Just got my 5d kit from the Amazon rebate deal. The top half of the box is soaking wet. The interior box for the lens is about half soaked through as well. The warranty cards, etc. are also wet.

It looks like UPS left the box sitting in a puddle either at their warehouse or in the truck.

It would probably work, but then I figured, what would happen if I ever had to send it in to Canon for service and it went in with a warranty card that has obviously been soaked?

To their credit, I called Amazon. Well, had them call me really through their website. They picked up right away. The guy apologized, even though it is not their fault. He said since it was such a big item, he couldn't authorize the exchange, but the person that could will email me within 24 hours. Amazon seems to have good service so far.

Amazon seems to be beating out B&H for customer satisfaction... at least that's what I keep hearing...

From www.resellerratings.com, Dec. 29, 2007. Six month ratings:

Amazon.com: 4.61

B&H Photo Video: 9.64

Zero is lowest, 10 is highest.


JimR

You should have seen the P45 I got via FedEx more than a year ago. It fell off the truck, into a lake, was run over by another truck, and then delivered to me. Good thing it was triple boxed - the inner box, I mean the aluminum case, was banged up good but the contents were safe.

I expected this from UPS any day but that was the 1st time FedEx did so wonderfully for me.

Many of the recent "very dissatisfied" comments on Amazon are due to canceled Black Friday orders, etc.

I like Amazon's easy price adjustment if their own price drops within 30 days of your purchase. Just call or email and they'll refund the difference. (sometimes works past the 30 days)

Read through the comments for the seller to see what your personal take on them are. When checking airlines, a smaller one that flies Europe and Asia was rated well in spite of flights cancelled at the last moment with no help/rebooking/info at all, and multiple complaints of missing luggage that was never found. A major US/Europe airline was rated badly from people not liking the food, or not having their missing luggage express delivered to them. It's good to respect the rating, but check the comments to put things in perspective.

Good luck with the exchange!

~ Linda

stanj wrote:
You should have seen the P45 I got via FedEx more than a year ago. It fell off the truck, into a lake, was run over by another truck, and then delivered to me.

Sounds like part of a Rube Goldberg experiment.

take 8 days to mail a package 2 day shipped

mh2000 wrote:
Amazon seems to be beating out B&H for customer satisfaction... at least that's what I keep hearing...

I've ordered all my gear from B&H and never had a problem.
I just received my filter for my 135L which I got for Xmas. I ordered the filter on Xmas day, 4-5 days shipping, and had it Thursday. B&H is always my first choice.
Tim

Well all the delivery services (UPS, USPS, and FedEx) have done the same thing to me over the last year. They often leave packages at my garage door as they are too lazy to walk 15 feet to get to my front door where the package would be protected from the weather. On 3 different occasions over the last 2 years I have had packages completely soaked through with contents completely saturated with water when they were left all day in the rain. No more, everything of value gets shipped to my work address.

If you're talking B&H or Amazon what's the difference. They both use Fedx and UPS.

Anyone trashing Amazon is grinding some sort of ax. As much as I like resellerratings, in this case that's pure BS. I've been using them since they opened and they've been great. I've purchased a few photo things from them (1 lens, 5d grip, etc.) but whatever they've done wrong on any order, if anything, they always make it right. Amazon is my favorite "go to" place for so much stuff it's incredible to me. I love those guys/gals...

B&H is also superb of course and I'm not knocking them in the slightest. I just think we need to be fair sometimes to these companies when you consider how many hands must touch an order to get it properly filled and delivered, there are opportunities for things to go wrong. Both companies deserve our support.

I have used Amazon for years and their customer service is wonderful; their return policy is amazing; they refund or exchange at your whim. I have also received a few products where the delivery company - generally UPS but also Fed Ex - amazed me by leaving a package with tire marks, holes, soaking wet, crushed flat,, etc. This has happened no matter which company got the original order...

This is not the fault of the company which fulfilled your order. If you receive a package from UPS in bad shape, call UPS also, speak to a supervisor, and they will pick up and return the package quickly.

Understand that Amazon, with their huge buying power, requires their "Vendors" to accept merchandise that they send them-sometimes under circumstances that the Vendor would not extend to retail (or even wholesale) customers.

SoundHound wrote:
Understand that Amazon, with their huge buying power, requires their "Vendors" to accept merchandise that they send them-sometimes under circumstances that the Vendor would not extend to retail (or even wholesale) customers.

I'm not sure what this means. Can you explain with examples?

I also don't have a clue as to what SoundHound is describing. Amazon's "Marketplace" vendors simply sell their own merchandise through Amazon's customer interface, and Amazon collects a commission. I usually avoid these vendors, simply because their return/exchange policies are their own, and are often not nearly so customer-oriented as Amazon's. I'm also an Amazon Prime member (or whatever it's called) which for ~$70/year gets me free 2-day shipping or $2.99 overnight shipping on whatever I buy directly from Amazon. As for Amazon's customer service, it's the best I've ever experienced, although B&H also gets top marks.

SoundHound wrote:
Understand that Amazon, with their huge buying power, requires their "Vendors" to accept merchandise that they send them-sometimes under circumstances that the Vendor would not extend to retail (or even wholesale) customers.



I don't know if Amazon truly has "huge" buying power but they definitely have a "huge" name.

I think some people call this business approach "consignment." The returned stuff goes to refurb sale from a different vendor or re-sold as new.

www.warehousedeals.com is Amazon's site for refurb and open box returns.

You should have a good experience with amazon's return service. They've always gone the extra mile for me, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm hesitant to buy locally because Amazon's service is so good.

My experience with UPS has been consistently bad. FedEx and the USPS gets my business these days.

I've had several bad experiences with the Big Brown, and now will always pay a little extra for FedEx--especially when my 5D is involved.

I use both, but lean toward Amazon for high-ticket items which save me sales tax.

USPS to Australia
My children are forever buying stuff from the USA on eBay.
Not only does USPS provide tracking with their "Priority Mail International " service they get their purchases delivered within a 4 to 7 day period.
we sort of think of it as a miracle service

Second the motion....I had the brown company deliver a very expensive 7ch sound amplifier that had been double boxed and double padded. It had a very bad dent in the box and I tried to refuse delivery....They did everything but call the cops on me...Ended up the manufacturer who shipped it said it had been "abused" and therefore not covered by warranty, and the brown said if the manufacturer wanted insurance it should have bought some.. I called the repair person who looked it over and he said it looked as if it had been dropped "at least 20 feet"..... The amp was unrepairable, broken by the shipper ( Brown) who denied any responsibility. Net result I lost $2400 bucks on an amp that I never even got to see...and I no longer do business with brown or Outlaw..
Fedex has their flaws, but they're basically honest people.

pat_c wrote:
I've had several bad experiences with the Big Brown, and now will always pay a little extra for FedEx--especially when my 5D is involved.

UPS has been notorious for damaging or losing shipments over the years. I would highly recommend not using them for anything of high value or subject-able to shock damage. I never use them for camera gear and I've never had a damaged shipment as a result. FedX does a pretty good job. I've found the USPS to be fairly reliable as well. If I'm shipping camera gear, I go with FexX.

This stuff doesn't belong on the Canon forum...
But what the heck... it's the holidays!

Here's another holiday story (not mine).
What Part Of "Must Obtain Signature" Did FedEx Misunderstand?
http://consumerist.com/338894/what-part-of-must-obtain-signature-did-fedex-misunderstand

-----
dan

I order most of my Canon stuff from B&H and only a few things from Amazon, but from my friends' experiences, Amazon has been dealing with returns for any reason very very well... though I've never had any real problem with B&H. B&H is very professional NY and Amazon has been "friendlier"... friendly isn't a bad thing.