Huge price differences on HMC150?

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Why? I ordered it and it came in 3 days brand new in box. I have been using it for weeks. I couldn't be more pleased.
 
6 posts "garym31"? Sounds like you are a rep... I dealt with Broadway and they are a bunch of scammers. Don't spend any money there - even if think you are getting a better deal.
 
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Unless you have super-solid confirmation (i.e., you have a friend who works there), don't ever spend more than a few hundred dollars under the current street price (check B&H for that). You're asking to throw your money away, I see it happen all of the time. Figure you have an 80% chance of being scammed at a list price <$3000. Is that worth the risk to you?
 
Yeah, you're probably the first good review of Broadway I've ever heard. As to greay market stuff... if you're willing to take that chance, more power to you.

I bought a $2k TV 2 1/2 years ago. Great reviews about quality and reliability. I decided to get the extended service plan from Best Buy in the off chance something may go wrong. Geek Squad is going to be out in an hour for the third time in as many weeks with new parts trying to fix it. To quote the service tech the first time... "I've never seen a one of these behave this way". Without that service plan, I'd be out a "perfectly reliable" $2k TV. And since I just had my hours at work cut by more than half, I couldn't afford even a $200 one right now.

Crap can happen, and it tends to happen at the worst time when you think it isn't. And not having that 3 yr warranty can come back to bite you in the rear in a year and a half.
 
garym31 said:
I just ordered one from broadwayphoto.com for 2699. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. Sure its grey market but who cares. I have owned 3 DVX100's for years and never had a problem. These cameras dont use tape. I dont know about you guys but I would rather take the extra money for something other than nothing.
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I don't know the poster, but I've never heard any cam that came "in three days" without a whole bunch of other issues involved from companies like that noted.

Broadway Photo is among the worst:

lifetime rating: 1.64 out of 10 at resellerratings.com. http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Broadway_Photo

AKA

A&M Photo World
Regal Camera
Prestige Camera
Preferred Photo
Royal Camera
bway

Always buy Panasonic authorized.
 
I bought from Jon Grove at Full Compass for $3229 which was the lowest legit price I could find. Free shipping in the USA. Cost me $75 to ship to Canada.

The othe rlegits companies listed are good too. I orded from FC due to the price. Service has been great and Jon's pricing has always been below what their website says.

Be VERY leary of any ebay or or website claiming to be $1000 cheaper. A few years ago I found a nigerian scam online. They sent out an email that looked like a legit ebay email (they were also listed on ebay till they got removed) but it was a fake and asked for a money order, which is a violation of ebay policy.

EDIT: I should add that for some reason I was still able to register theh warranty in Canada. It had USA and Canada warranty cards in the box and they all stated "Panasonic North America".
 
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Yeah 6 posts. Long time user of the site just don't have much to say. Sorry only sharing my experience. If you know how to deal with those companies you will have a nice experience everytime. Electronics such as this camera if they are going to break will break in the first few times using them. If not they last pretty much forever unless they are mishandled. The cam still has a warranty anyway. Extended warranties are the biggest crock and waste of money out there. I have worked @ retail outlets and this is the real scam. Sure broadway is shady. They will most likely cancel your order if you just go on their site and order the barebones cam and none of their outrageously priced accessories. However if you throw them an extra 50 dollars to expedite shipping they will ship your cam and you will be happy just like me :laugh:. Third cam I bought from one of these sites and never had a problem.

I personally just hate seeing people being mislead just because others want to preach about something they don't even know about. Just my 2 cents.
 
Ok also I watched your youtube link and he is calling about accessories. Yes they try to sell you on accessories just say no you don't want them. Nothing about cams. I don't care about a 2 gb sd card.

Also no I am not a rep I could care less if anyone else orders from them and I was mistaken I ordered mine from http://www.ibuydigital.com/.
 
garym31 said:
The cam still has a warranty anyway.
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No, it doesn't. If it's grey market, by definition it doesn't. Otherwise, it wouldn't be grey market.

And as for extended warranties... often times they are a joke. However, sometimes they were worth it (like in my case). But the underlying point is that if you're forking out that much money for something without a warranty, you'll most likely get burned. Better to spend the extra couple of hundred dollars and get it through legit channels than buy a grey market camera, have it crap out when you need it, and then not have Panasonic honor the warranty. Especially when you need the camera to make money.
 
Gray market cams do have warranties, but not in the USA -- the warranty is honored in whatever country the camera came from. So it may mean having to ship it back to Japan or China or Singapore or wherever it was imported from. But no USA repair shop will honor the manufacturer's warranty on a gray-market item.
 
I stand corrected... but then there is the hassle of dealing with Chinese or Singapore customer service and then shipping it there for repairs. I'd rather just spend the extra few hundred dollars and keep it all in country.
 
garym31 said:
Yeah 6 posts. Long time user of the site just don't have much to say. Sorry only sharing my experience. If you know how to deal with those companies you will have a nice experience everytime.

I personally just hate seeing people being mislead just because others want to preach about something they don't even know about. Just my 2 cents.
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I'm sorry - I did not preface my post by saying I didn't know about the situation. After trying to purchase a Sony FX1000 from these scammers for around $1200 and having them say YOU NEED A LENS ($1000) TO MAKE THIS CAMERA WORK - I knew it was a scam... You are lured in a low low prices, and they try to get you to buy the other 'accessories' that come in THE BOX.

Sounds like I know what I am talking about - and keeping people like you honest (since you most likely found these posts by searching for reviews on your scamming company).

Dude, MOST of the people did not 'have a nice experience every time'. Who would visit this place - pics here.

Please keep your 2 cents...
 
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I don't know why you are so angry with me about this situation. People have a right to know that they can afford to use this method if they can't afford the other. Just because you weren't successful with your attempt to purchase a cheap cam doesn't mean others weren't.

Sure they try to sell you other accessories. I told them I already own 3 of the cams and don't need any accessories just a faster shipping method. They will happily accept your extra 50 dollars and send you your item. I got it in 4 days and am loving it!

Shall I attach my confirmation email? Panasonic makes a rock solid product and I just am gambling with the warranty I suppose. However it still is warranted. I am actually going to be ordering another this week.

Also why are you sending me pics of their address? They are an online retailer who the heck cares what their facility looks like? Also, if you read my post I ordered from ibuydigital not broadway.

Either way I have done extensive research on this topic and am simply sick and tired of people crapping on gray market stuff. They just don't know the routine. Maybe I can make youtube videos to show how to successfully order these goods and have a pleasant experience because yes it is possible. We don't all have an extra 500-1000 dollars for a USA warranty so I am sure many people would listen. Who the heck cares if they want 200 for an SD card. Let them keep trying to sell them for that price. Free enterprise.


Woo Hoo I am almost to 10 posts
 
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If you want to read about broadway and figure out where these positive reviews are coming from, an interesting page is here:
http://sheddingsomelight.com/buy-cameras/list/dealers-bwayfam.html

On there it flat-out says that ResellerRatings.com had the following notice on their page:
We detected and disabled 50+ fraudulent "Very Satisfied" reviews for this merchant. Due to the continuous submission of said reviews, we are no longer accepting new reviews for this store as of 1/19/2006.
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The Broadway Photo empire consists of at least:
Broadway Photo
Regal Camera
Cameratopia
Infinity Camera
Top Choice Digital
Plasmatopia
ShipMe4Free.com
Preferred Photo
A&M Photo World
Digital Liquidators
Prestige Camera
Wild Digital
Camera Addict
Quest4Cameras
Millennium Camera
Central Digital
IBuyDigital
DBuys
IBuyPlasma
Digital Megastore
Real Deal Shop

If you deal with any of the above, you're dealing with the same group.
 
The major question that I still don't have an answer for, is: will Panasonic agree to repair a gray market camera for a nominal fee, as if it were a proper, but already out-of-warranty domestic product. Basically, will one be able to get the camera repaired at all by a Panasonic or by a Panasonic affiliate. I would not like sending the camera overseas for repair.
 
Barry_Green said:
The Broadway Photo empire consists of at least: ...
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GM owns Saturn, but you can haggle a price on a Chevy, while you have to pay the sticker for a Saturn. I am not saying that iBuyDigital is a good outlet, I am saying that mileage may vary.
 
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