Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Amazon wasn't a thing back then. I lived in NYC and at that time late 70s early 80s there were many camera stores and you had to watch your step with a lot of them

hcmcdole

I had purchased a Gitzo tripod from Amazon one year and a Gitzo monopod the next year. Very pleased with the shipping and of course the items. I had not realized that the vendor was Adorama when I made these purchases on Amazon. I bought several other items over the years and was very pleased with both Adorama and Amazon.

Then I bought two lenses (total $2,000) from the same source and tracked the shipping (UPS, I think at the time) come all the way to Atlanta, and then returned to the vendor. What happened? The only explanation from UPS (canned message on their website) was the label either fell off or was smudged. Seems like they could've reached out to Adorama about the address since they had the tracking number. Oh well, that was then.

I started a chat session with Adorama when I could expect the lenses to be shipped back to me. The agent was none too friendly - he said I would have to order them again because any returns went back on the shelf. I told him to just cancel the order then. I immediately ordered the same items from B&H and paid extra for 2-day shipping.

The problem is my credit card was on the hook for an order with Adorama and B&H. I tried to explain to Adorama what was going on and they didn't reply. I brought Amazon into the fray and explained my situation. They told me to contact the vendor. I told them I already did that. I finally told them to make it right or I would get the credit card company involved. They asked me to wait for 48 hours which I did. It was still not fixed, and they asked for an additional 24 hours. They finally got it taken care of. Thank you, Amazon, and the clout of a credit card.

I have ordered some items from Adorama since then, but I am more cautious since by ordeal with them years ago. I found out I can order straight from the manufacturer and get the items faster than the camera stores for the same price.

alphadog

I agree with YOU TOTALLY... these are HUGE places, yes sometimes STUFF happens... I had only good experiences... thanks for your INPUT into this ongoing diatribe

Opusx300

Highly reputable. I have purchased from them at their brick and mortar store in NYC. Have also ordered from them directly online. Always a positive experience.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

2nd to B&H. Good company.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Love b and h

tiphareth51 Loc: Somewhere near North Pole, Alaska

Wow 6 pages of responses. Thank you everyone! I did order the tripod from B&H not realizing the shipper was Fed Ex. B&H has been my source for all things photography related since forever. Any problem has always been handled expediently (usually a shipping problem). I went with the trusted source.
So let's close this topic with a bit of grammatical humor, eh!

alphadog

Oh, well YOU didn't give these DETAILS previously... I would say sadly, YOU are expecting TOO MUCH for these large stores to UNTANGLE the return, repurchase, credit card fiasco... I UNDERSTAND your frustration, I would put it in the category of ONCE a COMPUTER puts in the wrong data OR you ask "someone" to make a change... it gets too convoluted ... like trying to CHANGE the ADDRESS on an item already mailed with FEDEX OR UPS... as a long time dealer I tried this, but after a couple of FAILURES, just gave up and tried to pick up the pieces ... we live now in a world that has many hands working the lines, and rarely do some types of issues get remedied quickly.

cteevan Loc: Long Island, NY

At least here in the NY Metropolitan NE region, "SO" is the kind of word that initiates a friendly, sincere conversation about je ne sais quois. Yes, it violates the laws of grammar, which makes some people uncomfortable. There is in fact no rule that says communication must be limited to language approved by certain credentialled strangers. On one hand -- especially in legal or medical settings -- communication can be life altering. Otoh, when you're among friends who won't judge you on how good you are at commas, adverbs, hyphenation etc., it's more appropriate to focus on the problem that you want to solve. In sum: So what?

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Lived in NJ. all my life and worked in NYC for 25 years and NEVER heard of starting something with *SO".
SORRY

Canisdirus

I grew up in NJ just outside the city...

In my experience it starts out with...Hey A**hole...etc...etc.

A lady once quipped that the difference between the West coast and the Northeast is...
If she gets a flat tire on the West coast ppl. will come by and say how sorry they are for her...but won't help her.
If she gets a flat tire in the northeast...someone will stop...curse out her lack of preparedness...but change the tire for her...berating her the whole time.

She preferred the Northeast approach in the end.

vefroims

Adorama and B&H - 2 major stores I am using for all my photo purchases. Both are reliable, have good customer support and similar reasonable prices. B&H maybe a little cheaper since you can buy form them w/o taxes (with their credit card).

User ID

And like the Down East "Well-l-l-l-l-l ........ "

As in "Well-l-l-l-l-l ..... yuh jussz keh-uhhnnt gehd ovuh tuh thay-yuh ... frommn heah-uh".
(Flat steady tamber of voice. NO drawling !)

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Theres a good reason why the mountainous UPPERMOST corner of the U.S. east coast is referred to as DOWN east. Just have to take my word on that. Its a verrrry good reason.