[TomE]

I would expect that Broadway Photo will have a interesting re-stocking fee if they even agree to take it back. You may do better on ebay!

Tom

[kskjon]

Let me elaborate I guess. The body came in bubble wrap

It *should* come in a nice black box with Pentax K10D written all over it.

On the bottom of the K10D, where it has the stamp, it only has the words pentax and k10d.

Mine says:

Pentax K10D
Digital Camera

FC (8v DC symbol) (do not throw in the garbage symbol) CE
N73
Pentax Corporation
Assembled in the Philippines (VCI logo)

It *has* a black sticker with a dark blue serial number on the opposite side, right?

[superbass]

I believe some here may be mistaken, Daniel. As far as I know, the K10D does not come with a warranty card. To obtain warranty service within the country originally purchased, a copy of the purchase receipt is the only requirement. For warranty service outside the country of original purchase, you can obtain an internation warranty card as described in the "Pentax Worldwide Service Network" leaflet.

The K10D kit does have a beige serial number card - often confused for a warranty card, but (as stated on the card) not it's purpose.

Registration is not a requirement, so there is no printed info regarding this in the kit either. The software installation includes optional registration.

The kit also includes the camera manual, software manual, CD(s) in Tyvek/plastic sleeve, a Pentax Worldwide Service Network leaflet, a small California compliance sheet (for battery), and a small "do not return...to your dealer" sheet. The kit varies between one and two CD's (same content in either case).

The camera itself comes wrapped in an unsealed plastic bubble wrap bag, with a white body cap over the lens mount. The battery has it's own small unsealed plastic bag, with the electrical contacts protected by a molded plastic cover. The cords and eyecup are also wrapped in individual plastic bags.

If the content of the manuals is in English, you most likely have a USA domestic version. Versions for other countries contain manuals relevant to the specific country, with no international manual in multiple languages. I'm not aware of any significant differences in the product itself between the various world markets.

stewart

Ok, thanks for the response. And you're probably right, I think it is the serial card. When I purchased my k100d the kit included a serial card for both the body and the kit lens. This one didn't have either. I guess the real question should be is there a way to tell whether your model is grey market or not from any markings on the body.

Either way, I still want to return it because I was lied to on the phone, and I don't appreciate it.

Opening up the kit felt weird, maybe I'm just being overly cautious, but it felt a little on the empty side. I'm going to check around the internet some more to see if I can find some more info.

Mine didn't come with the California compliance papers or the Do not return to dealer sheet. I don't know if that's something to be worried about lol ...


Thanks for all the support!

[superbass]

It *should* come in a nice black box with Pentax K10D written all over it.



Mine says:



It *has* a black sticker with a dark blue serial number on the opposite side, right?

The box has Pentax written all over it, and a bunch of other languages. I'll take a picture of the box and the bottom of the camera and post that when I get off work.

[xfraser]

The old saying is VERY true when buying camera equipment on line. if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I got burned by "BestPriceCamera.com" And will never again !! B&H, Adorama, Beach Camera, and KEH for used stuff is the way to go.

I'm starting to get a little leary of Adorama. When my boyfriend ordered my K10D from there, they sent him an e-mail saying he had to call about the order. When he called, the guy on the phone was very rude to start with, then went with the whole spiel about the camera not coming with a battery, trying to sell lenses and other accessories, etc. We were both extremely P.O'd that Adorama has started doing this, from now on it's B&H only!

Carol

[superbass]

Ok, so I just got off the phone with Pentax.

Pentax says as long as the camera has a USA receipt then it has a one year warranty ... Good info to know if someone else is willing to take a risk and buy a camera from a Crooklyn camera shop. He also said that it doesn't matter if the camera didn't come with a serial card.




Why is every freaking bs internet camera shop closed!!! I tried calling Wild Digital today, but they're closed till tomorrow. I think it's a Jewish holiday. I don't know, I mean for being religious people you'd think they'd have more of a conscience.


Lessons learned, the "grey market" is like the Cold War. Consumers are afraid of what might happen and what they've heard. It's like a blanket statement, sure there are some import cameras out there, but apparently not every camera manufacturer has them. And as I just learned, the companies seem to use this to their advantage. They took me for another 50 bucks because I was afraid of being conned.


Oh well, I'll see what I can think of on Thursday. I still want to return the camera (it's the principle), maybe their greed of overcharging me the two dollars will work for me and against them.

[davemdsn]

I think that any time a store removes items from the original packaging (ie the battery) to sell seperately, it is wrong and they should be called on it. You are purchasing a product advertised by the manufacturer and have the right to expect that it will come in the manufacturer's box with all of the items that the manufacturer has included. Afterall, Pentax's website tells you exactly what is in the box. When a store alters the packaging they are altering the total product, which is not what you asked for.

Would any of us buy a new car if we found out the the dealer had removed the steering wheel and expected us to pay extra for it? I wouldn't.

[Old Timer 56]

Ok, so I just got off the phone with Pentax.

Pentax says as long as the camera has a USA receipt then it has a one year warranty ... Good info to know if someone else is willing to take a risk and buy a camera from a Crooklyn camera shop. He also said that it doesn't matter if the camera didn't come with a serial card.




Why is every freaking bs internet camera shop closed!!! I tried calling Wild Digital today, but they're closed till tomorrow. I think it's a Jewish holiday. I don't know, I mean for being religious people you'd think they'd have more of a conscience.


Lessons learned, the "grey market" is like the Cold War. Consumers are afraid of what might happen and what they've heard. It's like a blanket statement, sure there are some import cameras out there, but apparently not every camera manufacturer has them. And as I just learned, the companies seem to use this to their advantage. They took me for another 50 bucks because I was afraid of being conned.


Oh well, I'll see what I can think of on Thursday. I still want to return the camera (it's the principle), maybe their greed of overcharging me the two dollars will work for me and against them.

Virtually all the camera stores in New York City are owned and operated by Orthodox religious Jews and that includes B&H. In fact, most of the workers in the B&H store are Hasidic. Once, I got a mildly insulting comment from one of them about my tattoo. Still a good store, though, but they are closed on Saturdays and all religious Jewish holidays. I've used them for almost 30 years and never had a problem.

My advice is to avoid the "Crooklyn" scammers like the plague. Not to start a flame war or anything but I've never found "religious" people to be more honest than other folks.

Richard

[Rick]

I'm starting to get a little leary of Adorama. When my boyfriend ordered my K10D from there, they sent him an e-mail saying he had to call about the order. When he called, the guy on the phone was very rude to start with, then went with the whole spiel about the camera not coming with a battery, trying to sell lenses and other accessories, etc. We were both extremely P.O'd that Adorama has started doing this, from now on it's B&H only!

Almost sounds like a different Adorama.

I ordered my K10D body from them just under four weeks ago; they were all business, nothing more. I did have to contact them later to confirm because I bought with a credit card based in Canada. I was asked if I needed anything else at the time of purchase - not during the required return call to confirm credit card info. I did buy an extra battery and the remote release because I had been planning on doing that anyway. No pressure or suggestions to buy anything else beyond "anything else you need in the way of batteries, cards?". I received a shipping advisory email within hours with the tracking number. The camera arrived on time, new, with everything included that was supposed to be there.

This was actually my second purchase from Adorama, although the initial one a week earlier was of much smaller value. No problems there either.

As I said at the top, it's almost as though we're talking about two different businesses here.

[TaoMaas]

I'm sorry you're having problems. I hope you get them straightened out. I used to pour over the ads in the photo magazines, searching for the absolutely lowest price on the item I was planning on buying. But after getting burned several times, I started using B&H and I've never regretted it. For me, the peace of mind of knowing there will be no hidden surprises offsets any slight savings I might get by shopping elsewhere.

[superbass]

I think that any time a store removes items from the original packaging (ie the battery) to sell seperately, it is wrong and they should be called on it. You are purchasing a product advertised by the manufacturer and have the right to expect that it will come in the manufacturer's box with all of the items that the manufacturer has included. Afterall, Pentax's website tells you exactly what is in the box. When a store alters the packaging they are altering the total product, which is not what you asked for.

Would any of us buy a new car if we found out the the dealer had removed the steering wheel and expected us to pay extra for it? I wouldn't.

I didn't explain properly. The camera came with everything that it was "supposed" to like all of the cords battery etc (I compared it to the list in the manual), the packaging was just weird, and the box had like three stickers over the upc (minor detail) and I wasn't sure if it was "grey market". This is of course after I paid the extra 50 for them to "upgrade" me to the USA version.

There was some altering done to the package, it just isn't that bad, more nit picking than anything. I'm one of those weird people that obsess over all the papers in the box. Plus I don't like it when people tinker with my stuff, I mean I bought it new I kind of expect to be the first one to open it up and go through it, but it seems like someone went through and lost like one or two of the small papers.


To be honest the only real thing I can complain about is them haggling the price. When I called to confirm my order, I was given the speech about really sucky battery life that only lasts 20 minutes, I said no not really then he went to the grey market bit and I got taken. He said the body would be 699 and 745 shipped, but on the invoice the body was 710 and shipping 35 and on my credit card there is a pending charge of 747. So I think that's what I'm going to focus on for now. Since I called Pentax and they said if I purchased the camera in the US and have a US receipt then it comes with a one year Pentax warranty. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell them that and get something done. Even if it's nothing but a refund for the 50.

I hope that gives a clearer story.

[superbass]

I'm sorry you're having problems. I hope you get them straightened out. I used to pour over the ads in the photo magazines, searching for the absolutely lowest price on the item I was planning on buying. But after getting burned several times, I started using B&H and I've never regretted it. For me, the peace of mind of knowing there will be no hidden surprises offsets any slight savings I might get by shopping elsewhere.

That's a hard lesson to learn ... Sometimes you just gotta make the mistakes yourself

[volosong]

Makes me wonder how they're still in businesss ... It seems almost impossible to keep up with all of their fronts.

Please understand that I mean no offense to you. We all want a bargain.

These places stay in business just because of people like you (and me). Let us thank our lucky stars for the internet and forums like this where we can warn each other about shady business practices.

To paraphrase the two, well worn clichés...

"If it is too good to be true . . . it probably is."

and

"There is no such thing as a 'free lunch'."

Good luck on the resolution of your dilemma. And, thanks for relating your experiences.

[KennJ]

All in all you came off with a not to bad situation considering who you purchased from and the horror stories about the "business" these guys are capable of running on folks.
With that said I would suggest that you seriously rethink returning a perfectly good camera to a company that is know for screwing up folks credit cards and leaving them with nothing, fighting to get a camera or a refund!
You might well be setting yourself up to have no camera and no money by sending the one you have back. Best to write it off as a lesson and leave it be IMO.
As the one you have is good to go on the warrenty side and they told you before you recieved the camera it would not have a battery you will be hard pressed to prove that they did something to void the deal you made with them.
Kenn

[rboy]

Why is every freaking bs internet camera shop closed!!! I tried calling Wild Digital today, but they're closed till tomorrow. I think it's a Jewish holiday. I don't know, I mean for being religious people you'd think they'd have more of a conscience.

That's going down a loaded path!!


Religion and conscience are mutually exclusive. The twain can meet, but it's not by definition.

Internet scamming is an easy racket. That's why the net is full of it. Your radar needs to be engaged at all times.