Buying t2i internationally from B&H with a wire transfer

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Hi everyone. Two weeks ago I decided to take my first plunge into dSLR and bought a canon t2i and some accessories from B&H. The problem is that I'm from Canada, but living in Mexico for about 6 months. All my credit cards and paypal etc are registered in Canada, so last Sunday they asked me to send in a wire transfer, which I did the following Monday morning. The bank assured me the money would be deposited in their account by the end of day, so I was happy. Time went on, and I kept contacting their live chat, sales, customer service, and accounting departments (live chat guy told me to contact accounting). All of them ignore me all week saying they can't confirm if they received the money or not. All of them ask me to submit proof about sending in the wire transfer, and I had already did that Monday morning 15 minutes after sending in the money.<br>

Now today their customer service is saying they'll have to wait till Tuesday to go to their bank to see if the money came in.<br>

To add insult to injury, their sales department told me today, that since they don't have any T2i in stock anymore, they updated my order (to include only the accessories) and they're asking me to send in a wire transfer.<br>

<br />I see from this forum and many other places that B&H has a great reputation when it comes to buying in-store, but also through Internet for people living in the states. Internationally, I see some people did manage to buy from them without any issues.<br>

It's very stressing wiring 1600$ to another country to begin with, but then to be told one week later that they don't even have the camera in stock anymore (even though I confirmed with them multiple times that I would buy it, and asked them to hold it for me) just adds insult to injury. As it is right now, I'm down 1600$, didn't receive anything, and they dare ask me for an extra 700$ which was already included in the 1600$ I sent them, to get a bunch of useless accessories for which I wouldn't even have a camera to connect them to.<br>

So my question is the following: Has anyone bought anything from them internationally using a wire transfer? How did that go? Were they as slow and as disorganized, or is it just bad luck?<br>

If it weren't for their good reputation for their in-store and their credit card sales, I would be very inclined to think that store is running a scam.</p>

 

[JDMvW]

<p>I think that the Fourth of July weekend has probably made a difficult situation worse. no banks are open here that I know of. <br>

I suspect that some one from B&H will see this here after the holiday is over and help you on this.</p>

<p>I have not bought with a wire transfer from a foreign country (although I was once asked to pay for a Nikon digital camera I bought <em>on Amazon</em> with a wire transfer to, I am serious, Transylvania, but that's another story. I will say that I didn't bite!), but I have done international money orders to the former Soviet Union with the same sort of hold-your-breath anxieties you are having. It was a vendor with all positive feedback on eBay however, but there were some kinks in the process not unlike yours. And yes, I got the camera I paid for, but it was not immediate.</p>

<p>I don't think any of these top-rated stores like B&H or Adorama are a problem, but you can understand that being a "Canadian living in Mexico" could easily cause some caution on the part of any vendor before actually shipping the product. Be glad you're not resident in Nigeria.</p>

<p>Welcome to Photo.net, by the way, since I see that you joined today and this is your first post.</p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Thank you JDM for your welcome and the encouraging words. I hope you're right about B&H. Afterall, I did buy from them since they are known for their service, I just hope that great customer service everyone mentions starts rubbing off on this transaction :) I'm kinda sitting on the fence here wondering if I should have just paid the 400$ or so more and bought it at a local store that had one in stock a few blocks away.</p>

[stp]

<p>It's too bad it has taken a week, but as JDM said, this is a bad weekend for doing any transactions. B&H is a very reputable outfit; I'm betting you will have this cleared up on Tuesday. Hopefully you will connect with that one person who will make things right.</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>B&H and Adorama will ship to a home address in Canada if the credit card is from the same location. If they have done business with you in the past then they will do things like ship to a US hotel address. However, I suspect that they are more concerened with fraud when shipping to Mexico. Of the two I have had some issues with both call centers but Adorama tends to be the easier to deal with.</p>

[digitmstr]

<p>I have been doing business with B&H, in the USA for well over 20 years - never a problem. They are the most reputable company I know. There may be others but, this company would rank in the top 3.</p>

[jason_linch]

<p>Jean-Pierre, do a lookup of a member here on photo.net named Henry Posner and write a message to him, he may be able to help you or attempt to clarify the situation..<br>

Best - o - Luck<br>

J</p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Allright, thanks for the help everyone. I'm really surprised by the way B&H is treating this transaction. Unfortunately this is my first experience with them, and it's not turning out to be the great experience you're all talking about. I would expect this from a closet-sized local shop, but not from a major player like them. I'll contact Henry and see if he can help sort things out.<br>

As far as fraud goes, if they were concerned about it, they should have been honest about it from the beginning. As far as wire transfers go, though, I'm 99% sure there's no possibility of fraud there, since that only works by sending actual money to begin with. Unlike credit cards, wire transfer transactions can't be canceled, so once the money is in their bank account, it's there to stay. Unless there's something I'm not aware of, but I'm pretty sure wire transfers are hugely biased towards the receiver.<br>

For the 4th of July thing, that would explain for this week-end, but unfortunately not for last week-end when I placed the order and the days in-between. Unless they also celebrate the Saint-Jean Baptiste, Canadian multicultural day, Canada day, and whatever other holiday fell during that week.<br>

I'm just looking forward to this being settled and me having my camera, or at least by having confirmation that they received my money and will ship it as soon as they can.</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Jean-Pierre, you may not be aware of this, but wire transfer is one of the tools used by internet scam artists, especially on international transactions. The way it works: The scammer/buyer sends a wire transfer to the sellers account. The seller sends the item. Several days later, the sellers bank discovers the wire transfer was fraudulent and withdraws the funds. The seller is left without the gear and without the money. It's possible that B&H may have been waiting to verify that the wire transfer is genuine before sending the equipment. Can you blame them for being careful, given the track record for these kinds of transactions?</p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Thanks William, didn't know wire transfers could be use in such a way. I really don't know why they insist on using those instead of just accepting visa / paypal and asking for ID cards like some other places do, then. If they're afraid of fraud through wire transfers, they have plenty of other viable options they're ruling out. What really puzzles me is for the shipping method I chose, they claim the product will get here in 3-5 business days. 5 business days later the product didn't even leave their warehouse yet, and I still don't know if it ever will. They might be afraid of fraud, but they are a bit fraudulent in their way of dealing things. They don't mention anywhere that wire transfers could add weeks of delay to your order, or I would have just bought locally and paid a few hundred dollars more to save myself the headaches and the trouble. Maybe in New York that way of doing business is acceptable, but where I come from, a customer is either treated with the respect they deserve, or we go shopping elsewhere. The problem is that now I can't, since they have my money, which they're not even acknowledging.<br>

And what is making all of this moot is that meanwhile they sold the camera away and tell me they won't be shipping one. So even if I get the payment issue resolved, I'll still end up camera-less.</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>I would check with B&H again about the camera. Could it be that it was pulled from stock awaiting completion of your order, and the salesperson you spoke with just saw the "Not In Stock" part of that?</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>JP - the best way to use B&H or Adorama is first to do a transaction in their store or from your home address in Canada. When I last worked in Mexico residents there had to have a US (or other foreign issued) credit card if they wanted to buy songs from iTUNES. As I said in my earlier post once they have done business with you they are much more prepared to enter into more unusual transactions. I do not blame them for this approach and I suspect that they do not inform you on the phone when they suspect fraud as it may cause offence. I would call them and then have the call escalated to a manager in their call center or have someone call you back. I had a similar issue once (years ago) with B&H when I wanted goods shipped to a US hotel address (so I could carry them into Canada and save the tax as they were under my limit). After speaking to the manager I was called by their credit department and things were resolved in about 6 hours. The item in question was waiting in a NJ hotel when I arrived 2 days later.</p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>William: This part I'm not sure, that particular salesman I didn't even contact, they sent me an email out of the blue saying the item was out of stock, and that he had modified my quote by removing the camera.<br>

Philip: Thanks, I'll try giving them a call and have it escalated. I wish we could escalate it through e-mail or live chat though, but oh well. As for buying from my home address, I've been here since January (basically, my wife is from Mexico, I'm living with her until we get her Canadian residency. My employer is kind enough to let me work remotely from Mexico meanwhile). Sure, I could have it shipped back home and have my parents ship it to me, making me pay Canadian taxes, Canadian customs, then Mexican taxes, and Mexican customs, wasting 100$ of shipping, a week of transit, and much more chances of the camera being broken by transport by the time it gets here.<br>

If they didn't want my business, they should just have said it to begin with. I did everything in good faith, and they've done nothing in good faith yet.</p>

[JDMvW]

<blockquote>

<p>I did everything in good faith, and they've done nothing in good faith yet.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>J-P, you're being too impatient. The banks will be closed until Tuesday morning, and it can take time to verify the wired amounts, especially when it involves different countries.</p>

[digitmstr]

<p>You are wrong saying didn't do anything in good faith - you are a resident of Canada temporarily living in Mexico - but, how would they know who you really are? They have hundreds of thousands of customers - you could be a scammer of a credit card thief or identity thief, for all they know.</p>

<p>Next time, forego all the online chats and pickup the phone and call in person, explain your situation, ask questions and get all your ducks in a row right from the start. If you want stuff done quickly, that's the ONLY way: actually talking to people on the phone.</p>

[henryp]

<p>Jean-Pierre: B&H is very sorry for your dissatisfaction. I see an order from you was originated as a quote on Sunday June 27th, a week ago. At this moment there's no note in your order we've received your wire transfer. I appreciate that others here have noted that banks don't work on weekends and that today, July 5th, is a holiday in the USA and banks won't be working today either. From the day your order was initiated to now is five business days, one of which was July 2nd, a Friday. B&H closes mid-afternoon Fridays. As you noted, no one here can confirm we've received your wire transfer, because we're unable to do so. Did you instruct your bank to include your B&H purchase number so we could associate the wire transfer with your order?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>...they dare ask me for an extra 700$ which was already included in the 1600$ I sent them, to get a bunch of useless accessories...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I appreciate you're upset but I see no evidence of this. I do see the order originally included a Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ EF-S 18-55mm & 75-300mm, but this line was canceled. I know who here canceled it but not why. Normally we would only do this if a customer instructed us to do so.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If it weren't for their good reputation for their in-store and their credit card sales, I would be very inclined to think that store is running a scam.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Respectfully, this is gratuitous and insulting and entirely unnecessary.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1841065">JDM von Weinberg</a> <br />I think that the Fourth of July weekend has probably made a difficult situation worse. no banks are open here that I know of. I suspect that some one from B&H will see this here after the holiday is over and help you on this.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thank you. I will do everything possible.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>...they are a bit fraudulent in their way of dealing things.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Respectfully, this is too gratuitous and insulting and entirely unnecessary.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The problem is that now I can't, since they have my money, which they're not even acknowledging.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Actually at this moment I am not at all certain we do have your money. I am investigating.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>William: This part I'm not sure, that particular salesman I didn't even contact, they sent me an email out of the blue saying the item was out of stock, and that he had modified my quote by removing the camera.<br /> Philip: Thanks, I'll try giving them a call and have it escalated. I wish we could escalate it through e-mail or live chat though, but oh well.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Correct - the camera has been deleted from the transaction. As of now, this <em><strong>IS</strong></em> escalated.<br>

I will do everything possible to have this matter resolved as speedily as I can.</p>

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

<p> </p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Thank you Henry for looking into this and escalating this, I sent you an email so we can continue to resolve this. Hopefully your company will be able to find my payment soon and also a t2i + lenses to ship me. I don't think any company can build such faithful customers without doing something right, so I'm hoping this gets resolved quickly.</p>

[darryl-taylor]

Henry Posner , Jul 05, 2010; 12:01 p.m.

Jean-Pierre: B&H is very sorry for your dissatisfaction. I see an order from you was originated.....................

 

You've gotta respect service on that level

[henryp]

<p>Earlier I wrote, "<em>I do see the order originally included a Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ EF-S 18-55mm & 75-300mm, but this line was canceled. I know who here canceled it but not why. Normally we would only do this if a customer instructed us to do so.</em>"</p>

<p>I believe this line was canceled because the T2i is not in stock. We are unsure when Canon USA will send more and unsure how many they'll send when they do.</p>

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

[bob_kuprion1]

<p>Henry , you have more patience and tact than I for dealing with people like this. Thank you for the many past years of good, honest, and straightforward service to the photographers of the world. Mexico is getting such an unsavory reputation and this just adds to it in my mind.<br>

Thanks again Henry for running such an honest and trustworthy operation.</p>

[dave_b15]

<p>I mean no offense anyone nor do I mean anything personal to anyone. And I'm not making any accusations. I am merely stating a fact of the type of World we live in.<br>

<br /> I deal with a lot of international based scams and frauds. That transaction has the pattern of many scams. If someone asked me about that transaction: credit card address in Canada and then shipping the product to Mexico, I would advise them that most likely it is scam, possibly a stolen credit card and that they should cease all contact.</p>

<p>B&H is exhibiting quite a bit patience and trust here.</p>

[henryp]

<p>Follow-up. I believe the customer's wire transfer has been located here. I also believe the difficulty is that the amount of the wire transfer is more than the order as it's now written because the Canon slr outfit was removed as it's not in stock and we are unsure when we will receive more. I am in contact with the customer via e-mail and have asked for aid from others within B&H who may be able to assist in resolving this.</p>

<p>Aside to Bob K: I appreciate your comments and support but this is a matter between one individual and one retailer. I don't think all of Mexico should be tarnished by this.</p>

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

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>Thank you for all the help Henry, for clearing the misunderstandings, and for finding my payment. Hopefully your buyer will be able to find me a camera. I'm really looking forward to joining the multitude of dSLR owners. I'll keep you guys posted when I get more good news about this transaction.</p>

[bob_kuprion1]

<p>Henry,<br>

You are correct and incorrect. The people, (citizens) of Mexico are great folks, as are people all over the world. Unfortunately citizens from time to time get caught up in places that are not great at a particular moment in time. Mexicans are folks, citizens, etc.. Mexico is a Place and from all I read Mexico is not the best of places to be at this time. </p>

[jean_pierre_la_forest]

<p>That's unfortunate you think that way Bob. You are judging Mexico most probably for the troubles they have in the northern part near the US border. Mérida where I live is very different. I've been here for almost 6 months and haven't had any troubles.<br>

I'm sure every country has a town or neighbourhood you would not like to be walking alone in the middle of the night in. Mexico has it's northern states, US has the Bronx and many other ghettos, Canada has Toronto, etc.</p>