windshoppe Loc: Arizona

I've been an Adorama customer for many years and have generally been in agreement with the positive evaluation of that company by many other Hedgehoggers. I am, however, reevaluating my view of their service. Over a week ago I ordered a filter from them and had received no confirmation or acknowledgement of the order. Payment was made by Paypal. After accessing my Paypal account and finding the order listed as "pending" I called Adorama to inquire into the status of my order. After about 10 minutes of unsuccessfully attempting to locate the order they finally found it. The item is, I was told, out of stock and they had no idea when it would be available. And so it takes a phone call from me after no word from them in over a week to make that determination? I don't consider that acceptable customer service!

Leitz Loc: Solms

Try B&H next time.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

You really have to read the fine print on Adoramas item listings. Many items will say "out of stock" but you are still allowed to click the BUY button and order it. The fine print basically tells you that when you buy that item you will be added to a waiting list for when it does finally become available. The print is small and is stuff most buyers never even look at. At least B&H puts that info in RED so it stands out, and often in ALL CAPS as well.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I hate back order.

MarkD Loc: NYC

I buy mainly from B&H, but I sometimes buy from Adorama. My one complaint about Adorama is that they don't make it clear when an item is out of stock where B&H does. I know that Helen Oster from Adorama is on the forum. Maybe she can bring this to their attention.

HelenOster Loc: New York

Hi

Yes, I know it's frustrating. I suggest you change your browser; I browse in Chrome and can always see whether an item is in stock. Let me know if that makes a difference: Helen@adorama.com

HelenOster Loc: New York

I can't disagree with you; that is not an acceptable level of customer service, and it shouldn't have happened - please accept my apologies for the frustration and disappointment this caused.
Can you please email me: Helen@adorama.com with your order number so I can try to find out why an out-of-stock email wasn't sent? Thank you.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I know that due to the java and other things, it's not always apparent when something is out of stock...the text or image doesn't always show.

But you generally get the "confirmation email" right after buying but I guess in this case there was a glitch...could happen to any company who uses computers. It's not as if they had some nefarious plan in place or anything, they want to make you happy and have you come back as a customer...just like any other business.

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, I no longer have the order number, as I deleted it after speaking with the rep at Adorama and discovering that the item wasn't available. It was only a filter, so not an earth shaking event. However, I believe that it's sometimes possible to influence business practices in a positive way by bringing such things to light. Please see my response to rpavich.

HelenOster Loc: New York

Absolutely!

:thumbup:

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

I certainly don't believe there's a "nefarious plan" in place or any malintent. In reference to previous respondents' comments and as a business owner myself, I do believe that the following expectations are reasonable business practices:

When an item is unavailable for any reason one should not be required to read fine print somewhere in order to determine that.

One should not have to select a particular browser in order to determine an item's availability on a given web site.

It should be clearly indicated before one attempts to purchase an item and receives an order number that the item is not available at this time.

If an item is currently back ordered it should indicate the expected date that the item will be available for shipment.

If the item is unavailable and information on its future date of availability is not known that should be clearly stated.

I've learned much from listening to my customers over the years and have from time to time modified my own practices as a result. My hope is that this discussion might help Adorama to do the same. Having people like Helen working for them and listening and responding to customers views is a big plus for them.

HelenOster Loc: New York

I've copied your comments over to the web team; I, too, would like to see the improvements you described!

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

Thank you very much for your interest and involvement!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

No fine print necessary, they post it right on the site.



No reason to select a particular browser as I said, yours might have glitched, which is no fault of Adorama's.

I was playing chess online and my safari browser wouldn't show the board...I didn't hold chess.com responsible.




Yes...and that's how Adorama rolls...I've shopped there for years.




Yes, they do....I've shopped there for years.



And they do...I've shopped there for years.



Except that everything you've mentioned they already do.

All the evidence points to either a browser glitch, a java glitch, or computer glitch.

Certainly not the norm for Adorama.

Hopefully when your customers experience an "out of the ordinary" glitch they'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's not your normal business M.O.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

As with many other companies, one may set up an account with Adorama, and always check on an order's status. Beats wiping egg off your face.