CW100 wrote:
Amazon is just as good or better,get it in two days no charge for shipping.
and Adorama is just as good or better
To be fair, that's Amazon Prime Service, and you pay something like $69 a year for it. They also have $3.99 per item for overnight when you have prime.
sirimiri wrote:
A plaudit that's uttlerly bereft of pronouns, though in a particularly expressive passage he did manage to sneak in a definite article.
Good Lord, with a tersely staccato writing style like that I'm surprised he could wait until Wednesday.
I like B&H. I like Adorama. I like Freestyle. I like Allen's. I like Photo Village. I like Leica Shop Wien.
CW100 wrote:
Amazon is just as good or better,get it in two days no charge for shipping.
and Adorama is just as good or better
I will have to politely disagree with your Amazon claim.
1) You don't get it in two days all the time unless you happen to live very close to their distro centers. The closest distro center to me (Shreveport, LA) is somewhere in Kentucky I think. It makes it way to Jackson MS and eventually to me. If I'm lucky, I can order 3-day shipping and it will actually get to my house in 3 days. Super-saver shipping? Forget it...we're talking 7-9 calendar days, way too long.
2) Amazon's packaging cushioning is beyond pathetic. I've ordered $1500+ lenses from them and it's simply the manufacturer's box inside a much larger box with only a single air bag!. Absolutely pathetic. Their packing has always been atrocious and I've had to return at least 4 DOA or near-DOA items to them, maybe because of packing (or lack thereof) or maybe because I was just unlucky.
To Amazon's credit, they refund items very quickly, and if you want an exchange they cross-ship (next day free I believe), which is awesome.
B&H also takes too long to refund your money when you return something to them.
I have to disagree, though I've only had one refund - Took maybe 3 business days, not bad.
davenfl wrote:
All interesting and yes, I am certain HenryP will appreciate the commentary.
I'm always pleased to see a satisfied customer.
jaybird555 wrote:
B&H also takes too long to refund your money when you return something to them.
I'm sorry you feel this way. Feel free to email me if there's a specific situation I can help with.
molson wrote:
And they still rip off Canadian customers with their phoney duty and brokerage charges on duty-free items...
Your antipathy towards us is well documented as is my long standing offer to have any error of this nature on our site repaired as speedily as possible
lukeb wrote:
Also, if you're on vacation and need something bad - B&H will not ship to a hotel or motel.
Actually, we will but you cannot do this via our web site and there are payment limitations.
As much as I like that B&H usually has 99% of what I need in stock, shopping in-store isn't all that great. In my experience, the counter staff I've encountered were dismissive, inpersonal and impatient. I think this is a result of the shear volume of customers the in-store staff is subjected to all day. Still, it's not too pleasant for me, the customer.
Now, I also have a corporate account with B&H, and all PO's are sent electronically. The staff is much smaller, located off-site, and only handle email transactions with attached PO's. The particular rep assigned to my account is super-approachable, patient and helpful.
For my personal inventory, I shop in-store, at Adorama. Smaller space, smaller staff, friendlier service. However, they're also backordered more often than B&H.
Skarkowtsky wrote:
As much as I like that B&H usually has 99% of what I need in stock, shopping in-store isn't all that great. In my experience, the counter staff is dismissive, inpersonal and impatient. I think this is a result of the shear volume of customers the in-store staff is subjected to all day. Still, it's not too pleasant for me, the customer.
I am very sorry to hear we've given you reason to form this opinion. It's very much counter to what we intend and I'd like to share this, with more specifics, with our store and sales managers. An email from you would be very much appreciated.
Now, I also have a corporate account with B&H, and all PO's are sent electronically. The staff is much smaller, located off-site, and only handle email transactions with attached PO's. The particular rep assigned to my account is super-approachable, patient and helpful.
I am very glad to read this. FWIW, corporate accounts is in an office building one block north of the store. I am too.
I know where Corporate Accounts is. A testimonial to the professionalism in that dept.: I met my rep on the street one afternoon with a printed PO--he goes above and beyond to satisfy our studio.
Like I said, those were my bad experiences, and I don't intend to generalize about the entire staff or environment of B&H with false claims that the store is bad, in its entirety. In fact, I can see how the constant barrage of customers at that volume could burn some of the staff out.
I've given it a few chances, and with the exception of the Lighting Dept.'s staff, I'm not too impressed with the individuals I've encountered, one-on-one. Still camera (new) and the entire Used Dept. bench are the worst. FWIW, I can honestly say that B&H did lose a few sales because of these experiences.
I do like the pick-up counter staff, they're fast and welcoming.
Well I don't buy tons of equipment, maybe one large purchase per year and several smaller ones and have used B&H pretty much exclusively. Personally I've never had any issues, all my transactions have gone very smoothly. The ol' if it ain't broke don't fix it saying applies here for me.
I typically will use the standard 3 day shipping option and in all instances have received my items the very next day with no extra charge. May not sound like a lot but those are the little things that I as a small customer appreciate.
henryp wrote:
Actually, we will but you cannot do this via our web site and there are payment limitations.
I can confirm this. Was heading out on vacation and needed a filter. Called B&H and asked if they could ship to where I was staying. The filter was there when I arrived.
