and "***hole" when you get upset when they won't admit to their deceptive practices
6. a reputable company doesn't threaten to "destroy your credit"
7. a reputable company doesn't hide their physical address on their website ( i still can't find it ) so you can't file a rip off report because you can't do so without an address
I have a company in Pittsburgh and I've been ordering electronics for 12 years now. This is by far THE worst scam and business practices I've ever come across. I don't know how they're allowed to do what they do.