Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Delivery of gear from Amazon UPS/mail, B&H, Adorama etc has always been good. I would rate B&H superior in their consultative selling and service.
I have bought from Adorama. Didnt like their used pricing to trade up and buy from them. Delivery is so amazing today it is hard to realize the way things used to be.
Federal Express is a different company today. I used to send stuff all over the world for a client years ago and they were great.
If you are a pro and need something right away well it is a different story. UPS is doing a a great job considering the amount of deliveries they are
handling today. They come into my complex and run around the deliveries. They know when something is valuable and wait for a signature.
As for Amazon I buy and they are flawless in delivery with the all these services. What i like I have a big customer rating and they will take anything
back from me. Good luck.

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

I glad you like the service from the post office. I live in AZ (85123) and we do NOT have mail delivery at all.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Yesterday FEDEX delivered a package for us down the street. UPS has always delivered to our door. Go figure!

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

First on package delivery: as an urban dweller, I am familiar with the urban retailer: Front Porch. But only from news reports and social media. My process is to send it to the office where I work. Second choice have it held at the local shipper for pickup. There is no third option: I’m not taking a day off for a scheduled delivery and I’m not risking having it stolen.
Second on Adorama: customer service is only relevant when something goes wrong: Helen (Adorama) responds on UHH to try to resolve complaints. Of course, the customer is not always right. But she does an admirable job. I recently had a item delivered that did not work. Of course it’s frustrating. However Helen referred me to their customer service dept—and they sent a return shipping label and they credited back my Amex card.

My purchasing process is simple: Buy local (rarely is there an advantage to the “deal”); if they don’t have it-check Adorama; if they don’t carry it: B&H or directly from the company.

I will also buy used—and then I include KEH as my choice after “Local” & Adorama.

Selene03

Whatever arrangement BandH has with Fedex expressly prohibits that possibility even though I can arrange it with others who ship using FedEx. It is not a huge problem for me if a signature is not required, but becomes prohibitively expensive to wait. I used to be able to pick up items from the UPS store near me, as it is difficult to be home for delivery. BandH says--well, you can pay for alternative shipping, which is expensive and not very reliable. I have to agree with the OP that it has been a pain to shop with BandH since they switched to Fedex. I do realize it differs from place to place, but I do not understand the logic of not allowing me to pick the package up at the local Fedex store, where I have to show ID. I don't work in a place where I could have it delivered. Aargh (a first world problem, to be sure)

fishone0 Loc: Kingman AZ

I have had UPS screw up my delivery date in fact I prefer FedEx have had better service from them --in fact when I used to pay I used to suggest B&H send me the package by FedEx--the mail delivery here stinks so I wouldn't use them at all-- too bad my prime stuff comes by USPS sometimes my mail comes late after supper which is at 5:30 --if I am lucky

BHamp00 Loc: Las Vegas

I have found FedEx delivery notifications to be unreliable. I have had several instances of a signature being required on a certain date and then having delivery attempted on a day earlier or later, with little or no advance notice... I suppose it may sound odd to complain about an earlier date, however, the notifications say delivery will occur before 8:00 PM which ties me or my wife up for the entire day and requires a little planning. I rarely have a problem with UPS and the accuracy of their notifications. B&H needs to give weight to how many folks look at FedEx as it has caused me to shift my purchasing choices; and I have spent over $15k this year alone on photographic gear (mostly Sony).

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Five pages of people knocking or touting how good one service is over another.To me it seems all delivery services have some issue in some part of the country. No one is going to be 100%. It comes down to as to where you live determine which service an individual prefers.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

I got my D500 in less than 24 hrs form B&H. That is less than 1 day shipping!

John Geyer

Ditto from SWFL

mleuck

"big brown truck" has a name. Call it what it is..UPS!

haze63 Loc: Tiffin Ohio

Unprofessional Postal Service

snapshot18

You're nit-picking ONE LOUSY DAY? Buy from Adorama and you'll have a LOT MORE to complain about. Twice, I purchased from them and TWICE I got screwed, Royally! First time I purchased a flash, but as I needed it by a certain date for a wedding I was to photograph, I called them and asked if it would get to me in time (there was about 2 weeks delivery time). They assured me it would. IT DID NOT! I had to purchase one locally, at greater cost. When it did arrive, I returned it. 2nd (and LAST time for me), I purchased a used digital camera body. When it arrived, there was a minor defect on the body (I could have corrected it with some effort, but I returned it to Adorama for correction. When I got it back, the body had been dropped to a hard (concrete ?) floor and had a crack in the battery compartment wall (I could not insert a battery). I reported the damage to Adorama and they claimed the damage was done by me and assumed NO responsibility. I had an attorney friend of mine send them a nice letter stating that if they didn't replace the camera body, I would sue them. They said they were very sorry, but there were no more used ones of that model and would I be happy with another of 'equal value'? I replied "NO" and to just return my money and give me an address to return the camera AFTER I received the money. I didn't hear back from for three weeks, so I sent them a registered notice of Intent to file suit. Right away, I received the full refund. Something I learned from this and a few other things about fraudulent companies: if a company has a clean record with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), a court case can go either way; however, if a company has lots of complaints plus several court suits that went against them, they automatically (almost always) lose. That showed me that Adorama was NOT a company to deal with.
OH, as my 'Ex' wife was given to say, "KARMA": since Adorama didn't include a return address, I kept the camera, straightened the wall of the battery compartment (it now can take a battery and works perfectly; of course the crack is still there), and I only use it as a back-up! There is a phrase for Adorama: "CAVEAT EMPTOR"!
As for the 'competitor' you might be referring to, B&H Photo has been (with many purchases over the years as I have been in photography for 59 years professionally), I have never had a problem. My purchases arrive within 3 days. I just bought a high powered flash from them for $350 (it has 4x the power as a Nikon SB800 which Nikon hits a buyer over $500 for); Amazon has the same thing for $499. But, it's your choice.

Bill_de Loc: US

Why? Many of us like the Big Brown Truck and everyone knows what it is. Feel free to call it whatever you like.

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burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Always remember to separate shipping time from order preparation time. Two or three day shipping schedules must be added to the time it takes a dealer to pick, pack, and label a package, which has to happen before the shipping clock starts.