No, Larry, the warnings about NYC stores are based on real experiences that
go back at least as far as the early 70's. A lot of them used to be centered in
the 42nd street area, and they sold lots of small electronic gear that
usually broke after a short while, if it worked at all. It took NY State a very
long
time to clean this area up, as most of the store's victims were tourists who
were long gone and back in their home country before they realized they were
cheated. IOW- they couldn't file a complaint from where they lived, AND- maybe
more impotantly- they didn't vote in NY City or State.
Some of them closed and reopened as "mail order only" stores, with no
physical store site that you could visit, but they enticed you to call with ads
in
the back of photo magazines that seemed too good to be true, and they would
bait
and switch you from that item when you called because "they just ran out of
stock for that one, and the manufacturer told them more wouldn't arrive for
eight weeks". They'd then sell you a more expensive camera but charged you
extra
for things that usually came with the camera, like lens caps, wrist straps,
batteries, and warranties. And also charge you $25 for a $3 UV filter that they
"strongly recommended."
I could go on and on. When you called some of them, the first thing they
said after "hello" would be to ask for your credit card number, without ever
asking what you were interested in. If you refused to give the number at that
point, they'd hang up on you!
Unfortunately, most examples of stereotypes in life can be traced to a
factual basis.
George S.
halpert@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> Probably the usual prejudice of NYC based on nothing even slightly related
> to a
> fact. Usually conveyed by people not expecting to ever set foot anywhere
> near
> the area based on TV myths. Over time I've bought 2 things from Focus with
> zero
> problems. B&H is great, along with a slew of others.
>
> Larry
>
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|