Vupoint Camera: Buyer Beware

Donald Wilson from Everett, Washington, bought a Vupoint digital camera as a Christmas present for his wife. Turns out that it was more trouble than it was worth.

"I had used it just for a week, and in that week, I must have used up eight batteries", says Wilson. "The camera kept discharging the batteries even though it was turned off. I just gave up and said it isn't going to work." The camera only had a 10 day warrantee on it, so Wilson promptly returned the camera to Ritz camera store. But he had purchased it from Ritz via the internet and the store said it couldn't accept a mail order return.

Next, Wilson contacted his credit card company. "I paid for it on my American Express card and tried to get my money back because AmEx guarantees what you buy. Amex gave me a credit on my bill and a short time later I got a call and someone said sorry, Amex can't allow thi - I didn't get a credit because Ritz said they wouldn't take it back." American Express told Wilson that the camera store wouldn't take the camera back because it wasn't in "new condition".

Bottom line: "Now I'm in the hole $64 [and the cost of eight batteries] and I'm not too happy. I won't buy another thing from Ritz. I've had good luck buying over the internet, but this was one bad situation. I don't even blame Ritz too much because they were selling a junky product with no guarantee," says Wilson.

There are many more [complaints] on the internet regarding the Vupoint digital camera. One reviewer commented "This camera takes the worst pictures. The photos are fuzzy, blurry and out of focus. When you use the flash, it's worse." Disgruntled consumers also complained about extremely slow shutter speed lagging, and "photos coming out in shades of green."