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Blog Entry 134 of 145 The Meaning of Life, or at Least the Last 24 Hours
First, a few things about me. I am deceptively handsome for someone who is significantly overweight. Don't get me wrong. I'm not washes-himself-with-a-rag-on-a-stick fat or bury-him-in-a-piano fat, but I could stand to lose another 60 or 80. Second, almost none of what I say can be taken seriously. I love to write, and as a previously self-admitted fatty, I am a king of self-deprecating humor. I look for the humor in everyday life, and this is the meaty chunks of which I will write (note: overweight people often use food as adjectives and metaphors). Third, I am notoriously unreliable, so don't expect an update every day. I am a retail manager, which means I work like a dog. Seriously, retail is great for loners and orphans. Just ask my wife. In fact, when a guy shoots up a fast food restaurant and they interview the people that knew him and they always say "He was kind of a loner, he kept to himself." This guy generally works retail. Fourth, do not expect political correctness from this blog. It is my point of view, that on the pallette of life most of us are not even primary colors. Hell, most of us are that dried slop that collects on the brush when you forget to wash it. No one's better than anyone else on my blog. Well maybe we're better than the hippies; can't stand them. Oh, and soccer moms too. I don't really care about your honor student. Oh yeah, also the people that don't watch their kids. Put a leash on Skippy, or I'll whack him with a Ritalin stick.

Wolf Camera; the Picture of Deceit
Contributed by: William Boucher   on 2/27/2008

I'm typically not a soap box type of guy, but I feel the need to warn my friends in cyber land of the underhanded business practices of Wolfcamera.com.

Recently, my wife Judy called me at work and told me very excitedly that Wolf had an unbelievable deal on a 10.1 mega-pixel Canon Rebel EOS digital SLR camera. For $699.99, we were to receive the body of the camera and an 18-55mm lens. For an additional penny, we were to receive a Quantum 55-200mm zoom lens. It was this extra lens that represented the extra value offered by Wolf that could not be attained through any other vendor that swayed our choice in Wolf's favor. Judy accepted the offer and placed our order and all was picture perfect until today.

This afternoon, I signed for the camera along with the standard lens at 2:33 p.m. No, I'm not that anal. I looked up the time on the order tracking and that was the time listed. Judy checked her e-mail at around 7 p.m. and was chagrined to find that Wolf had cancelled the order on the zoom lens because it was discontinued from the manufacturer. This e-mail was time stamped 2:04 p.m. A subsequent internet chat with Wolfcamera.com's customer service resulted in "Sorry, that item is out of stock and has been cancelled." The hell you say! We read that in the e-mail. Judy chatted back that they should perhaps substitute the Canon 55-200mm zoom as satisfaction of their offer. The said they would happily do that.... for $279.99.

Now I know things happen, but this smacks to me of false advertising. First, in the ad Judy responded to, it was not legibly printed anywhere that supplies of the Quantum zoom lens were limited. Second, I find it hard to believe that Wolf was not able to notify us of the status of this lens before the day it was to be delivered and signed for. True, I signed for the camera nineteen minutes after Wolf sent their e-mail, but they had access to the product tracking every stop on the camera's way to Brighton just like we did, and would have known that it had left Fed-Ex's Denver sort facility this morning. I don't feel it is a stretch to believe that a company so blatantly indifferent to a customer's satisfaction would think twice about intentionally deceiving a customer in order to secure a purchase.

After Judy got off the internet, we called the customer service phone number and received the same story. I informed the operator that what needed to happen was that a comparable lens would need to be supplied for the agreed price, or I would contact the Better Business Bureau and would also consider legal action and contacting the customer advocacy reporters from our local news stations. He continued to offer no relief, and when we asked to talk to a supervisor we were told both that he was unavailable and that he had left for the day. Judy plans on calling again tomorrow, but we suspect we will receive the same level of service.

It should be noted that Wolf Camera's locations in the Denver metro area are owned and operated by individual franchisees and are not affiliated with Wolfcamera.com. We found this out because Judy mentioned that she would be happy to go to one of our local stores and pick up the advertised lens. The service agent responded as reported above and said as such they would have no way of knowing the store's stock situation and that the store would not be able to satisfy our claim. Regardless, a prudent person would be led to believe that the entities are affiliated from the manner in which they are named. I would welcome any local franchisee to step up and honor this offer for us and restore our faith in Wolf, a company with which we've done business for over ten years.

Until either the website or a local affiliate (sorry; your name implies this) satisfies their written offer, we can not in good concious recommend either the website or the local stores to our friends, neighbors, aquaintances or readers.

Well, I need to go. I have letters to write and links to e-mail.



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Showing 1-10 of 11 comments
Submitted By: Judy Boucher
posted on 3/22/2008 @ 11:27:27 AM
(Not Rated)
Update: they will be sending us a $50.00 gift certificate. We'll be buying the Canon 55- 200mm lens Still I'm unimpressed with the length of time it took them to respond.
Submitted By: Sarah Paige
posted on 3/10/2008 @ 11:55:25 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Did they know who they were messing with? Clearly not! Got get, em, Bill!
Submitted By: Barbara Neff
posted on 3/7/2008 @ 1:51:14 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Bill, updates? I share your frustration. Consumers sharing bad experiences such as yours is the best way to improve service. I'd like to know if the problem was settled to your satisfaction. Thanks.
Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 3/6/2008 @ 9:09:39 AM
Rated Blog Entry
I was going to bring up any opinions unless I was asked, but, yeah, I'm with Mike, you can find a much better zoom lens than Quantum
Submitted By: Mike Keleman
posted on 3/5/2008 @ 6:56:02 AM
Rated Blog Entry
I second what Mick said, use B&H they're the best, out of NY, just don't call them because they are arse holes on the phone but I highly recommend them. Also, Wolf may have done you a favor, Quantum is crap in my opinion, go out and blow $1000 on a nice Cannon lens :)
Submitted By: Nikki Britain
posted on 3/3/2008 @ 5:39:50 AM
Rated Blog Entry
I think there is some saying that goes: "If a customer is happy about a company's service, he tells 10 people. If he is unhappy, he tells 100." My condolences to the poor folks at Wolf Camera.
Submitted By: Jamie VanEaton
posted on 2/29/2008 @ 2:22:43 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Be sure to contact the BBB and RipOffReports as well. Go consumer activism!
Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 2/29/2008 @ 6:07:56 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Did you know Wolf Camera and Ritz Camera are affiliated? I use B&H Camera for most of my Internet photo shopping. Sorry to hear you are having this problem. You can also find a lot of stuff on Craigslist. Let me know if you want opinions on equipment available (I'm kind of a geek that way)
Submitted By: Gladys Mercier
posted on 2/28/2008 @ 4:04:25 PM
Rated Blog Entry
We can't trust anyone any more Bill. I hope this email gets sent to that store. Good luck.
Submitted By: Karin Malchow
posted on 2/28/2008 @ 11:35:24 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Word-of-mouth (or blog) is a good way to check a company's poor business practices. Unbeknownst to us, a friend and I contracted with the same painting company last summer, both with disastrous results. If only we had talked to each other about it.
Showing 1-10 of 11 comments
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

William Boucher

Brighton , CO

William Boucher has posted 145 blog entries and 1663 comments since joining on 11/6/2005. William Boucher 's average blog rating is 4.95.
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