Comments on: Camophoto: Low Prices, Expensive Returns

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:59:43 +0000

Money Gram is a very legit company and saved me over $700 one time! I was very naive about ordering things online and I found a website that claimed to have a camera I was interested in – for several hundred dollars less than everyone else. I ordered it. They only accepted Money Gram. I sent the money but nothing happened. When I contacted Money Gram, they had put a “hold” on my account when they saw the person’s name I was ordering from. This person was a HUGE scam artist – from RUSSIA. (I thought I was ordering from the UK)
I have thanked Money Gram and am still singing their praises! That was about 4 years ago, and I’m so much more careful now – and a lot more educated on what to look for and what not to do. Never – EVER wire money to someone you don’t know.

By: Frankie

Frankie — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:55:50 +0000

FYI, Shipping the set back to Switzerland via USPS would be:

$227.50 sent Express Mail Intenational (4-days) or
$194.40 sent Priority Mail Intenational (6-10 days)

By: Tom S

Tom S — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:06:29 +0000

Very suspicous indeed.
Have had similar problems with other internet sales sites for electronics.
I have ordered items that shopuld have been “free after rebate” only to have the manufacturer disappear without getting the rebate. Ashamed to say it happened twice before I learned my lesson, but at leats the products have worked well for me. I just wish I had gotten the promised rebate.

By: RS

RS — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:26:58 +0000

Is there even a guarantee that they will ship the product? Just because you use a legitimate money-transfer company does not mean that the recipient of the money is legit. What makes PayPal useful is that they allow you to insure the product and add other means to ensure that the company selling the product is legitimate or they will try to make good on the transaction. And this is true of most credit card companies, which offer a buyer’s protection mechanism so if the product never arrives you can contest the charge and it will be removed if the recipient of the money never responds…in which case the credit card company gets to fight the battle for the money.

Back to the TV, this whole ad just looks suspicious because of the payment mechanism.

By: blasher

blasher — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:09:12 +0000

MoneyGram is a legitimate company. It is used by many finance companies. It is very similar to the Western Union Quick Collect service. MoneyGram is a bit less expensive than the Western Union service.

I agree that a seller requiring a certain payment method should set off some alarms. Like you said, what would be the shipping charges to/from Switzerland?