34th ST Camera & Computers

Wish I had not uninstalled Unilocal before I stepped into this place. I would have known what scam artists this place is. This is the kind of place that makes me hate New York City. I’m still trying to get some resolution on how they ripped me off, but it’s probably going to have to be one of those costly life lessons. STAY AWAY!

Total con and beware never go in these guys are professional rip off artists and will never pay back. Inflated prices and fake web site comparisons. Old products with fake stock dates. Need to be closed down.

Agree with the other reviewers — avoid at all costs. I’m sure they do everything to stay just inside the law, but they are unethical con artists whose sole purpose is to scam tourists and unsuspecting customers. Goods in window are bait. Once inside you will be switched to a heavily overpriced item supported by pricing on fake websites. After you buy, the receipt states ‘no refunds’ and exchanges within 7 days but if you try to exchange you will get nowhere: ‘This has to be authorised by the manager — he will be in tomorrow’, ‘I will check with the warehouse, call tomorrow’…
After my third, unsuccessful, attempt to exchange a lens (priced at $ 2000 that they sold me for $ 999, but turned out to be worth less than $ 100) they admitted to marking up their prices and said I should have researched the true price beforehand. When I eventually agreed to take a lens worth $ 600 in exchange (i.e. lose $ 400 just to close the issue) another staff member said ‘the boss’ didn’t agree and I would have to pay an additional $ 300. I have referred the transaction to Amex and filed a complaint with the NY State Consumer Protection division.

Yesterday, I stopped in at 34^th St. Camera and Computers. I got a little windfall and was looking for a low-​end unlocked Android phone. They showed me a few models and I decided on one. Haggled a little and settled on a price. Wasn’t entirely sure about it, but they said I could always come back and change it. Unfortunately, when I got home, the phone I actually got wasn’t the one I’d decided on. Which isn’t as dim-​witted as it sounds, since they just showed me the phones, not the packaging, while I was shopping. But even worse, it was obviously a used model and didn’t even have a power cable! Adding insult to injury, when I looked the phone up on Amazon, they had charged much more than the going price. I’d have sucked that up and kept it, chalking it up to my own stupidity, had there not been the other problems. Unfortunately, when I tried to return it, they pointed to the receipt, which says no refunds. How would I know that until I’d paid?! Even the name of this store is a lie. It’s on Seventh Avenue, not 34^th Street & closer to 35^th than 34^th!
Fortunately, I paid for this purchase with American Express and trust them to ensure that I’m not out of pocket. So I really just want to spread the word about their business practices. I’m also reporting them to the NYC BBB and the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. Any time I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll plan on spending 10 minutes or so discouraging any window shoppers from stepping foot in the door. I’d also give zero stars if I could.

This place and the owners in it are absolutely horrible. They totally preyed on me. I was alone and there were 3 of them. It was a nightmare and now I have a $ 500 lens that is worthless. When I think of it I just cry.

I actually called a cop as I was leaving. These guys are the worst. NEVER go in there. I was desperate for a iPhone headset. All products are 5x Amazon’s price and the people suck, such BS artists.
The only reason to even walk past this sh-​t show is to picket it.

This place will over charge your credit card hundreds of dollars and then pretend they have no idea what you’re talking about when you call them. Snakes in the grass, DO NOT GO HERE

the worst experience i ever had ever in my life anywhere! period! they are not just thieves but are the the biggest racist bastards i have ever seen! i went in there asking for a camera to rent and it seemed to me like the little guy there didn’t like it. their reaction looked funny to me at first then it turned worse. they little guy event threatened me while i walked out. i wonder why they didn’t get arrested or sued already! stay away people!

This place is horrendous. We went in looking for a camera bag originally. They started their spiel about lens and stuff since my friend possessed a really nice camera. He ended up showing us some different lens and filters and demonstrated them on her camera. After going over some specifications, she decided it would be a good addition for her camera. He quoted the price at $ 1800, but since it was her «first time in one of his shops», he said he would cut her a deal. He showed her a website with a photo of the lens and a price of $ 2499. They did some haggling and eventually she gave in and agreed to pay $ 1700 for the lens and two filters. They rang her up, showed her some more little tricks, and we were on our way.
I started feeling fishy about the whole situation (because they were suuuuuper pushy, and they kind of seemed shady to me), so I looked up her lens maker and type on google and was able to find the website he pulled up. However, it was basically an empty page. It looked normal, but you couldn’t click on anything to purchase it… It’s like it was a site that was made to look like it was directly from the manufacturer, but it wasn’t. I then tried to look up reviews and prices and found out the lens she just paid $ 1400 for was sold AT MOST for $ 500 on amazon… and the reviews weren’t good anyway. That’s when we looked at the receipt and saw (in big bold letters) «ALL SALES FINAL — NO REFUNDS».
We felt pretty silly at this point. Moral of the story, DO NOT go to this store. Go to a legit place, or amazon. I couldn’t step back into this store unless I was allowed to punch them in their stupid faces.
Luckily, the lens and filters at least WORK, so it’s not like we lost that much for nothing. She just epically overpaid. And they definitely took advantage of that.

No good.
I needed a basic UV filter and didn’t want to walk all the way over to B&H.
Passing by 34^th St. Camera I stopped in to encounter the most aggressive trap I have seen in awhile.
I am in NY all the time, so I am used to what some might describe as ‘pushy’. I don’t mind that, but the place here is bad.
I’ll take my chances with the pickpockets in Grand Central over coming in here.
Avoid. Don’t even buy a postcard.

Beware of this store.
It is basically a black market.
If you buy your product from this store and not working, they would not give you money back.
Not even that when you ask for exchange they would take 15% of your item’s price as some kind of service charge. So now your item would be not worth as it was before. (Which in the receipt they didn’t talk about the 15% service charge).
Also they have bad attitude toward costumers, and they yell at customer.
Seriously beware of this store…