THE QUEST FOR A NEW CAMERA

I have this thing about digital cameras... I like to break them. Well, "like to" might be a little strong - perhaps it is a propensity to breakage. Anyhow, I've managed to break two cameras in four months. My S.O. is a little peeved with me and I am beginning to think he won't let me leave the house anymore with one in hand. (Perhaps I should hire one of those courtroom artists to follow me around and draw things for me.)

I had the BEST little digital camera. Yes - the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 - a fantabulous camera. So, since I knew it was a good piece (and had been purchased SO recently that I knew they were still in production) I just wanted to get another one.

In this day and age you'd think getting a camera online is a no-brainer. I googled my beloved camera and received a listing for everyprice.com - one of those sites that does a price comparison of sites offering your selection. I did what a normal consumer does and selected the best price with cheap shipping and ordered away.

This is my experience:

Place order online
Receive confirmation email of said order asking me to call to verify the order (uh - OK)

I call:
Me: I'd like to verify order #blah blah blah
Them: I see you ordered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. It only comes with a 16 meg SD card - would you like to purchase an additional card?
Me: No thank you, I already have a 2 gig card
Them: Well the battery life for this camera is only about 30 minutes, would you like to purchase an additional battery?
Me: (First of all since I have one I know that the battery life is much longer but I say) no thank you, I already have an extra battery and charger.
Them: How about a case?
Me: Nope - have one of those too! I really just want the camera.
Them: [slight pause] Oh - I just noticed that this camera is not the US model - it is the Japanese model. The US model is $50 more. Would you like that one?
Me: [I will summarize my less than polite answer to] No thank you - just cancel my order.

Well, I am not to be deterred so I ordered from another site.

And I went through the SAME DAMN THING - TWO MORE TIMES!

So, I did some research cause now I'm just pissed. And I placed my order at Prestige Camera.

Here is what happened:

Place order online

Receive confirmation email of said order asking me to call to verify the order (not this again!)

I (angrily) call:
Me: I'd like to verify order #blah blah blah
Them: I see you ordered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. It only comes with a 16 meg SD card - would you like to purchase an additional card?
Me: No thank you, I already have a 2 gig card
Them: Well the battery life for this camera is only about 30 minutes, would you like to purchase an additional battery?
Me: [sigh] No thank you, I already have an extra battery and charger.

Them: How about a case?

Me: Nope - have one of those too! I really just want the camera.

Them: [again with the slight pause] Oh - I just noticed that this camera is not the US model - it is the Japanese model. The US model is $50 more. Would you like that one?

Me: No, I want the one I ordered.
Them: But it is in Japanese - can you read Japanese?
Me: As a matter of fact I can.
Them: Oh...well...OK...we'll send your camera.
Me: Thank you!

Shipment confirmation email received.

4-5 Days later camera received.

Just as I expected. In English.