I will make this as short as possible. On December 23 at about 4:30 P.M. CST, I had the urge to order about $4000 in camera stuff from 42nd Street Photo. I did this through Ralph by telephone. About forty minutes later, after having a changed of mind, I called and left a message that I wanted to cancel. Apparently 42nd Street had closed.

I normally order from Adorama or B & H, but both were closed for religious observances on Friday, December 23. Time was a factor, because of a European trip scheduled for early January, so I resorted to 42nd Street.

On Saturday, December 24, I called 42nd Street in the morning and told Walter that I had left a message the day before that I wanted to cancel. He told me the order had already gone out, so I just needed to receive the shipment and then call back for instructions on how to cancel, and there would be no problem. I told Walter I would do that.

This shipment arrived today at about noon, Mississippi time. I promptly called 42nd Street and spoke to Walter about returning the merchandise. He told me that there would be a 20% restocking charge. Based on the order, that would be about $800. I told told him that I had barely touched the merchandise, but he insisted that the charge would apply.

I told Walter I was unaware of the 20% restocking charge. He specifically told me that, "We never tell our customers about the restocking charge." I asked Walter why customers were never told this. Walter said, "Because it is on or website." I told sweet Walter that I ordered by telephone, not by website. Walter said that there was nothing he could do about this.

To his credit, however, Walter put me on hold and came back to tell me that he had authority to reduce the re-stocking fee to 15% (or about $600).

Ok, I am familiar with the narrow profit margins for sellers of cameras. If I keep the merchandise, there is a modest profit for the seller. If I return the merchandise, there is a 15% payment for "restocking" but the seller still has possession of the merchandise. Basically, 42nd would receive a $600 payment for receiving a package, the contents of which have not been disturbed. Nice profit for no sale.

I have chosen to keep the merchandise. Fortunately, I can afford to pay. But that is not the point.

As a lawyer, I know that a deal is a deal, and I ordered the merchandise. The seller has no obligation to take it back. That is all well and good. But my problem is with Walter's saying that his company never tells the customer about the 20 percent restocking fee. They really don't have too, but I can assure those reading this that I will never--I mean never--order again form 42nd Street. You guys can do what you want. Just beware.

We live and learn. I will stick with B&H and Adorama in the future. The "boys" at 42nd Street can do whatever the heck they want. I will rejoice knowing that I never have to deal with Walter, Ralph or any of those 42nd Street guys again for the rest of my life. I hope they have a conscience, but I really don't know, especially after Walter saw fit to interrogate me about why I wanted to cancel my order. I don't cuss, but if I did, I would know exactly what to say to this guy.

William, you kept the merchandise. So, the issue is sort of moot. However, had you returned the merchandise it isn't going to jump out of the box and restock itself. Someone has to receive it, unwrap it, check to make sure it hasn't been damaged by either you or the shipper, then restock, enter information into a computer, etc. In short, there is a good bit of work required of the employees in handling returned merchandise.


Additionally, 42st has a well exposed reputation here on UHH. There have been a number of examples cited by UHH members. Just do a search for 42nd St. Photo and read the glowing reports that have been written.
--Bob