Had a very bad experience with them today. I'm out $250 bucks due to at the very least, incompetance on their part OR flat out theivery. Back in September, I had purchased the Lee wide angle hood and the 77 ring for my Canon 24L II, along with some filters, a filter book and filter cleaner. Only the hood and the ring were back ordered and it took 2 months to get them. The hood came in and they held that for as it was no use to me without the lens ring. I go there to pick these two items up and they show the hood was released to me. They gave me the ring and the salesperson even said she remembers me there on 10/27, which was just one day after I had oral surgery done under anesthesia. I was home that day recovering from surgery. In the crazy off chance that they are right, I looked through everything and of course found nothing. I was not there. At this point I'm going to file a complaint to the Better Business Bureau so at least it's on record. Since it's a she said/he said thing, I'm not sure what else I can do, but PLEASE take my advice and don't shop here.
I have two receipts given to me on the day I bought all this Lee stuff. One receipt shows the total amount and everything I bought. The other, given the same day, shows what they had in stock at the time and gave to me then and there. It also shows what was backordered, which of course were the wide angle hood and 77 ring. But again, it's a she said/he said thing. They claim they already gave it to me. Like I said, I tore my photography stuff apart and found nothing. The shelf where I keep all my lens hoods, circular filters, square filters......where this hood would be, is not there. I was not there. Without the 77 ring, the wide angle hood was usless to me as I couldn't mount anything. That's why I figured, just let them hold on to it until the rest of the backorder(the ring) came in.
I had a problem with a sales gal at Samy's on Fairfax about 18 months ago. It really pissed me off, so I wrote a letter to the manager... he called me to apologize, and told me that the sales girl had recently been transferred to the Pasadena store so I wouldn't encounter problems again. He hinted that he was glad about her transfer.
I still didn't feel satisfied with the resolution to the issue, so my next time in L.A. I stopped in and talked with the manager in person. He was nice, but didn't offer any solution to the original issue I had.
B&H has gotten a lot of business from me since then.... and Samy's has gotten zilch.
You'd think they would have some sort of receipt showing I took delivery of the item, but they kept going back to their computer, which of course showed the item was released.
Yes, it is a he said/she said thing, but he has evidence demonstrating that he paid for the goods and she has zero evidence demonstrating that he was provided the goods.
If the facts are as you say, you should make a lot of noise about the matter. I would file a criminal complaint, take Samy's to small claims court and scream about this on every photography website out there.
I've lived in SoCal on and off since '94. Perhaps this gives me shade of insight to LA, perhaps not? But...
I suspect things got heated rather quickly, which cemented positions. Not that you are incorrect, but this will take some negotiating to get it moving towards what you want.
Go back, when you're calm, and talk with the manager. Bring whatever documentation you have. It's not in Samy's interest, as a large, known retailer, to burn people. Persist, but calmly. Don't get the urge to "go nuclear" right off the bat, though as I said above, it's probably already gotten rather heated as you felt it warranted to bring it to the 'net.
For what it's worth, I've never had any kinds of problems with Samy's in all the years I've gone there. Helpful, calm people for the most part. Variety of crazy accents worth listening to. OK prices. I often prowl the used area. It's uncompetitive on price, and I've told them so. They acknowledged it, and said it's based on what they paid. Two nods, mutual respect and that's that.
Good luck with your recovery efforts. Sorry this happend.
For EB-1: Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it correctly. I purchased a bunch of Lee stuff on 9/6. I paid in full up front on that date. Two of the items, the wide angle hood and the 77 adapter ring, had to be backordered with the remainder of the other items given to me on that very day as they had them in stock. I called around a month later to see what the hold up was on the backordered items and they said that the hood had arrived, but the that they were still waiting on the ring adapter. That was fine. I figured I'd give it another few weeks and call again. I called a like two days ago and they said the ring finally came in. I went down to pick up my two items and they said I had already picked up my hood before. That the computer shows the item was released. Even the salesperson claimed she gave me the hood on 10/27. I had oral surgery under anethesia just a day before. They said maybe I was still out of it from that and don't remember coming. Although I'm willing to entertain that idea and tear apart my photography equipment, my car, searching for it, which I have done in triplicate at this point, AGAIN still I find no hood and contrary to what they say, I absolutely don't remember going there. I do remember watching a lot of TV on the couch and working on jigsaw puzzles.
I don't personally care for their Pasadena location. Every time I go there it is a PITA to park, long line to check out and worst of all, such a limited selection of whatever I came to get there. They didn't even have a tripod plate, you know, the basic Manfrotto $12 one that is like common as heck everywhere else on the planet, but, no Pasadena didn't have any. Hey, otherwise, I have had fine experiences with everything else I have purchased at Samys L.A. and Santa Barbara. They are a large and legit retailer, I would ask a manager and explain what happened. I would no way lump them in with the "Super Photo 1000, 54th street" Brooklyn scam photo shops.
Maggot wrote:
For EB-1: Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it correctly. I purchased a bunch of Lee stuff on 9/6. I paid in full up front on that date. Two of the items, the wide angle hood and the 77 adapter ring, had to be backordered with the remainder of the other items given to me on that very day as they had them in stock.
Again, you shouldn't walk out of the store without everything you paid for. It's simple, only pay for what they give you and when the backordered items come in, you pay for them at pickup.
That avoids any of these problems.
Still, they have no signature of yours that you picked up the backordered items, so the burden of proof is on them in court. The standard procedure for picking up prepaid items is a signature release.
The store manager is not the final word on anything. Continue up the food chain until you find a sympathetic ear. They are a legitimate retailer and anybody who buys Lee Filters has serious customer potential. Eventually you will reach an intelligent life form that understands that you have documentation and they do not not have a signature; and that it is not in their own best interest to behave this way over an item like this that probably costs them under 100.00. If you have to, go as far as the owner, and make sure that he understands how you were treated and who treated you that way.At this point in time retail stores can pick and choose among ultra qualified people looking for work. There is no reason that either you or the store should accept this behavior.
