Did B&H Send Me A Lens That Was Returned

Henry, thanks for looking into this early on Sunday.

Same thing happened to me several months ago, and Henry took care of it. However B&H may need to

tighten up their shipping department unless these items are being opened in transit. Or it's a rare

occurrence, I don't know.

<p>The Tokina box does not look brand new either. Can this be an open-box or demo item?</p>

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<p>However B&H may need to tighten up their shipping department unless these items are being opened in transit. Or it's a rare occurrence, I don't know.</p>

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<p>I have ordered from B&H countless of times, and this has never happened to me. Some 20 years ago B&H once shipped a book to me twice, and earlier this year Amazon shipped me a DVD instead of the BluRay version of a video I ordered. Other than those occasions, neither B&H nor Amazon has made any other mistake among many of my orders in over two decades.</p>

<p>A couple of years ago, I ordered a tripod from B&H. All of a sudden tracking showed that I had signed for it at home, while in fact I was 20 miles away in my office and my wife was also at her work. It turned out that the shipping company falsified the signature. I informed Henry immediately and he was furious, because if someone stole the shipment from my doorstep, B&H would end up paying for a replacement. Fortunately, I got home a couple of hours later and the tripod was still there.</p>

<p>The point is that incidents such as these cost B&H money, perhaps lots of money to pay for return shipment and replacement. Even though they are rare, it is still very much in B&H's own interest to reduce them further.</p>

<p>P.S. While I live in a pretty good neighborhood, in the past, during the holiday season, some of my neighbors have seen some people driving a trunk, following a postal service, UPS, or FedEx trunk, stealing packages that are left outside of front doors. That is why I have deliveries shipped to my office instead.</p>

<i>"That is why I have deliveries shipped to my office instead."</i><p>

 

This is mostly anecdotal, as is my situation where the package was delivered to my office as well.

It looks like this issue has been resolved, or will be very soon. I wanted to join the chorus that sings praise to B&H. After

many years of ordering (a D750 last week) I can only drag up one complaint... they've switched to the new bubble wrap

that won't pop and irritate my co-workers!

Your co-workers should be irritated. Plastic waste is a problem.

 

I've actually found that wadded up paper goes a long way for packing something securely.

Thanks for all the help I'll call B&H on Monday and get a return label to

ship it back.I 'll email Henry later tonight or tomorrow when I get time.

<p>Speaking of packing material, the mail order houses have gone from foam "peanuts" to bubble wraps that you can pop to "air pillows" that are much larger air bubbles. A few times in the past I have spilled those foam peanuts all over the floor and they tend to stick to clothing due to static. I am glad that packing materials have improved over the years also.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the help I'll call B&H on Monday and get a return label to ship it back.I 'll email Henry later tonight or tomorrow when I get time.</p>

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<p><br />I received email from Peter with information that allowed me to check the transaction and verify the lens was new, not previously sold & returned. not used, not a refurb or demo. With that, if Peter wants to exchange this lens for another, we will be happy to send return authorization and a pre-paid UPS return label.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>I just received a camera packed exactly like Peter's lens with no invoice or paper work and covered only partially by a piece of bubble paper. Inner camera box was free to float around. Arrived ok but well below B&H packaging standards of the past. I'll blame it on the season rush.</p>

<p>I wonder if they have some low-experience seasonal help in the warehouse this time if year?</p>

<p>I understand that B&H is switching to a new packaging system that would tailor-made a box to fit the size of each shipment. Perhaps they are still working out some of the issues with the new equipment.</p>

<p>However, I just received two packages from B&H yesterday. They are both the traditional type cardboard boxes. Everything is up to B&H's usual high standards that a lot of us take for granted. (That order consists of a lot of small items, and they got everything exactly right, as usual.) There was significant delays during shipment by UPS, though. A few days ago, I had dinner with a relative who orders a lot on line, and he also mentioned a lot of shipping delays recently.</p><div></div>

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<p>I just received a camera packed exactly like Peter's lens with no invoice or paper work and covered only partially by a piece of bubble paper.</p>

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<p>Sanford -- my apologies. I emailed a copy of your invoice to you just now.<br>

Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>I do, so, enjoy receiving B&H boxes (VBG).</p>

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<p>Dan, I am done with those two B&H boxes. Give me an address and I'll be glad to forward them to you. I can even include a lot of bubble wraps inside. :-)</p>

<p>Wow, that's very troubling. It sure doesn't look new, although I read Mr. Posner's comment that he verified it was new. Also troubling is the shoddy packaging with the absence of B&H tape and paperwork. Worse, now a second poster on this thread reports a similar anonymous-appearing shipment of a camera (!) from B&H. I hope they are not getting penny wise and pound foolish with their shipping because I definitely will hesitate to buy a $5,000 camera if this is how it's going to be shipped. I was hoping the OP was an isolated mishap but now there are two. </p>

I think B&H's volume is simply too high to do a time consuming packing job like some small dealers or I

myself might do. The advice that's often times given is to pack the item so that it would be unharmed if

dropped to a hard surface from something like 6 feet high. I just received a drive that was wedged firmly in

the box with bubble wrap but the manufacturer's box was still flush against the outside box on 4 sides. A lot of

what is relied upon to absorb shock is the manufacturer's box in which the item is often held suspended

with formed styrofoam. I think this works sufficiently 95% or more of the time, but for those of us who

receive expensive items that way it may be a little unnerving, especially if the outside of the manufacturer's

box is damaged. It's no doubt economically unfeasible or at least not ideal for B&H and probably Adorama

and other high volume dealers to do a personal type of packing job though.

<p><br />@Henry - Peter noted that this box did not have the usual B&H tape on the outside. Any comment on how that might have occurred? Is it possible that the box broke during shipping and UPS replaced the box?<br /><br />If B&H stopped using the prominent B&H tape to seal the boxes, that might not be a bad thing. The tape is well enough known that boldly declares "Expensive Camera Equipment Inside"<br /><br />@Sarah who said: "I was hoping the OP was an isolated mishap but now there are two." - So now it's two isolated mishaps. It still isolated. Keep in mind that thousands of packages have been received with no problems by the people reading this thread.<br /><br />@Ray who said: "I think this works sufficiently 95% or more of the time, but for those of us who receive expensive items that way it may be a little unnerving, especially if the outside of the manufacturer's box is damaged" - Since the manufacturer's boxes are designed to be shippable, they probably work far more than 95% of the time.</p>

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<p>@Henry - Peter noted that this box did not have the usual B&H tape on the outside. Any comment on how that might have occurred? Is it possible that the box broke during shipping and UPS replaced the box?<br /><br />If B&H stopped using the prominent B&H tape to seal the boxes, that might not be a bad thing. The tape is well enough known that boldly declares "Expensive Camera Equipment Inside"</p>

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<p>We are in the process of employing a machine that makes custom-sized boxes for each individual shipment. The individual box is custom-formed as part of the packing process and sealed without the "BH tape" you're used to seeing. <br>

But (and this is especially true with the old-style packages) it is always possible UPS busted a box open and then used their own tape to reseal it.<br>

Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>