Do you want to buy something from B&H? Think about it (Thread Closed)

[debejyo]

Hi guys,

 

I'm here with an experience with B&H that you don't want to miss out on, specially if you are planning to buy

anything from them. I wanted to buy a 70-300 AF lens with the aperture ring. Since its a long story, I'm cutting

it down experience wise:

 

Experience 1: Buying the sigma 70-300 HSM lens

(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/549301-REG/Sigma_5A9306_70_300mm_f_4_5_6_DG_HSM.html) ------ As you can

notice, the picture on the website is wrong. I was not aware of this fact and ordered this thinking it has

everything that I need.

 

I had the following experience today.

 

Experience 2: The return -------- The lens arrived and it was a completely different one. It did not have

aperture ring. Its clearly a digital lens. So I called their returns department. They told me that they don't

take responsibility of any wrong picture. They told me that I was supposed to call up and find out if the item is

what I wanted. After enough debate I convinced them to give me a prepaid mailing label.

 

Experience 3: Enquiry about the tamron lens

(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/231637-REG/Tamron_AF276N700_Zoom_Telephoto_AF_75_300mm.html) --------- I

called them to confirm if the picture correctly represents the item. The representative did not tell me that but

asked me which camera I wanted to use it on. On hearing that I will use on D40, he told me that this AF lens is

not going to meter. According to him, there is no lens with aperture ring (even if it is AF) that will work on

D40. This was an outright contradiction to what I read about D40.

 

Experience 4: Further enquiry --------- I called back and asked them once again to confirm if the picture

correctly represents the Tamron lens I was talking about. The guy on the phone told me that the item is in

warehouse and he CANNOT find out and if it shows in the picture it should have the aperture ring. I told him

about my experience 2. He suggested me to go to a local store, see the lens and then order it with them. He

denied me any help or co-operation in this respect and told me if I buy it, its completely my responsibility and

they have nothing to do with it.

 

Moral of the story ------ B&H customer representatives are ill-informed, non-co-operative and irresponsible.

Before we say "hail B&H", not its time to think if we are doing justice. I think I'll avoid giving them business

as if I can help it.

 

I welcome all the readers to share their experiences with B&H and project the correct picture of what they are

doing to the newbies in photography.

 

Thanks for participating.

[don_cooper]

Many thousands of dollars over the last 20 years without a single hitch. 2-3 returns as I didn't like the product, not because of B&H, no problem whatsoever. I recommend them highly.

[todd peach seattle, washi]

This belongs here:

 

http://www.photo.net/neighbor/subcategory-index?id=2

 

Sorry you had trouble. I've bought way more from B&H (no problems) than I care to admit.

[ShunCheung]

I have sent an e-mail to Henry Posner at B&H. Hopefully he can help resovle any remaining issue.

 

I have been to B&H well over 50 times and have orderd from them many more times. So far I have yet to have one error on their part as far as shipping the wrong item goes.

[bahrammonshat]

I have purchased many items from B&H since 2007. Their customer service has been fantastic.

[photo5]

My father and I have bought many items from B&H since 1969, with no problems.

[henryp]

I am sorry for the difficulty you encountered and for your frustration. Our site specifies, "Prices, specifications, and

images are subject to change without notice. Not responsible for typographical or illustrative errors." As you can see.

product images may not exactly represent the item being sold. You're always welcome to return any item as long as

it's within the return policy time period and the item's condition conforms to the return policy. The only issue our

customer service employee raised was who would pay for return shipping to us and I see we provided a pre-paid

return label even though your return wouldn't normally qualify. <p>It's apparent you misunderstood the information our

sales associate was conveying. For the D40, unlike most other Nikon SLRs, "Autofocus is supported only with AF-S

and AF-I CPU lenses, which are equipped with an autofocus motor." In fact there's no benefit to having an aperture

ring for the D40 since the camera controls the lens' aperture.<p>The sales associate who told you he couldn't

confirm the image matches the item in our warehouse was correct. The sales associates are in Manhattan, a block

from our retail store, and our warehouse is in Brooklyn. He told you the truth and I applaud him for doing so.<p> B&H

customer representatives are remarkably well-informed, co-operative and responsible. None would ever lie and none

would purposely misrepresent any product at any time, ever. <p>I welcome all the readers to share their experiences

with B&H, and would be happy to assist any customer with any issue.

 

Henry Posner

B&H Photo-Video

[silvio_b]

I bought from them in the last 15 years (Nikon and Leica) but lately their customer service is getting really bad. Some of them don't speak and/or understand English anymore and their used department rating it's two marks inflated, at least. So let say if you buy a 10 item, you'll get an EX from KEH. They lost me this year for good and I don't plan to go back soon. Sorry, but I'll rather spend more money at a local store instead of dealing again with customer service that I understand only 10% of their terrible accent and have the items shipped 2-3 days after I got charged. BTW Adorama it's even worse.

Good luck to all of you shopping there, Silvio.

[elliot1]

>>B&H customer representatives are ill-informed...

 

Is it reasonable to expect an employee of a company dealing with thousands of items to know everything about every item they sell? I don't think so.

 

They provided you with a pre-paid return shipping label and were willing to give you a full refund. What more could you want?

[ShunCheung]

I am going to close this discussion. As Todd Peach points out, further responses about customer experiences at B&H belong to the "neighbor to neighbor" section:

 

http://www.photo.net/neighbor/subcategory-index?id=2

 

If Debejyo has further issues with his particular order, please work with Henry directly to get them resolved.