It's just me, but if I wouldn't have sold off the f/4 until I had the IS in hand. I am not trying to defend Dell. In fact I am thinking I should have been more aggressive with others in the past, I might have gotten what I wanted.
Then I tried the 4.0. It was just as sharp, light and fitted in my pocket.
Yep, this is why I had to do some soul searching when I sold my 70-200 f/4 in order to buy the 70-200 f/2.8 IS.
I really needed the IS since I do a lot of shots where there is limited light but extended DOF is not always required, and in fact is sometimes a detriment to the shot, and I need as fast a shutter speed as possible, or needed as low an ISO rating as possible (concert shots).
This is a perplexing thing to be sure, I ordered my 70-200L IS about two months ago from Beach Camera (in NJ) they had the lowest price around ($1569) but they added their profit into the $65 (2nd day air) shipping charge.
The guy there told me flat out that the cost on the Lens was $1589.
1589-1169 = $420
Now lets add it ALL up...
$420 (loss) + $35 (est. shipping) + $20 (est. labor, paperwork, packaging) + $35 (3% Credit card usage fee) = $505 LOSS per lens
Not sure how much Dell is willing to lose, but 540 x $505 = $272,000.oo
OUCH, if they honor all those, better sell your Dell stock...
unleashell wrote:
This is a perplexing thing to be sure, I ordered my 70-200L IS about two months ago from Beach Camera (in NJ) they had the lowest price around ($1569) but they added their profit into the $65 (2nd day air) shipping charge.
The guy there told me flat out that the cost on the Lens was $1589.
1589-1169 = $420
Now lets add it ALL up...
$420 (loss) + $35 (est. shipping) + $20 (est. labor, paperwork, packaging) + $35 (3% Credit card usage fee) = $505 LOSS per lens
Not sure how much Dell is willing to lose, but 540 x $505 = $272,000.oo
OUCH, if they honor all those, better sell your Dell stock... ...Show more →
You believed a NY/NJ mailorder sales person? Nuff said.. PS any interest in a bridge that I can get for you wholesale??
I'm sorry, but I don't know a salesperson anywhere that will show a customer the actual product cost. If they did, they'd get fired IMO.
I was the manager for a full line music store for about ten years, and owned two major electronic franchise/dealer stores for about nine years (god I hate those guys, and yes it's who you think they are).
If any of my employees had released real information about our pricing structure, they would have been history that same day. I made that very clear when I allowed them to pull the price books for the first time.
BTW, it's common for stores to have phony wholesale cost catalogs. This is part of the business. When I say phony I mean it only shows 1st column pricing. It's not a lie, it's just not the whole truth. Considering I always got end column pricing, I didn't care. I had several of these in the music industry. BTW, I also wholesaled electronic parts for about eight years. We made our own price lists based upon what the retailer wanted. Anybody what to buy a dual station blister packer or a QVac skin packer?
The point here is, not only does the customer not really know the cost of an item, but even the retailer is without a clue at times.
If they have 40 in stock and 70 on the way, this means some people will be getting lenses very soon so how come no one is saying what they got? I bet because nothing is shipping.
Its highly likely that Dell has made a huge mistake, using the pricing for the non-IS lens for the IS version. They will have to make a choice to either honor the deal or say sorry, ticking lots of people off.
It would be a huge mistake to ship the non-IS version. Even with all the discounts and free shipping, hardly a deal. If they ship non-IS lenses, there will be mass cancellations.
This BS would never happen with a camera specialty retailer. They would quickly discover the error, fix it and communicate whatever to the customers. We may never hear a credible explanation from Dell and will just have to wait. I don't care what their buying power is, they can't make money if they really plan to ship out IS models.
I was going to stay completely out of this discussion, but for one thing.
Ed Peters, I have several mail order people in New York that I trust. Among them are sales people form B&H, Adorama, and 17th Street Photo. And, since I have had very successful dealings with these people, I will probably do business with them again.
"Trustworthy people trust others, untrustworthy people never trust anybody."
I do find it interesting that several days ago a few people indicated that they were getting next day or overnight shipping yet we have yet to see a "my lens arrived!!!" post.
John Power wrote:
I do find it interesting that several days ago a few people indicated that they were getting next day or overnight shipping yet we have yet to see a "my lens arrived!!!" post.
Overnight shipping is predicated by availability. You can't ship anything (even overnight) that you don't have in stock. Once it is available, it will be shipped to many overnight. Others it's 3-5 days.
The earliest I have seen quoted is 10/1. They've run anywhere from there to 10/7 depending on when you ordered.
They may have been offered overnight shipping, but Dell stated the ship date as 10/02/03 (the earliest I heard). This would put the the first delivery at about one week from now.
I really wish everyone would just calm down and wait. Dell will Deliver as promised.
At a minimum, I think it is in bad taste to speak poorly of them when they have not done anything wrong. The earliest ship date that I have heard anyone say the were promised is 10/1. It is now only 9/26. It is premature to judge them in my opinion.
Let me take a moment to explain to everyone how DELL operates. I deal with Dell on a daily basis. On countless occasions I have gone in with them and the Dell sales managers have sold to entire School districts at an incredible loss simply to secure the contract - they have told me outright that sometimes they are instructed to "do whatever is necessary to win the deal". They used that tactic when IBM and Apple were the major suppliers of PCs to schools, homes and businesses. Dell was so succesful at undercutting the prices that the others just could not compete. Sure, Dell lost a lot of money at the time, but have since made up for it 100 fold, because now everyone automatically turns to them for PCs and servers.
It is a little know fact that Dell is trying to forge new ground in the consumer electronics department. My take on all this is that this is just one of their tactics. Yes, they may lose a couple hundred thousand dollars on this deal. That is just a "spot of dust" in the big picture - pun intended. :-)
The next lens they sell will be much less than anywhere else (just not as big a discount), and they will keep doing that until we all look to Dell first when we think of quality cameras and lenses instead of B&H et al.
I have seen this first hand.
Edited by Prince Malko on Sep 27, 2003 at 12:29 AM GMT
Well, I have said it, PaulR has said it, and I will say again that we should give Dell a chance to honor the 500 or so contracts that it has made with its customers on this product.
One thing that I find astonishing is how readily people have accepted the $1599/1589 as being the dealer cost for this lens. Period. How do you know that? From a trustworthy B&H salesman in NYC? I would not buy that for a second. How do you know that Canon has not worked out a very special marketing agreement with Dell to lower their purchase cost? You are comparing some large CAMERA stores to a company that, last I checked, was worth over $30 billion US! And their business is BASED on the ability to acquire and re-sell items at the lowest possible cost. They have considerably more buying power and leverage than all those NYC Camera stores COMBINED. You can buy a computer with a 15" flat panel from Dell for under $800! Does that sound like a pricing error, given the best cost all of us might be able to get on each component to build a similar system? Actually, in my experience, it is about 25% less than what I would need to put together a comparable system . What the naysayers have posted here is that Dell is selling them a lens for about 30% less than what they 'expect' would be the lowest possible price for lower volume dealers they know. Why are you automatically chalking it up as a mistake/loss-to-Dell/sell-your-stock deal? I could understand if you already had your orders cancelled, but by all accounts here, Dell has made every effort to assure everyone that they will fulfil the sale and get your items out to you, and that it will be the items you ordered.
Also, as far as I can tell, the transactions Dell has made with all of us in the last few days are contractual obligations Dell needs to fulfill. These are not simple pricing errors, but have been repeatedly verified by many salespeople, and quoted orally and in writing countless times. There is no reason to beleive that they won't honor ir, and further, no reason to assume that they are taking a loss on your behalf. Further, I don't see why people here would be unwilling to leverage the contract made between themselves and Dell in the event that one side decided to breach. If you sell something on ebay and post the wrong price, you pay for your mistake in poor feedback or lost profit. Any breach of contract or error in contract has consequences, and I don't see why this one should be any exception, IF in fact, they DO breach contract. Once again, I'll believe THAT when I see it.
The person at the dock is the wrong person to talk to regarding inventory on the system. You should try to speak to a buyer instead, he is the one who enter the IS version into the system in the first place, and they negotiate and authorize the purchase from Canon USA. If there is a mistake, they need to be informed.
I should point out that I have always been a Dell supporter. I have two Dell tower systems and a Inspiron 8100 laptop (which I am typing on now - I also have three clones on the network).
I am probably responsible for 100+ Dell systems being sold to my customers per year, and I am the technical contact for at least seven of these clients. Is this some way of hoping for Dell support? Nope. I don't really need it.
Dell has always been very matter of fact as far as support issues are concerned. While some may find this a bit impersonal, I find it to be refreshing. I can assure my smaller customers that they will be treated with the same respect and importance as my larger customers.
My 8100 was delivered to me at no cost since my 7500 died (with smoke) after a year and a half. It had been fixed twice, and Dell said that was enough, so they sent me a new Inspiron 8100 laptop.
I have several DOAs, died while configuring, etc. computers, and Dell has always handled them with the utmost professionalism.
I'm a solid Dell supporter, but I do expect to receive what I order at the price I am quoted when I take the time to insure the quote is accurate.
I called Dell today and after explaining that this lens retails for a considerably higher price and that I wanted to be sure that I would have been getting the advertised "IS" lens, or else, if it was a mistake I would have wanted to know it now, the CS person checked my order against their database and told me that the price tag on the lens is $1999.00, and that yes, it had been offered for 1299.00 for a few days. So let's keep our fingers crossed!!!
>How do you all think DELL became #1 in PC sales? It was by selling at a loss. The other retailers just could not compete. Not even IBM.
Well Prince M, you are actually saying in public that Dell is engaged in unfair business practice--selling at a loss to damage a rival!
I'm not sure that will please Dell and help their efforts to sell camera stuff at lower prices?
Let's just be good spirited and as you say, trust them to come through. I really don't doubt we will all receive the 70-200 2.8L IS unless Canon stops making them!
Some should get their lens in just about ten days. Mine is set for Oct 7th or earlier...
I'd be happy just to get it in the next month or so.
I'm not letting go of my 70-200 4.0..unless they come out with an IS version..hint hint Canon .
So what other bargains are there? ...now how about a really cheap 1Ds?
I ordered mine on 9/17 and it was supposed to ship next day air on 9/25 but it still says that it is delayed. I order all my stuff from Dell even my new 40gb iPod that I ordered with a 20% coupon. They have always delivered...just never know how long it will take.
I ordered this lens on Tuesday at 2:30 pacific. I checked the website on Thursday and it showed cancelled. Anyone else have this experience. Anyone else order later than Tuesday and not get their order cancelled?
Dell customer care has not been helpful in the least.
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