3 short reviews of internet sellers

[teepee12]

Lately I've been doing a lot of online buying and some selling.. I have some observations for you and couldn't figure out where else to post them. I'm pretty sure that my experiences are fairly typical for these 3 well-known sellers: Adorama.com, B&H Photo, and Amazon.com.

B&H:Photo: They use a computer "alert" system to catch "resellers". The system is flawed. I was flagged as a reseller because I ordered too many items over too short a period! Duh? Before B&H finally said "OOPS, sorry" it took weeks. I'll never feel comfortable dealing with them. Mr. Posner runs the place & believes customers are liars and cheats until proven otherwise. If all goes well, great. But WOE is you if things don't go smoothly! Be CAREFUL. This company can bite!

Adorama.com: They aren't perfect (who is?). But they work with you. They don't lie. If you have a gripe, they address it. They do not assume, as does B&H, that the customer is always wrong ... and they do know how to ship things properly. A bit slow on the shipping end, but it does get here and it gets here in good shape. Their policies are fair. They are not always the cheapest, but they are stand behind their products and policies.

Amazon.com: They often have the lowest prices AND the most accommodating customer service department anywhere. They also seem to have THE worst packing and shipping department. So, although it is easy to return stuff to them, you may find you are doing a LOT of returning because they don't grasp the "bubble pack" concept as it affects equipment that might be fragile! On the up side, they are AWFULLY nice about it when you complain!

[OsmosisStudios]

Thanks tips.

[kirbinster]

Be very careful of Amazon as many times the stuff is from partners not them directly. Partners can be a source of problem.

[mshockley]

I do agree with what you said about Amazon and the packing and shipping department. God, I've gotten some things that are just packaged so bad I was shocked to find the item still in one piece! Which I think says more for UPS than Amazon.....

[gturner]

I agree on Adorama - I have only ever had top quality service from them... and I am on the other side of the world.
Never bought anything but books from amazon, and that has be perfect.

[NathanFranke]

Originally Posted by mshockley

I do agree with what you said about Amazon and the packing and shipping department. God, I've gotten some things that are just packaged so bad I was shocked to find the item still in one piece! Which I think says more for UPS than Amazon.....

(emphasis added)
If the box itself is dinged, dented, and destroyed, I'd agree with you. But poor packaging inside the box is all on Amazon. I once ordered several books--most of them quality paperbacks--and they arrived stacked neatly in the box, except for one that was folded up so it would fit. I don't know who in their right mind would cram a book in a box that way, but cheap prices come with cheap methods.

That was just for a book--I wouldn't risk camera equipment with amazon, not to mention Amazon's resellers. I trust Ebay's feedback mechanism much more than I trust Amazon "stores".

[henryp]

Originally Posted by teepee12

B&H Photo: They use a computer "alert" system to catch "resellers". The system is flawed. I was flagged as a reseller because I ordered too many items over too short a period! Duh? Before B&H finally said "OOPS, sorry" it took weeks. I'll never feel comfortable dealing with them.

Our system, while imperfect is quite a bit more sophisticated than a "computer 'alert.'" But it is imperfect and if someone is flagged inaccurately we will repair this as soon as it's brought to our attention.

Mr. Posner runs the place & believes customers are liars and cheats until proven otherwise. If all goes well, great. But WOE is you if things don't go smoothly! Be CAREFUL. This company can bite!

Mr. Posner (that's me) does not run the place. I've been here 15 years or so and enjoy a good bit of credibility internally, for which I am grateful. I appreciate and respect all our customers. While I abhor liars and cheats as much as the next fellow I think 99.999% of our customers are simply great people.

...They do not assume, as does B&H, that the customer is always wrong ...

ROFL. I may do a lot but neither my colleagues nor I assume that the customer is always wrong. In this case, you are mistaken and that's not an assumption. You obviously have a grievance and I am sorry you do but that's not license to spray defamatory inaccuracies all over this forum.

If we did something for which you deserve an apology, we;ll have one for you. Feel free to email your details. My email address is in my sig.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by henryp

Our system, while imperfect is quite a bit more sophisticated than a "computer 'alert.'" But it is imperfect and if someone is flagged inaccurately we will repair this as soon as it's brought to our attention..

As someone not in your catchment area it makes no difference to me, but I'm curious. WHY do you have a system that flags resellers? Surely a sale is a sale?

[henryp]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

WHY do you have a system that flags resellers? Surely a sale is a sale?

Most retailers do. First, we prefer to establish and maintain the store-customer relationship ourselves. Second, we're not wholesalers or distributors. We're retailers and don't want to be another retailer's wholesaler when all that retailer wants to do is take advantage of our buying power.

Finally, acting as another retailer's wholesaler or distributor violates our authorized retailer agreement with many of the distributors and vendors who sell to us and may compromise or cancel the end-user's warranty. Violating an authorized retailer agreement has consequences akin to violating MAP and the results can be dire.

[Doug Sundseth]

FWIW, I've ordered from B&H several times without any problems.

They sell what they say they sell, at the price they say (which is very competitive), and deliver quickly. I will order from them (and from Adorama and Amazon) in the future.