Just before returning to Maine in the spring, snowbirds Bill and Shirley Thompson of Camden thought they had made a “wicked good deal” when they purchased a European manufactured digital camera and photo printer from a Tampa, Fla., store. The camera stored images on a 3.5 floppy disk, and the printer boasted “professional quality prints.”

Wanting to be certain of quality, Bill asked the store manager to run off a print, which he did, from a promotional disk. The image quality was almost as clear as a 35 mm camera photo, so the Maine couple jumped at the $475 total price.

When they arrived home, Bill installed the camera and printer software on his PC, took the disks out with images the couple had taken on the ride home, and tried to make some prints. Everything seemed to work fine, but the image quality was drastically lower than what they been shown in the demonstration. The photos were grainy, out of focus, and the color was awful. Thinking he had done something wrong, Bill tried everything, but the results were always the same.

Calling on a friend who was familiar with digital imaging, Bill soon discovered that the camera itself was a cheap version incapable of producing a superior quality image. But then, why had the sample print at the store looked so good? Simple, the store manager must have used a disk created with a higher quality camera.

Bill contacted the Tampa store, but all they would say was “we are not responsible for photo or print quality,” refusing to do anything for the Maine customers. The tale gets long here, but let’s just say that, like so many consumers, the Thompsons tried everything, contacting the attorney general, Better Business Bureau, and Chamber of Commerce in Florida without success. When all else failed, Shirley’s sister suggested they contact Northeast COMBAT.

A COMBAT volunteer consumer mediation specialist was assigned the Thompson’s case. The specialist did his research, confirming what the Thompson’s friend had surmised. The camera used a 3-megapixel sensor format. Not to get too technical, but the number of pixels per sensor and the ability of the camera lens to match the sensor resolution are important factors (among many others) that determine digital photo quality. A 9-megapixel sensor will, for example, generally produce a much clearer image than a 3. But our specialist didn’t need all that information.

All he needed to tell the Florida company was, “We believe your use of a professionally produced disk to make a sample print misled the Thompsons into believing their camera could produce a high quality image when it could not. We further believe that the sale clearly violates Maine’s Express and Implied Warranty Law, which states that merchandise must fit the purpose for which it is intended. The camera does not!” He advised the Florida retailer that unless the Thompsons were offered a full refund, COMBAT’s next stop would be with the agencies Bill and Shirley had contacted, but this time with an organization of consumers backing them up.

By this time, spring, summer and fall had passed, and Bill and Shirley were on their way back to Florida with the camera and printer repackaged. When they got to the Tampa business, a check for $475 was waiting. Case closed with a postscript.

The number of Maine consumers requesting COMBAT’s help increases every year, and we need consumer mediation specialists. If you have good problem-solving and communication skills and can volunteer sometime in our Bangor office, you can help. Call 947-3331 (Mailbox 3) for volunteer information.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT-Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership $25, business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information, write to Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.