Article About Bait and Switch Websites

Just came across this article.  Pretty interesting read!

Dave's Reviews of Internet Price Comparison Sites: Best Deal on Canon T1i

I thought I’d run a test to see which website provides the most accurate prices for cameras.  I only took websites with product search functionality that are among the top 50 most visited websites in the US, according to Alexa.  I’ve also included Bing and Nextag as well.

Google
Google returned 44 results, all of which appear to be legitimate retailers.  The lowest price was from TriStateCamera.com.  7.89/10 on resellerratings, but the complaints were more customer service issues, with no bait and switch problems. The problem with the Google results is that they mingle body only prices with kits that include the lens, so you have to click through to see what the price reflects.  The lowest price, with the lens, was $718 from Sam’s Club.  Tax and shipping apply.  Dell has it for $719, but tax is $59.32.
Amazon normally has it for $719 with no tax and free shipping, but they are out of stock.  Before Christmas it was $699.  This deal will come back, so just wait.
Dave’s Rating: A

Yahoo!
Yikes.  Yahoo! Shopping is a disaster.  The four “sponsored links” are from absolute bait and switch websites that will never, ever sell the camera for the price listed.  However, if you ignore the sponsored links, Yahoo! returns three results: Crutchfield, B&H and Amazon, all legitimate.
Dave’s Rating: F

Bing Shopping/MSN

Just like Yahoo!, Bing Shopping and MSN have sponsored links from bait and switch websites.  These include skypointdigital, stopandshopdigital and totalprodigital.  No, you won’t be able to buy the T1i for $289.  If you click on the shopping link, most of the companies that participate in the Bing cashback program are legitimate, but I would strongly suggest checking each on resellerratings.  You should also Google the name to see if there is any other information.  Personally, I won’t buy from a website that does not provide a physical address.  If you find one, check the local BBB website to see if they have any complaints. 
Dave’s Rating: D

AOL

Searching in AOL turns up “AOL Shopping.”  I clicked on it and most of the sellers were legitimate, although I’ve never heard of electronicsplus.  However, the prices were higher than the other sites.
Dave’s Rating: C

Go

Go.com turns up sponsored links skypointdigital.com, deltacamera.com, and need4digital.com, all bait and switch websites.  It also shows some price comparison site links which purportedly have the Canon T1i for $289 (priceclicks) and $299 (pricenshop).  Don’t bother going to these sites, as the lowest prices are from bait and switch sites.  Other than sponsored links, Go.com’s shopping portal takes you to Yahoo!.
Dave’s Rating: F

CNET

CNET had all legitimate retailers, and none of their sponsored links were from bait and switch websites.
Dave’s Rating: A

While not a top 50 site, I also checked out nextag.com.

Their “best value” was from digitalhawks.com. Primo Cameras also appeared.    The search also yielded MZLCamera and RedTagSavings. I personally would not buy from any of these sites.
Dave’s Rating:  D

Redtagsavings (Red Tag Savings): Bait and Switch

Redtagsavings comes up on Nextag.  .69/10 on resellerratings.  Beware, beware, beware.  LINK TO RESELLERRATINGS REVIEWS.

MZLCamera (MZL Camera): Sketchy?

Nextag has a “new seller” called MZLCamera that is somehow able to have the Canon 5d for the amazingly low price of $2,049, well below numerous legitimate retailers.

 

Take a look at the website.  Their store policy has numerous typos.  They don’t provide a physical location as to where they are located.  Since they are brand new there’s no info on them yet, but I call bullshit.  Please post your experiences with them below.  If you have a return address for them, please add that as well.  I’d like to know any other phone numbers they are using, as well as what state they are charging sales tax for.

DailyDealDigital (Daily Deal Digital): Sketchy?

Numerous posts on resellerratings state that Daily Deal Digital is no longer accepting major credit cards, and that they are requesting WIRE TRANSFER (!!!).  This is not a good sign.  Here’s the message that is purportedly being sent to customers:

Dear Valued Customer We regret to inform you that although the item you ordered is available, our system is unable to bill it through any major credit card network. We are awaiting word from the Visa/MC and Amex networks to see how long we await a resolution to this issue. Please feel free to respond with what type of action you would like to take at this point, we do have several different payment options and would love to retain your business but do understand if you wish to void this order. You may reply to this email with the steps you would like to take at this point and once again we do apologize for any inconvenience

Per a domain search, their URL was created on June 26, 2009.  It’s anonymously registered.  The corporation is registered in Florida as AMB Daily Deals, Inc.  They were incorporated on July 27, 2009.

From the State of Florida:

COO: Moshe Schreiber  1387 Union St., Brooklyn, NY 11213
CFO: Elie Lasker 420 N. Citrus Ave. Los Angeles CA 90036

CEO: Alon Friedman 3787 Palm Valley Road 102-175 Ponte Vedra Beach FL 32082  941-475-0703 or 0303

VP Yeruchem Blesofsky 18 Cleveland St. Valhalla NY 10595

Their address, 3787 Palm Valley Road Suite 102-175 in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 is a UPS Store.

They have a positive review from Bruce Thomason, senior editor of cwreviews.  I have no idea who this is or what cwreviews is.

The reviews on resellerratings are a respectable 7.29/10.  However, I would take that with a grain of salt, since EVERY SINGLE TESTIMONIAL ON THEIR WEBSITE HAS BEEN FAKED.  Below are just a sampling of their fake testimonials, all of which have been lifted from Batteryspace.com, including one from resellerratings that was written back in 2003.

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Original review:

Daily Deal Digital’s review:

Wire transfers?  Fake reviews?  I'll let you decide what to do.

Duped by a Merchant Found on PriceGrabber?

According to this article, Pricegrabber.com attempts to weed out the bait and switch websites. 
Excerpt:
A PriceGrabber official said the Web service stays on top of their merchants and dumps them when they hear of complaints or fraudulent activities.  "One way we stop this kind of thing is through our merchant raters program," said Graham Jones, vice president of merchant accounts for PriceGrabber. "The way we’re catching it is, if we get a certain number of one-star reviews within a certain amount of time, it sets off a trigger in our system. Then we find out what’s going on."  If PriceGrabber doesn’t get satisfactory answers, it pulls the merchant immediately, Jones said.   "They can contest it, but usually there’s no discussion," he said. "There is a minimal level of service we will allow on our site."   To prevent merchants from giving themselves positive reviews, PriceGrabber checks the IP addresses of reviewers to make sure they aren’t all from the same source, Jones said.
It would appear that PriceGrabber makes a real effort to exclude the bait and switch website from their results.  However, their results consistently show US1Photo as having the lowest price.  Recent reviews on resellerratings are not good.  If you have been burned, perhaps shoot an email to Graham.  I think his email is gjones@pricegrabber.com.

FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST THE BAIT AND SWITCH WEBSITES

Tom Kelley, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office, encourges anyone victimized by the bait and switch websites to file a complaint.  The attorney general’s complaint line is 800-252-8011, or Texans can file a complaint at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/.  He said that there may be provisions for refunds.
.

Star Telegram: Price comparison Web sites may not be trustworthy

Texas has managed to shut down several of the fake price comparison sites that were either being paid for, or were owned by, the bait and switch websites.  Per the following excerpt from this article, Albert Houllou owns one third of Everyprice.com.  He's the bait and switch kingpin who runs Broadway Photo as well as at least ten other websites.
Excerpt:
Price comparison Web sites are great tools for many online shoppers. Take an item on your wish list, plug it into one of these services, and instantly out comes pages of prices and retailers to help shoppers find the best deal.  But are they always giving consumers the truth?  Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott found seven sites last week that he alleges were not.  "We have uncovered some wrongdoing by some online services that are misleading consumers about the value and bargain that they think they are getting," said Abbott in a news conference. "What we discovered was a cash-for-rating scheme in which some merchants actually paid for high rankings."
Abbott’s office took legal action against two companies based in Brooklyn, N.Y.: Intercept Llc., which operated Shopcartusa.com, Diduprice.com, Flyingprices.com, Digital saver.com and Pricingdepot.com; and another online company, Everyprice.com, which also operated Lowpricedigital.com.  As of Thursday, all the Intercept Web sites except Pricingdepot.com say that their operations have been suspended. Everyprice.com and Lowpricedigital.com state that the sites are "under construction."  In both lawsuits, Abbott charged the companies, which did business with Texas consumers, with misrepresentation under the Deceptive Trades Practices Act.
Intercept was charged with falsely representing that its merchants were "rated best places to shop," had the "lowest legitimate prices" and were "customer-certified," according to the lawsuit. The company was accused of endorsing merchants even though it knew the retailers had numerous complaints against them.  In its final judgment, Intercept agreed to either pay a $300,000 civil penalty or shut down. The company, which could not be reached for comment, agreed to shut its Web sites.  In the Everyprice.com lawsuit, the company is accused of secretly steering shoppers toward certain retailers and not disclosing that the merchants were paying for favorable treatment.  The Internet Enforcement Unit of the attorney general’s consumer protection division said it discovered that Everyprice.com also allowed merchants to create their own endorsements for a fee. Customers complained that Everyprice.com merchants used bait-and-switch tactics to persuade them to buy more expensive products, the lawsuit contends. Other customer complaints alleged that the company’s "five-star rating" had few requirements to obtain.
In addition, one merchant, Albert Houllou, who owns one-third of Everyprice.com, is also the sole owner of 11 retailers that the lawsuit alleges are prominently featured on the comparison-shopping services. One of Houllou’s companies, Broadway Photo, is also involved with other deceptive-trade-practice lawsuits by the Texas and New York attorneys general.

DigitalElect.com aka Digital Elect: Bait and Switch Alert

I just noticed a new website appearing on Google as a sponsored link:

$579 for a Nikon D5000, lens only?  That's more expensive than Amazon, which has it for $549.

Nikon D5000 12.3 MP DX Digital SLR Camera with 2.7-inch Vari-angle LCD (Body Only)

Are they legit?  Digitalelect.com claims that "Digital Elect" has been around since 2000, and that their website has been around since March 2009.  Yet, other than their domain name reserved this year, there is no record of their existence.  The State of New York has no record of any corporation going by this name (check for yourself here).  Nothing in New Jersey either.   Nor is there any contact information on their website, NOT EVEN A PHONE NUMBER!  They don't even mention what state they are in for sales tax purposes.  One thing that is VERY ALARMING about these guys is the background design of their website. Those snow flakes are the EXACT same ones that soniccameras.com used prior to being driven out of business (read the horrible reviews here; they had a .82/10 rating).
Put the following search terms, from their product headings, in Google: "dv cam" gps "mini dvd/blu-ray" "camera accessories" "home theater"
It returns exactly six results, including need4digital.com and digitalliquidators.  That's a REALLY, REALLY bad sign.  Digitalliquidators.com has a .31/10 rating on resellerratings.com, while need4digital.com has a 5.91/10 score, (probably positvely skewed with fake reviews) with one purchaser describing it as the worst buying experience in his life.  Several of the headings from Digitalelect.com, including: Flashes, Projectors, GPS, Lens Accessories, Televisions, LCD, Plasma, Television Accessories, Home Theater, lead to pages that say "No Products found for selected Category."
If you've had any experiences with them, please let me know by posting a note below, or emailing me at dave.michael@rocketmail.com.
Update: A reader of this blog noted that after purchasing from Digital Elect, the order confirmation says "Crazy Camera Deals."  The contact page of CrazyCameraDeals.com list an address of 1223 Mcdonald Avenue in Brooklyn,  and a phone number of 877-244-1302, the same number as need4digital, a bait and switch website.  Read the reviews here. You can go ahead and ignore the fake positive ones.  So Digital Elect = Crazy Camera Deals = Need4Digital.  Add 'em all together and you get one BIG FRAUD.

Lodge a Complaint with Yahoo!

I noticed that when I search for a Canon 50d in Google, Yahoo! Shopping is a sponsored link.  Clicking on it reveals the following:

Holy crap...SupremeCamera.com...BingoCameras.com...stopandshopdigital.com...three of the absolute worst bait and switch websites on the Internet today!  (Don't bother trying to use priceclicks...their wonderful results included closeoutisland (FRAUD), skypointdigital (FRAUD), and ThunderCameras (FRAUD).
Now that Google has removed most of these scumbags from their results, I'm focusing my efforts on Yahoo! and Bing.
Please, file a complaint with Yahoo! here: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/shopping/general.html
If you've been victimized by one of these bait and switch websites, you owe it to yourself to fight back. File a complaint and get them to remove these bait and swith websites from their sponsored links program.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 2 IS lenses for $782.53 w/ free shipping

Make sure that the seller for each is Amazon, not a third party. First, add the camera to your cart:

Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
Next, add the lens:
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
Once you get to checkout, the price drops by $200 to $782.53. If it doesn't, then the deal is probably dead, but you'll know this prior to placing the order.  If you already own a Canon camera, check out this link to see if you qualify for a $50 rebate.  REBATE LINK.

Yahoo Product Search: Corrupted by Fraud

If Yahoo! is trying to take on Google, they are going about it all wrong.  Anyone searching for camera equipment using Yahoo! search is going to be inundated with ads from bait and switch websites that are conducting Internet fraud.  Take a look at the results I got while searching for a Canon 50d:

Bingo Cameras...Stopandshoptdigital.com...thundercameras.com....these are members of the bait and switch hall of fame and are absolutely criminal enterprises.  Check out their ratings at reselleratings.com.  Countless reviews documenting the fraud.  Now that Google has cleaned up its act, these websites are fleeing to Yahoo! and Bing...but I'll track them down until they no longer rip people off.

Top Scam Website: December 7, 2009

Congrats to Delta Camera, today's top bait and switch website! Remember, do not, in any event, attempt to purchase anything from these criminals.

Texas Attorney General Shuts Down Fake Price Comparison Websites

According to this article, the State of Texas is doing what the State of New York has failed to do…shut down the fake price comparison sites operated by the bait and switch websites.

Excerpt:

(The Attorney General’s) office has filed an enforcement action against Intercept, L.L.C., which operates several price-comparison sites, including: Shopcartusa.com, Diduprice.com, Flyingprices.com, Digitalsaver.com and Pricingdepot.com. That legal action led to an agreed judgment under which Intercept promised to correct its unlawful practices and either pay a $300,000 civil penalty or cease doing business.

When their sites were checked today, Flyingprices.com, Shopcartusa.com, Flyingprices.com, Diduprice.com and Digitalsaver.com had suspended operations. Pricingdepot.com was displaying a "parked domain" page consisting of links that lead to advertisements for various products.

Everyprice.com

A separate enforcement action named Everyprice.com Inc., which operates the Web sites Everyprice.com and Lowpricedigital.com, for similar infractions. The defendant’s Web sites appeared to allow visitors to comparison shop – and therefore find the best deals – by using a single Web page to search for a product and obtain results from multiple merchants.  Those two sites were also inactive when last checked. they both displayed "under construction" banners.

***

According to state investigators, Everyprice.com was not only paid for high ratings, but it allowed questionable merchants to create their own specialized endorsements for an additional fee. And although Intercept received numerous customer complaints about specific “endorsed” merchants, the defendant continued to rate them as “top sellers” that offered the “lowest legitimate prices.”

Customer complaints obtained by the Office of the Attorney General indicate that Everyprice.com’s highly rated merchants used bait-and-switch tactics to persuade customers to purchase more expensive products than they desired. Other complaints highlighted Everyprice.com’s deceptively impressive “five-star rating,” which merely required industry-standard privacy policies and product disclosures – such as whether an item was new or refurbished. The defendants used Google, Yahoo and MSN to advertise its Web sites worldwide.

The state’s enforcement action against Everyprice.com seeks civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, plus appropriate attorneys’ fees. The state also seeks restitution where necessary to address financial injury to the Web sites’ users.

 

If the State of New York’s recent action against the bait and switch website operators has proved anything, it’s that they will simply reopen their websites under different names.  Hopefully the State of Texas will have more luck.  One site they need to shut down immediately is redlabeldeals.com, another fake price comparison site.  Every single search returns “TotalProDigital” as having the lowest price.  TotalProDigital is a bait and switch website, and I’m confident it’s operated by redlabeldeals.com.  If you’ve been victimized, perhaps try contacting the State of Texas AG’s office:  FILE A COMPLAINT.

 

ElectroBrands.com aka Electro Brands: BAIT AND SWITCH!!!

Electrobrands is showing up on Nextag results.  Here's a photo of their "headquarters"...what an impressive location!  Googling their phone number, 800-325-0204, yields this post from ripoffreport.com. The phone number is also used by trusteddealer.com, which uses an address at 773 Coney Island Avenue.    The website trusteddealer.com forwards to electrobrands.com.   Here's the reselleratings report on trustedDealer.com...out of 54 reviews they have a .79 out of 10 rating...absolutely horrible.  These guys are a bait and switch operation running out of the State of New York in violation of State consumer protection laws.  You need to avoid this site.  Their website contains nearly identical pages as redtagsavings.com, another fraudulent site.  .69/10 rating on reselleratings.  I think they are operated by the same person, who also operated digitaldelivered.com.  1.01/10 on reselleratings.  Whois info: 
albert nigri

773 coney island ave  (the same as trusteddealer.com)
brooklyn, ny 11218
From the Better Business Bureau:  Digital Delivered has an F rating, with 121 complaints.  Read the report here.
Albert Nigri, President

Phone Number: (718) 826-1876
(718) 826-6297
(800) 325-0304
Al Nigri has his hands in other operations as well.  According to this link:
"Since the early '90s, its owner Albert Nigri has headed several other companies, including Why Not and Pretty Girl, reaping profits from sweatshop conditions without facing any consequences. With this new court decision, Nigri and other manufacturers will now be held liable for the labor violations in their subcontracted factories."
Need more evidence?  How about fake positive reviews?  Here's a review of Electrobrands on Nextag:

Now look at this review for unbeatablesale on ePininions:

In case you can't read them, they are identical. 

Here's another fake review:

Hmmm. Looks familiar.

Consumer fraud on its face.  The funny thing is that Electrobrands doesn't even sell binocluars.  Lazy thieves.

Photovideosuperstore: BAIT AND SWITCH

A new site is appearing on google adwords. Photovideosuperstore.com aka Photo Video Superstore. Their domain was created on October 5, 2009 and is through a foreign anonymizer:

Registrant:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: photovideosuperstore.com
Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Funchal, Madeira 9000-039
Phone: 1-902-7495331
The address provided on the website, 80 Broad St., NY NY 10004, is for a large office building.   However, I have confirmed, first person proof that they are not, in fact, located at this address (the person spoke with the front desk security person) and there is no mailbox store located at this address that they could be using.  SO THE ADDRESS IS FAKE!

The number on their "Contact Us" page, 877-262-1626, apparently is a typo, as the rest of their website lists their number as 877-262-6126. 
Their "Privacy Policy" page is blank;

Their "Secured by RapidSSL" link doesn't work.  There's no feedback on this site as of the date of this post, but numerous red flags lead me to conclude that this is another bait and switch website.  Please post your experiences below.

UPDATE:  12/10/2009:  PhotoVideoSuperstore also uses the phone number 718-907-5460, that belongs to Mega Wholesale, which operates thecameraprofessionals and ubuydigital.com: read the horrific reviews here.  These guys also operate supreme cameras, another bait and switch site.  Moussa Swed runs these sites.  Read the unsatisfactory better business bureau report here.  New York AG....are you listening?

Lorimer Electronics: BAIT AND SWITCH ALERT

If you are thinking about buying from Lorimer Electronics, DON’T.  They are a bait and switch operation.  Read the REVIEWS HERE.

If you've had problems with them, first cancel your credit card.  Second, call the State of New York Attorney General's Office.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

Next, file a complaint with the Feds.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

Finally, file a complaint with the New York Better Business Bureau.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

Per this post, they are run by the same people that run TaaffePhoto (see previous post). These are criminals running these websites, and the State of New York needs to prosecute them.

Warning: Clinton Hill Electronics (clintonhillelectronics.com)

A new website that is appearing as a Google sponsored link is Clinton Hill Electronics.  There is nothing yet to confirm they are a bait and switch website, but there are numerous red flags.  First, there is no way to tell where they are located, other than their name, which references a neighborhood in...uh oh...Brooklyn.  Second, both the "About Us" and "Customer Service" pages are invalid (see below).  You currently see the following (note the reference to "Magento Demo Store"...Magento is an open source website building app).  They were sloppy in throwing this website up.

Another problem is the copyright notice at the bottom of the page, that indicates they have used clintonhillelectronic.com (note the "s" missing at the end) since 2000.  They have not, since the domain was created in May 2009.

But by far the most incriminating item about these guys was found buried deep in the html of their website.  By viewing their source, I found the following:

If you look closely, you'll see a phone number that is not viewable on their webpage.  It's 718-230-1617.  Google the number.  It belongs to Taaffe Photo.  Read the reselleratings reports HERE.  0.00/10 out of 179 reviews.   Another phone number they use is: 718 789 9119. 

If you've had problems with them, first cancel your credit card.  Second, call the State of New York Attorney General's Office.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

Next, file a complaint with the Feds.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

Finally, file a complaint with the New York Better Business Bureau.  FILE YOUR COMPLAINT HERE.

HallStreet Camera aka Hallstreetcamera: BEWARE!!!

Hallstreetcamera.com (Hall Street Camera) now shows up on Google searches as having the lowest prices on certain cameras. They purportedly have the Lumix G1 for $609 with no tax and free shipping. Per a search of their domain name, they’ve been around for all of two weeks.

Their site has absolutely no contact info whatsoever.  Since they are brand new, I was unable to find any complaints about them, but you would be well advised to be very careful in dealing with them, and don't let them talk you in to overpriced accessories.  If you have dealt with them, please post your experiences below.

Hot Deal: Flip Ultra Camcorder 2nd Generation, 120 Minutes: $89.99 Shipped (40% Off)

This deal has reappeared, but it comes and goes quickly.  Amazon has the Flip Ultra Camcorder for just $89.99 shipped.  The normal price is $149.99.  This would be a great Christmas gift.
Flip Ultra Camcorder 2nd Generation, 120 Minutes (White)

Top Scam Websites: December 1, 2009

Based on Google searches that led people to this blog, the top bait and switch website today is once again Supreme Camera, followed closely by Total Pro Digital, Delta Camera, LMR Photo, Need 4 Digital and Bingo Cameras.  You'd be wise to avoid all of these websites, like you would a venereal disease...they are that bad.

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