I've been using B&H since the 90s. I bought my first good SLR from them (a Nikon N90s). They're usually pretty good about getting things to me in a timely fashion, but occasionally sh*t happens... that's the reality when dealing with shipping fragile things across the country. For much of my history with them, they were great about handling things but recently it seems like they just don't give a crap anymore.
The most recent order I have with them is one such example.
I ordered a tripod and a head on Monday, Feb 8. Both listed "free expedited shipping" and had a delivery date of Friday. It's cool, I really don't need these until the following Friday, so that's plenty of time (I thought).
The head shipped immediately on Tuesday. It arrived Thursday.
The sticks didn't ship Tuesday. I chatted them Wednesday to make sure they'd ship then so they'd still make it on Friday. Was told that they absolutely would ship Wednesday.
They didn't.
Chatted again Thursday. Was told that they'd absolutely ship Thursday. Asked they be upgraded to overnight since the delay was B&H's issue and that was granted.
They didn't ship Thursday either.
They finally shipped Friday. Four days after the order. Ok. Whatever, I'll see them Monday.
Nope. Last scan on the package is Saturday when they arrived in Memphis. They're more than likely either lost or stuck in the weather that's messing up the midwest at this point. FedEx changes from Monday as a projected delivery to "pending."
Contact B&H again. Told B&H doesn't consider them lost until one day after their original delivery date. That's Tuesday. Call back Wednesday and they'll re-ship.
In the interim, I contacted Henry about the issue. He's apologetic, but largely uses the weather excuse. Nevermind that if B&H had gotten them out the door Tuesday, they'd have avoided the weather.
Contacted B&H today. They're filing the claim. When FedEx processes the claim, they'll reship the item. How long is that going to take? 1-2 additional business days.
So, by the time I get these legs, it'll be over two weeks from order time. For "expedited" shipping.
If I want a refund (since they're going to be too late anyway) I'll have to wait the same 1-2 days for the claim to process before a refund is processed (plus the 2-3 days it takes for the money to go back to the card).
I'm very very close to just disputing that portion of the charge on my Amex as non-delivered. I hate to do that, but I'm kind of tired of riding herd on this issue and I'm not going to get the legs in time anyway.
HIGHLY disappointing. Probably the worst customer service I've ever had from a reputable online retailer. I'm no fan of them, but Amazon would have had a second set of legs on my doorstep two days after I chatted the first time. I've had the same situation with Adorama and they re-shipped as soon as it was obvious it wasn't moving anymore. In that case, both items eventually arrived (the original item arrived about a month after the order) and they sent me a label to send it back.
Like many, B&H has also been impacted by not only Covid-19 disruptions, but also mother nature. That means B&H has no control over the mail system, nor do they control the weather.
I'm not looking to defend, I'm simply pointing out facts. That said, I ordered some items from B&H recently and my order arrived just a day late - package was supposed to arrive on a Wednesday, instead it arrived Thursday morning so no complaints here. In fact I didn't even seek a refund for the expedited shipping I paid for.
That said, if B&H is simply shipping items later than stated, yeah, that would be a problem that needs to be addressed. Perhaps there's supply issues where they have to await the item before shipping? Again, Covid / weather related?
Anyway, just posting my experience and observations.
Here’s the thing. I’m not annoyed by the FedEx delay. Weather happens.
I’m annoyed by the four days they took to ship. All the while telling me it would ship “today.”
I’m annoyed that now that we know it isn’t going to make it here anytime soon... they’re delaying a reship by a few days for their “claim” process. The northeast has more weather coming... so they’re going to bumble their way into another weather delay.
I’m also annoyed with the responses I’m getting from them. They’re not even listening to my actual issue (the shipping delay and the delay in reshipping the item)... they just parrot that FedEx is experiencing weather delays. I’m not an idiot. I know the south got some extreme weather that’s fouled everything up. I have family scattered across the south. I follow the news.
I honestly at this point just want an “I hear you and we’re sorry. This isn’t how we do business and we’ll figure out why it happened and do better. In the meantime, we’re going to reship the item.”
I haven’t heard anything even remotely close to that though.
I've been communicating with Henry. At this point, B&H doesn't know when they can reship and are not confident that if they do it will arrive in any reasonable timeframe, so I just canceled the order.
It kind of blows my mind that a company like B&H doesn't have the ability to quickly change their carrier to UPS or USPS to at least get some of their inventory moving when FedEx takes a dumper. But they've apparently gone all-in on FedEx.
Just got a response from Henry... B&H won't issue a refund until they can recall the package and it arrives back to them.
So, just to recap... they shipped it days after they should have. It got severely delayed in transit due to weather (that it would have avoided if it was shipped anywhere near on time). It has not gotten a scan since Saturday. FedEx has no idea when they might start moving it again or if they even know where it is. B&H refuses to re-ship another one via alternative methods and they're refusing to issue a refund until they can get the package back from FedEx (or I guess until FedEx pays a loss claim if it's indeed lost).
Guess it's time to get American Express involved. I'm glad I used that card.
B&H Web No: 1072234488
Justin:
I hear you and we’re sorry. This isn’t how we normally do business. We’ll figure out why it happened and do better. In the meantime, if you prefer, we can recall the package and issue a refund when we receive it. We can also issue return authorization for the item you did receive and refund that when we receive and inspect the return.
jbregar wrote:
Just got a response from Henry... B&H won't issue a refund until they can recall the package and it arrives back to them.
So, just to recap... they shipped it days after they should have. It got severely delayed in transit due to weather (that it would have avoided if it was shipped anywhere near on time). It has not gotten a scan since Saturday. FedEx has no idea when they might start moving it again or if they even know where it is. B&H refuses to re-ship another one via alternative methods and they're refusing to issue a refund until they can get the package back from FedEx (or I guess until FedEx pays a loss claim if it's indeed lost).
Guess it's time to get American Express involved. I'm glad I used that card....Show more →
Seems like you are in the middle holding the stick. None of this is your fault...why should you be the one waiting for your refund?
Order another unit and cancel the first one on your credit card.
I would be complaining about the Fedex more than BH, but it the worst winter in decades in some places. When I need something important I use UPS, though YMMV depending on the area.
Amazon has good logistics, but their delivery dates are all over the place and they are challenging more returns and "no delivery" incidents lately.
That's assuming the OP wants to continue doing business with B&H.
And it's not so much mail system the OP is complaining about, it's the fact that B&H never shipped the items when they should of. Read post #3 and #7. Couple that with the mail system delays, and I can certainly understand the OP's frustration and particularly with B&H for delaying the order to begin with.
That said, I've never had an issue with B&H and shipments, but stuff happens so....
J, you got ripped, and the COVID, mail, weather excuses are wearing mightily thin, for me at least. Was Henry been able to make it right? Or, is it too late for that?
anthonysemone wrote:
J, you got ripped, and the COVID, mail, weather excuses are wearing mightily thin, for me at least. Was Henry been able to make it right? Or, is it too late for that?
anthony
Please let us know what you did to control the weather? Or control the COVID issue?
Yes it is wearing thin on everyone but it doesn't mean it's not true - I don't think those under the stormfront are imagining things. I don't think the 490 thousand + deaths and infection spread is imaginary. Yeah, its running thin for all of us, just not the way you see it.
Anyway, and again.... the issue is more about when the item was shipped. The mail delays just exacerbates the whole ordeal.
anthonysemone wrote:
J, you got ripped, and the COVID, mail, weather excuses are wearing mightily thin, for me at least. Was Henry been able to make it right? Or, is it too late for that?
anthony
Well, I've been told my two choices are: wait for the package to show up OR wait for B&H to recall the package and someday get a refund. Henry's last email to me about it said they won't re-ship because the new one will probably also get lost.
I'm going to sleep on it, then probably submit an AMEX dispute tomorrow. I feel like I've dealt with them in good faith and in return I've gotten changing stories, moving goalposts, and just a general sense that I'm being strung along until they can figure out what to do. It's not my fault B&H was slow to ship. It's also not my fault that all hell broke loose weather-wise in Memphis. It's also not my fault that B&H uses FedEx pretty much exclusively. Nothing here is my fault, but I'm the one who has neither my money or my tripod.
I should note, B&H's customer service manual... or at least some incarnation of it... was on their web site up until today when I mentioned I was having a hard time squaring this situation with their passage on lost/delayed shipments:
"Lost in Transit/No Scans for Several Days – We must give the package one extra day past the original scheduled delivery date and then we will be able to reship right away."
That used to be on a PDF file at this link: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit_files/39004.pdf That link is dead. Probably because I found it and called them on not even following their own policy in an email to Henry. Seems they can act pretty quickly when their butt is hanging out of their shorts.
I'd kinda understand a "lets find it first" attitude if this was a $15,000 camcorder or a $20,000 O'Connor tripod... but this is a $300 set of sticks and I'm a continued and repeat customer. You'd think they could just give me the benefit of the doubt and ship me another one. If the original shows up on this end, I'll send it back to them. Why wouldn't I?
I'm also with you Anthony... a year into the pandemic, it feels like B&H should have figured out how to conduct their business with COVID as a reality. The weather is less predictable so I'm willing to give that a pass... but the onus is on the retailer, who took my money and picked the shipping provider, to deliver the goods in a reasonable amount of time.
Andrew2 wrote:
Please let us know what you did to control the weather? Or control the COVID issue?
Yes it is wearing thin on everyone but it doesn't mean it's not true - I don't think those under the stormfront are imagining things. I don't think the 490 thousand + deaths and infection spread is imaginary. Yeah, its running thin for all of us, just not the way you see it.
Anyway, and again.... the issue is more about when the item was shipped. The mail delays just exacerbates the whole ordeal.
Anthony's usually a pretty reasonable guy, so I'm guessing he's about where I am on the COVID and mail thing. B&H has had nearly a year to figure out how to operate in the world including COVID. It's literally their business to provide items to people through various shipping services. My business has adapted to the current reality... and did so pretty quickly, I might add... so I'd hope B&H could figure it out with many times more resources to throw at the problem.
I also know for a fact they've changed their shipping cutoff policy to give themselves more time to ship things out. That's fine. That's an adaptation.
As for the mail/shippers... all of the logistics companies are stressed. Things take a bit longer to make it to their destination. Factor that in when you give me an estimate. Give yourself the option to change gears if one of the shippers falls down and goes boom.
The weather isn't really predictable... except that I've gotten pretty tired of a dusting of snow on the ground or some rain in Memphis meaning "weather delays." This current situation is bad... but they've called an audible so many times in much less severe weather situations that they've exhausted peoples' patience for when the big stuff hits. It's a little bit of the boy who cried wolf.
Anyway, you're right... this is mostly about taking 4 days to ship something that was in stock... and now it's nearly completely about B&H's refusal to do anything about it other than telling me to wait to either get the item or wait to get my refund.
chez wrote:
Yes, this stuff happens and you judge a company by how they manage this stuff that happens.
That would be true.... but I also judge by consistency over the course of time. And though I've not yet had any real delays from B&H, I have had mail delays (Amazon and Best Buy), and yeah, it sucks. But as I said, stuff happens, and mine was more an outlier than a consistency. So yeah, stuff happens. And I still shop online with Amazon and Best Buy.
Regarding the OP's issue... yeah, from the outside it appears B&H dropped the ball; but it doesn't mean there's a consistency there. And B&H can't control the weather or COVID precautions everyone is using.
jbregar wrote:
Anyway, you're right... this is mostly about taking 4 days to ship something that was in stock... and now it's nearly completely about B&H's refusal to do anything about it other than telling me to wait to either get the item or wait to get my refund.
Andrew2 wrote:
That would be true.... but I also judge by consistency over the course of time. And though I've not yet had any real delays from B&H, I have had mail delays (Amazon and Best Buy), and yeah, it sucks. But as I said, stuff happens, and mine was more an outlier than a consistency. So yeah, stuff happens. And I still shop online with Amazon and Best Buy.
Regarding the OP's issue... yeah, from the outside it appears B&H dropped the ball; but it doesn't mean there's a consistency there. And B&H can't control the weather or COVID precautions everyone is using.
This isn't the first time B&H has sat on a shipment for a while for me. Their customer service quality and consistency has fallen off hard in the last few years. I've been dealing with them since the mid-90s and they used to be stellar. Now, they're mid-pack when it comes time for me to order something. I'd much rather deal with Adorama or PictureLine now... and Amazon at least generally gets me my items in a timely fashion.
The thing with B&H is... if everything goes according to plan, they're fine. But if anything goes off the rails, it's a huge hassle to get them to do anything about it.
Andrew2 wrote:
That would be true.... but I also judge by consistency over the course of time. And though I've not yet had any real delays from B&H, I have had mail delays (Amazon and Best Buy), and yeah, it sucks. But as I said, stuff happens, and mine was more an outlier than a consistency. So yeah, stuff happens. And I still shop online with Amazon and Best Buy.
Regarding the OP's issue... yeah, from the outside it appears B&H dropped the ball; but it doesn't mean there's a consistency there. And B&H can't control the weather or COVID precautions everyone is using.
But what B&H could control, telling the OP the truth as to when they'll actually ship the equipment. Saying basically the checks in the mail hoping the OP just goes away is totally wrong. Saying it'll ship tomorrow 4 different times and not shipping it is just bad business...period.
Like I said one needs to see how a company handles abnormal conditions to see deeper into the company and from what I see...B&H failed here.
