Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

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TonyMelt
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p.1 #1 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I was wondering what kind of service others have had with ordering prints from Adorama. I just received an order I placed last weekend and had shipped UPS 2nd day air. When it arrived I noted the box was open on one end. Who ever taped it apparently had somewhere else to be and did a poor job. As a result a 16x20 print was missing. I called customer service and they are apparently closed on Thursday. I e-mailed them asking what they plan to do about the missing print. I guess its time to give American Express a call and cancel the charges. I would advise anyone who has prints they really need to get on time not use Adorama, or at least be forewarned what you may expect.

Oct 08, 2008 at 11:35 PM

gdsf2
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p.1 #2 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

Might want to consider the Jewish holidays. Maybe that is why you have not heard back.

Jerry

Oct 09, 2008 at 02:34 AM

EA6B
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p.1 #3 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I'd give them a chance to make it right.

E

Oct 09, 2008 at 04:16 AM

PESCADOMAN
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p.1 #4 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

b and h is closed 8-9, for Jewish holidays. If they are closed on Thursday, what makes you think they would answer their e-mail? You work normally on Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Let me suggest, from my experience as a hothead, that you check your current attitude at the door. It won't help you, get anything(usually) accomplished, and typically earn you some remorse later.

All my transactions with them have been positive.

I am pretty sure that they will do their best to satisfy you.

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:13 AM

CTYankee
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p.1 #5 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

Adorama is excellent. They will certainly make things right when they are open again.

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:26 AM

TonyMelt
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p.1 #6 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I hope you guys are right. This is my first experience with Adorama and I certainly understand that even the best make mistakes from time to time. Yet if you could see how poorly the package was sealed you might understand my frustration. There are many unscrupulous vendors on the Internet who take advantage of people who they perceive as easily duped and meek in demanding what they pay for. That simply is not me. If you want my business you better be prepared to take the heat when you don't live up to you end of the bargain.

Oct 09, 2008 at 05:34 PM

Greg Futral
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p.1 #7 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I've had no print experiences with Adorama. I did however, buy a used camera from them. It was not in the shape as advertised. Getting my money back took a lot of effort, and a long time. So I try to avoid them whenever possible.

Oct 09, 2008 at 11:51 PM

SoundHound
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p.1 #8 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

You are buying prints because they sell them really cheap. The cost of the packaging often exceeds the cost of the print. That's why there is a tendency to under-package so they can offer that price. That said there is almost no packaging that a careless shipper can't damage.

I have bought many Many items from Adorama (paper but not prints-I make my own) and have had very good service. In any case this is not a big deal and you can do printing locally to avoid this problem.

Oct 10, 2008 at 03:28 PM

TonyMelt
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p.1 #9 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

Well, I did not get a reply to my email so I called Adorama Pix. I tried very hard not to come off as a “hot head.” I explained that the box was delivered with one end of the box completely unsecured and that the one piece of tape had been torn completely. She practically called me a liar and said it is almost impossible to tear the tape because it has strings in it. As she said this I had the box beside me so I reached down with my pinky finger and put it under the one remaining piece of tape of the other end and easily tore it in half with very little effort. I suggested to her that maybe they are using old tape because it was very brittle and I just tore it with my little finger. She obviously was not willing to accept my word that the box was poorly secured. I send a lot of packages using the local UPS Store and if I took a package with so little tape (of any kind) to them they would retape it themselves before sending it out. Apparently Adorama has never been on the receiving end of their shipments and do not understand what these packages go though in the shipping process at UPS or FedEx. They put a lot of packages on top of each other and it looks like in this case the 1 inch thick box which had only about a quarter inch of contents was paced under a lot of weight. When that happens the three-quarters of empty space is going to give way and the package is going to be made flat. This means something is going to give, whatever is weakest, either the tape or the box itself is going to have to tear. It this case the tape appeared to be the weaker of the two. Unfortunately I purchased several prepaid prints from Adorama so I will have to use them for that but rest assured it will not be for anything important. I plan to go back to using Shutterfly. I find that their shipping tubes fair far better in shipping. It’s too bad though because Adorama does do a good job on prints, as long as they make it to you.

Oct 10, 2008 at 03:46 PM

AndyKellett
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p.1 #10 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

Tony, I worked for a manufacturing company and one of my duties was to photograph any expensive items that were delivered and there was even a hint of damage. One time we got an expensive piece of sheet steel (stamped, bent, drilled in just the right places). Although it was strapped down to a wooden pallet and covered with shrinkwrap plastic, it showed obvious signs of damage near one of the corners. The receiving person noted on the shipping company's paperwork that it appeared damaged and my pictures from various angles were sent back to the company we had ordered it from. It made it much harder for them to deny the obvious damage. They shipped a new piece of steel and started wrangling with the shipping company to get the item picked up and sent back to them.

The same advice also works pretty well for automobile accidents because it shows exactly what damage occurred, where it happened and even who was there (some folks even swear in court that they were not involved, until an attorney shows the judge photographs of them standing right beside their bashed up car).

Best,
Andy

Oct 10, 2008 at 04:10 PM

mihind24
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p.1 #11 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I ordered from them once when they had the 99 cent sale on any 8x10s of any paper. I think a few prints were missing, but I got like 100 so I didn't spend the time counting. Several prints were also bent in the corners.

Overall, I didn't feel it worth the hassle to get it corrected for probably no more than $10. However, even though it was a small, minor incident, I've gone with Mpix many times and never had even a slight problem with them, so I'll stick with them, even though they are a tad more expensive.

Oct 10, 2008 at 08:04 PM

EA6B
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p.1 #12 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

That's it? No follow-up or anything? It's like a book with no ending, why do people even bother posting if they aren't going to let us know how it worked out?

E

Oct 14, 2008 at 11:04 PM

PESCADOMAN
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p.1 #13 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

TonyMelt wrote:
Well, I did not get a reply to my email so I called Adorama Pix. I tried very hard not to come off as a “hot head.” I explained that the box was delivered with one end of the box completely unsecured and that the one piece of tape had been torn completely. She practically called me a liar and said it is almost impossible to tear the tape because it has strings in it. As she said this I had the box beside me so I reached down with my pinky finger and put it under the one remaining piece of tape of the other end and easily tore it in half with very little effort. I suggested to her that maybe they are using old tape because it was very brittle and I just tore it with my little finger. She obviously was not willing to accept my word that the box was poorly secured. I send a lot of packages using the local UPS Store and if I took a package with so little tape (of any kind) to them they would retape it themselves before sending it out. Apparently Adorama has never been on the receiving end of their shipments and do not understand what these packages go though in the shipping process at UPS or FedEx. They put a lot of packages on top of each other and it looks like in this case the 1 inch thick box which had only about a quarter inch of contents was paced under a lot of weight. When that happens the three-quarters of empty space is going to give way and the package is going to be made flat. This means something is going to give, whatever is weakest, either the tape or the box itself is going to have to tear. It this case the tape appeared to be the weaker of the two. Unfortunately I purchased several prepaid prints from Adorama so I will have to use them for that but rest assured it will not be for anything important. I plan to go back to using Shutterfly. I find that their shipping tubes fair far better in shipping. It’s too bad though because Adorama does do a good job on prints, as long as they make it to you.

I can't condone the way you were treated... However, from someone who KNOWS one of his expensive packages was stolen from UPS and KNOWS that UPS mishandles MANY shipments, it is very possible that they are to blame. Heck, my package went from being received to being missing. Never even made the departure scan. Sometimes an employee will have a look to see if the contents are worth stealing.. IT HAPPENS.

Secondly, you went as cheap as you possibly could and are now upset. You get what you pay for....period. Photographers should be the last to complain about getting undercut by the next guy. You didn't stay with the business that has served you well in the past and now you want something for it. How about a good lesson?

Oct 16, 2008 at 08:58 AM

oster
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p.1 #14 · Beware of Poor Service from Adorama Prints

I must apologize that I didn't come across these postings earlier.

If there are any outstanding issues with orders from Adorama or Adoramapix, please email me directly, and I will give them my full attention.

Sincerely

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

Nov 13, 2008 at 01:24 PM


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