I was really close to ordering the camera from Price Rite Photo, and decided to do a quick Google check of them first. Epinions had some interesting reviews, including this one entitled “Lies and Blackmail.”

Of course this time I was told the camcorder was not in stock and could not be shipped for another 3 to 4 weeks. He then started to tell me about the short 20 minutes battery life of GS250 and why I should buy a long life battery and an UV protector among other things. I declined and asked for the shipping date. Then he told me that they would not be able to sell at the advertised price unless I buy the special kit that cost more than the camcorder itself. His reasoning was that they were selling the camcorder about $300 below MSRP, so the only way they could make money was by selling this kit. At this point I asked for the cancellation of my order. He refused and threatened me with charging my credit card anyway. I told him I was canceling the order and going to write an online review of my worst experience with them. In response, he threatened that he would charge an additional 10% on my credit card if I go ahead and write the review.

Apparently, Price Rite Photo doesn’t like it when people buy just the camera with no accessories. That would explain why the prices are so low for the cameras and so high for the accessories. As this reviewer put it, they:

1) Advertise with the lowest price (bait) 2) Try to sell overpriced special kits 3) If the customer doesn’t budge, refuse to cancel the order and blackmail the customer with extra charges on their credit cards 4) Fraudulently charge the credit card after cancellation, with no plans of shipping any products.

There are a couple of reviewers who claimed the same thing. The reviewers who were happy with Price Rite Photo had all bought camera kits from them. Since I’m planning to buy just the camera itself, I won’t subject myself to this kind of suffering. So, to B&H I go for reliable service and pricing…