Ordering Nikon 8000/9000 Glass holders from Adorama....beware!

Well, it looks like Adorama has gone to the dark side and can no longer be

considered one of the trustworthy NY outfits anymore. I called early last

week and asked about the Nikon rotating glass holder which showed online it

was in stock. I asked the saleman (F. Meyer) to confirm it was in stock. He

said it was. I asked if he was SURE. He said yes, they have it. I added some

developer and photoflo to my order and placed it. I got confirm by email that

it had all shipped the next day and was due to arrive tomorrow. Today I get

an email from them telling me the holder is out of stock and that they will

ship when it comes in. It takes them almost a week to tell me this? Then

what is coming tomorrow, my developer and photoflo? Big deal. This pisses me

off a lot. I've been on hold for their "customer service" department for over

20 minutes awaiting a pick-up. They finally picked up. Told me my developer

and photoflo was sent but they had "no idea" why the salesman told me it was

in stock when it was not, "I'm not the one who took your order."

 

Bottomline is Adorama now plays games with your orders, tells you something is

in stock just to get your order and then screw around with you.

 

No more! From now on it's B&H for everything and Adorama is now in the Tri-

State/Cambridge file in my book. Jerks.

Adorama has some serious problems. Very poor customer service is the worst. Others: A phone system which makes it almost impossible to reach anyone; nasty salespeople; they buy the cheapest junk to put their store name on; they just do not care; with one exception, profound ignorance of photography. B&H is not much better though. I won't bore you with the horror stories. Have shopped there for 25 years (whenever absolutely necessary). In the beginning it was a great store, now just a little better than Adorama. We, the photographers are responsible for this. We built them at the expense of the small retailers who were forced out of business because we could get film etc. for a little less. The remedy: buy only from B&H and Adorama when no one else has it. I should probably inform you that I am a small retailer.

This has been a problem with their website for most of the five years that I have been buying from them. The only reason that I ordered from them was that their house brand paper, which they nolonger carry, was a very good buy. I aways tried to keep enough of that on hand so that I could cope with a backorder.

 

If I need something in a hurry, I order it from B&H or Freestyle.

My local retailers don't carry mcuh in the way of darkroom supplies. And they charge a lot more than B&H for the items that they do carry. A box of Ilford 11x14 paper, for example, is about $40 from NY and $60 locally. I don't mind paying a bit more. But an additional 50% is too much.

Robert: I am an Ilford dealer. I do not carry every paper they make because people buy it from the high volume stores even though I sell it for less. But I am happy to stock items that individual customers use. Peter: We usually ship the same day if we get the order in the morning. Know what you mean about their house paper. I used to use it for contact sheets. It was made by Agfa, that's why they don't have it now.

Bruce, which are some other good photo stores in NYC for film, used equipment etc?

Anastas,

Besides Bruce's store also try Fotocare, Calumet Photographic, and Lens and Repro.

Bruce - I'll check your site the next time I'm ready to order film.

Thanks. I will try these next time.

This echoes my experience from Adorama. In addition, I have experienced the problem that once the item finally arrives in stock, they do not honor the price from your initial order. This has happened twice with lens filters. I no longer shop from them and have not been shy about telling them exactly why.

Anastas: Ellis is correct. The three places he mentions are definately a step up from B&H and Adorama. They know photography and have more respect for the customers. Lens & Repro is the best place in NYC for used, especially large format, but they do not carry film. Another good place for used is Midwest Photo.

Interesting comments. I've had outstanding service with B&H via internet...less so by phone. Adorama is clearly a couple of cuts below B&H...have had several things broken in transit from Adorama. As for price, can someone help me? For hardware, it appears that "fair trade" is alive and well. Adorama and B&H charge the same as my local dealers for any "USA" cameras and lenses. Clearly, they have a more competitive price on film. Anyone have the same experience?

I just came from B&H trying to buy a few rolls of Fuji 160C. Their online shop indicates the film is in stock but when i got there it turned out they did not have any available.

 

So I got the film from Calumet. I will not be going back to B&H soon.

Dear All

 

I only just came across this thread, and am more than a little concerned at the number and range of difficulties that I'm reading about.

 

At present I can only give my sincere apologies to those of you who have not received the standard of service from us that you - quite rightly -expect.

 

If each one of you who has had a recent problem with an order from us, would like to contact me directly: helen.oster@adoramacamera.com, I can guarantee that I will investigate each and every complaint to find out what went wrong, and why.

 

I will need your order number, and if possible the date of your order, (plus, if a telephone order the name of the agent who served you).

 

At Adorama we have a commitment to improving the standard of service across the board. It is only by listening to the feedback from our customers that we can improve what we are doing, and how we are doing it.

 

Once again, my apologies, and I do look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely

 

Helen Oster

 

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

Dear Bruce Bernard

 

 

I only just came across your posting, and am concerned about the issue you have related.

 

At present I can only give you my sincere apologies; you are quite correct to be anoyed that the price you were charged when the item was shipped was greater than the price when you ordered,but if you can supply me with the order numbers of the items which were charged incorrectly, I would be delighted to investigate why and how this occurred.

 

Please do contact me directly: helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

 

Your help in this matter would be very much appreciated, to enable us to improve our standards of products and services.

 

Once again, my apologies, and I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely

 

Helen Oster

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador