Abesofmaine.com

[bribrius]

They give Maine and folks named Abe a bad name.

They used be be good but were bought/sold to some sketchy person and now they run their store like a back alley drug dealer. Avoid at all costs.

well that sure gives the situation a different perspective. They could be worse than dealing with nikon service.....makes one even more curious....... LOL

 

[bigal1000]

The place sucks !!!!!!

 

[bribrius]

The place sucks !!!!!!

well i guess you bought from them.....

 

[Patrice]

Yeah the real abe's went bankrupt in 2012. Westpark electronics runs them now--and the fac t that they can continue to operate is a testament...oh i digress.

That's too bad. I bought from them in 2009 and had nothing but good polite speedy satisfactory service.

 

[ChiPhotog6865]

I've heard enough horror stories about Abes of Maine, to the OP, if you are looking for a lower price on the camera try looking at Nikon's refurbished models and see what they have available and just a suggestion if your going to buy refurbished, to buy directly from Nikon USA website.

I do agree with the things that bribrius has been saying about warranties and such, and most of the time you end up never needing the warranty if the product was made well. However, I will say that cameras and lenses are a lot more fragile than say a car and there is a lot more opportunity for a delicate lens or camera to be dropped or damaged than the average car, so for my own personal choice I would rather have a valid warranty even if it is only for the first year. Accidents do happen and it would really suck to have just purchased a brand new camera and lens and a simple drop and fall accident to happen and you are out of luck getting it covered under a warranty.

Let us know what you ended up doing and where you decided to purchase from!

 

[pixmedic]

I just go to ebay or amazon.
i have also had good experiences with KEH, Adorama, and Henry's.
all good reputable used camera stores, and you get a 90 day warranty.
I have bought a few cameras and lenses new, but mostly I have bought used.

 

[vintagesnaps]

What Runnah said about Abe's is what I've heard.

I've bought used from KEH, Adorama, and B&H is reputable too.

 

[KmH]

You should know that Nikon and other camera companies will not even let you pay them to repair grey market items. You're basically SOL of something goes wrong.

That may not be true, and the distinction should be made regarding Nikon USA service, Nikon service facilities outside the USA, and other camera makers policies.

Some US sellers of gray market Nikon gear, like B&H Photo Video, have you send a Nikon to them during the warranty period and B&H handles getting the camera repaired under warranty.

U.S. Grey Market Products B H Photo Video

Nikon USA Service will not work on Nikon gear, even for pay, that does not have a US serial number.

 

[qleak]

You should know that Nikon and other camera companies will not even let you pay them to repair grey market items. You're basically SOL of something goes wrong.

That may not be true, and the distinction should be made regarding Nikon USA service, Nikon service facilities outside the USA, and other camera makers policies.

Some US sellers of gray market Nikon gear, like B&H Photo Video, have you send a Nikon to them during the warranty period and B&H handles getting the camera repaired under warranty.

U.S. Grey Market Products B H Photo Video

Nikon USA Service will not work on Nikon gear, even for pay, that does not have a US serial number.

I wish it was possible to give multiple positive reviews to this one. Great customer service on b&h's part. Thanks for pointing this out

The question then becomes will the direct importer provide service. This is predicate on them being in business when you need a repair.

This sounds rather questionable for Abe's, but b & h photo will likely be around for a while.

 

[Derrel]

Yeah the real abe's went bankrupt in 2012. Westpark electronics runs them now--and the fac t that they can continue to operate is a testament...oh i digress.

That's too bad. I bought from them in 2009 and had nothing but good polite speedy satisfactory service.

Agreed. Abe's of Maine USED TO BE just a straightforward, low-priced, Grey Market specialist that had a long,long history of selling through the popular photo magazines. I had never heard anything about them being bait and switch specialists or "strippers". Strippers is an old camera industry term for dealer that take in-the-box items out of the box and then sell them to customers, which is where , "the phone call," as one poster hear mentioned, comes in! I was unaware that Abe's had been sold to a new owner in 2012, but the list of customer comments Braineack provided made me convinced they can be considered to be both strippers, and bait-and-switch sellers now. (I used to sell photo/video at retail, BTW...I am familiar with how the biz works...)

How is Tri-State Photo these days? They were the other mega grey-market, solid service people. I have not looked recently to see if Tri-State is even still doing business.

 

[jeefunk]

Great feedback guys. I appreciate it.

I did find this one on Amazon, factory re-certified, w/accessory bundle:
Amazon.com Nikon D5300 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm f 3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR NIKKOR Zoom Lens Black Lens Cap Keeper .43x Wide Angle Lens 2.2x Telephoto Lens High Power Slave Flash Wireless Remote Deluxe 3pc Filter Kit UV CPL FLD Gadget Bag 16GB Complete Accessory Bundle Camera Photo

Not gray market and can get it w/the extended warranty and the accessory bundle for what a brand new body-only would cost. Any thoughts?

 

[Derrel]

It's a refurbished camera outfit with a bunch of junk accessories with it.

 

[bribrius]

have you tried craigslist or any of the flea market websites?

 

[480sparky]

Nothing wrong with refurb'd (as long as you can get warranty work done if you need it). But outside the camera, lenses and the charger (being OEM is questionable), the rest of it is worth, oh........... say,............$8.57

 

[jeefunk]

Junk, got it.

I have looked, but I live in a rather rural part of TN so not only are there far fewer of those types of pages, they are few people on them. Also, I'm weary of buying second-hand that isn't coming from a reputable seller.