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Online companies settle claims
In January, Christopher J. Hough went shopping online for a pocket-size digital camera he could use on his job overseeing the Buffalo Public Schools reconstruction project.
He quickly got caught up in a scam that was came to light Thursday in a settlement agreement requiring seven New York City-based online electronics companies to pay $665,000 to cheated consumers, plus $100,000 to cover the cost of a state attorney general’s investigation. Two of the companies also agreed to go out of business.
Scrolling down a list of electronics sites, Hough came across Prestige Camera, which offered the model he was seeking— a Nikon S-60— for about $50 less than the retail price. Seconds after filling out an online order and paying with a credit card, he received an e-mail asking him to call Prestige the next day.
Whoever answered told him he had ordered a version of the S-60 made for the Japanese market, with an owner’s manual printed in that language and a battery that would last just 15 minutes. He was told he could upgrade to an S-60 with instructions in English, with an extra battery, for $100 more.
When he asked to cancel the deal, Hough said, the person on the other end replied, “You can’t. Your order has been processed.”
“Then he got belligerent,” Hough said. “He was yelling, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing.’ ”
After phoning to block the credit card transaction, Hough thought, “That was a bait-andswitch tactic.” After filing a complaint on Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s Web site, Hough heard nothing further. Then Cuomo’s office called last week to tell him about the settlement, which resolved “hundreds” of consumer complaints.
“These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-andswitch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics,” Cuomo said in announcing the agreement with Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Foto, Broadway Photo LLC, Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo.
The last two agreed to cease operations. Best Price Camera and 1 Way Photo are relocating outside the state, but agreed that they will remain bound by New York Law and subject to ongoing monitoring by Cuomo’s office.
Cuomo said his staff and the New York Better Business Bureau worked together on the investigation.
Prestige Camera, which was not named in the settlement, apparently was among about 40 Web sites operated by the companies who were, Hough said.
A West Side resident who as construction manager of the schools project often snaps pictures to record progress at various sites, Hough will not be compensated because he was never billed for the on-line purchase.
He end up buying an S-60 from a regular camera store for about $350. It was worth the extra money, he said.
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