My New Baby Came

No, baby girl Bailey has not made her appearance yet! =)


I got this from the UPS man today!

I have had plans to purchase a new camera and maybe a lens at the end of the year. I started to think, well I might as well go ahead and make the purchase while I was still in the middle of holiday sessions to break it in. I've been researching and trying to figure between the Canon 40d, 50d, or 5d models. Lots of debating back and forth with myself and reading what other consumers had to say. I came to the conclusion I should go with the 50d and purchase the 24-70mm/2.8 L lens to go with it. I added this to my cart at Amazon on Monday and it was to be shipped on Thursday. Jonathan later finds several sites that have unbelievably low prices on cameras and lenses that I started looking at. Canceled my order at Amazon and went with another online company. They tried to sell me stuff I didn't want and then said my order would be backordered, so I again canceled my order. On Wed. I went with another site, called to make sure they had what I wanted in stock, could tell from the start that customer service wasn't up to par. 1st red flag! Went through their process of confirming my order by phone to find out the great priced camera they offered was basically a stripped model with a camera in a box and nothing else. 2nd red flag! Guy tries to sell me an inferior lens at the same price as what I had chosen. I insisted on keeping the Canon model. 3rd red flag! After a long camera lesson and haggling, I was talked into the Canon 40d in the original retail box with accessories with the lens I requested, he was going to throw in an extra battery, and I did decide to go with a 3 yr warranty to cover cleaning and accidental droppage. At the end of this, I knew I could go to a more reputable site and get this cheaper. 4th red flag! At this point, I really should have asked to cancel my order and not gone through with it, but with the guarantee I could have the camera by Friday, I went ahead with this deal.

Later that afternoon I happened to google the company's name and came across a message board filled with dissatisfied customers who had used or tried to use this site. They all seemed to have similar experiences that I had. The site was coined as a "bait and switch" site; they draw you in with their too good to be true prices and then switch what you are ordering as you have to call and talk to them. Their products are very misrepresented. WOW, 5th red flag! I was in tears as we walked out the door to church, thinking I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

I knew if I hadn't have been so impatient to get the camera this week to be able to use it for photo shoots this weekend, that I could have called back and canceled the order.

I was so full of anger with myself for potentially making a big mistake, the more I read the reviews, the angrier I became. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well that night thinking I may not even ever see this camera, and kicking myself for not canceling the order. As I prayed to God to help this situation work out for the best and to calm the anger inside me, the hymn "Wait on the Lord" filled my head.

"Wait....Wait....Wait on the Lord
Be strong and take courage and wait on the Lord."

It did bring me some peace. As long as what I ordered showed up today I knew I would deal with not getting the "Great Deal" I had set out to get.

I can definitely say I have learned some lessons this week through this process, just a few:
Always check out a company before doing business with them.
The value of good customer service.
Stand firm in your gut instincts.
There is always going to be a better deal come along.
The Lord will always help you through.

While this is certainly not goodbye to my faithful 5 year old Canon Rebel, but hello to a faster, more powerful member of my camera family. =)