Ritz Camera Experience - Not Good

[AR-15]

On 12/20 I ordered a Magellan Sportrak Pro from Ritz Camera for $199, plus some misc. stuff like batteries, chargers, etc. At the time of the order, they stated that the unit was on backorder and they expected to ship by Jan. 3 or so.

 

A week later I got an e-mail that said the new ship date would be Jan. 24. A disappointment, but I could live with it.

 

On Jan. 21, I e-mailed a request to Ritz Camera for status of my order. The answer was an e-mail the next day stating that the new ship date was now Feb. 21, 2003. The had not shipped anything and they had not charged my credit card.

 

I did a quick search on Biz Rate for the latest price on Sportrak Pro's and the lowest price was $229. Of the 3 web sites that I looked at, all three had Sportrak Pro's in stock, according to their respective web sites.

 

One of the sites was GPS4fun, which is located in Decatur, AL, near where I live. I didn't find out about these people until after Xmas vacation since they do not advertise in the Huntsville Yellow Pages.

 

In any event, I visited the GPS4fun store and they told me that the $199 was below their cost. OK, not something unusual for a competitor to say in order to win a sale. But then, they also said there is no reason for any M Sportrak Pro's to be on back order since you can get them from Magellan. This is consistent with my research from the night before where Sportrak Pro's were readily available.

 

The GPD4Fun's price was $249. But this price included the Magellan $50 rebate, which the Rtiz Camera site never mentions.

 

Long story short, I canceled the Ritz Camera order and bought it direct from GPS4Fun.

 

I don't know how Ritz expected to win by not shipping me my GPS unit and keeping me thinking I was going to get one for $20-30 cheaper than anyone else. Needless to say, I won't be ordering from them again.

 

Comments?

 

Thanks,

 

AR-15

[+dwmurphy]

they got their hands on some re-furbished units, ran out, and were waiting for more?

 

I bought my Magellan MAP330 for $149.00 from a discount catalog (re-furbished) while they were still selling for the $249 new price.

 

I'm not Lost, my GPS says I'm right here....no over here......no over here.

[Cape Cod Cacher]

Ritz Camera owns Boater's World, they get the leftovers and returns from Boaty Land.