B&H is refusing to replace my camera

Ramjet1979 said:
If you are an authorized dealer, then you receive your shipments from panasonic.
Click to expand...

Correct.

I don't think Panasonic accidentally shipped them a batch of hvx's bound for Japan, do you?
Click to expand...
They didn't.

But I am unable to fathom that shipping Japanese camera's could be accidental.
Click to expand...
Apparently B&H needed more cameras than Panasonic could ship to them. So they contacted another authorized reseller who had some in stock and offered to buy them off of this other authorized reseller. And apparently this other authorized reseller had been dabbling in the gray market. So B&H bought this other dealer's stock, and along with the authorized units came some gray-market Japan units.
 
I agree with Barry. I don't think B&H would risk their good name trying to squeeze a few grand of profits by selling non-legal camcorders intentionally. It's really peanuts compared to their volume and their reputation is worth much more than that. Things happen simply because of the scale of their sales. It even happens with perfectly legal products, straight from manufacturers. Quality Control does not catch everything. Don't we all make mistakes?
 
Accusing me of wrong doing for over half an hour isn't a mistake, it's belligerent.

Knowing that they have shipments that are grey market (I'm not the first - they have access to that information and know what the serial numbers are without opening the box) and not offering to correct the problems that other consumers obviously haven't caught (yet) isn't a mistake, it's deceptive.

We (the consumer), didn't know what to look for (writing on the outside of the box, serial numbers, etc. "Authorized" dealers do - it's part of their business. From what I've read on other threads, these incidents aren't stopping, they're continuing.

I call it as I see it. Who here has posted that they were contacted by B&H and notified of the "mistake"? No one that I've heard of. Trust isn't just about not making mistakes, it's how they are dealt with when they happen. Having to be wrangled into doing something to rectify the situation isn't what I call good business.
 
I agree that harranging a customer on the phone deception is not simply a "mistake", just as dispatching grey market cameras hardly qualifies as a mistake. It sounds like business was booming and management did their best to cash in.

It's a little odd to me that so many people are loyal to a company just because they are a big name. Supporting smaller, local businesses can have it's merits.
 
I have to admit that I have had bad interactions with B+H as well.

As a student at a state University, all the purchasing for my student organization has to go through the purchasing office, and go through the state's Invoice/bill whatever procedure. The state gives them an order, the company sends equipment and an invoice, and then the state pays them.

In our case, we called and spoke with a student rep and I specifically told them exactly the fact that because of the timing, we wanted to be invoiced BEFORE any equipment was shipped. We were told by the BH representative that this would not be a problem, that he would email me a quote, that I would fax him an order, that he would immediately send me an invoice, and that we would then immediatly pay. I made it very clear that we needed to do all this Before the equipment was shipped.

He emailed me the quote, we mailed him the order. No invoice was sent that day, no invoice was sent the next day. I send an email to him the day after that, explaining the fact that I MUST have an invoice sent immediatly, because we needed to pay for our equipment right away. Remember, I'm saying that we wanted to pay B+H Then, not later. I get a response not from him but from customer service the next day saying they'd look into it. Then, for the next several days, no reponse. Finally I get sent an email from customer service telling me the equipment has shipped, but Nothing regarding the invoice situation. I have the officer at my university in charge of paying the bill give a call, and no success.

Eventually I get the equipment and an invoice along with information saying that our items are back ordered. We pay the invoice. We pay it as soon as we get it. About a month later we finally get the equipment that was backordered, and then later get the invoice for the equipment that was backordered.

Not only did B+H not invoice us for all the equipment Before delivery so that we could pay immediatly (not only as we requested but as the representative, In Person, AGREED to), they then billed us seperately, after the fact, for our original shipment and then for our backordered equipment.

This split our order between the two fiscal years, which is exactly why we had to have our invoice up front as we requested. The representative AGREED, In Person, to do exactly that, and we several times confirmed this this process during our initial conversation, in order to insure this. On top of this, B+H then begins to over-frequently call the payment officer in a harrasing manner asking where the money for these backordered items for, when they completely went against our agreed plan in the first place, and didn't accept our explaination of why payment was "late". The attitude of B+H's representatives during each of these interactions was negative as well and somewhat antagonistic.

Unfortuantely, I am apperantly not alone in my experiences, and a number of different departments at our university have sworn off of interactions with B+H in the future not because of hearsay but because of similar first-hand experiences. Many have been treated very poorly by customer service agents, both in attitude and in the handling of situations.

My purpose of this isn't to flam B+H, or to tell people they shouldn't shop there, but to spare my experiences. If not for the fact that I have no other financial choice but to shop with them, I would spend my organization's money elsewhere, as my experiences have been rather bad, as have those of many I have spoken to.

Perhaps the biggest purpose of this message is to make anyone from B+H on this forum aware of their policies are turning away potentially Large customers due to frequent enough serious customer service issues. I have nothing against them personally, but I would not give them my money if I had a choice, at least until I was confident this negative behavior had been stopped.
 
I have without a doubt spent between 20k-30k with B&H and I have to admit I have not always had the best service. I ordered a BM Card and was completely unhappy with it. I called B&H within a week and they would not take it back because I opened it and placed it in the computer. They told me to sell it on Ebay. I just wanted to exchange it and get the AJA KONA 2. I ended up selling it on ebay and lost 30% of the value, even with a perfect ebay score. With B&H, I am always happiest when I simply order through the web page. I have often felt they are rude, but they have had very good prices. More recently, I've been exploring and purchasing with other companies. I still make purchases from B&H, but if the price is close I will often order from other places. I would say B&H has lost at least 10k of my business.

chris
 
I've had several issues wityh B&H in the past and stopped long ago doing business with them. I don't think they are reputable sellers. Their policy is all about making a quick buck and lying as needed. I'd strongly suggest contacting a buyer's protection agency, get the manufactuerer involved and an attorney in the midle if needed. Last but not least, NEVER do business with them again. Oh, and if you paid by credit card, explain to your bank or CC provider what has happaned and do a chargeback. That credits you back the amount you paid for the camera and ends all the problems because from then on it will be your bank or CC provider to deal directly with B&H.

Good luck to you. It really infuriates me when I see "supposedly" reputable sellers with decades of years in business, to try and short a customer with bull like this. B&H, shame on you.
 
Last edited:
Okay, well lets just drop it. Most have good, a couple have bad. They sell maybe 1/4 billion a year. Give me a company that doesnt have issuse. Sometimes you get bad sales people. Sometimes, Policies out weight your circumstance. Too many people trying to pull a fast one.. Do you blam them for having policies? Sometimes Companies make bad choices, (in this case B&H, whether or not it was B&H fault(see barry's post above)) But dosent mean they are not reputable, just went off the path, and I am sure they are back on..

10k of my personal money, and hundreds of thousands when I worked for a small TV station. NO issues. They are reputable.

I go where the deal is.. I am sure you do as well. I am sorry you have had a bad experience, but the origanl thread starter got a replacment. Everyone who has stood up, got a replacement. WE have all had a bad experience one way or another. I know one guy shot a music video, and then never got paid for it.. He still shoots music videos..

I think time to lock the thread.

ALL INSTANCES OF GREY MARKET CAMERAS ON THIS FORUM HAVE BEEN TAKEN CARE OF. If they have they sure are not saying nothing on here now.
 
Last edited:
I totally disagree with you (SurJones). I too have had a bad customer service experience with B&H in the store that I have yet to share online (but will share in a separate post). I think it's important to hear from everyone who has had a bad experience. The number of reported bad experiences is not insignificant and it appears to be growing. Let's keep this discussion alive and see how far it goes. If people stop posting about bad experiences, that says one thing; if they continue, that says another. Either way, neither the volume of business they do nor the fact that there are many satisfied customers excuses other instances of bad faith business practices or bad behavior.
 
B&H Stink!! Everytime I order from them the goods arrive too quickly!!
Its just not good enough!! I want to wait a few weeks before they turn up!!
They are shocking! I won't shop at a store that delivers me my order on time!!!

I ordered a Sachtler tripod, and I was shocked to discover it was made in Germany!!!WTF???? I demand my Sactler is made in the USA!!! More grey market stuff!! Outrageous!!!!
 
SurJones said:
I think time to lock the thread.

ALL INSTANCES OF GREY MARKET CAMERAS ON THIS FORUM HAVE BEEN TAKEN CARE OF. If they have they sure are not saying nothing on here now.
Click to expand...
There has been positive and negative feedback about the company in this thread. As far as Im concerned, any thread that gives information about experiences that people have with a company is worth keeping open. It means that anyone else who is considering doing business with them has more information upon which to base their decision.
 
Perhaps you missed the point of my thread. There is nothing to agree or disagree with in my post, I am just stating facts. If people hear 10 bad things, after hearing a 1,000,000,000 things, they will always lean toward the bad. And in focusing on the bad is only going to scare people away.

Take no offense by this, but B&H probably doesnt need anyone on this fourm. Their business is majorly, network, and studios. They still treat us the same.

We are talking about the orignal poster of this thread, and anyone else who chimmed in about recieving a grey market hvx. THEY HAVE BEEN SOLVED. As Barry said, them receiving it is probably a mistake. You had ab bad experience. Everyone else has as well. Simply it. There is nothing to agree or disagree with, I am just stating facts.

If you want to compain about a company: Try starting a thread called, "Bad Experiences with a Company" then post your issues, and DONT POST AGAIN IN IT, EXCEPT IF THE COMPANY SOLVED THE ISSUES AND HOW. " The orginal posters problem has been taken care of by B&H.
 
Whether this thread should be locked and whether various posts are germane or useful are certainly arguable positions, opinions not facts. The fact that the original poster's issues were ultimately solved does not mean it was a good customer service experience. On the contrary, the agitation that was necessary to solve the problem is a big negative and is unacceptable -- in my opinion.
 
Bad Experience with B&H

Bad Experience with B&H

I purchased a cheap Canon Camera to be used as a deck for near $250 and it came with a battery that was not working and it did not appear to be brand new. Because I use this as a deck only, it was no big deal and I do not want to take the time to try to get a new one from them. They gave me static about the return so I said no big deal but I will never use you guys again. I also told them, I goto UCLA Film School, that I will recommend to all of my friends to never use them. He did not seem to care, just so happens that I became really good friends of the Dept Chair, and told him not to use them for anything.

I would say my $250 camera with a busted battery and perhaps used cost them at least 100x that amount.

You never no when bad customer service will make a strong impression.

On a side note, I have found EVS to be outstanding and I have never had an issue with them. (except for a little bit higher price on some items) But I do not mind at all.
 
Sinfear11, I suggest your seek immediate medical help. Anyone who has made friends with a chair has a serious physcological problem mate.
 
"Bad experiences with a company", or "bad experiences in mail order and online companies", should be a sticky thread. Many of us buy online, since some of the items are not available where we are, and listening to other user experiences is one very useful and helpfull information database. Bashers are obviously deleted, if they are presenting false accusations. DVX user is such a respectable source and such a big community, I believe creating such thread would eventually force retailers to have a "online persona", like B&H has now, to roam and solve problems. This is the best costumer support one could get. Please, moderators! Do create this thread as a sticky!
 
.....the thread needs to stay....the censoring of this kind of stuff does no good to anyone...I've ordered a bunch from B&H (online) and never had an issue....and the one time that I ordered something by mistake, I was able to get it taken care of in a phone call....HOWEVER....when I was working at a post house a few years back, before we could order online, I had to talk to their sales guys a lot....and some of them were not so nice.... I was aware of the cultural differences between us (me being a small town Kentucky boy talking to some "fast talking big city folks")....but even when taking THAT into consideration, some of them were just plain rude...... so, I've seen the good and the bad of this company....just like in everyday life, you're gonna have your assholes and you're gonna have your sweethearts. If everyone at B&H qualified as the former, then we for sure wouldn't have seen the rep come in here and try to straighten this thing up.....right?..... it's an unfortunate situation, indeed....but I think as professionals, we all need to know about this stuff when it happens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top