Good deal or bad deal?

[agentxq49]

At funan itmall, cross the road to the building across it (the building u pass by as u walk to funan from the city hall mrt)

Go into the building which is called 'penisular plaza' and walk along the first floor

Turn into the lifts and you will see shops on the other side too.

Cathay Photo is along that row, and they have 3 shop fronts there. If you have any enquiries the staff there will be glad to help you


Oh and Bally Photo is basically a black shop. 2.5k for the basic setup for the d90 is truely over priced, and you could have had gotten the same set with the extra battery and stuff for around 2k at Alan Photo just 25meters away from Bally. You basically got overpriced by 25% for inferior goods as the battery and filters are of very bad quality.

Also, Harvey Norman and all those big big electronic stores although do not con people, their prices are almost always higher than other dedicated shops.

 

[mayhemics]

At funan itmall, cross the road to the building across it (the building u pass by as u walk to funan from the city hall mrt)

Go into the building which is called 'penisular plaza' and walk along the first floor

Turn into the lifts and you will see shops on the other side too.

Cathay Photo is along that row, and they have 3 shop fronts there. If you have any enquiries the staff there will be glad to help you


Oh and Bally Photo is basically a black shop. 2.5k for the basic setup for the d90 is truely over priced, and you could have had gotten the same set with the extra battery and stuff for around 2k at Alan Photo just 25meters away from Bally. You basically got overpriced by 25% for inferior goods as the battery and filters are of very bad quality.

Also, Harvey Norman and all those big big electronic stores although do not con people, their prices are almost always higher than other dedicated shops.

bally strikes again...

it's just too bad they have such a good location in funan, and their stall is decent size, so people get conned.

i won't say HN doesn't con -- or at the very least, they quote you nonsense. a couple of weeks ago, they quoted me TZ7 close to $800. i didn't even bother asking what freebies they were throwing in. for the benefit of others, TZ7 should be going for around $550-$580 w 8 gb card and lumix pouch (ie no real freebies). HN also tried to push to me a uwa converter for vid cam before... brandless, $150. just for fun, i wanted to see how far he would push this nonsense. the salesperson refused to let me screw on the uwa, preferring instead to just hover the uwa in front of the lens for a quick preview of how wide the image can be. when i asked to zoom in on the image and the image was totally blur, he said it's "normal"... sure sure.

 

[NewbieInCS]

seb-on-photo, from your story, it seems like you were served by the guy with bleached hair, average height and without glasses. From what I have heard, he is a smooth talker and always con people into buying extra stuff and different lens combo.

 

[NewbieInCS]

seb-on-photo, from your story, it seems like you were served by the guy with bleached hair, average height and without glasses. From what I have heard, he is a smooth talker and always con people into buying extra stuff and different lens combo.

I mean the guy with the cleaner haircut and not the other guy who also has bleached hair, but look a little like a drug addict.

 

[NeTHaCk]

Threadstarter,

what has happened has happened. dont focus on the past but present and future.

i'd say you're cheated a lot . i bought a vitacon 67mm for $17 .. 52mm should be cheaper. a 3rd party enel3e battery should not cost more than $40 and that steinzer bag is ... you should have gotten a Lowepro bag or Nikon bag itself free ..

a dual lens kit is good but the price you paid could have gotten u additional warranty at harvey norman. that's the price i paid for 5years local warranty by harvey norman.
the actual price you're paying should not exceed 2k.

All in all, my best bet is to complain directly to Funan mall. i read somewhere in this forum a fellow CSer did and got refunded the cheated sum

 

[Seb-on-Photo]

Thanks for your messages lads!

Agentxq thanks a lot for the location! It could be on my shopping list if I cant get to 're-deal' with the guy I was at - yesterday.

You know what's the hardest thing to swallow right now? I found out that I could have had it cheaper or about the same price but with everything fine from my country :| That really hurts a little, cause there I would have had a pro near me when making the purchase and so on.

Mayhemics - black shop? I wonder how did I get exactly into it... It is at an upper floor - at one moment I thought not even to go up anymore, but then I thought it's worth it and I got there...

NewbieInCS you're right! Thats exactly the guy! Not the drug addict and neither the other black haired guy with glasses... ah ah... he is good on his dirty job...

NeTHaCk - even the bag? Now I'm a true idiot to have trusted him so much. He said he's giving me a better one but I guess it's another easy trick. Unfortunately HN did not have it on stock.

Ill keep you updated - going back to him in a couple of hours.

 

[iMac08]

Thanks for your messages lads!

Agentxq thanks a lot for the location! It could be on my shopping list if I cant get to 're-deal' with the guy I was at - yesterday.

You know what's the hardest thing to swallow right now? I found out that I could have had it cheaper or about the same price but with everything fine from my country :| That really hurts a little, cause there I would have had a pro near me when making the purchase and so on.

Mayhemics - black shop? I wonder how did I get exactly into it... It is at an upper floor - at one moment I thought not even to go up anymore, but then I thought it's worth it and I got there...

NewbieInCS you're right! Thats exactly the guy! Not the drug addict and neither the other black haired guy with glasses... ah ah... he is good on his dirty job...

NeTHaCk - even the bag? Now I'm a true idiot to have trusted him so much. He said he's giving me a better one but I guess it's another easy trick. Unfortunately HN did not have it on stock.

Ill keep you updated - going back to him in a couple of hours.

So sorry to hear your story..i never pay for vitacon filter.Can even had it free if you talk to shop owner long enough. i got it free with my tamron 17-50 last time from TCW. Bally is really bad.

Hope it won't kill off your impression of Singapore business man. Anyway next time just email the shops online. they can give you a quote first. then just buy from the best deal..

bally is :thumbsd:

 

[UandMe]

Very sorry too to hear about another victim.

For someone who's already ultra polite on an internet forum, I guess you're even nicer in person, which likely prompted the guy to chop you mercilessly since he sensed little resistance. But believe me, you're not the worst victim here unless you'd paid $2k+ for a PSP.

Anyway, just enjoy your new camera & gears and dun think too much into what you've already spent. Everyone made bad purchases from time to time.

 

[josephhiroyuki]

hey how are ya feeling.. if you can get your refund, lucky for you.. if not, then its okay.. nothing to brood over it.. what you had paid for is actually the original price of a nikon d90 camera when it was first released in singapore. as the camera were sent to sg, it will then distribute to the respective electronic stores at a price given by the nikon. so you didnt actually pay extra or whatsoever. for the battery, he charged you alot because he knew you didnt do any research in the first place. if you did. that 5500mh could be yours at no cost. it goes the same with filter. the fact i read that its your first time getting SLR, i guess you told him that this is your first time buying one. and here comes the devil in the picture. hahaha. joking aside. for filter and bag, you shd ask for free.if they didnt give you, then you dont buy. there are a lot more other places to buy your camera. for your battery, i think he mentioned it to you like, "get this battery, though its exp its capacity is two times the original battery where this battery can take up 2 3times more shots than the original." all i can say, enjoy the camera, and head down to the esplanade today. all the photographers will be there taking pictures of fireworks dude! it will be at 8pm to 8.30pm. you might want to be early to get a better position.

 

[Seb-on-Photo]

Hey I'm back from the shop!
Just to make it clear - I saw a Bally today near Alan Photo there in Funan. It's not that one, it's the one one or two floors upwards. Yeah and it has the drug addict guy, the other bleached guy and the black haired with glasses guy that we were talking about earlier.

This is how everything ended: I gave him that 5500mAh battery back and got 150$ back (payed 220) / and instead of that 2 Vitacons 52mm I got Hoya 52mm. Checked the prices at Alan: They were giving battery 5800 for 39$ and Hoya for... 20$ :| But everybody has to have a starting point in negatiation. He also gave me a very basic cleaning kit.

The guys there are quite 'organised' when it comes to negatiation and over pricing. I did tell him it was my 1st camera - mistake. I did tell him I'm not from Singapore, but from Romania - mistake. 1st he convinced me Singapore is cheapest, then he used many times the formula "just for you now" - like giving me special offers. Then he said one of his colleagues is his supervisor (I doubt that) so he discussed with him before giving the dollars back.
All in all the camera is good, I'm fine with a lot more experience than before. It probably was my first important negotiation and I hope I have enough time to improve my skills

Well iMac08... it did not kill my impression but it certainly made me more aware... of some facts. I like Singapore so I found it a bit weird that you get over priced especially in IT. Coming from Europe I'm less used to that, but it's certainly a good thing to learn.

Uand me thanks for the appreciation! Next time I'll be better prepared.

Josephhiroyuki it's exactly as you say with that battery. Actually he said it's like 4 times better and I remember him saying that together with the main battery I can take 1000 pictures. (and with the original Nikon 1500 only 150). Thanks for the fireworks tip! I'll try to be there...

 

[iMac08]

at least get back some refeund. hope the tax rebate at airport can cover the rest. next time don't go there anymore...these dumb batt some are crap. when i bought my first wii,i didn't do my research and also kanna whack. spoilt within a month.

 

[Ninestar]

Great that u got back the refund off the 3rd party battery. Anyway, rem to keep your receipt and claim the GST refund.

There are counters at the airport or funan customer service ctr.

Can do so during your flight check in.

 

[Limsgp]

If anyone is wondering how come shops like that with so bad reputation can still be around for so long and survive.. guess it's because they don't run out of customers.. and it's quite clear where they get their customers from..

 

[ahbian]

Sorry to hear about your experience. There are quite a few notorious camera shops in Singapore, quite a few are in Sim Lim and Lucky Plaza, most on them target unsuspecting tourists. Next time, try to visit a local forum to check out the situation.

 

[josephhiroyuki]

and all the CSers are happy for you.. Happy shooting Mr Romanian. have a wonderful trip in Singapore.

 

[Lomographer]

According to the Nikon 09 Price Guide here in CS:

Nikon D90 w/Twin Lens
$1,800 w/GST (John, Jan09 - zechraffie)

Battery - Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery - $75 (OP, Sep07 - helmiz) | $85 (MS, Feb08 - John Teoh) | $65 (AP, Feb08 - voldisinarta) | $70 (Lords, Apr08 - matthew1381) | $65 (AP-F, Aug08 - fusetrips) | $60 (MS, Oct08 - tzsiang) | $80 (TK, Jan09 - Dinorex)

I would expect 3rd party batts to be significantly lower priced.

'Vitacon' filters are not even listed here in the CS price guides because I assume they're beginner or consumer grade filters, but a quick check on ebay, wait, there doesn't appear to even be any Vitacon brand filters on ebay, amazon, adorama or B&H Photo. Not a good sign. I would peg the actual retail price of those filters at no more than $15 each.

Anyways, as a reference:

B+W 52mm MRC UV-Haze - $62 (CP)
Nikon 52mm NC Filter - S$35 (Lords)
HOYA 52mm HMC UV - (S$15 - TCW)($10 - LORD)($10 - MS)
HOYA 52mm Pro1 Digital Clear Protector - $26 (MS)


You could seek assistance from the Tourism board, CASE, make a police report but none of those would really help since you were not forced or coerced into buying anything. I guess you could go all the way to the top (Minstry of Trade and Industry - http://app.mti.gov.sg/default.asp?id=1) since they're in charge of developing industries like the tourism industry, and make a very opinionated case about how your shopping experience really make Singapore look bad on the international tourist map. Do your research first, as there may be other instances/materials floating around about the business(es) in discussion, and present it in a matured and reasonable manner.

you are right

but remember the guides are only guides

but for BALLY.... it's a different story

yes DM i think he shld complain to Case

 

[kiwitan]

at least Bally redeemed itself by refunding some of the money back. it doesn't need to but it did. :thumbsup:

Buyer should just let the matter rest since he only got 4 days left in Singapore, just spend the remaining days enjoying. I dont think CASE will be generous enough to fly him back from Romania to pursue the matter either.

you are right

but remember the guides are only guides

but for BALLY.... it's a different story

yes DM i think he shld complain to Case

 

[agentxq49]

Either way, look at it on the bright side. You paid less than what you would have back in europe anyway.

 

[waderbreak]

thank god i have never been, and never will want to go to bally photo.. basket, if next time im in a shop and i see tourists buying cameras i might just go and see if i can help them.

 

[Seb-on-Photo]

Hey!

This is my last post on this topic, probably, as I think I got all the answers I needed regarding my previous deal.

Well for me, even that, mainly unfortunate event, means a lot of 'needed'/'required' experience So after all if I get in a good mood and get to forget about the extra money and focus only on the bright side... it was quite interesting

Also, my biggest thanks to you guys for your fast responses Your help is very much appreciated!

Per total, I had a very good time in Singapore. Maybe, after 3 years, when I'll have to get into college - I'll consider Singapore as a very valuable option

Wish you guys all the best!