I just found out some interesting info from this store... The last couple of days I have been monitoring their website in an effort to price other things as well as track the order of my new lens.  I had problems reaching the site, it kept timing out in my browser.  So, I decided to call them to find out what's going on and get a status.  They said that they are making graphics changes to the site, but it would be back up in 24-48 hours.  They also said that my lens is getting ready to ship and that the shipping department would call when it was ready to go to verify my info.  Very good.

Sure enough,a couple hours later, someone from their shipping dept called and went over my info.  He asked if I would like to buy an extended warranty and I said no, I'll just stick with the Nikon US model 5 year standard warranty.  He said that it didn't come with that, it was just a 30-day warranty.  If I wanted to buy a warranty it would cost something like $79.99.  I told him that ALL US model Nikon products come with a 5 year warranty and I purchased a US version of this lens from their website.  He came back and said that I bought the "non-retail" version or something like that and the "retail" version of this lens comes with the 5 year warranty and it sells for $799.00.  I told him I would like my money back.  He then said he would check a few things out first.  He proceeded to try to sell me a 7 year warranty for $49.  I said I wanted my money back. The phone went silent for a few seconds, I asked if he was still there and he came back and said that he wanted to keep my business and that he'd send me the "retail" version for the price that I paid for the "non-retail" version, which was $709.00.  I said OK and now my fingers are crossed hoping that is in fact what I will receive in a few days.

That's still a great deal, but the their site is a bit misleading.  If you do decide to go with them, keep this story in mind and be ready to haggle if you have to.  I didn't think I would have to when I bought this lens but I should've known something was up with that great price.  I hate haggling if I don't have to.  However, it worked out in this case.

If I run into any more interesting little tidbits from this retailer, I will definitely post it.

Caveat emptor.

From the blog at http://egearingphoto.blogspot.com