Buy from Profeel? Yes, but read this first.
Written: Jun 18 '04 (Updated Jun 20 '04)
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I have found profeel to be an honest business that cares about its customers. However, I have had better experiences shopping online. Whether the difference is worth the price is up to you. Either way, I strongly advise people to order by phone instead of online. Let me start by my experience:
I ordered a Canon digital camera on a Friday morning through their website. I instantly recieved an order confirmation by E-mail. This e-mail stated that I would promply be contacted by phone or E-mail to confirm my order. This was a problem because I had to work that day and couldn't stay home to answer the phone. I e-mailed profeel telling them to contact me by E-mail since I couldn't answer the phone. Naturally I never recieved my confimation phone call. I didn't get any messages on my machine either. Likewise I didn't get contacted by E-mail, my message was completely disregarded. Saturday and Sunday they were closed so I wasn't contacted then either. I wrote one more E-mail during the weekend so I could be contacted on Monday as to why I hadn't been contacted yet. Monday came and again I wasn't contacted. I figured that if I didn't call them I would never get my camera. At 4PM I called, I was told to leave some information and that I would be contacted 30 minutes later. I never recieved the call so at 5 I called under a different option where you go back after calling an hour before and stating you couldn't be contacted by phone. This time I got through to a live person (Very Relieving) who was very professional and worked out the order for me. She stated that I should have my camera in by the end of the week. I asked when I would be able to use the online tracking option. (yes, they claim to have online tracking on the website) "Tomorrow night" she replied, and then she hung up. She did ask if I wanted to buy anything else for my camera, but after saying no twice she moved on. (I'm sure this is required for all employees, and the only purpose of the supposed 'confirmation call'). Well, the days passed by, and I continually checked for my tracking number to work. Every night I checked, but it always brang me to the notfount.html page. Friday passed by and by that time I was fairly stressed that I was still getting the same notfound.html page. As I was writing another E-mail wondering what had happened, the UPS truck drove up and I recieved my camera. It was exactly as stated, packaged very well, in perfect shape with warranty. (Not a gray market item, common for NY camera shops).
This is my opinion of profeel based on my recent experience:
Customer Support
Their E-mail never worked for me. I could've written to bob@aol.com and got the same results. Their online tracking also didn't do anything but cause me stress (Making me wonder why your order didn't show up). When I needed to contact them I called customer service and waiting for 30 minutes for them to contact me. This didn't work, being as I wasn't called till the next day, when I had already spoke to someone and finished my order by the time I was contacted. However, once I got through to talk to their people, then I was in luck. They are very nice and will work out your needs (check other reviews to see just how much they'll do for a customer). I recommend using option 3 when calling them; leave your information and state that you can't be contacted and call back in an hour. Even if you can be contacted that way works better.
Shipping
Shipping from profeel isn't the fastest. (Or wasn't for me, but my problems with the order confirmation are mainly to blame) I have dealt with newegg.com (I will compare the two several times in this review as they are a business I am familiar with and very satisfied with) and the shipping from profeel is slightly slower. The price of shipping was very nice, I got mine for free. The quality of shipping is also good, mine had packaging peanuts and arrived as well as I could have hoped from anywhere.
Prices
Profeel had among the best prices from any of epinions "trusted stores". With my camera profeel was fairly down the list of trusted sites, but with its free shipping, it was a mere 3 dollars more than the lowest store. Considering it is a non Gray Market item with Warrenty it is the lowest price from an acceptable store to me.
Profeel vs. Other retailers.
When comparing to other bargain online retailers, profeel is the definate winner to me. Most others either sell gray market items (with missing accessories, or they force you to buy overpriced accessories or never sell you the product). While sometimes profeel won't have the ultimate lowest price (Although at the time of writing it does have the lowest price for the camera I purchased) it is the best lower priced store to buy from. They will ask you if you want to buy accessories, whether you by online or not, but it is by friendly sales people who take no as no.
Now to compare with a higher-priced more professional business-one from which I have personal experience: Newegg.com. The peace of mind you get from newegg is far better than that of profeel. You order online, you recieve your E-mail and the product is shipped the next day. You do not have to wait for a confirmation call, or ever talk to a person if you don't want to. You can always see the status of your order. You also recieve tracking from the fedex site so you konw where your package is. However, there is a substantial difference in price. Newegg offers the camera body I bought for $815 while profeel offers it for $767.90 - a savings of $47.10. While newegg offers a smoother experience, the price difference is significant; for me worth the extra hassle/stress.
The last comparison is to a store where you simply walk in and give money and walk out with your product. A store like ritz camera for example. This is obviously the smoothest buying experience. you know you are getting your product and get it right away. However, the price difference is significant. The same camera body costs $899.99, that's $132.09 more than profeel. Certainly not worth it to me.
One last note. Not all products are so competetively priced. For accessories for instance, look elsewhere as they aren't the cheapest at profeel. (They are priced very competetively but I still find them cheaper at other retailerse).
My recommendation
After my experience, I have found it to be worth the saved money to shop at Profeel. However, buying online is not recommended. Then you have to make sure to be home to recieve the 'confirmation call'(attempt to sell accessories). Buying over the phone is much smoother. You will be asked if you want to buy the accessories at the time of sale; you can then say no and have your product ordered. After you are told your product will be shipped you are done and just have to wait for the shippers to arrive to your home/business. After buying your product check an online retailer such as newegg for needed accessories as they will be priced much lower. And as I mentioned earlier, for customer support (Sales you get through immediately) it is better to call and leave your information and say you can't be contacted and call an hour later then wait for profeel to call you. And don't E-mail as that is pointless. If you follow this advice your buying experience should be smooth and far worth the great savings of Profeel.
Update
I have recently been contacted by Profeel in response to this review. (Yes they care about their customers that much) Apparently my case was rare and their E-mail does work, And usually you are given fast replies. Also their tracking generally works. (You can see that this is true by checking other people's positive reviews) I still highly recommend you buy over the phone, but after you buy check the online tracking. If it doesn't work, don't get stressed out, but if it does it's a nice feature. One final note: if the product you want is available at profeel for a great price, don't hesitate; they won't let you down. Profeel is a great company to buy from, just order by phone if at all possible.
(I had given only four stars because of annoying confirmation calls, E-mail service not working, and promised order tracking that didn't work. However, being as they personally E-mailed me, and their competetors are incredibly worse to buy from (For the most part), I would prefer someone to shop at Profeel. I am therefore raising it to 5 stars)
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Canon Digital Rebel
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Epinions.com ID:
danielsaddress
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Member: Daniel Goowill
Location: Dover, FL, USA
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 1 member
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