ABES OF Maine

Michael Neville wrote in message
news:TYZGc.9898$eO.3615@edtnps89...
My wife is thinking of ordering a lens on-line from Abes of Maine. Any
stories about ABes that I should be aware of before we ink the deal?


Numerous individuals have complained about them. Note that they did name
their business "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

Jeremy wrote:

Numerous individuals have complained about them. Note that they did name
their business "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

They did? I thought it was just Abe's of Maine. When did they change it?

Gary Eickmeier

Jeremy wrote:

"Gary Eickmeier" wrote in message
. ..


Jeremy wrote:

Numerous individuals have complained about them. Note that they did
name
their business "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

They did? I thought it was just Abe's of Maine. When did they change it?

Gary Eickmeier


Sorry, I should have proofread that before I sent it. I meant to say that
they did NOT call themselves "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

Mea Culpa!

I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that they were "Honest Abe's"
a long time back (about 25 years ago). Maybe it was another outfit, or
maybe Abe's just sounds good with "honest" in front of it. Honest.


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Stan http://www.neworleansphotographs.com

http://www.atneworleans.com
http://www.sbeckart.com/sbeck

"Jeremy" wrote in message
k.net...

"George" wrote in message
...

"Jeremy" wrote in message
k.net...

"Gary Eickmeier" wrote in message
. ..


Jeremy wrote:

Numerous individuals have complained about them. Note that they
did
name
their business "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

They did? I thought it was just Abe's of Maine. When did they change
it?

Gary Eickmeier


Sorry, I should have proofread that before I sent it. I meant to say
that
they did NOT call themselves "HONEST Abe's of Maine."

Mea Culpa!


Actually, I think Focus Cameras used to have a fineprint tagline that
called
itself
"Honest Abe's Focus Cameras"...I believe they have dropped it some time
back,
probably to avoid confusion with Abe's of Maine (amazingly located in
the
general
NYC area). I have ordered filters and stuff ($100) without any
problems
from
Focus Cameras.

What you've really gotta watch for is most of the shady NYC camera
stores
with
bad reputations are advertising using new, high-tech digital sounding
names.


Now that you mention that, I do vaguely remember that "Honest Abe's" bit.

I read that the New York City Bureau of Consumer Protection listed camera
dealers as THE type of business that they received the most complaints
about. It comes as no surprise.

I still remember an incident I had with now-defunct Wall Street Camera,
around 1974. I wanted to add a Honeywell Pentax ES body to my Spotmatic
IIa
and Spotmatic F collection. The ES-II had been released by that time, and
the ES models were going for $229 as WSC. It seemed like a pretty good
deal, so one Sunday morning, I drove to Lower Manhattan from my home in
New
Jersey and bought an ES.

I was physically in the store, not a mail order purchaser.

The salesman brought out an ES body, with no box or accessories, and began
to wrap it. "Where's the box," I asked.

"Oh! You want a BOX?" he replied. And he brought out the box.

"Where's the warranty card?" I asked.

"Oh! You want a warranty card?" he replied. And he went into the back
room
and came out with the warranty card.

"Where's the instruction manual?" I asked.

"Oh! You need the manual?" he replied. And he went into the back room and
brought out a manual.

"Where's the leather strap?" I asked.

"Oh! You want the strap?" he replied. And he produced the strap.

I should have just walked out, but I remember being excited about getting
the camera, so I played this silly game until the salesman brought out
everything that I should have received in the first place. The camera has
performed flawlessly, and I still use it today--3 decades later.

But, for $25.00 more, I could have bought that same body from a legitimate
dealer, right in my own home town, with all the accessories and the
Honeywell warranty card. I could have avoided driving to New York, paying
tolls for the NJ Turnpike and the Holland Tunnel, and I probably would
have
come out about the same, after allowing for transportation costs.

Thinking back on the experience, it is amazing how foolish we become about
shaving a couple of bucks off the purchase price. And those crooked
camera
dealers know how to exploit our weakness (or stupidity) to the max.

By the way, although Wall Street Camera is no longer operating, that
hometown camera dealer, Fishkin Brothers, is still going strong, at the
same
location in New Jersey, even though their prices are a tad higher than the
New York camera stores' prices.

There is more to value than just low price.

Another common trick is to sell the unitiated a slower lens at the faster
lens' price.....An f/1.8 at the f/1.4 price, for example....If those guys
even smell that you don't know the difference, then watch out!