An Apology Letter From Ed Lopez, Owner of PriceRitePhoto
I received a call this morning from Ed Lopez, the owner of PriceRitePhoto. We spoke at length and he told me that the activity that has resulted from my post on my experience with his business has most certainly impacted his business. Mr. Lopez told me that he was calling to apologize and that Mr. Philips was going to be terminated at a company board meeting later on this morning. He confirmed to me that they do have the camera in question in stock and although I am not interested in purchasing it from them at this point indicated that he would sell it for me at the advertised price. Subsequently Ed sent me the following email:
“On behalf of Priceritephoto I would like to sincerely apologize for the negative experience that you have experienced with our company. As a company this is not representative of the way we treat our customers. If there is anything that we can do at this point to rectify the situation, please let me know. We have tens of thousands of happy customers who have purchased form us in the past and it is our commitment to give our customers the best value when dealing with us. We are doing a comprehensive review of our company’s procedures to ensure that something like this never occurs. We have also terminated Mr. Philips from his position with our company.”
Although I do not believe my “Steve Philips experience” was an isolated case by this merchant (and certainly the other testimonials suggest that this is in fact more of a common practice by them), my own personal view is that any retaliation towards this vendor should be channeled through legitimate and legal channels. Although some of the crank phone calls are actually pretty funny I think that it is better to take the high road in this case and to use legitimate resources where they exist, whether reporting them to the comparison pricing services or contacting the Attorney General (as I have done) or reporting them to people like the Better Business Bureau.
I think that the popularity of this story comes in large part because the message resonates so strongly with all of us. Although in a sense it is the classic tale of David and Goliath retold, it is much more than this. We all have at one point or another in our lives been bullied and most of us have been defrauded or ripped off. The fact that so many times in the past there was nothing we could do about it makes us feel all that much better about the fact that in today’s internet and blogosphere we actually CAN do something about it.
It is tremendously empowering for all of us to be able to turn the powerlessness that we felt in the past into justice in todays’ blogosphere through the help of things like Digg and Slashdot and Boing Boing. And although every rip off does not receive this level of attention, I believe this story in a greater sense is representative of perhaps thousands of rip off experiences that we have all suffered in the past and been able to do nothing about – some directly with this vendor, some directly with New York based camera vendors like this one, and some with just fraudulent internet businesses wherever they happen to be located. Because we in the past have had to live with the bitterness of our own personal frauds, our feelings towards the popularity of this story is that much stronger – as is our desire to retaliate.
This being said, I again would encourage everyone to take the high road with respect to this vendor. I believe that the power of this story and the ultimate outcome, whatever that may be, will carry much more weight if as a public we handle things responsibly and do not resort to illegal tactics or harassment. Although there is a sense that we all must feel that these folks have gotten what they deserved, I think it would be a far greater legacy for this story to have if change takes place in legal and legitimate channels.
I cannot speak to the sincerity of Ed Lopez. He has sent me an apology letter and I feel it appropriate to print it. His motivation very well may be legitimate — or it could also be the only possible avenue Mr. Lopez has left to try to salvage his business at this point.
Out of all of this, hopefully more than anything, this story will serve as a reminder to shady businesses everywhere that in the end fraud and abusive behavior towards customers does not pay. Perhaps I’m being overly idealistic here and perhaps this incident is the smallest possible blip in the greater world of internet fraud — but one thing I do know is that the power of the consumer is growing. And in a new world today with tools like blogs and Slashdot and Digg the consumer is empowered in great ways that they never have been in the past.
“Perhaps I’m being overly idealistic here and perhaps this incident is the smallest possible blip in the greater world of internet fraud”
umm yeah, I think your incident is definitely a small blip dude. Get over it and quit patting yourself on the back.
Please don’t let this go. These people are awful and need to be stopped, and right now you have enough attention that you can push for something.
Why does it take a “board meeting” to fire a lowly store manager?
it takes a board meeting to fire a lowly shitbird peon, because a) the peon doesn’t exist, and b) it tells us all that they’re a REEL LEGITAMATE COMPINY who does not rip people off as a matter of course.
screw the high road with these dudes, what’s to guarantee they don’t recitify the publicity and go on ripping people off right when they turn around? sure it’s nice to be famous, as mr. thomas hawk has had his 15min over the past few days, but don’t think that you’re speaking for anybody now that you’ve had your ego stroked with an apology.
I am so glad that this worked out. Peace.
When my mom got scammed by these assholes, they made reference to the “sixth floor” of their company. That must be where Steve Phillips works with Santa Clause.
And I too am disappointed with Thomas’ response. You should be even more pissed off that these crooks lied to you over the phone and treated you like an idiot by making up all these lies about firings and board meetings. While you didn’t exactly say you believed him, it seems you found his apology to carry some weight, which seems pretty absurd.
I know most of you people feel savy enough to not get scammed. Not everyone knows about this type of internet scamming though. Heck, I was taken advatage of by another Brooklyn outfit called Royal Camera awhile back. The real issue is these guys are on Cnet with postitive feedback ratings.
I wonder whether the fact that they don’t take Visa and Master Card only American express and Discover isn’t that a red flag??
please folks, this is america! and yes this salesman is a jerk, but please lets dont ruin his business only bcs his worker was a jerk or still is.
i am sure this stupid guy will be fired and he will have a lasson for ever
Beware of the bloggers internet merchants. Don’t you dare to treat us that way again…
It’s interesting how the user “rgwcpa1954″ and PriceRitePhoto from ebay ” [Buyer and seller]mutually agreed to withdraw feedback for this item.”
I wonder what kind of persuasion was neccessary on behalf of PriceRitePhoto. hhmm…
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid;=priceritephoto&items;=25&page;=6&frompage;=-1&iid;=-1&de;=off
seems like most of the sites above are not working anymore either.
Stephen Phillips
361 Warren St
Brooklyn, NY 11201-6412
(718) 855-6719
LGD is still at it. My experience with LGDSuperstore.com is as bad as everyone else’s. I’ve dealt with a very rude customer service rep named “Danny Roberts” – maybe a pseudonym for “Steve Phillips”. I don’t think this is this guy’s real name either.
I ordered a small (19″) LCD TV only to discover after the order was placed that the item had been listed as “no longer available” (it was “available” when I placed the order). After 10 days since the order was placed it was still listed as OPEN (i.e., nothing shipped) so I called and boy did I get a run-around.
First I was told the order would be canceled per my request. The next day, when I asked for e-mail confirmation, I was told it was passed to the shipping department and could not be canceled. They said there was no record of my having wanting the order canceled (I e-mailed, called and faxed the cancellation to them.) When I asked for shipping information, they would not give me a tracking number or shipper.
The TV was still listed as “not available” on their website, so I called the general 888 number. I was first told there were no more available, then was routed to some guy in the “TV department” who said they just got 12 in on Friday. Every time I call there is another story.
These guys are shady at best and I don’t think I’ll ever get what I ordered.
Formed in 1998, our company is setting the pace for the new standard in the ever expanding consumer electronics industry. Our staff consists of some of the top buyers nationwide with over 21 years of industry experience. We are Agents for our customers and do not stock inventory on any of the merchandise listed for sale. This allows us to offer you the very best legitimate pricing online. We realize and acknowledge the competitive nature of the electronics business and bring to you our everyday low prices.
ITS DIPSET BITCH!!! DON’T STOP NOW! DIPSET! DON’T STOP NOW! (WHISTLEx8)HERE WE GO!
PLEASE any info on ebay camera store called camerasinasnap ??? i want to buy a camera at a good price but when i call them this store in brooklyn called wheeltolease.com picks up, are they legit? they have 100% feedback on ebay… ANYONE???
Kudos
i like the bundle methods
Kudos to you!
you can find more sites about it. just do some research
I bet that Mr Philips was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time : in other words, he was behaving in accordance with the way the company functions, and he is going to simply be used as a scapegoat for a much larger problem within this company.
Trust me, I’ve been there. I have tried my best to give the best service, but many times I was actually ripping off the customer because my management were, in fact, dodgy and unprofessional. I eventually had no more time for such blatantly corrupt management, and left quietly. Perhaps Mr Philips was acting on behalf of his superiors after all…
I am glad that there are people out there like Mr. Lopez who despite of their position in the company can still afford to apologize. I know what a sincere apology can do to re-kindle or bring back any loose ends especially in business. I’m glad that everything is back to normal now. Hopefully, some people would also learn from this story.
its good!