GH1 Shipping Today! According to Panasonic Sales Rep

[PappasArts]

Yeah, I ordered directly from Panasonic for the same reason. I had no idea that I would be second priority if I ordered from the manufacturer.

I just talk to a Supervisor Alex at Panny-Direct call center in Virgina.

I asked him why, or how orders were delivered to B&H etc and no PD orders made last month were filled.

He explained to me that Panny-Direct orders are secondary priority, and they ship to vendors first. If there is left over product, those get used to fulfill the Panny Direct orders.

Oh, and if it's a corporate PO too, they get filled the same as vendors I learned..

Then I asked him to explain to me why even order from Panny direct; what is to be gained.

He's response was, " I can not give you any reason to order from us ( Panasonic Direct ) that would say that it's better over a dealer ". He went on to say, " you would think that since it is directly from US ( Panasonic ) you would get it first, however that is not how the Fulfillment is performed by their warehouse...


Well If I had known this in the beginning, I would have bought from B&H all along and never ordered from Panasonic Direct!


.

Many of us got screwed over on this assumption.

Now that we know it's Panasonics secondary priority to fulfill Panny-Direct orders and their first priority is fulfilling Dealers and Corporate purchase orders; there is absolutely " NO " reason to go the Panny-direct route unless your a dealer or it's corporate purchase.


Wish I knew this in June!


.

 

[portishead]

I just called my local Samy's camera to put my name on a list. I'll probably have better luck there.

 

[vanawesome]

do you think if I use the bing thing when I go to pay for the camera it will apply? I.E. I already hit "Buy it now" but I haven't yet actually paid via paypal yet. had to move some finances around in order to swing this since JR still has a $1556 hold on my credit card... the bastards.

I'm going to try that and hope it works.

 

[wowubbzy]

Sorry to disappoint you, but no it's not going to work.

Your only option is to explain the situation to the seller and have him cancel this transaction (mutual withdrawal on Ebay) and have him relist it. He will still have to pay relist fees (not much, unlike final value fees probably ~$60 which he will get back if you go through the mutual withdraw thing on Ebay).

Since you didn't pay yet, if you want to play dirty, insist that he does that for you or else...... Which is why my listings always require immediate payment

do you think if I use the bing thing when I go to pay for the camera it will apply? I.E. I already hit "Buy it now" but I haven't yet actually paid via paypal yet. had to move some finances around in order to swing this since JR still has a $1556 hold on my credit card... the bastards.

I'm going to try that and hope it works.

 

[Ben_B]

Got my tracking number! Buuuut it doesn't work yet...assuming it just hasn't shipped out yet, they just gave it to me anyway on the phone.

 

[dojoman]

Got my tracking number! Buuuut it doesn't work yet...assuming it just hasn't shipped out yet, they just gave it to me anyway on the phone.

Tracking number takes at least a day to show up on the website. It's not JR order right? Damn it everyone getting this camera except me.

 

[delaney]

what? when did you order?

I ordered yesterday early morning (PST) and got that in my email today. Not really news, just found it funny.

 

[decidocisum]

I ordered mine May 5th and it still says shipping unknown. If I am not mistaken Amazon will cancel the order within 30 days of the original ship estimate (June 24th??) so we are almost there.

I've had an order on Amazon since May 6th. The status on my order just changed from "Unknown" to "Shipping Soon"...Could it be that Amazon is expecting their (next?) delivery!?!?

Bill

Items shipping soon:
We'll notify you via e-mail when we have an estimated delivery date.
1 of: Panasonic DMC-GH1 12MP Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Camera with 1080p HD Video
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

Shipment #1: Shipping Soon We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed. Need information on returning an item?

 

[alignment1]

had to move some finances around in order to swing this since JR still has a $1556 hold on my credit card... the bastards.

If you call JR and tell them to email their credit dept. they will manually remove hold. Otherwise you will wait for a 3-5 days before it comes off. I canceled my order on Fri. and it was still holding as of today--so I called the lady told me she would take care of it- and viola, I checked the CC online and the hold was gone.

 

[bgig]

Sorry, not sure what you mean exactly - May 5-Jun 24; 30 days? Anyway, mine changed to Shipped early afternoon today...final confirmation for me is when UPS changes from "Billing Info" to a true tracking status (when the shipment is in their hands). Hopefully see that later today.

I did get an email saying it's been xx days - "should we cancel this order" - I simply responded that they should keep it going, and that's what happened. Hope that helps...

Bill

I ordered mine May 5th and it still says shipping unknown. If I am not mistaken Amazon will cancel the order within 30 days of the original ship estimate (June 24th??) so we are almost there.

 

[Ben_B]

Tracking number takes at least a day to show up on the website. It's not JR order right? Damn it everyone getting this camera except me.

On UPS website?

No not J&R..managed to snag last in stock one from Mike's thanks to a tip from a fellow user who saw my pain. There is a gh1god everyone.

 

[vanawesome]

Great advise, thank you this worked. I called the credit department directly and told them that a customerservice rep told me to call them and they could manually remove the hold. haha. She said, ok no problem sir i'll car your credit card and get the hold removed this evening.

If you call JR and tell them to email their credit dept. they will manually remove hold. Otherwise you will wait for a 3-5 days before it comes off. I canceled my order on Fri. and it was still holding as of today--so I called the lady told me she would take care of it- and viola, I checked the CC online and the hold was gone.

 

[vanawesome]

Yeah, I hate doing playing dirty but I think it's worth a try to ask. I got my hold released through JR so I will be able to pay tomorrow morning. It was a surprise actually that I couldn't make the payment, otherwise i'd have paid 5 minutes after making the purchase.

Sorry to disappoint you, but no it's not going to work.

Your only option is to explain the situation to the seller and have him cancel this transaction (mutual withdrawal on Ebay) and have him relist it. He will still have to pay relist fees (not much, unlike final value fees probably ~$60 which he will get back if you go through the mutual withdraw thing on Ebay).

Since you didn't pay yet, if you want to play dirty, insist that he does that for you or else...... Which is why my listings always require immediate payment

 

[dojoman]

On UPS website?

No not J&R..managed to snag last in stock one from Mike's thanks to a tip from a fellow user who saw my pain. There is a gh1god everyone.

yep. it takes like 48hr to show up after first scan of pkg. looks like you got nothing to worry, GH1 is on your way. for the rest of us, wait and wonder when we will ever get this freaking camera.

 

[dojoman]

To sum up everything for orders from Amazon, BH, JR, Panasonic. Panny send to all retailers in very small batches like less than 10 cameras and only a few of lucky souls here got them. Only catch is BH. They are the only ones not doing pre-orders and might have a chance with first come first serve. All Panny directs order are just second priority so Sept date makes sense. What ever Panny can produce little of these cameras all pre-orders will be filled little by little. I guess more waiting for rest of us.

 

[Final Design Studios]

That is really unfortunate. I'm increasingly frustrated at this whole process. At least I'm not alone, as selfish as that may sound.

 

[PappasArts]

To sum up everything for orders from Amazon, BH, JR, Panasonic. Panny send to all retailers in very small batches like less than 10 cameras and only a few of lucky souls here got them. Only catch is BH. They are the only ones not doing pre-orders and might have a chance with first come first serve. All Panny directs order are just second priority so Sept date makes sense. What ever Panny can produce little of these cameras all pre-orders will be filled little by little. I guess more waiting for rest of us.

It really sucks since Japan has had this in stores since April. Even stores you could play with it! That also goes for other countries having it for sale. The United States, nothing really at all...

As for Panny-Direct; we got fooled in believing that direct meant top of the line.

What is so sad about Panasonic is: They sell at cost somewhere around $800 to $1000 approximate dollars per unit to B&H.

When we buy from Panasonic direct; they make approximately $500 dollars more per unit from us because we pay $1500 MSRP.

If they just sold 100 pre-orders ( we know they would sell more than that ) that is $50,000 dollars more in their pocket instead of the dealer cost hit they get with B&H and other stores.

Fulfillment priority is backwards!

** Wonder how share holders would like to hear about this oversight in any financial gain possibilities gone wasted..... **

Lesson learned; no point in keeping the Panny Direct orders, they are second no matter what unless your a dealer or it's a corporate purchase. So Dealers will always be a first delivery option.

I only wish that I spoke to a supervisor in June. I would have gone to B&H!

 

[ryansheffer]

I'm jealous of the may 6th amazon order shipping. Mine has not changed.

dang.

 

[mikeydvx]

Really the only way to get one right now is to watch the Panasonic site like a hawk and try to slip an order in whenever they go "in stock". My prediction is, even though the web site says backordered until September, they'll get small batches in, ignore the pre-order people like they have before, and just put them online for sale for an hour or two. That's what happened on June 17 and I snagged one while it showed "in stock" for an hour. Got it a day and a half later.

In addition, you can keep checking the half dozen sites who are expecting stock. I've made a list and here are the pages I always check. I don't want a second camera: I've just been checking a few times a day for the benefit of the group here. Anyway, here are the places I check:

Panasonic
Adorama
J&R
Amazon
Norman Camera
Vann's
B&H

Good luck.

Mike

 

[Ben_B]

Guys even though my camera is supposedly on it's way now I want you to know I will keep coming back to this thread and voicing my frustration and anger with Panasonic, shopatron, and everything else. This really isn't fair to anyone, and just because I barely managed to skate by and come out with a camera (assuming it doesn't detonate in transit..wouldnt be surprised,) doesn't mean that this crap going on is right. I was lucky. And I only was lucky because I got helped by a fellow DVXUser who already had his camera but looked out for me still. I was unlucky for the last two or so months, same as all of you. I am going to keep my eyes and ears open. I hope I get the chance to help someone the way I was helped. Good luck everyone.