What is up with Adorama?

[kj_thomas]

<p>I'm not sure if anyone else has had this kind of experience, but I purchased a new Nikon MB-D10 battery grip along with some other accessories from Adorama over two weeks ago, but apparently the zip code put on my shipping address was incorrect. My billing address is the same as my shipping address, so I'm having a hard time understanding how they got my zip code right for billing (or my money), but wrong for shipping (or my products). In any event, the shipping method used was UPS, and after a couple of change of hands the package ended up with the USPS, which has been trying to figure out where to send this package. When I saw these items were headed to the wrong address, I called UPS, UPS Sure Post, UPS Innovations, and the USPS to get the package sent back to the sender or sent to the correct zip code. Unfortunately as the recipient, I have no ability to correct the shipping address because I am the recipient and this is a security issue. I have to wait until the USPS either figures out the the correct zip code or feels the need to return this to the sender.</p>

<p>My issue is with Adorama. I purchased items totaling $400. I called Adorama when these did not arrive and was told I have to wait until these items are returned. According to the post office, it can take them several days (or even several weeks) to figure out the address error and solve the discrepancy or return the package. In the meantime I am out of $400, and I really need these items. When I initially called Adorama about this, I made a request for Adorama to contact the post office and have the package sent back as quickly as possible so that I can then get these items shipped to the correct address. The CSR stated that Adorama cannot intercept the shipment since it was turned over to another shipping company, which in turn gave the package to USPS for final delivery. Adorama's only solution was place another order where they can ensure the shipping has the correct zip code and the packages are not turned over to some fourth or fifth party (UPS Sure Post, UPS Innovations, USPS). I find this unacceptable especially when I don't know when I'll be getting my original $400 back to begin with. And who's to say Adorama will get the shipping address right the second time around. Today I called Adorama and told them that I still have not received my package and the CSR offered to contact the post office and open up an investigation and have the item returned to Adorama. I don't understand why this wasn't done the first time I asked Adorama to intercept the package, at a time with everything had been turned over to the post office.</p>

<p>I've ordered many things in the past from Adorama (about $7000 worth of gear), but this experience is left a sour taste about the way the company handles any adversity with a lost order. I have ordered items from Amazon that have gotten lost in shipment, and Amazon has sent another shipment to me before they received a return shipment...with expedited shipping to boot. As long as Amazon knew where the item was, it was happy to send a replacement. I don't understand why Adorama does not have a policy that is more customer-focused in these circumstances. As a customer who has spent several thousand dollars, I feel Adorama can do more than what it's doing to make this right.</p>

<p>Looks like I'm shopping at Amazon from now on.</p>

[BrianS1664879711]

<p>My last expereince with them left a slightly sour taste too. Lost package which they replaced without question, but they were not honest about the product. I did not have to wait for the package to be found/returned. I can understand the difficulty in sitautions like this from their perspective, but they really need to better understand it from their customers perspective. Too bad that your not getting satisfaction... what a bummer.</p>

[Member69643]

<p>The "UPS Mail Innovations" is a huge scam. UPS has an agreement with the US Post Office whereby they take your package someplace close to where you live and then turn it over to the USPS for delivery. The USPS treats these packages like pariahs. They don't bother to deliver them like a normal piece of mail. Things that should take 1 day take four instead. </p>

<p>FWIW B&H also offers this piece of offal service. It's not B&H's fault, nor is it Adorama's, that people choose free or cheap shipping and expect the item in a timely fashion. It's cheap for a reason - it's parcel post, carried on tortoises driven by ground sloths.</p>

[lisa_b4]

<p>I'm assuming that they insured the package, and, that they can verify that you haven't received it yet. If they were to continue to get my business I'd expect them to send out a replacement ASAP without an additional charge and then they can wait for the lost package.</p>

[Jerry_]

<p>Write a letter, keep a copy, to your credit card company. Explain what happened, and if your package gets delivered, be prepared to send it [.<strong>unopened</strong>.] back to Adorama. Your credit card company, upon your written request, will cancel the $$$ amount that Adorama charged.<br>

If you are lucky, you might be able to order the same equipment from B+H Photo, but a planned holiday closing is approaching that will be 10 or 11 days in length.<br>

Good luck!</p>

[dan_south]

<p>If you had used standard UPS or FedEx service you would not have had a problem.</p>

<p>Now, the merchant has no choice but to wait for the package to be returned to them. As far as they know, you could already have the package in your possession, and you're trying to scam them into sending out more merchandise (hypothetically, of course, but that's the reality of the retail business. They receive dozens of scam requests every day).</p>

[kohanmike]

<p>In the past few weeks I've ordered a number of products shipped cheap that ultimately came via USPS, which I'm glad about because I live in a security apartment building where the Post Office has access and the delivery services do not, so I don't have to be here. Also, just to point up the other side of the coin, last year I ordered an item from Adorama that was very obviously used and very badly packaged. I contacted customer service and they immediately sent me another one. When I asked about sending back the one I had, she said not to bother, and I was not charged for the second one.</p>

[helen_oster]

<p>@<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=6956926">KJ Thomas</a></p>

<p>I was so sorry to read that this was your experience; if you can spare the time to email me directly with your order number, I'd welcome the opportunity to see what I may be able to do to help you: Helen@adorama.com</p>

<p>Once again my apologies, and I look forward to hearing from you.</p>

<p>Helen Oster<br>

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador</p>

[francisco_salaquanda]

<p>I've shopped online with Adorama, B&H and KEH for a long time and I have seen what your courier service can do: Door to Door by courier in 3-5 days, NYC to Singapore, Sydney or Auckland. Absolutely brilliant, and its this sort of service that spells the end of the old distributor model. (Please note, Nikon USA...global fulfillment and international warranties are here to stay!)<br>

If I placed an order through one of our local Nikon dealers for an in-stock item, its seven days at best. I really don't know what they do in those seven days...its a total mystery. And now, finally, we don't have to put up with it.<br>

Its a no brainer, so long as you pay for the top delivery service. Skimp and you run the risk our OP had.</p>

[kj_thomas]

<blockquote>

<p>Now, the merchant has no choice but to wait for the package to be returned to them. As far as they know, you could already have the package in your possession, and you're trying to scam them into sending out more merchandise (hypothetically, of course, but that's the reality of the retail business. They receive dozens of scam requests every day).</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Wrong. The merchant can see (just as I can) that this package has not been delivered through the tracking system. The merchant can see that the package is not in my possession. In this case, how long is a customer expected to wait for this error to be solved? A month...six months? The post office is woefully inefficient. I feel it's the merchant's responsibility to ensure the package gets to the customer, because the customer has paid and there is an expectation of goods or services for money received.</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>FWIW B&H also offers this piece of offal service. It's not B&H's fault, nor is it Adorama's, that people choose free or cheap shipping and expect the item in a timely fashion. It's cheap for a reason - it's parcel post, carried on tortoises driven by ground sloths.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Historically, I've always chosen this method of shipment, and historically, I've always received my goods in less than three business days (I've always been on the East Coast just a few states down I-95). And historically it's always been shipped via UPS, and exclusively with UPS.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I was so sorry to read that this was your experience; if you can spare the time to email me directly with your order number, I'd welcome the opportunity to see what I may be able to do to help you: Helen@adorama.com</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thank you Helen. I sent an e-mail to you earlier last week after I spoke with customer service initially. I will send the order numbers over to you again. My main issue with all this is once I saw the package was headed to the wrong zip code, I called Adorama (after I called UPS, UPS Innovations, UPS Sure Post, USPS) and asked that they intercept the package and have it returned somehow. Last week the CSR said that this wasn't possible; yesterday the CSR said they'll open an investigation and ask for the package to be returned. If this was done when I initially called, (hopefully) the package would have been returned by now (for a refund or for reshipment to the correct address).</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Also, just to point up the other side of the coin, last year I ordered an item from Adorama that was very obviously used and very badly packaged. I contacted customer service and they immediately sent me another one. When I asked about sending back the one I had, she said not to bother, and I was not charged for the second one.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And this is the kind of service I would expect. Even if they took my credit card number for the another shipment but didn't charge it unless it was delivered to me and I didn't send the initial package back would be a good option. But the option of paying for a new order and being out of another $400 is unacceptable. $400 is not a huge sum of money, but it's not trivial. What if this was a $2000 lens? Or a $3000 camera body?</p>

[cwphoto]

<p>I've been dealing with Adorama for years without problem. Recently service is even better as everything is shipped free & it arrives in two days.</p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>I have had horrible experience with both UPS Mail Innovations and FedEx Smartpost. Both of these are were UPS and FedEx hand off to the USPS for final delivery. I have had packages shipped from NY to NC that have taken 3 weeks. The package arrives at some FedEx/UPS location, sits there for up to a week, arrives at a post office that is 2 towns over, sits there for a week, then finally gets to my town, sits there a few days, then I get the package. When any company lists them as a shipper I pay more to use a single company whether it is UPS, FedEx, or even the USPS handling it all themselves. Companies aren't stupid though so they advertise "FREE SHIPPING" rather than "HORRIBLE FREE SHIPPING FROM HORRIBLE COMBO COMPANY THAT TAKES 3 WEEKS"</p>

<p>Just google "I hate FedEx" and it will fill in smartpost. Same for "i hate UPS" and it will fill in "mail innovations." FedEx Ground is also bad in my area. It is the former RPS and the drivers are independent contracters so when they're tired they just take packages home in their trucks for the night and claim they couldn't find my house which is in every GPS and online maps database. They did this twice for 3 days each time which makes it impossible to pick up the package from a central FedEx office.</p>

[dan_brown4]

<p>2-Day Air service is usually worth the few dollars it cost, especially when you are spending hundreds on camera gear.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>I blame it more on the USPS than anything - I have never had an issue with Adorama and their shipping. </p>

<p>Just 2 weeks ago - a client sent me a contract and check. They live in the same city as I do - but the USPS somehow routed the envelope to Springfield OH. (I live in Plymouth MN) - I finally got the material 2 weeks late - from the Springfield OH Postmaster. </p>

<p>The original envelope was properly addressed with the correct zip code - 55446 (IN BLACK INK and BLOCK LETTERS) but somehow the postal service scanning software took that as 45506. </p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[kj_thomas]

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>2-Day Air service is usually worth the few dollars it cost, especially when you are spending hundreds on camera gear.</p>

</blockquote>

 

 

Second day air isn't necessary. What is necessary is that merchants should disclose the mode of delivery and get things right with shipping addressees. I get two day shipping from Amazon all of the time (I'm a prime member), and I always get my packages in two days, and Amazon sometimes turns this over to another party other than UPS for delivery. The issue is how they got the zip code right for billing but wrong for shipping, and how they didn't want to try to resolve the problem when I discovered the billing zip code was wrong.

 

 

[natureslight]

<p>I think the point here is not that the shipping method chosen was bad (it was), but how Adorama has chosen to handle this situation. Not quite two years ago, we had a similar experience with an order from Adorama. After waiting over a week for an order (supposedly sent by 3^rd day arrival) we contacted Adorama and began another week’s worth of run-around trying to learn where the order had gone. Here is my penny-ante philosophy about these type messes: everyone screws up at some point and the more complicated your business becomes, the more likely you are to experience major screwups. It’s not the mistakes that matter, it is how the company responds to those mistakes that shows the true mettle of the company. Our experience with Adorama following our shipping screw-up is why we no longer buy from the company. FWIW: about six months ago, we experienced a similar issue with an order placed with B&H. Once again, the package “disappeared”, only this time the folks at B&H took ownership of the problem and responded with respect and commitment to finding a solution. Within 24 hours, we had our merchandise and a well-worded sincere apology from B&H for the trouble. And that, my friends, is how you keep customers even when things go wrong. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>three question marks prevented many of us from responding? ? ?</p>

[helen_oster]

<p>I've heard directly from the OP, and we are now working on resolving this asap</p>

<p>Helen Oster<br>

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador<br>

Helen@adorama.com</p>

[lex_jenkins]

 

<blockquote>

<p>"three question marks prevented many of us from responding? ? ?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yeah, occasionally multiple punctuation marks, especially exclamation marks, prevent replies. I edited the thread title to one question mark.</p>

 

[starshooter]

<p>I buy too much stuff too often and since I am 75 miles downriver from Nowhere I have to trust the mail and package services. I get every pacakge on time every time and no, I never worked for the post office.<br>

When I send a letter to Los Angeles (over 100 miles away), the letter goes to my local post office then to the county seat (50 miles away) and then to a post office way across LA north and west of where the letter is to go and often it ends up where it needs to go the very next day.<br>

If you order something expensive you need in a hurry you need topay for special services. With the PO going broke and nobody in Washington giving a darn we are lucky the p.o. works at all.<br>

That is my humbug opinion.</p>

 

[Mark Keefer]

<p>If you are lucky like I am, you may find a local camera shop that will meet or beat any legitimate price advertised on the internet. I still like supporting my local shops and am so fortunate I can walk into a brick and mortar store. Hold the item in my hands and pay for it and immediately start using it, and don't have to pay through the nose to do it.</p>

<p>I'm not saying there is anything wrong with buying online, but if I don't have to, I don't. The local shop here in Southeastern PA has a huge following of loyal customers which comes from very competitive prices and good service. These guys are still out there.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

Mark, Good for you. I'm sure even if the cost was a bit more you would still buy it there rather than on line. Camera stores need sales to stay in business, not people who come in, handle all the merchandise, get good advice and then leave to buy the camera on line.

[Mark Keefer]

<p>James, that's true, a bit more isn't a deal breaker. I know they sure would be missed if they weren't around. A little extra supporting the local guys so they don't close up shop is money well spent. It's mutually beneficial, having a good local shop I can walk into 6 days of the week is a real asset. Best Buys just isn't going to carry all the gear I need, let alone have a 19 year old sales associate that can match the photography knowledge of the guys at my shop. Lucky if they have a 16 Gig CF card.</p>

[snapper_h]

<p>Thank you Helen, I just saw this thread and was going to encourage the OP to call you directly. No doubt in my mind you'll take care of this.<br>

I had my own shipping failure from Amazon this last week, Fed Ex handed off a package to my local USPS Friday morning. I waited until Monday evening, watching the tracking number. It shows package being at the post office, but there it went cold. I called them Tuesday morning and a search ensued, actually two, the first came up empty. Finally the employee came back and said they had found it, who knows where, and it was available. I picked it up Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday morning, the tracking still showed incomplete. Once before I had Fed EX change the ship too address to one I hadn't lived at in almost 3 years, where the package vanished. It took a month, but the shipper reimbursed me for the purchase. Haha, I even had a UPS employee straight tell me on the phone, they didn't deliver to USPS, as I was looking at the UPS tracking numbers showing the handoff, lol. This just shows, mess ups can happen anywhere and no one shipper is immune. Helen will get you fixed up. </p>

[helen_oster]

<p>Thanks for the recommendation Snapper H!</p>

<p>I am indeed always only an email away for any Adorama queries, questions, suggestions - and complaints! Helen@adorama.com<br>

Helen Oster<br>

Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador</p>