So after much deliberation, I recently ordered a new MacBook Pro 16" from B&H Photo, for $3299. Delivery was attempted as expected on Wednesday, but the driver handed me what was an obviously tampered with box that looked like it had been ripped open on one side. The weight was obviously wrong, the laptop alone is supposed to be just shy of 5 pounds and this box felt completely empty.
Needless to say I refused delivery and the driver took the box back. I was pretty irritated that he even tried to pawn this off on me: unless he was particularly dimwitted it must have been obvious that something was wrong. Curiously, after the fact when I checked the FedEx online tracking it stated an obviously wrong package weight of 2 pounds.
At this point, I have no reason to think that I won’t be made whole. B&H seemed pretty responsive and I think it’s likely I’ll be shipped a replacement on Monday.
But if anyone here has any special insight into the shipping industry I’m really curious about how this might have happened and what the process will look like for B&H and FedEx.
Is it really plausible that someone along the chain could have stolen the package? Aren’t the packages weighed and video monitored a lot through the delivery process?
And how much energy do they put into figuring out who was responsible? It feels like just letting a $3299 theft get lost in an e.g. 5% “shrinkage” budget would be a recipe for ending up with a 50% “shrinkage” budget. It’s a dollar amount that I’d expect to have serious legal consequences if you were a brick and mortar store shoplifter for example.
Well, companies do ship empty boxes to people so that they can package their malfunctioning device and send it in for service, so it’s not quite quite as “DUH!” as it seems. Also, unless something happens to a package while it is in their truck and on route, they can’t decide whether or not you should receive it. Their job is to deliver it. You did your job by rejecting it.
I bought my mom a new MacBook a couple of months ago, and am planning to get one for my son in the next week or so. It’s stories like this that have prompted me to do store pickup (either at Best Buy or the nearest Apple store).
Years ago I used to have computers shipped to my house all of the time, but it seems like there are more and more pitfalls these days.
FedEx in my area apparently does not hire honest or literate people as drivers. It’s a lot more noteworthy when a delivery sent with them reaches my correct address in a reasonable timeframe on the first try than when something goes wrong.
Today was relatively minor. Just had to go on a scavenger hunt to nearby apartments for this package. I live in #152, my package had been delivered to #156. Small box, not that far away, I’ve had worse. I’ve had to lug large heavy stuff the length of the complex when it was delivered to the CLOSED leasing office (which does not accept deliveries for tenants anyway), I’ve had to deal with drivers straight-up lying about having even attempted delivery…
Yeah. There is a local Apple Store, and that would be my first choice for similar reasons. Significant discounts on Apple products elsewhere are somewhat rare in my experience.
That said, B&H seems to be reputable with a lot of praise of their customer service. And they did have a significant discount: $200 off plus their store card sales tax reimbursement meant close to a $600 discount. Too good to pass up if I’m reasonably confident about delivery.
So far, no complaints about how B&H are handling it. Looks like they’ve already approved the claim against FedEx and I got a notice that suggests they may be overnighting the replacement already. We’ll see how it goes.
To be fair, they’re pretty upfront about that: B&H Warranty/Imported/Grey Market Products. Seems like a reasonable position to take if they want to sell more esoteric items and the terms are clear to potential buyers.
We get hundreds of desktop computers and laptops deliveries every year, all through Fedex. The only problems we’ve ever had is an abused box but I can’t recall that we’ve ever had damage to the contents.
Of course, we have a receiving unit so they aren’t sitting out on my front porch.
empty boxes of google phones delivered through Fedex is a definite issue that I’ve seen for others who are Google Fi customers - but with those, they don’t require a signature at delivery. Those shipped with UPS appear to have fewer issues.
Google customer service is actively terrible when this happens. I’ve been lucky (but some other CS issues mean that as soon as I pay off current phone, I’m leaving Fi.)
I’ve also found that FedEx marks packages as delivered while still on the truck, often when they head toward my condo community. So i’ll get a delivery notification but the package won’t actually arrive for 30 minutes or more sometimes (because traffic).
B&H is a good place. I have done much business with them over the years.
If anything, my only gripe with them is that Amazon is a hundred times more convenient for returns. Otherwise, shipping and pricing is just as good, and I trust B&H much more than most Amazon sellers.
I’ve never had an issues with this. Been buying gray market and non-gray stuff from them since the 90s. What’s wrong with that as long as it’s disclosed? The main issues are manufacturer warranty and the ability to register the product with the manufacturer, but if you’re buying grey market, you should already know about that or at least read their FAQ. If you don’t care, it can save you a couple hundred bucks, at least in the short term. Most of my stuff now is non-gray, but back in the 90s and early 00s when funds were scarcer, I bought nothing but gray market items where I could and I still have all of them in working condition to this day.
I enjoyed browsing the paper B&H catalog and now website for some of the high-end specialty camera equipment, like the Hasselblad and Leica cameras. Nothing I could afford, or even understand how to use properly but fun to imagine.