Cinemek Delivery -- 3 months later?

B

billyklez

New member
Hey All.

On March 18 (3 months ago) I ordered the G35 lens/kit for my DVX100B, and I still haven't received it. It's been charged to my credit card, and every time I sent a message to Jonathan Houser, he replies that "it's being shipped next week." At this point he's not replying to emails nor is anyone at Cinemek answering the phone.

Any advice? Has anyone else had this much trouble getting shipment?

Thanks,
Greg

greg@sawbuckproductions.org
 
Have you tried calling one of the company's dealers to see if they have had contact with the manufacturer? That might give you some insight as to what is going on.
 
Do a search on this forum, and you'll find this is the norm. They seem to be perpetually behind. People do get them, but a three month wait doesn't seem out of the ordinary.
 
I agree with Mike Harvey. While it is a little frustrating (the exact same thing happened to me when I ordered my G35 at the end of Feb and received in beginning of May) but you will get it. Jonathan is a very straight up guy - I think that they were perhaps overwhelmed by the response of late and are simply behind.


Hope this helps.



: )

dmc
 
I know the feeling as I had placed my order March 31, 2009 for the G35/HPX 170 adapter and received it on May 6th.

I had also got two emailed that it would come "next week". When I saw Cinemek was going to be at Cine Gear Expo in LA I emailed Jonathan again and said it'd be a great idea for him to bring the adapter to the expo where I could pick it up. Lo and behold he finally delivered.

There wasn't much explanation on why delivery was so late but you will eventually get a great product. Fortunately I had float time and ALOT of patience.
 
Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I feel better knowing that this is the norm. It certainly helps me to muster additional patience. I appreciate the insight and advice.

Best,
Greg
 
Same thing with me, But Hang in there, it will be worth it, i got mine after a long wait.
They are a a small company with a great product. But the communication could be a lot better, I should be talking about Hitchcock, their iPhone app with him in the next few days, i will mention this post to him, i am confident they will deliver a.s.a.p .
Cheers
 
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I think they need to be very up front about delivery times. Especially when they have someones money. If it takes 3 months than advertise 3 months lead time. Pretty simple Cinemek. Next week, next week makes you look weak. I am buying an adapter very soon and it makes me very leary to deal with companies like this. I work on deadlines and need to have my gear when I need it. I always get a delivery commitment or I cancel the sale.
 
Yeah I've read that they have really long lead times as well. Regardless if they eventually get it to you, they definitely SHOULD NOT be charging you before it ships out... that is a pretty shitty way of doing business.
 
I would say if you're looking for communication then order the G35 through a dealer like Zacuto. The lead time will probably be the same but Zacuto is pretty good in keeping you updated.
 
Uh Huh, i ordered mine through Zacuto and Mandy Rogers kept me posted weekly, i got the Cinemek baseplate kit, lens support and 2 sets of extra rails, Z balance, donut and QR mount at a great savings because of the bundle. It's a good option for sure!
Cheers
 
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hey everyone.

the Cinemek G35 finally arrived ... and it helps create some amazing footage! seriously, it's even better than the various web-published sample scenes had led me to speculate/hope. took it out yesterday, on DVX100b, with Nikon lens, and wow, does this thing do the job. the inverted image is hellish during shoot, but with a few small clamps and the monitor from my glidecam turned upside down and mounted to the camera, it's now a breeze. and the camera is balanced. the FCP "rotate image" effect takes care of the rest.

now, as for how the company does business ... i agree with many of you who posted near the end of this thread. they shouldn't charge your credit card until they've shipped, or are in the process of shipping ... they had my money for 3 months, which means finance charges for me, as i'm struggling to run a non-profit production company ... and i had no product. and the repeated "it's shipping next week" line is offensive and unethical. some may say "oh, they're busy, so let 'em off off the hook". not an excuse ... if you're that busy, then presumably you KNOW you're that busy and that you therefore may have trouble getting a given shipment out next week or this month or whatever. in this case, be honest with yourself and with the customer. lying about shipment dates and being so badly organized that you think you're telling the truth when in fact you're way off may not break the same ethical code, but they result in exactly the same outcome.

it's a wonderful product, far exceeding expectations, and i'm glad it's finally here. and i hope these guys get their act together vis-a-vis customer service .... being nice isn't enough .... after all, people can do really mean things, smiling all the while ... nice is behavioral. thanks, everyone!!! --greg scott
 
Hi all,

Has anyone else received their G35? I ordered my G35 in August 2008, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I've been emailing Jonathan at Cinemek all year, and he keeps telling me my unit will be the next one out. I understand he had some technical problems at the end of 2008. Every month time passes, I hear nothing from cinemek, so I send another email and get the same response from Jonathan - he's sorry, and mine will be the next unit to be shipped. I've been hearing stories like the above that people have ordered after me, and got their unit before me. It has now been 11 months and I'm still waiting. I have sent another email, but the last one I received from him was 26th June 2009, again telling me my unit will be the next one sent. I'm sure he is an honest person, he has even offered to give me an extra mount as an apology, but I'm still waiting and there is still just no sign of it. My credit card company said that I will lose my chance to 'charge-back' soon, due to the amount of time that has passed since the purchase; they advised me to charge back and if I do receive it, I can always reverse it. I've never had an experience like this before with any purchase, I just didn't know what to do at this point, so I agreed and they charged back the amount. I emailed Jonathan but heard nothing back yet - I just hope that I can get the unit, because I have been waiting for so long now and postponing so many projects that I don't want the money; I just want the unit!

Has anyone else had any similar experience, or can anyone advise me what to do? I'm at a loss here and just want my G35 :(

Matt
 
wow 12 months? that's ridiculous. charge back now for sure. it seems everyone who kicks up a stink about not receiving theirs somehow miraculously get their g35s soon afterwards here though.
 
matt9b said:
Hi all,

Has anyone else received their G35? I ordered my G35 in August 2008, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I've been emailing Jonathan at Cinemek all year, and he keeps telling me my unit will be the next one out. I understand he had some technical problems at the end of 2008. Every month time passes, I hear nothing from cinemek, so I send another email and get the same response from Jonathan - he's sorry, and mine will be the next unit to be shipped. I've been hearing stories like the above that people have ordered after me, and got their unit before me. It has now been 11 months and I'm still waiting. I have sent another email, but the last one I received from him was 26th June 2009, again telling me my unit will be the next one sent. I'm sure he is an honest person, he has even offered to give me an extra mount as an apology, but I'm still waiting and there is still just no sign of it. My credit card company said that I will lose my chance to 'charge-back' soon, due to the amount of time that has passed since the purchase; they advised me to charge back and if I do receive it, I can always reverse it. I've never had an experience like this before with any purchase, I just didn't know what to do at this point, so I agreed and they charged back the amount. I emailed Jonathan but heard nothing back yet - I just hope that I can get the unit, because I have been waiting for so long now and postponing so many projects that I don't want the money; I just want the unit!

Has anyone else had any similar experience, or can anyone advise me what to do? I'm at a loss here and just want my G35 :(

Matt
Click to expand...



Wow I'm speechless, this deserves some sort of redemptive factor on their end. They should be giving you a healthy discount on the adapter for making you wait almost a year, or throw in something as a bonus. I admire your patience... that is simply unbelievable a company would make someone wait that long.
 
I have watched this thread before when I was looking to buy a 35mm adapter and really the Cinemek looks impressive. Clearly this guy does not have his **** together, this should really be the deciding factor for everybody looking to buy a Cinemek, if the customer service is crap then why buy the product. 12 months is BS, I would have cancelled the order after 2 max. You are not out line and I would not feel bad for they guy. I would go and give you money to another reliable adapter company like Brevis, Letus, Shoot35, just to name the main ones.

This guy will continue losing business in the long run if he can not answer emails for orders that have been backed up for months on end. He lost my business and I do not recommend buying from an unorganized seller.
 
O and they should be giving you that adapter for 650 bucks with mounts included and a bunch of other stuff, like discounts on rails if they come out with some, etc.
 
Ordered and payed for my G35 in april. Still waiting for delivery. Got response in June saying it was next one going out but nothing yet. had to rent a letus for our feature. sheesh.
 
Hi guys,

Well I've lost £250 in the charge-back, because of currency exchange rate changes since 11 months ago. I'm not happy. I'm hoping this can get sorted and I can reverse the charge-back. I sent the email 3 days ago, so I will give him longer to reply. I don't think that is 'bad' communication, and I totally understand how things can snowball and get busy - running a business myself - especially when you run more than one business / project and talents are spread thin - but I really am just willing to do anything at this point to get my unit. I'm thinking of looking up the cinemek address and just flying out there to knock on the door!

Does anyone know how I can call them? The cinemek website 'contact us' form leads to an error.

:(....

When I get my G35, I will be the happiest man on earth.
 
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This is what im talking about, so yes he's running it by himself... Whats the issue, I would expect the same quality from a large company. If you want to create a business be prepared do the job. Theres no reason even an email should take over 3 days to respond. I see this as a company that will go out of business in the future.
 
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