Karen G.

If there were a way to give no starts, I would. Here's why:

My Cameras and Parts saga began on May 11,2014 when I found them on line through a search for Canon repair companies. The reviews seemed glowing on that site (it was theirs, after all!) and the prices were ridiculously attractive.

I emailed them about sending my camera and got an immediate answer. The email instructed me on how to send my camera and had this statement:

"Finally, send it with Tracking / Delivery Confirmation to the following address:
Cameras and Parts
1605 George Dieter, Suite 574
El Paso, Texas *******

That's it... Leave everything else to us!

If we have any questions at all, we'll contact you at the email address or phone number provided.

We'll perform our Complete Service / Repair Package on the camera and return it as promptly as we can for you."

Except that is not what they did.

Before sending my camera, I had another email exchange because I'd inadvertently put the wrong G series letter for my Canon. A person named Christina wrote me back immediately, a most pleasant email.

So I sent my camera on May 17. Excited that I was going to get my much-loved Canon G9 (which would not power up) repaired and back in my hands to use again! I got billed for the repair on May 27.

It is July 18,2014 and I have not received my camera.

I have called numerous times and, though they were quick to answer calls and emails before they received my camera, since then it's been difficult to nearly impossible to get any response.

I did manage to speak with someone named David on June 26. He told me that there had been a new development and that they had to order the part from Japan. (Really, he said that!) He said that the part was due to come in from Japan on Saturday, June 28 and that my camera should ship on Monday, June 30, via USPS. He thought I should get it by Thursday or Saturday (holiday on Friday, July 4).

The camera did not come and after numerous phone calls to Cameras and Parts over the course of a few weeks, I finally got a call back from a guy named Steve on July 8. The call came the very day I threatened to reverse the charges on my credit card for the $156.00 they had already charged me on May 27,2014.

He said the camera was set to go, but there was a payment dispute and it was set to go to collections. It turned out that as a result of my call, my order was flagged. He said he took the flag off, and that the camera would be shipped on Thursday, July 10.

When I told him we were leaving for vacation on Saturday, July 12, and that I'd really wanted my camera back by then, he suggested that I have it shipped to my vacation address. I nixed that idea... thankfully!

He told me that they had been remiss of returning phone calls because they were in the midst of some big inventory process and they were short-staffed. He said I was not the first complaint and that they needed to hire a service to answer calls.

We got back from vacation on Thursday, July 17, and there had been no camera delivery, though David assured me it should be here by Tuesday, July 15.

So, today, Friday, July 18, I decided to google negative reviews of Cameras and Parts and my heart sank. Before sending my camera to them for repair, I'd only read the reviews on their website. That, I now know was a bad idea. The negative reviews as a result of my google search today are overwhelming.

I also looked up the Better Business Bureau of El Paso and they have rated Cameras and Parts with an F.

I'm honestly befuddled. I don't know how or why a company would scam so many people, when apparently the do provide satisfactory services to, I guess, a select few. I just wasn't chosen to be one of those.

Shame on me for not doing my homework upfront. But, shame on Cameras and Parts for being a consumer rip-off.

They are aptly named... Cameras and Parts. (You send us your) Camera and (we will make you) Part (with it).

=(