donie95 Loc: Staten Island NY

To be fair I first want to say that the Camera I purchase was as described new condition and that was the only thing that was correct. However I did purchase it at the same price as I could have from anyplace else. $2895 not the $2695 that it started at when this debacle began over 1 month ago. I had decided to trade three cameras I had and finally go mirrorless. I am a Nikon guy and and I decided for my budget and shooting a Z7II was what I wanted. I wanted something Used and I wanted to trade at the same time. However non of the usual suspects I deal with Adorama, B & H, or KEH had a non Gray market Z7II. Along comes MPB, they have one if fact more than one listed on the website. I try to call and find out if any are USA models. No return call so I email after a week I get an answer. They have one for $2695 near new and it will cost me $650 plus my gear to buy, I tell the I want it. After several Hours and finally a call to figure out how to print a label to send my gear. Its done and off to them. I live in Staten Island NY, their US store is in Brooklyn NY which is 14 miles from my home. Days go buy and many phone calls I cannot get a confirmation that they have my stuff. Finally after 10 day they I get a email that they need my address to process the order I answer the email immediately. They say the have everything now and should be able to process the order. 4 days go by no email i call and email everyday. No return call no email. Finally I get an email with a confirmation and price. For what every reason they are charging $200 more for the camera. No explanation as to why. It was now $2895 which is what everyone is selling new ones for in my area. I was not going to suffer thought saying no and having to wait forever for my gear to get back to me. I just Bought the dam thing. Sorry for the long winded story but I has to get off my chest. I could have summed it up by just writing MBP CAMERAS STAY AWAY TERRIBLE COMMUNICATION AND POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. Oh and they gave me a battery charger with no plug

BebuLamar

And even if the camera is in new condition you don't have the warranty correct?

BigQ

Sorry you had a bad experience. I have used them for 5 or so transactions and everything went very smoothly and easy. I did everything through the web, and never had a need to use the phone, perhaps that made things so difficult. More and more companies are better using the net vs. the phone.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

To me, the very obvious question is - Why didn't you just go the 14 miles to their store, and be done with it? No back and forth, no waiting, and face to face communication! I certainly much prefer that option whenever it's available!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

BebuLamar

Sorry I didn't realize that. I would drive 100 miles before I would buy online. Yes even with current gas price. OK now I have the OP to blame for the disappearing of the local stores.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Not familiar with them. I am always a little skeptical of review website - are they biased for or against a store due to sponsorship, etc....

But if you Google reviews for this store, one of the sites is http://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/mpb-com

Holy crap. I would never do business with them based on these reviews! Most of the bad reviews involve order screw-ups complicated by terrible communication.

jcboy3

You should be able to send the camera back. You should see if you can get your gear back, or get cash for it, and do that ASAP before it gets away from you.

There is no reason to pay new prices for a Nikon camera and not get a warranty. Even when trading in gear.

If you get your gear back, take it to a real store for trade in. Or send it to someone and get the cash, and take the cash to a real store to purchase.

If you don't buy your camera from a real store, then you will be contributing to the end of real camera stores.

My local camera store occasionally has "trade in" events, where the folks from UsedPhotoPro (also known as Roberts Camera) come out an buy up used gear. They pay very good prices, and the camera store gives an extra 10% if you use the credit to buy anything from them. Last time there, I swapped out $10K in gear to get the Z6II, Z7II, 70-200 Z f2.8, 50 Z f1.8, TC 1.4X, TC 2X, and a few other things. If I don't like the prices, I can take some or all of my gear back.

I sell frequently on eBay, and I know that they take a premium to eliminate my time and risk to sell. If I account for my time (to photograph, list, monitor, pack, ship), my risk, the fees to sell, I definitely prefer doing it that way on high value items.

Hope you can straighten things out.

BebuLamar

Do you realize that the OP could do just what you said with MPB? He lives 14 miles away from MPB. I would blame the OP for not doing it in person especially it involves trade in.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I have done several transactions with MPB. All went reasonably smoothly and the items that I received were better that described. In recent months it does seem that MPB is a bit short staffed and things are a bit slow but otherwise fine.

When I have done a trade, I select an Item that I want. This fixes the price of the "new" item. The price of the used items could vary a bit based on condition. I have been honest and received the promised price for the used items, however.

Of course, in your location you could just go he B&H or Adorama and trade over the counter.

BTW you could return the Camera. The return policy is quite good. Get a new one from B&H or other retailer.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I’ve used MPB 4 or 5 times, both for buying and selling. Generally, I’ve been satisfied with the services. However, the last transaction, which was “buying,” went way slower than their webpage advertising, as much as 10 days. Incidentally, I recall the page stating that if items were purchased by a certain time of day that the item would ship within hours. On the second phone call, the explanation was that they were swamped and were trying to catch up. I reminded the agent of the promise to ship statement, and got another apology. The next day I got an email stating that they were suspending both buying, selling, or trades while getting through the backlog. It doesn’t sound like they’ve still their issues remedied. As for the OP and the $200 increase, I consider that pretty damn close to “bait and switch.”

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Perhaps it's not a case of charging more for the camera, more a case of re-evaluating your sent gear first-hand and deciding it was worth $200 less than their original estimate. But if that's the case it's still poor form to not inform you of the reason.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

mpb is a major player in the mix...
That said they have an international presence and thus their main office (which I believe is not in the USA) is sometimes in the mix. This has accounted for a delta interval on several occasions in my transactions.

However they are extremely cost competitive with KEH, UsedPhotoPro, B&H to name a few. And have offered me top recompense for my used kit.

Only once did the advertised item not meet my expectation (I'm rather picky) so I sent images of the issue to them and they agreed to refund my full amount. And they eat the shipping both ways. :)

To this end, I can personally recommend mpb (keeping in mind that they can take a tad longer to process some orders).

As for my high end commercial cameras? Always purchased refub directly from Nikon USA (at the advice of several high end commercial shooters I assist in my market). Still shooting with a 12 year old Nikon D3x for my commercial gigs... It has worked flawlessly for the duration and my clients are pleased with the deliverables. this investment has paid for itself many many times over!

btw, it's not the kit folks, it's the photographer's ability to generate breathtaking excellence that pays the bills.
The kit is merely a tool, and limited primarily by the creative eye of the artist behind the lens.

However in Fashion clothing i.e. wardrobe becomes a powerful statement by which individuals establish their persona. I've notice many hobbyist seem intent on establishing their persona by their current kit.
What ever works for you I assume works...
Hope this helps...

donie95 Loc: Staten Island NY

I tried using the web first. Then when I did get not get a call back in 48 hrs when the website says 24 that is when I stated to call accompanied by a email. Maybe I am just the unlucky one. Even for a Novice it is very difficult to have every Camera you own with a place and not receive a email confirming that the had received it. I have dealt via the web with B & H, KEH ect. and never had that happen. FYI the just email me a coupon for a offer of 15% off on my next purchase. Don't know if I have the faith for that. If at any point they sent a email to me explaining that that are behind and acknowledged my concern. it would have went a long way. The fact is they did not. That is the main issue. Not to confirm they have received your Kit ids totally unacceptable from any customer point of view. I am is a service business commination is key especially when the are delays. I get a email month from B & H about the Z9 that is back ordered. Maybe they are just understaffed

Bill_de Loc: US

The address doesn't sound like a store front.

Located in: Industry City
Address: 33 34th Street, Building #7, 3rd floor, Suite 7-3-AA, Brooklyn, NY 11232

The merchandise could be located there or in a warehouse somewhere. The person you talk to may never even see it.

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JD750 Loc: SoCal

Exactly why not just visit and talk to them. No labels needed no shipping costs.

But it’s not too late. Visit them and talk to a manager and ask him why the cost increased by $200?

I’m sorry you had problems with them I have not had bad experiences with them.