Online shopping rant

Nikolai

Both B&H and Adorama just lost some major points in my eyes.

Two weeks ago Wednesday night I ordered something from B&H and from Hong-Kong, both orders within 30 min from each other. Next morning I have received the "shipped" email from HK guys, and the order arrived on Monday before lunch. Only after that lunch I received the "shipped" email from B&H and the order arrived Friday. :rolleyes

Last week I made another two orders, also one right after another. One was from Adorama and another from Eagle Optics. Eagle Optics "shipped" email arrived just a few hours after the order was made. Adorama kept its time. Today I called only to be notified that item that was presumably in stock is on a back order and won't ship in another two weeks. :huh

I was all in favor of dealing with large reputable companies, but now it looks like thier sheer size make them verrrrrrrrry sloooooooow. Sure, the selection is great, preices are often nice, but speed-wise.. argh... What's the point of paying for the expedite shipping (like I did with Adorama) if item won't even ship untill two weeks.. :dunno

I think I'll switch to the little guys now. :deal

z_28

Same thing about B&H here !
Shippings late, no explanation whatsoever,
written complaints left unanswered scratch:cry

wxwax

Nik, your post is worse than useless unless you describe the shipping options that you selected for each of these sites.

Nikolai

Sid,

wxwax wrote:

Nik, your post is worse than useless unless you describe the shipping options that you selected for each of these sites.

I'm not complaining about shipping cost/time. That I can control and all the carriers I use are doing a very decent job. I'm complaining about the order handling time: hours in one case, days and weeks in another...

wxwax

Nikolai wrote:

I'm not complaining about shipping cost/time. That I can control and all the carriers I use are doing a very decent job. I'm complaining about the order handling time: hours in one case, days and weeks in another...

I read you as complaining that B&H and Adorama took longer to deliver your order than Hong Kong and Eagle Optics.

You blame the difference entirely on B&H's and Adorama's internal processing. Certainly you have a legitimate gripe if Adorama failed to tell you your item was back ordered.

Nevertheless, in order for your complaint to have any validity, you really need to tell us what shipping options you chose.

If you selected USPS for B&H, and FedEx overnight for the other, then I'm not likely to be as sympathetic.

Nikolai

wxwax wrote:

I read you as complaining that B&H and Adorama took longer to deliver your order than Hong Kong and Eagle Optics.

You blame the difference entirely on B&H's and Adorama's internal processing. Certainly you have a legitimate gripe if Adorama failed to tell you your item was back ordered.

Nevertheless, in order for your complaint to have any validity, you really need to tell us what shipping options you chose.

If you selected USPS for B&H, and FedEx overnight for the other, then I'm not likely to be as sympathetic.

Yes, I'm compaining about the internal processing. In each case shipping option was one of the the most basic, like UPS ground, with the exception of the HK guys, who used some international mail. NOT overnight, trust me. I'd rather waste my dough on the Blue Label..
In Adorama's case, however, I specified 3 day UPS, hoping to get it by this coming Friday, since I have an annual airshow coming. I was hoping 10 days would be enough. Man, I was wrong...:cry

EDIT: BTW, Adorama still shows the item as "in stock"

wxwax

I ordered a portable hard drive from B&H on a Monday. Chose the UPS 3-5 days option. Got it that Friday. Does that balance you out?

Nikolai

wxwax wrote:

I ordered a portable hard drive from B&H on a Monday. Chose the UPS 3-5 days option. Got it that Friday. Does that balance you out?

Sid, you're happy with them. That's great!
I'm not. Lousy handling times are bad. Can we agree on that?

z_28

wxwax wrote:

I ordered a portable hard drive from B&H on a Monday. Chose the UPS 3-5 days option. Got it that Friday. Does that balance you out?

If you ask me - not at all !

I ordered XTi on Sunday evening and camera was registered Tuesday late evening (at UPS) and shipped Wednesday morning.
So it was way to late to deliver it same week and was at my home next Tuesday !!!
Basically 9 days - and it wasn't UPS or Fedex or USPS error,
simple lack of any action from B&H.
They didn't care about any explanation or sorry reply either.
Just playing dumb and deaf.

kdog

z_28 wrote:

I ordered XTi on Sunday evening and camera was registered Tuesday late evening (at UPS) and shipped Wednesday morning.

It sounds like what you got is a 48 hour order turnaround time. I'm guessing the order fullfillment dept doesn't work on Sundays. So an order placed on Sunday probably won't be seen until Monday. The order was actually filled on Tuesday, too late for UPS to pick up. So they picked it up on Wednesday. Mondays are probably pretty busy at B&H because of all the orders queued up on Sunday, so 48 hours seems reasonable. Don't you think? And surely you can't blame B&H for the UPS slow-boat shipping time since it was you who chose that option. Granted, Amazon.com might have filled the same order in 24 hours. However, you would have paid more there. Honestly, this doesn't seem that unreasonable.

The Adorama scenario is unreasonable. They have a long history of people reporting the same issue with taking orders for out of stock items, and even accepting overnight or two-day shipping options on them which is really abusive.

Regards,
-joel

Nikolai

Update
I'm cancelling Adorama order.
Ordered the same item from a "little guy". Same price. Ordered basic UPS ground.
Order made about 3:00 pm.
Shipment notification email with UPS tracking# arrived by 3:20 pm.
Yay for the little guys!

Tee Why

I rarely order from "Scamorama." I'm surprised you didn't get an e-mail from "Meyers" telling you to call him regarding your order, in an effort to sell you high profit accessories, delaying your order even further.

As for B&H, I've found that no matter what, they take one business day to process my order. So if I order Monday, they will take all of Tuesday and ship at the end of Tuesday or more likely Wednesday.

By comparison I've often ordered from Beachcamera before they open and they ship that day and I get it next day. And many times they have free shipping on lenses.

jamesl

Tee Why wrote:

I rarely order from "Scamorama." I'm surprised you didn't get an e-mail from "Meyers" telling you to call him regarding your order, in an effort to sell you high profit accessories, delaying your order even further.

As for B&H, I've found that no matter what, they take one business day to process my order. So if I order Monday, they will take all of Tuesday and ship at the end of Tuesday or more likely Wednesday.

By comparison I've often ordered from Beachcamera before they open and they ship that day and I get it next day. And many times they have free shipping on lenses.

I actually had a very good interaction with Adorama. I did research online before I bought from them, and most of what I saw was very positive. I didn't think they took part in that "accessory mark up" scam? Maybe they are cleaning up their act?

Sorry to hear about your frustrations with B&H. The times I have ordered from them (5 or 6 now), they have been very good. But, it only takes one negative experience to sour ones taste.

James

kdog

Tee Why wrote:

As for B&H, I've found that no matter what, they take one business day to process my order. So if I order Monday, they will take all of Tuesday and ship at the end of Tuesday or more likely Wednesday.

Yup, that's been my experience lately as well. Although it looks like you can get around that. According to their website, they ship orders with one or two day shipping options on the same day if you order early enough. Here's the exact text from their website.

All rush orders (1-day and 2-day shipping) are normally shipped on the same day* if placed before 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Friday before 10:30 am (Eastern Standard Time), and 11:30 am (Daylight Savings Time).

That's actually pretty cool.

-joel

Tee Why

I think the point is why pay extra for a 1 or 2 day shipping for them to send it out on the same day when you can buy from another place for about the same price with normal shipping and it gets shipped the same day? To process your order and have UPS pick it up should take longer based on shipping choice of the customer, no? I guess Nik is right that they are so big that they can't get all their orders sent out within 24hours unless you pay extra for that as well.

I persoanlly like B&H and buy from them from time to time, but I don't like their slow processing. I continue to buy from them but I shop around and readily order from ohter reputable online sellers who offere better pricing and/or shipping.

claudermilk

This thread is ironically-timed for me. Here we are (or a few of us) complaining about having to wait 24 hours for an online camera gear order (probably as a toy) to be processed, thus extending a week-long wait for said toy/tool to arrive on our doorstep. Then I go read the "Cameras for Healing" article in this month's PhotoLife. Kind of puts things into perspective.

kdog

Actually I'm going to retract my statement. In looking at my last two B&H orders, both of them were placed in the evenings, and both of them shipped the following morning. Some times it just seems longer.

Cheers,
-joel

Nikolai

Update
Little guy's package (ordered 3 pm yesterday, basic UPS ground) arrived this morning. :ivar
Cancellation with Adorama went smoothly, too. Order was still pending (backorder), money were back at my paypal account next minute.

Hindsight

Glad to hear it all worked out. It's not wrong to complain. Being a fanboi of B&H I was a little horrified someone would have the odacity- but you make a good point re: size and turnaround. Small and agile vs huge and powerful, ...and slow. Why not order from the little guy. Nobody gets hurt. Its all good.

henryp

Nikolai wrote:

Both B&H and Adorama just lost some major points in my eyes.

We certainly regret your dissatisfaction. I see your most recent order is date stamped Thur Aug 2nd @ 10:19pm NYC time. The shipping method selected was UPS ground, the most basic, non-rush option offered. B&H closes mid-afternoon Fridays and is closed all day Saturday. UPS doesn't pick up Sundays. Your order was shipped Monday. Had you placed this order earlier in the day, or placed the order Wednesday, there's every chance it'd have shipped before the weekend. Had you placed the order with 2-day or overnight rush service, it would almost certainly have shipped Friday. Nevertheless,we are sorry for your dissatisfaction.

henryp

z_28 wrote:

I ordered XTi on Sunday evening and camera was registered Tuesday late evening (at UPS) and shipped Wednesday morning.

I'd be happy to look into this, but cannot ID you or the transaction from the meager info in your forum profile. Feel free to email me.

henryp

Tee Why wrote:

I persoanlly like B&H and buy from them from time to time, but I don't like their slow processing. I continue to buy from them but I shop around and readily order from ohter reputable online sellers who offere better pricing and/or shipping.

I am sorry you feel this way. I found your most recent order. It's date stamped 5/14 @ 11:04pm, which is tantamount to our receiving it 5/15. Shipping was (per your specification) UPS ground. The order was shipped 5/16, the next business day. The order before that was received Friday 5/4 at 6:44pm and shipped the following Monday. We endeavor to ship all orders within one business day but do give priority to those with rush handling, for which the customer pays a premium. I think this is equitable. I also do not feel this can be characterized as "Slow processing," but regret your dissatisfaction nevertheless.

Nikolai

Henry,

henryp wrote:

We certainly regret your dissatisfaction. I see your most recent order is date stamped Thur Aug 2nd @ 10:19pm NYC time. The shipping method selected was UPS ground, the most basic, non-rush option offered. B&H closes mid-afternoon Fridays and is closed all day Saturday. UPS doesn't pick up Sundays. Your order was shipped Monday. Had you placed this order earlier in the day, or placed the order Wednesday, there's every chance it'd have shipped before the weekend. Had you placed the order with 2-day or overnight rush service, it would almost certainly have shipped Friday. Nevertheless,we are sorry for your dissatisfaction.

Thank you for getting back on this, this is truly apprciated.

However, all that been said, it looks like we West Coast online shoppers have an exptremely narrow opportunity window (that is unless we opt for a more expensive 1-2 day shipping). Essentially, Monday and maybe early Tuesday are spent playing catchup for the weekend orders, which only leaves end of Tuesday and early Wednesday as the times when one can expect the order being shipped relatively soon, like next day.

Oh well, at least I know now what to expect when!

Once again, thanks for your time! Apart from the handling times you seem to run a great outfit, I wish you had a branch in LA.

henryp

Nikolai wrote:

it looks like we West Coast online shoppers have an exptremely narrow opportunity window (that is unless we opt for a more expensive 1-2 day shipping). Essentially, Monday and maybe early Tuesday are spent playing catchup for the weekend orders, which only leaves end of Tuesday and early Wednesday as the times when one can expect the order being shipped relatively soon, like next day.

Respectfully, this is just a little hyperbolic. As I said earlier we endeavor to ship all orders within one business day,and have a very successful rate at achieving this. You can order anytime, and we're mindful of the time differences from NY to LA just as we are from NY to Europe. Monday and maybe early Tuesday are NOT spent playing catchup for the weekend orders since the shipping dept runs all day Sunday when incoming orders are light. We're almost always caught up Monday morning.

Nikolai

Henry,

henryp wrote:

Respectfully, this is just a little hyperbolic. As I said earlier we endeavor to ship all orders within one business day,and have a very successful rate at achieving this. You can order anytime, and we're mindful of the time differences from NY to LA just as we are from NY to Europe. Monday and maybe early Tuesday are NOT spent playing catchup for the weekend orders since the shipping dept runs all day Sunday when incoming orders are light. We're almost always caught up Monday morning.

OK, I hear you... Next time I'l try early in a week...

Tee Why

henryp wrote:

I am sorry you feel this way. I found your most recent order. It's date stamped 5/14 @ 11:04pm, which is tantamount to our receiving it 5/15. Shipping was (per your specification) UPS ground. The order was shipped 5/16, the next business day. The order before that was received Friday 5/4 at 6:44pm and shipped the following Monday. We endeavor to ship all orders within one business day but do give priority to those with rush handling, for which the customer pays a premium. I think this is equitable. I also do not feel this can be characterized as "Slow processing," but regres your dissatisfaction nevertheless.

Thanks for looking into my orders. I do appreciate it when a giant in the industry like B&H actcually cares about what it's customers say and address their concerns voluntarily.

As I've said, the last order was received when B&H opened on 5/15 but shipped on 5/16, so it did take one full business day to process and then ship my order.

As for the order on 5/4, Friday, I stand corrected as B&H was closed by the time order was received and they shipped Monday, the first available day to ship via UPS.

claudermilk

I know like I'm going to end up looking like a PITA in this thread, but...

It sure is nice to be able to go shopping for our toys at 11PM, isn't it? I'll bet if I tried that at the local shops the PD would be having a little chat with me downtown shortly thereafter. Have we really gotten that spoiled?

:hide

Hindsight

God bless high speed internet.

flyingpylon

In MY day, we had to walk 5 miles, uphill, through the rain and snow to get to the camera store. And then we had to pay full retail!

Nikolai

flyingpylon wrote:

In MY day, we had to walk 5 miles, uphill, through the rain and snow to get to the camera store. And then we had to pay full retail!

!
Now, THAT was funny!

Art Scott

flyingpylon wrote:

In MY day, we had to walk 5 miles, uphill, through the rain and snow to get to the camera store. And then we had to pay full retail!

Me thinks you forgot the hailin' tornados and sand storms.....:D