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Beginning in 1937 with the first issue of Popular Photography, thousands of satisfied readers have purchased photographic equipment through our mail order pages. It’s our continuing mission to do our very best to make your mail order shopping experience pleasurable and successful. As part of this mission, we initiated our exclusive Checkrated Program, the only such policy of any photographic magazine, anywhere. This program establishes a set of standards for mail order transactions, giving our advertisers mandatory guidelines to follow designed specifically to aid you. To take advantage of our CHECKRATED program, you must IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A Popular Photography & Imaging READER WHEN RESPONDING TO ANY MAIL ORDER ADVERTISEMENT.
OUR ADVERTISERS’ OBLIGATIONS
Our advertisers have promised, in writing, to provide ethical, courteous service, and to resolve any problems that might arise within a reasonable time and with a minimum of frustration.
In addition, each Checkrated advertiser has further agreed to:
a) Honor all advertised prices during the ad month and not require any tie-in sales at an extra price, such as “sold only with case, $20 extra.”
b) Ship all merchandise as packaged by the manufacturer including warranty forms, batteries, straps, instruction books, etc. (There may be differences in packaging between officially imported “U.S.” merchandise and gray market products.)
c) Make no substitutions without your permission. If you order a camera with a manufacturer’s lens, you cannot be shipped a lens of another brand without your agreement.
d) Answer your questions whether a product is an officially imported “U.S.” item with a U.S. warranty or whether it is a “gray market” item with a store or third party warranty, which may not be valid outside the United States.
e) The invoice price must match the amount you agreed to at the time of purchase. (Shipping and handling charges are extra and usually not refundable. Dealers must tell how much these charges will be when you place your order. Always ask about shipping and handling and make sure they are reasonable. A very low product price may mean very high S&H charges.)
HOW TO ORDER
a) Before you pick up the phone, collect as much information as possible on the product you want to buy. Check test reports, product brochures, and the manufacturer’s web site to make certain the features and specifications are what you want. Read various mail order ads to become familiar with prices. If you only want a “U.S.” warranty product, contact the importer to see if the advertiser is an authorized dealer.
b) PAY ONLY BY CREDIT CARD. Never send a check or money order. If there is a problem, your credit card company can be very helpful.
c) When comparing prices, remember that a price that’s too good to be true may not be true—it may be a misprint or “not available.” Prices for official U.S. items are generally higher than for similar gray market versions. When you order, confirm the status of the items you order with the dealer.
d) If you should have a problem, notify your credit card company immediately by telephone and mail. Keep copies of all correspondence, invoices, and related paper work.
e) If you find a sales person who is rude, evasive or untruthful, don’t argue or complain. HANG UP and call another advertiser. Then you should notify us of exactly what occurred.
IF YOU NEED HELP
If you have difficulties with any CHECKRATED advertiser and are unable to solve them with the dealer, WRITE:
Checkrated Service Department
Popular Photography & Imaging
l633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
You can call us, but we need a paper trail to deal with your problem. When you write, include all pertinent information including your name, home address, telephone number, plus copies of invoices, packing slips, etc. and explain the nature of the problem.
When we get the complaint, we send you an acknowledgement that we received your letter and we send a copy of the complaint to the advertiser. Then we give the advertiser 1–2 weeks before we follow up to find out if and when the problem has been resolved.
We adjudicate the problem, and have had a high incidence of success. A small number of complaints per month is permitted as long as we can resolve the matter. However, when a dealer exceeds his quota, he faces various penalties including, in the most serious cases, removal of his ads from the magazine.
But our enforcement process can only begin when you send us a letter.
Go to Our Checkrated Retail Advertisers List
Originally published April 2004.
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