Stay away from Cambridge Camera Exchange!

[darr]

Since we all spend so much money on our beloved LF gear here is a heads-up on an on-line supplier that I recently placed (2) orders with for Jobo tanks that I will never receive.

Their web address is: http://www.cambridgeworld.com/

I placed the two orders a week apart and the items were listed as in-stock ready for sale. My personal and credit card information was recorded through their secure server and I received a receipt. Two weeks later I started to wonder where the gear is. I called Cambridge Camera only to find out that they do not have my gear, never did, and they have no idea when or if they ever will! I then asked why did they charge my credit card and why was I never sent an email or telephone call explaining such. (A bunch of crap followed after that).

I called American Express to have the charges reversed.

Maybe some of you have had a good experience with Cambridge Camera Exchange, but I have not! I will "Stay Away from their BAD Business Practices" and thought you all should be warned ahead of time.

Darlene

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yeah, Cambridge has been no go for many years now. They also go by "AAA" Camera. Lots of warnings on all the photo sites. I've occasionally purchased things from them when I could get them in the shop in person, and it was something otherwise impossible to find. I think they are mail order only now.

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Ah, Ha "AAA" Camera got me on a $475, 35mm lens a few years ago. Luckily like you I got my funds back.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

They moved out of their place on 16th street (where B&H used to be) a year or two ago, so I thought they were gone for good. But of course, just like a New York City cockroach, you can't really kill Cambridge Camera. Too bad, I wish they were gone.

[Dean Tomasula]

I haven't bought from them in years. But they used to be the kings of bait and switch. They even would pull it on you if you went into the store.

The last time I tried to buy from them (probably 15 years ago) they tried to charge me twice for the same item and never delivered either one of them.

[Emrehan Zeybekoglu]

Sounds like Cambridge hasn't changed the least bit in 20+ years.. We all live and learn..

[Mark_3632]

Got me too.

[Michael Gordon]

this should be in the bookmarks of every photographer: http://www.photo.net/neighbor/subcategory-index?id=2

[Ted Harris]

Twenty years? My memory of them as sleeze bags goes back 30+!

BTW another good source to checkout online sellers is www.resellerratings.com

[e]

Believe it or not I bought a new Leica m6 about 15 years ago from AAA at a great price. Still in use today. Guess I just lucked out! But I think AAA is not Cambridge camera but has the same kind of negative reviews. Emile/www.deleon-ulf.com

[Dan Fromm]

On eBay, CCC also transacts as airwatches. Beware of them too.

[Frank Bagbey]

A friend bought three lenses and a camera body and sent Cambridge a moneyorder. They shipped one lens about every two months and close to a year later sent him the camera body. He had the lenses for months without a body to put them on. Back then, this was actually funny, in a way, at least to his friends. Today, there are ways to rectify the situation. Thank God, the New York Attorney General indicted almost all the New York and New Jersey camera companies for mail order fraud. There should be a list of them. If memory serves me correctly it seems like there were 23 companies indicted. At least the charges woke up the camera magazines to their crooked advertisers, who also blacklisted some of them and put the rest on probation. Granted, this was many years ago, but short-packing, brand- switching lenses, padding shipping charges, shipping merchandise long after the credit card payment has gained interest, etc., etc., etc., are still common practices with the mail order companies in New York and New Jersey, and other states. Buyers beware.

[ronald lamarsh]

I had a similiar xperience with these guys some years back. I paid with a credit card for three lenses and a camera body. After months of back and forth i gave up and had my bank deny the charges. The charges were finally reversed just before the new year? I figure they charge your card get the money and invest it and by the tiem you get your money back they have made some.

[Nicol Verheem]

Resellerratings.com gives them a Lifetime Rating of 0.31 out of 10.

B&H has a 9.03.

Wow ! They sound like Pond Scum.

[Mark Sawyer]

Yeah, Cambridge sold me a "brand new in the box" Schneider macro auxilliary. It and the box arrived just plain beat-up and dirty. Sorry, no returns, not their fault. My first and last dealing with them...

[Mike Schiller]

>On eBay, CCC also transacts as airwatches. Beware of them too.
>
>--Dan Fromm, 2005-08-15 17:33:07

They almost got me (well, did for 4 months) as airwatches on eBay! I bought a Super Rollex back from them, was the only bidder, so won it for $49.95 prompty mailed off a money order to them, they claimed they never got it, but I should wait, I called them every week to see if they got it, they said no, but wait... after a few weeks I offered to pay via a credit card, and I would try and get my money back from the PO, they said it wasn't needed, to wait... the very next week when I again offered to pay with a credit card, they said that would be fine, but it's been so long since the item ended, and they didn't get payment, so they sold it to somebody else! And this was without a single email to me asking for payment again.

I'm pretty sure they got the money order, and prompty ripped it up, and threw it away, claiming they didn't get it so they wouldn't have to sell the back for the price it sold for! Oh well, in a way after reading this thread I feel better now :)

-Mike