A Little Upset With B&H Right Now...

TimothyJinx

TimothyJinx

Well-known member
A client needed me for a last-minute shoot on Wednesday morning. I needed a couple of things for the shoot, so I ordered them Monday morning, making sure to order them early enough to go out that afternoon for overnite delivery. I even contacted customer support after placing the order to make sure the items would be shipped out that day. I was told the items should ship out that day.

Needless to say, the shipment did not go out that day and now, after paying for overnite delivery, I will receive the items AFTER the shoot on Wednesday morning. I realize my last-minute shoot isn't B&H's problem - but you would think an order placed before noon that contained items that were all in stock could be sent to UPS before the cut-off time.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me when dealing with B&H. That's why I placed the order early in the day and why I contacted customer support in the first place.

I'm a little ticked!
 
maranfilms said:
yes, the least they can do is comp you back the shipping cost.
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I've spent a TON of money there over the last 5 or 6 years. And I've got a full shopping cart sitting there now on their site. But I'm waiting to see how this plays out when I call them tomorrow. This may have been the last order I place with them.
 
No question, the shipping cost should be refunded. You could easily win a dispute via your credit card company's resolution center if B&H refuses, which, given their stellar reputation, is unlikely.

Funny, because I placed a large order with Adorama last week which was supposed to take 5-7 business days to arrive. It came two days later.
 
I'd be more than a little ticked.

I wonder if you'd actually placed the order over the phone if it would have made a difference?
A verbal assurance that it would go out on time, with a person behind the promise?

But you're definitely due the shipping costs. Good luck with it.
 
Yeah you will get the shipping cost back for sure.

I'm wondering if you spoke with customer service, or an actual buyer. I wouldn't be surprised if customer service dropped the ball here.

IN STOCK at B&H doesn't mean that its available in store. They have a separate warehouse, and my feeling is if any of your items were in that warehouse...it would take another day to ship them. Even overnight.

So if you DO decide to go with them again, speak to one of the sellers/buyers over the phone to confirm where the items are, and when they will be shipped.

Its also possible it was UPS. They've done the same thing to most of my orders anywhere. I really hate ups. don't get me started.
 
Sorry to hear that; I've always had good experience with them. But, +1 that at the least they ought to reimburse you for the extra shipping charges.

In your avatar you look kind of like Billy Bob Thornton. In a good way.
 
Sad Max said:
In your avatar you look kind of like Billy Bob Thornton.
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Ok, now I'm REALLY ticked!

Just kidding. I've been told that before but in reality I don't look anything like him - I'm much better looking. :)

1 of about 5 items actually arrived on time but the others were shipped late. So, B&H is refunding half of my shipping. Getting the one item on time didn't stop me from having a less-than-ideal shoot today. But I guess I'll take it.

So, to change gears a little - other than B&H, where do you guys shop for gear?
 
TimothyJinx said:
[...]B&H is refunding half of my shipping[...]
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Very short-sighted of them.

TimothyJinx said:
So, to change gears a little - other than B&H, where do you guys shop for gear?
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I'll tell you one place I usually avoid nowadays...Amazon. Their price fluctuations are very annoying. If I've got the time to wait for a big-ticket item, I'll register it with camelcamelcamel, but it rarely pays off. In fact, the last time it did was two summers ago when I bought a Canon 70-200 f/4L for $560.
 
Adorama. Have used BH in the past but not in awhile. They are typically the most expensive when it comes to buying gear.
 
Sorry about your bad experience.

I've bought several thousands of dollars of gear from B&H over the last 15 years. There has been an occasional glitch here and there but, overall, I believe they are fairly priced and give great service.

I just ordered a GoPro camera and accessories from them this morning for Friday delivery. I made the order over the phone and asked, more than once, if the items were in stock and if they would be here on Friday. I was assured the answer was yes to both queries. Now that I've jinxed my order by making this post, I won't be surprised if it is delayed. =p

Anyhow, if time is of the essence, I always place the order by phone.
 
Tim:

I am very sorry for this and regret that it inconvenienced you. According to our log for this order we received it and shipped it in two parcels on 8/23. That doesn't make your situation any more palatable, but we did what we said we'd do and to top it off I've instructed our customer service folks to refund 100% of the s&h you were originally charged. I know that that gesture too won't make up for the late arrival but I hope it is earnest of our commitment to your satisfaction.

A personal aside.
Someone anonymously emailed us about this thread. We appreciate that. The email said, "Your shipping department screwed up royally, and you need to make this right. Then again...........if this is how you treat clients, maybe you deserve the bad rap."

UPS screwed up. I believe our shipping department did not. And I think it's reasonable to see if we respond and how we respond before vilifying us with "...maybe you deserve the bad rap." Frankly I think the fact we received it anonymously speaks for itself. YMMV of course.
END personal aside.

Any time anyone has any issue with how we've handled a transaction or a customer service issue is welcome to alert me to the situation. I am always ready to assist in any way possible.

Terry:
I see your order in our system. All three items are in stock. The order's already in the warehouse and I see no reason it should not leave here this afternoon uneventfully. Thank you.
 
A snapshot of current B&H prices. Seems fair to me...
picture1ge.png
 
Terry_Lasater said:
A snapshot of current B&H prices. Seems fair to me...
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Thank you. While our prices for the three products shown here are accurate, the fact is I've seen too often that third-party sites are inaccurate about prices for several possible reasons. The most likely is they don't reflect price changes in real time so you're often seeing yesterday's information. They cannot reflect our real selling price when a manufacturer has imposed MAP restrictions which oblige us to show a higher price with an "add to your cart for selling price" option. They rarely reflect rebates.

I appreciate the benefit of being able to compare prices online. After all, when I'm not working here I'm a customer for various products just like every one here is. But, if you want the most reliable up-to-the minute price and availability info, you'd do well to cross check anyone else's data on our site.
 
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henryp said:
Tim:

I am very sorry for this and regret that it inconvenienced you. According to our log for this order we received it and shipped it in two parcels on 8/23. That doesn't make your situation any more palatable, but we did what we said we'd do and to top it off I've instructed our customer service folks to refund 100% of the s&h you were originally charged. I know that that gesture too won't make up for the late arrival but I hope it is earnest of our commitment to your satisfaction.

A personal aside.
Someone anonymously emailed us about this thread. We appreciate that. The email said, "Your shipping department screwed up royally, and you need to make this right. Then again...........if this is how you treat clients, maybe you deserve the bad rap."

UPS screwed up. I believe our shipping department did not. And I think it's reasonable to see if we respond and how we respond before vilifying us with "...maybe you deserve the bad rap." Frankly I think the fact we received it anonymously speaks for itself. YMMV of course.
END personal aside.

Any time anyone has any issue with how we've handled a transaction or a customer service issue is welcome to alert me to the situation. I am always ready to assist in any way possible.
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Henry,

First of all, thank you very much for doing what you could to make things right. Customer service is my top priority when I choose vendors. I want to know the people I do business with feel it is important to take care of me and their other customers.

Secondly, I have no idea who sent the email. I've never seen you on here and had no idea B&H even had a presence on DVXUser. I certainly wasn't trying to create any bad will - I was just venting my frustrations with fellow filmmakers and customers.

And finally, I could only assume the delay was the fault of B&H. Several in-stock items were ordered, one was shipped and the others were delayed. The tracking on the delayed items contained this line item:

"SHIPPER TENDERED THE SHIPMENT TO UPS AFTER THE LATEST PICKUP TIME FOR THE REQUESTED SERVICE. A DAY DELAY IS LIKELY."

The bottom line is I got through the shoot and B&H cared enough about my business to reach out and attempt to make things right. All is good and no worries from my side.

Thanks again!

Tim
 
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