recroom Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Has anyone ever bought anything from www.hdvtools.com/? Their prices are quite a bit lower than most other places I've seen... like significantly. A 788t that normally costs $6400 elsewhere is $4245. Seems a little too good to be true if you ask me. Just curious if anyone has ever ordered from them and what their experience was like. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 They are not an authorized re-seller. (that say Matt Mayer on Facebook) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlohninger Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 This is a quote from another forum: "I had never heard of them before, but a few things seem suspicious. The address given (70 West Madison St., Chicago, IL, 60602) is a 57-story office building known as Three First National Plaza -- not a place you'd expect to find either a warehouse or a retail store. The official tenant directory for Three First National Plaza (http://www.property-website.com/pws/...tdirectory.jsp) does not include anything remotely like "B & L Photo Video" or "HDV Tools." And this address doesn't match the telephone area code (224) on their page -- that area covers the northeastern suburbs of Chicago, but not the city itself. Their "hours of operation" page includes a list of dates for closures which looks like an exact copy of B&H's calendar, including all the Jewish holidays. Some of the page footers refer to "B & L Photo Video Inc." I could find no meaningful information on the web about that company, although there is a "B & L Photo" in Carbondale, Illinois, at the extreme other end of the state, which looks like a legitimate mom'n'pop type camera store. And finally, their product listings are not entirely up to date -- the Panasonic AC90 is not included, for example.Taken as a whole, this just don't smell quite right, especially since no one seems to have heard of this company before. What it looks like is that somebody has grabbed a huge amount of content from the B&H site and reformatted it -- although that must have been a massive job. I'd remain totally skeptical about this operation unless someone here can vouch for having a good experience buying from them." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Has anyone ever bought anything from www.hdvtools.com/? Their prices are quite a bit lower than most other places I've seen... like significantly. A 788t that normally costs $6400 elsewhere is $4245. Seems a little too good to be true if you ask me. I saw that site after a Google search and rejected it. $2000 off a 788T when they're not an authorized dealer? It almost defines the term "too good to be true". A 702T for $750 less than anyone else? Granted that there's some "price maintenance" that goes on in the audio biz and a lot of the stuff would probably sell for less in a really free market but the prices seem a lot lower than they should be. Even their listing of Jewish holy days looks suspicious. They list "Passover Eve" as separate from "Passover" and that just ain't the way it works. If a place closes for Passover it closes for Passover (which starts at sunset). There's no such thing as "Passover Eve". Or "Yom Kippur Eve"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recroom Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Ok, yeah seems like it would be smart to stick to reputable sources. Definitely seems fishy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mayer Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Yes, definitely sketchy. Their Returns shipping address is Richard J Daley College down by Midway. I meant to call them today to see if I could drive down and pick up the 788 as I have an immediate need, but ran out of time. Maybe I will play with them tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Kittappa Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I've bought Sound Devices gear, and whenever I shop for something expensive I always try to get some kind of a discount. I have learned from multiple vendors that Sound Devices fix their prices and do not allow any seller to offer any discounts from the marked price. The fact that these guys are offering SD gear for a lower price is huge red flag. As my grandpa always said 'if it looks like sh*t and smells like sh*t, then in all probability it is sh*t' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfisk Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Many manufacturers have what's called "unilateral pricing" which means in the US, a dealer cannot sell or advertise a product below a certain price. When I was selling gear, I know SD had this policy, and I can't imagine it would have changed over the years. Honestly, as a re-seller, I really liked unilateral pricing. Some manufacturers have "Minimum Advertised Price", which means that a price advertised online or in print cannot go below a certain price, but it can be sold by the dealer for whatever they want. Usually products that have an MAP usually end up selling for MAP anyway since MAP is a usually below list price anyway. I e-mailed this place from my personal e-mail account asking for a price on a 788. I have not heard back from them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Smells fishy to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Many manufacturers have what's called "unilateral pricing" which means in the US, a dealer cannot sell or advertise a product below a certain price. So if you take your dog to the vet to have him neutered do you tell your friends that he's been "unilateraled"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginufuk Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 I just called their sales department (Between their business hours) and it is directed to voice message. I got my answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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