Hahahah. I laugh. I can understand if you personally like Chick-Fil-A. I mean, people like haggis, so go figure. But to say that it is a fact that Chick-Fil-A’s chicken is good, well, I think that calls for a comparative demonstration. I’m no chicken connoisseur, but I have had Chick-Fil-A a few times and it wasn’t all that great. I’d rate it on par with Popeye’s or KFC, which I also have no love for, but that’s just me.
I thought your name looked familiar. I used to be on the CIS Photoforum as well, many, many years ago when the earth’s crust was still cooling and user IDs were long strings of numbers with commas.
And add me to the apparently short list of people here that have had multiple happy experiences with B&H even when buying something as cheap and mundane as a tripod head or one bulk spool of T-Max.
I’ve bought a used memory card…I’m not kidding…before from B&H and was treated just as good as when buying a lenses or anything else. I’ve never had a complaint.
That’s odd–B&H has always been regarded very highly in professional photography circles. I almost exclusively buy my equipment from them (although mail order.) Their prices are among the best, their reputation is stellar, their shipping is prompt. What more can I ask for? The store experience is, well, an experience, but I’ve had nothing but great service there. Whenever I visit New York, it’s one of my first stops.
This is without a doubt true. I am in the offices / phone sales centers on 9th Ave as well as the store quite frequently. The women are ghetto’d in a few aisles of desks. It is a fascinating way to treat one’s co-workers. Or it would be if it was 1936. Since it’s not, it’s just raw in your face sexist bullshit.
And it’s not going to change.
Here’s a truthful tidbit for you: B&H Photo did in excess of $ 1 Billion in web sales in 2009.
Confession time - my first “real” job (paying taxes, getting W2s, etc) was for Consumers Distributing. Worked there for about 3 years. It, along with our bigger competitor Service Merchandise, was not a membership club. It was, however, a poorly run business. When nearly every 20 year old working there could see how poor their execution was, it boggles why the senior execs couldn’t realize it and adapt. Neither CD nor SM really had any chance for survival.
At this point I can only apologize for the inconvenience that was caused; from the description of your experience I’m not surprised you feel the way you do, and if I was treated in that way by a vendor’s representative, I would also be wary of shopping with them in the future.
I would welcome the opportunity to investigate the matter further; I’m able to pull the tapes of the 'phone conversations in order to ID the reps you spoke with, and ensure that this is addressed internally as required.
If you could spare the time to email me directly: HelenO@adorama.com, with your order number plus the date(s) & time(s) of your calls - and the number you called from - I will give this my immediate attention.
Once again my apologies, and I do look forward to hearing from you.
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
I feel compelled to add my 2-cents worth and speak up for B&H!
I have purchased photo equipment from B&H for 35 years and they have always been straightforward with regards to orders. If the purchaser is not familiar with “gray market” versus “USA warranties” and other issues then it it is not necessarily the fault of the seller. I have contacted Adorama three times in past transactions and the salesperson (telephone sales) tried selling add-on equipment to the point of virtually telling me that without ordering the add-ins I would be making a big mistake.
While I have an obvious bias it is based on a long history with the company. I will also admit that I have never purchased anything directly from the B&H store but their prices, delivery, warranty coverage, customer service, etc has always been great.
At this point I can only apologize; the behaviour you describe is completely out of line with Adorama policy and I would be grateful if you could email me directly with additional details in order that we can take internal action as appropriate: HelenO@adorama.com
The difference is shutting down on a particular work day affects all patrons equally. The reason for closing is irrelevant to the consumer. No individual group (such as gays) is being singled out.