I'm considering a purchase from Ritz and wondering about their reputation. Any impressions

-- George L. Doolittle (geodoolitt@aol.com), November 08, 2001

Answers

I bought a 135mm/f4 Tele-Elmar from them. Lens was as described and they were very helpfull on the phone. They even threw in some caps and it was packaged properly. I would recommend them.

feli

-- Feli di Giorgio (feli@d2.com), November 08, 2001.

I hate to have to leave negative comments in public about companies and individuals, but I am not overly impressed from my several encounters with them. They misrepresented a camera I bought from them, which arrived actually missing some pieces. This item was also supposed to have been just overhauled by their technicion. Besides the missing parts, the finder was still foggy. What kind of overhaul is that? They took it back for refund OK, but I was still out some shipping costs. I recently called them again about a piece of equipment, and they were sort of put off that I wanted someone to actually go get the camera and answer some questions about it. They told me they would prefer me to just send an e-mail. KEH has no problem doing that, and has comparable (read high) prices like Ritz. Then they could not seem to find several of the items I asked about listed on the website as being available. I have stopped calling them. I'd say proceed with caution and ask about the details of their return policy before buying anything.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), November 08, 2001.

I have used them several times with no problems.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), November 08, 2001.

Looks like some other folks had better luck than I did. I guess the saying about first impressions sticking with you is true.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), November 08, 2001.

FWIW, I've only bought a few small things from Ritz Collectibles, but every 1 of those purchases was a positive experience. Some of their prices can be high, but others have been quite reasonable.

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), November 08, 2001.

I had a problem with this dealer. I ordered a Rollei TLR which they had described as 9+. When I received it, it had all sorts of problems, like a non-functional depth of field indicator (in the focus knob), dragging shutter, etc. They refused to take it back, and basically, I was stuck with a huge repair bill to get it functional. Just be carefull and get some kind of guarantee. They were very hard to deal with on the phone. All in all a bad experience.

-- Frank ODonnell (dootytwo@yahoo.com), January 22, 2002.