Infamous NYC Store Resurfaces on the Bay?

[Richard K.]

I saw a listing on eBay for a GENUINE S***** M**** SLIP ON LENS CAP but there was nothing else in the description except the price, over $20. I e-mailed them to tell them of their rather critical omission (the cap SIZE!!) and asked what the size was. Well, I was surprised to see that the response was from what I thought was a defunct NYC oufit notorious for their alleged bait and switch and other unsavoriness! Not only did they not answer my question but they stepped right into their old song and dance act. I guess they're not really interested in selling a cap (duh) but rather using the Bay as a portal to their usual hard sell. I wonder if this is acceptable and if the Bay is alright with it. Here is their reply to the simple question: What size is the cap?


Thank you for your email We do have various sizes Which size do you need? .We also see our complete B+W filter listings on our website WE do have a very large selections of Steiheil items in stock Please send me your wish list and we will save you $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.We do have more than 50 different NEW Bay 1 $29.99ea. B50 $39.99ea. B60 79.99ea 30.5mm 19.99ea. 39mm for $29.99 ea.40.5mm 14.95ea. 43mm 46mm 48mm 49mm 52mm 55mm and 58mm filters for $8.99 ea.62mm .67mm for $12.99.72mm for $19.99 ea. 77mm for $29.99 ea.82mm $39.99 ea.LENS carry case is available for $9.99. battery is $4.99ea. A camera zoom lens combination carrying case is available for $29.99.Are you interested in anything else? we have a large selections of new and used PHOTO items in stock at a low discount prices. Please visit our ebay store and our web site at

[eddie]

who are they? for those of us not in the know...

[Richard K.]

who are they? for those of us not in the know...

Rhymes with Game Fridge.

[Brian Ellis]

I'm not sure why the reluctance to just say who they are since you chose to tell us about it but for the benefit of those who are scratching their heads and thinking it's Fame Ridge or Dame Midge, it isn't. It's presumably Cambridge Photo.

[Gem Singer]

The original Cambridge was one of the top three camera stores in NY before they went out of business, several years ago.

Someone else is using their name. No connection with the original.

[Dan Fromm]

Gem, CamCam was safe to deal with on a walk-in basis, otherwise out and out crooks. When I worked for WR Grace (the Grace Building's front door was on 42d St., the back door on 43d very near Cambridge Midtown), Cambridge Midtown was a handy place to leave Kodachrome to be sent to Fair Lawn and to buy odds and ends and the occasional larger piece. But as a mai lorder business Cambridge all too often took the money, didn't deliver, and balked at giving refunds. On one occasion I, having paid by charge card, had to complain to my credit card compay to get money back. One of my friends foolishly sent Cambridge cash for a non-existent Pentax LX. It took him over a year, and help from the NY AG, to get his money back. I'm astonished that anyone would defend Cambridge Camera.

I have no idea whether the current Cambridge World (name names, Richard, don't be so cutesy) or their alter ego Air Watches is any more honest than the original Cambridge. Their feedback on eBay suggests that they aren't.

[Brian Ellis]

If you go here http://photo.net/neighbor/view-one-about?id=2&about=Cambridge+Camera I think you'll find more negative comments and fewer positive comments about Cambridge than any other dealer, going back quite a few years.

[Gem Singer]

Dan, I visited the Cambridge store in NY in 1959-1960.

I only made small, over-the-counter cash purchases.

If I remember right, they were considered one of the top photo dealers in the city at that time.

[Richard K.]

I have no idea whether the current Cambridge World (name names, Richard, don't be so cutesy) or their alter ego Air Watches is any more honest than the original Cambridge. Their feedback on eBay suggests that they aren't.

I wasn't trying to be cutesy (although my wife says I used to be)...:rolleyes:
I just didn't want to worry about being sued for libel! But, you're right Dan, I should name names; I don't think I said anything that was untrue anyway! BUT, back to the original question, what do you think of their response? And is it in the spirit of eBay? Me, I don't think so...it seems that they've just revamped their old methods for implementation in the online age. That Phot Net Neighbour link pretty much says it all...

[Brian Ellis]

Dan, I visited the Cambridge store in NY in 1959-1960.

I only made small, over-the-counter cash purchases.

If I remember right, they were considered one of the top photo dealers in the city at that time.

1959 - 1960 maybe so Gem. You go back a bit farther than some of us though I'm not too far behind. : - )

[dsphotog]

Wow. I thought it was just a fluke.
About 9 mo. ago I was in ready to buy a new Jobo 3005, did an online search & found Cambridge listed it at a good price, & made an on line purchase.
A day or so later I got a phone call stating that was an old price......
Like a dork, I approved a higher price, The tank did arrive OK, just not at the advertised price.

[Mike Anderson]

Dan, I visited the Cambridge store in NY in 1959-1960.

That was before mail order was invented.:)

...Mike

[Dan Fromm]

Dan, I visited the Cambridge store in NY in 1959-1960.

I only made small, over-the-counter cash purchases.

If I remember right, they were considered one of the top photo dealers in the city at that time.Gem, that was then, and you walked in. By the early '70s CamCam were advertising all sorts of wonderful deals that just weren't so in the back pages of MP and PP.

Other NYC dealers changed over time too. When I moved to NYC in '75 Olden was wonderful. Great prices, salesmen who knew what they were selling and who tried to do what was right for the customer. By the mid-80s Olden had transformed itself into a den of thieves.

Tell you a story about wonderful deals. In '87 a friend in Costa Rica asked me to buy him a macro rig. He insisted that I build it around a Pentax K-1000, even though I suggested that Yashica offered better value. So I tabulated all of the K-1000 offers in the MP that listed price ("Call" didn't appeal), ranked 'em in order of price, and started calling, cheapest first. All of the dealers whose price was below 47th St's said "Old price" and quoted a price that was higher than 47th St's. 47th St was willing to sell at the advertised price, got the sale.

Cheers,

Dan

[Gem Singer]

I remember Olden, 47th Street, Willowby's, Ritz, etc, when they were "real" camera stores.

Used to drive from Toledo, Ohio to NYC to see a B'Way show. Always made sure to visit the camera shops while i was there (Also, ate a corned beef sandwich and drank an egg cream).

I purchased two brand new Rollie TLR's from Penn Camera, in Washington, DC, in 1958. I had just been discharged from the army and had a chunk of cash that was burning a hole in my pocket.

The cameras were demo's and a new model was about to be introduced. The total price for both was less than the cost of a used LF lens today.

Twenty-five years later, I sold one of the Rollies, and with a few additional bucks, I was able to purchase a low priced 210 Caltar Pro LF lens from Calumet.

Those were the days, kids.

[Richard K.]

Wow. I thought it was just a fluke.
About 9 mo. ago I was in ready to buy a new Jobo 3005, did an online search & found Cambridge listed it at a good price, & made an on line purchase.
A day or so later I got a phone call stating that was an old price......
Like a dork, I approved a higher price, The tank did arrive OK, just not at the advertised price.

Ah, variant 1B of the old Bait and Switch....:D

[Richard K.]

Gem, CamCam was safe to deal with on a walk-in basis, otherwise out and out crooks. ........

Not always safe to walk in either. My friend and I were visiting NYC back in the late 70s, looking for B+W filters and other things that we made a list of from the back of magzines. Nearly every store we went to did not have the advertised item in stock (although "better" items were always available and entusiastically pushed), or, if they did, the price had magically increased (and don't forget to buy the kit of strap, caps etc. that should have been included but weren't). At one of (I honestly don't remember which) of that group of Cambridge, AAA, Olden, etc. we were told that B+W (which they didn't have any of) were just plastic junk and we'd be better off with their Xerkin or whatever filter. I also needed a small dry mount press and I found one in a magazine ad that might have been OK and went to that store to see it. See it? No, I couldn't see it because then the box eould be open and they couldn't sell it. But yes, he would show it to me if I paid 15% restocking if I didn't buy it. He also wasn't able to answer a simple question about its design. On 5th Ave., we witnessed a girl getting a pretty good deal on a Canon camera body only to be pressured into buying a Zykkor lens for it (much better than what Canon supplies and cheaper). The Zykkor, a $20 lens at the time, sold at a hugely inflated price. I guess if you look like a rube, they would try that on you. So, our NYC trip was great for museums, sight-seeing, theatre, etc. but a soul sucking, depressing revelation for a couple of Canadian semi-rubes who were looking forward to visiting all those amazing camera stores in the back pages of Pop and Modern Photo. Even B&H at the time was a small store not stocked like the dream store we expected. They're one of just a handful that I continue to trust though! Willoughby's was more like it but with huge prices compared to the stores in the magazine back pages. Oh well, we lived and learned and I won't to this day buy anything from those stores. Even though they are on eBay now, the song remains the same. At least Cambridge did offer some of the innovative Mr. Spira's products. Anyone remember Spiratone lenses and accessories?

Cheers.

[Renato Tonelli]

I remember all of the stores mentioned above. Camrbridge stands out for creative advertising. Their website had listed several Jobo items for the ATL1500 that absolutely no one else had in stock; turns out they didn't either.

Many years ago when B&H moved out of their 17th St (or was it 19th) location, Cambridge move it in. What a squandered opportunity as many B&H customers would simply go to the old B&H location.

[Brian Ellis]

Cambridge was so bad that there used to be a web site dedicated to complaints about it. The site was something like "Cambridge World Complaints" but I don't think it's active any more. From the link I posted earlier, here are some of the more creative subject lines about experiences with Cambridge:

"Thieving, lying, cheating snakepit"
"Lies, uncooperative, avoid at ALL costs!"
"Worst place ever to shop"
"Stay away from this vendor!!!!"
"The latest victim and my story"
"Lies, fraud, deciet!"
"Unless you're a masochist, stay away"

The fact that they remained in business as long as they did is a real testimony to the power of false advertising and the willingness of consumers seeking an unrealistic bargain to believe it.