Bad experience buying online

[mark_581]

This is similar to a post I made a few weeks ago, but I wonder whether other people have a story to share about buying online. I have a canon powershot A70 using a 512 MB compact flash card, which worked perfectly until a couple of months ago. I could not view or download the images, and I couldn't reformat the card either in the camera, or in the flash card reader connected to the PC. Third party recovery software didn't help either. The card was permanently damaged but still under warranty. I bought it from "Flashcard Direct" and after several emails to them they finally gave me an address in Hong Kong to return the faulty card, but after 5 weeks I'm still waiting for them to send me a replacement. I know they have a link on this forum but until they honour their warranty I don't recommend anyone buying flashcards from them! And if I ever buy online again it will be from a local Australian company that provides contact details such as a phone number and a shop front address. Maybe good advice there for others...? Mark (Melbourne Australia).

[snapshot42]

For about 20% more, you can purchase a known brand that is in the US. Sandisk and Lexar are the two main makers of really nice cards. A pretty good website selling these is www.digitalmemorystore.com. If the card is faulty, you can go through a USA-based vendor such as digitalmemorystore.com and they will work with Sandisk or Lexar to get you a replacement quickly.

A friend of mine just bought from this store and I plan to in the next day for my new Compact Flash card.

Hope this helps.

Marty

[Scrappy]

I've bought 2 cameras on ebay without a problem. Also I have bought lots of other stuff online. Never a problem.

[JCW3]

The big thing with online purchases is you DONT know who you are buying from.

So with that I always recommend researching you company, and then buy with caution.

At the moment I have bought many large items online, and would not thing twice about it. BUT I always buy with caution, never any unknown sites.

Again you can have a bad experiance anywhere. Whether its online or at your local camera store.

Sorry to hear about you blunder, but hopefully it will work out.

[jlpriestley]

Find one of the sites online that does ratings for online retailers. (ie -- www.bizrate.com ) You will find there are a lot of others like yourself who tend to speak freely about their bad experiences... and the good ones too. There are dealers online who take customer satisfaction very seriously, so don't give up hope online. The good ones may cost a tick more (still cheaper than down the street) but savings in heartburn are worth it for me.