Closeout Genius just changed its name to Closeout Island. The various sites that they run include SLRIsland, CamcorderIsland, Naviisland and many others.
They are one of the worst bait and switch websites on the Internet, if not the absolute worst. Read the reviews here. If you’ve attempted to purchase from them, cancel your credit card and report the transaction to the State of New York’s Attorney General.
Read my prior analysis of them here. Pay attention to the 73 comments at the bottom. They have the same address as Big Camera Deals, their other bait and switch website. See this photo, read my analysis here. There are a number of families that run the various bait and switch websites in Brooklyn, but CamcorderIsland/Big Camera Deals is run by the absolute bottom feeders. Another site that they operated is Sonic Cameras. There are actively engaged in fraudulent business activities.
Google really, really needs to remove them from Adwords immediately.
30 comments:
WOW thank you for this post...tried and tried to find something on this website and could not find any information...I was just about to buy a 2600 camera from them...thanks for saving me a hassle!
Yes,Yes, Yes I called about about a canon ti1 because it was half off. I called and talked to sales which sounded exactly like the telephone menu system. I asked him how many cameras they had in stock, and he put me on hold for 5 mins. and forgot to answer my question. He just said to buy it on-line. That's when i Googled your blog.....Thanks for the heads up!
Beware of doing business with Pyxis Camera. Part of my camera order did not arrive in the package. I have called and e-mailed for almost two weeks to get them to send the missing part. Sometimes after arguing with me, they say the part will be mailed and I will receive a confirmation e-mail. However, they did not follow through. I finally got fed up and had my credit card company do a charge back for the value of the missing part.
Brilliant work Dave the daring!
I have been shopping for a Nikon D700 Body/lens. Ironic that there kits are cheaper than a Body only. Someone help me add this up!
As I spoke to them, firstly, they do not acknowledge their name while answering the phone. Always in a big hurry while talking and sounded like a SCAM brewing. We should send them to Nigeria for telephone scam business, may be Somalia so do speak.
Stay away from shopping their websites listed below again! They are not listed on www.BBB.com. Hello!
Go with Amazon and their affiliates. Good luck.
www.skypointdigital.com
www.closeoutisland.com
ww.slrisland.com
Thank-you for having posts like this on your site. I was thinking about somthing as I was reading their prices, "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is". Thanks, Craig
All I can say is "THANK YOU", as I was thinking about ordering from CloseoutIsland. But as Craig & my Mother said ...if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is." Also, I wondered too how their "packages" could be such a close price to just a camera body D700.
I started looking for info on them & found this post. Thanks so much for saving me from more than just a headache. Stella
Wish i had read this before, My camera body has been on back order for 4 weeks now.
BUYER BEWERE. I THINK THAT CLOSE OUT ISLAND HAS CHANGED NAMES AGAIN. THE SITE IS BARGAINBOOKSTORES.COM, E-BAY SELLERS I.D. IS 180449. I FOUND THIS SITE ON E-BAY THAT ARE SELLING STUFF WAY TO CHEAP. I MEAN THERE IS NO WAY THAT THEY CAN SELL A CANON 500mm L IS LENS FOR ONE DOLLAR AND .99 CENTS. I TRIED TO CHECK THEM OUT AND FROM WHAT I FOUND IS THAT THEIR LOCATION IS REAL CLOSE TO CLOSEOUTISLAND. TO ALL THE PEOPLE OUT THERE PLEASE REMEMBER "IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS" I KNOW THAT I WORK HARD FOR MY MONEY AND I'AM SURE THAT YOU DO. IN CLOSING JUST PLEASE BE CAREFULL. TALK TO YOU LATER. THANK-YOU,CRAIG
Dave, I did some more checking on Bargain book stores dot com. and he said in his ad that it will ship from Budd lake, NJ. I e-mailed them and I said that I live only about 10 mi. away and would like to pay for it in cash. Well guess what, now the item is in the U.K. and that he is only the U.S rep. The real funny thing is that all their feed backs are only 2 days old, I'am talking over 5000 feed backs in two day's. To ship somthing that fast and get that many feed backs is impossible. RED FLAG, RED FLAG!!! Please DO NOT get ripped off by this so called company. Thank-you Craig, P.S. To the other would be buyers out there read my other post on this site about bargainbookstores.com
FROM CRAIG KUBNICK AND YES THIS IS MY REAL NAME. I HAVE NOTHING TO TO HIDE. YOU CAN CALL ME AT HOME 1-715-478-0436 IF YOU NEED TO. BARGAINBOOKSTORE.COM new up-date. Ebay closed them down bargianbookstores.com. SELLERS ID NUMBER IS 180449. Please be carefull,they will be back under a differnt name, mark my words . We the honest people have to watch out for each other!! PLEASE TAKE CARE. THANK-YOU, CRAIG AND DEBBY
thank you guys!!!!
I ordered online a Canon SD780 camera over the Labor Day weekend from CloseoutIsland(COI) and got a call Tuesday from them to confirm that I did make the order. During the call I was also offered to order extra battery and memory card for the camera which were priced at least double the normal one find in stores. I declined the offers and was told the order process is continuing.
Not hearing back from COI as of 9/10/09, I Googled for reviews on COI and found out this site that spelled out all the bad comments against COI.
I called COI today for status of my order and I was told my order is back ordered and they expect the order to come in a week or two. Upon hearing that, I told the guy to cancel my order.
Thanks all for the helpful reviews. I will be more critical of online stores from now on.
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Pyxis Camera is not to be trusted. I also did not receive part of my order. E-mails to their customer service were not answered and calls led to them assuring me that the missing item would be sent right away, but nothing ever happened. I too requested my credit card company do a charge back months ago and am still waiting for the final decision. DO NOT SHOP WITH PYXIS!
I purchased over $1000.00 worth of cameras and lenses off closeoutisland.com the other day. After entering my credit card info, I did some research and found that it was just a scam to get credit card info. I called the "company" to see about my purchase and I was transferred a handful of times to different people that sounded shady and unprofessional. When I wouldn't confirm my 3 number verification code on my credit card, they started yelling at me and hung up. I contacted my credit card company directly after that incident and cancelled my credit card and am having to pay a $35 fee for a new card to be shipped overnight. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM CLOSEOUTISLAND.COM. It is a scam and they will not send you anything. Please do not make the same mistake I did.
Thanks for the post. I actually ordered a Canon T1i originally for a package for what I thought was super cheap(it's my first dslr). I got a call 48 hours later recommending me to upgrade by getting a Canon Xsi with an AF Nikon lens for $400-500 more. I said sure over the phone but then realized, I've just been scammed and that now I was getting ready to dish over retail price. I was getting upgraded to a cheaper camera and a generic lens for more money! After researching online and discovering this, I quickly cancelled my CC before the transaction can post. Thank you so much for helping me save money! By the way, he said he was a "Canon Authorized Distributer". Canon distributer my ASS!-- parkr9@unlv.nevada.edu
I was pretty wary after reading these negative responses since I had already placed my order. But I had a very different experience - I was asked to call back to confirm my order. When I gave my order number, I was placed on hold for a couple of minutes and then the customer rep told me that my order was confirmed and would ship out the same day. No bait & switch, no back order :-)
Waiting for my D90 now...
Good luck on that Samir. Please provide an update once you receive it. It'll be interesting to see what arrives.
Ordered a couple weeks ago and paid for overnight but no camera. had the same experience of calling and then being told it would ship the next day. Go leave a sidewiki for them so people will know not to make the same mistake many of us did.
I attempted to order a Nikon D-90 FROM "Rip off Island".
I talked to some Jack Ass named "Rip off Ralph"
He tried to sell me a $150. battery that I could buy anywhere else for $32.00. He also said i needed a "special memory card"for$100.
I toldhim to cancel my order. I am constantly monitoring my credit card since they have the #. If I see any unwarranted charges I will notify the New York attorney general and press criminal charges. People should be aware of these evin people!
i cannot thank you enough for posting this blog ... and to everyone who responded and put up their stories as well, thank you. i was a push of the button away from ordering from them last night and then my stomach lurched a little — having been ripped off myself and usually skeptical of "too good to be true" things, i decided to do a little more digging on the company. i din't have to look far.
i will definitely go with a trusted name.
thanks again.
wats a good cheap website besides amazon.com b&h or adorama?
Hello, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONEST WORDS. I NOTICED THEY ARE SELLING A CANON XL 1 CAMERA FOR $900 BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT THE PHOTO IT WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT CAMERA ACTUALLY THE CANON XHA1S AND THEY ARE WAY DIFFERENT AND WAY DIFFERENT IN PRICE....SURE WISH I COULD FIND AN XLR CAM FOR ONLY $900 BUT NOW I KNOW IT REALLY WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. I ORDERED ONLINE BUT NEVER CONFIRMED SO NOW I WILL CANCELL MY CARD...THANK YOU!!!!!!!
total scam
HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! These guys have great prices advertised of course as nobody else but you can't buy these items here. They going to tell you that a model you want to buy is Japanese version (a camera is Japanese and you won't be able read in Japanese so you need to get US model for more) or (a Lens is Japanese and is made of plastic so you need to purchase US model for more that a plastic one has too many recalls). Unfortunately they convinced me to buy Sigma lens even I wanted only Canon brand. They put extra letters on the model number so I couldn’t check what I'm really buying and I believed them. Manager Ralph gave me false information that he sending me newest model which isn't on US market yet and I could see it only on Japanese web site but I don’t know read Japanese so actually I can’t see it anywhere . Later on I found out that this model he sent me is nine months on US market and even it’s cheaper elsewhere. I would be fine if I would get grey market product with store warranty, but not from these guys. I called back after few minutes to cancel my order. Manager Ralph said that he can't cancel it that my order was already processed but I can try it for 30 days and if I don't like it he will issue a full refund and also full refund for both shipping charges, that I have his word on it and I can record it on tape if I want. I realized that something is here wrong after I spent two hours on the phone with these guys under huge sale pressure ,listening how great item I'm getting ,ten times better than Canon. After I received the package I didn't open it and I sent it same day back. They refused the package and it came back to my house and my little daughter unfortunately signed it. So I sent it to them again. I called them and I asked for the return label or authorization number but Ralf didn't give it to me. I disputed item with credit card but Ralph said it never going to happen. Now he says that he never told me about 30 days and full refund. Now he wants 15% restocking fees and return policy is now 7days as is written on their web page. FEDEX has package, delivering package, hopefully they won't refuse it again. They are forcing me to keep it, even if I'm happy with my new lens from different store. Today I’m truly disappointed and devastated.
i need a physical address guys. i'm trying to report them to the BBB but there's not a single addy to be found on their website. please someone send a physical addy to edgarmartinez131@yahoo.com
i saw something about las vegas and brooklyn, new york. please help me guys.
I am having fun with these guys now! first I ordered a lense that of course was put on back order when I did not purchase the accessories or protection plan. Then I called them back and told them that if that lense was on back order then I would like to upgrade to a better lense, one that was in stock. I was quickly told that all the lenses were on back order.
I had my wife call and ask if she could buy a camera body and lenses and how quickly they could be shipped. They told her 24 hrs. I was told it takes 1 week. they said that evrything was in stock and ready to go so she proceeded to pad the order then she quickly changed her mind and said she had found a better deal on the lenses and she just wanted the body. Then they said they had to check the availability of the camers and guess what. It was on back order. She told them that she was just told that they had it and was quickly told to order online.
I called back again and asked if I could order a very expensive lense and if they could get it to me by the weekend and they said yes they could ship today. they told me all lenses were in stock and I told them that's funny you just told me everything was on back order a minute ago... they hung up.
Well well now they won't even accept my phone calls. They must have some sort of call screening setup.
I got the same story for the Can sxi, marked 299 for the sport package, half the price of the lowest anywhere, then I called to double check, knowing I wouldn't get anywhere, and of course they had an order of "100 or more" of the same camera during the time I ordered so they were out of stock....I wanted to screw with them so I asked about a more expensive camera and told them I only had a little money and that it was for my daughters birthday, they said, sorry we don't have anything in that price range. The next day they had the camera marked down to 199! So when they realize youa ren;t going to be sucked in, they dump you. Who has time to run a business in such a shitty manner and by the way, they are closed on the SABBATH, HMMMMM
I ordered a canon sd1200 from closeout island 10 days back and I called them today to find the status of my order. They said the product is not available for shipping till december. Those idiots should have displayed that message while I was ordering the camera. I told them to cancel my order immediately. They were very unprofessional.
Just want to thank you guys for all your help. If it looks to good to be true, it usually is. I ordered 2 cameras and then read your reviews - I called the next morning and they tried to sell me the "accident insurance" for "less than half price and throw in an extra battery." I didn't need batteries and wasn't about to get insurance, but asked when I could expect shipment, they told me 2 to 3 months even though they had just told me they were in stock ready to ship. I cancelled the order and called my credit card company to cancel the card for fraud. Thank you so much.
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