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Adorama Return Policy
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Aug 14, 2015 14:39:51   #
jayohwell
 
The facts have been stated: an order made, a month to deliver. I have chosen to move to another retailer that provides competitive pricing and good customer service. Quality consumer service responds to the question without attempts at redirection, going for sympathy using family matters or try to paint a false picture by throwing out high numbers (by the way, if there were 35 responses then at least half were from Helen).
Purchases will be made elsewhere.......

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Aug 14, 2015 15:42:43   #
Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room
 
jayohwell wrote:
Finding a retailer who can and does provide competitive pricing, prompt delivery and quality customer service will not be difficult.

Helen, if you really cared rather than try to hide Adorama's poor delivery you would have agreed, provide an explanation and be over it. Indeed, I have moved on......

This is really unfair. I have never experienced "poor delivery" from Adorama. Your tone makes it seem as if this is standard practice. Yes, I once ordered an item that was on sale, and shipment was delayed due to inventory shortages. I accepted that, and Adorama gave me updates and even the opportunity to cancel the purchase. I can't fault Adorama for supply chain problems. I was happy they honored the (tremendous) sale price even though they had to re-stock an item to fulfill it. I don't know if Adorama's cost for doing business with me added to their overhead. They certainly didn't try to put it on me!

I hope you don't come into my store. I think I'd rather not do business with you.

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Aug 14, 2015 16:14:59   #
OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR
 
jayohwell wrote:
I have chosen to move to another retailer


jayohwell wrote:
I am making the right decision to no longer support Adorama....


jayohwell wrote:
Over the years many items were bought at Adorama, not any more...........


jayohwel wrote:
lAnd no, Adorama will not be getting future purchases from me


jayohwell wrote:
Purchases will be made elsewhere.......


jayohwell wrote:
Indeed, I have moved on....


Please do.

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Aug 14, 2015 17:04:16   #
wmcy Loc: Charlotte
 
As Henry says, YMMV. My experience with B&H's return policy is that it is restrictive and does not allow for ample customer satisfaction. I have been extremely pleased with B&H's products, prices, and shipping service. It's just that the restrictive return policy stinks. And I've purchased way more than I have returned. Again. glad to see so many good comments about B&H. I just haven't had the same positive experience. Just the opposite.

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Aug 14, 2015 21:07:47   #
marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL
 
Just Fred wrote:
(Only slightly related) A customer came into the store I work part-time at and wanted to return an item they'd bought online. From another vendor.

They got angry with us when we refused to accept the return.

I kid you not.


I was in retail for 40 years and I definitely believe it. Just before I closed my store in 2010 I had people buying Chinese crappy trumpets in bright royal blue, pink, and yellow from eBay for $159 with free shipping (a real trumpet was $575 to $750 at the time if it was a brand name). Then they were bringing them to me for repair because the slug of soft brass looking metal that was spray painted didn't play - right out of the box. When I said no politely because there were no internal parts available for their no-name piece of garbage, they'd be mad at me and tell me I should contact the eBay seller for parts to do it under warranty even though there was no name or serial number on the thing. Not only was that not possible but why would I? The repair would have cost almost 1/3 of the original price of the thing plus parts and they wouldn't be happy with that either.

In another case, I had a carefully selected Chinese beginner's violin hanging on my wall for $79 - assembled, tuned, and including an excellent zippered case. A guy ordered a Chinese piece of crap from eBay, it had a velcro closure case, the bridge was thrown in the case wrapped in plastic, the worthless Chinese strings were still in their package, and he paid $59 plus a bloated $25 shipping and handling charge for this. He brought it to me proudly (he had been at my store and I showed him the $79 one several days before) and wanted me to assemble his, string it, and tune it for free. I said that would take about 45 minutes of my time so I'd only charge him $20. He got upset at ME for his buying a piece of un-assembled crap and left. He went home, tried to string it himself, and broke one of the terrible strings. He also didn't know how to put the bridge on or where to put it. When he came back again, he wanted me to do it for the $20 I had quoted. I said no, it needed one string for an additional $3.50. He had no choice and paid the $23.50. So to "save" money on the Internet he spent $97.50 instead of my $79, ended up with an inferior product that was polyurethaned badly instead of a varnished body and a velcro closure case. Idiot.

I had a decent brand of imported drumsets for $329. An Internet-addicted Dad bought his kid an "un-assembled" used set on eBay for $250. Paid shipping to get it. Brought it to me to put it together. I opened the box and every single screw, lug, bolt, piece of hardware, rim, head, and everything had been removed and the wooden shells were barren except for the sprayed on color. I said it would take about 5 hours to rebuild the whole thing to usable condition so I'd do it in my spare time during a couple days for $50. They had no choice and begrudgingly agreed. I could have charged a $100 (like another store quoted them) but I didn't. When done they had $250 + shipping + $50 in it. They had to buy a set of cheap cymbals to even use it for $75. Total about $400-425. No warranty, not new, not a good finish, not a brand name. Idiot.

The list of these stories is endless. Buy online with no clue, no research, and no ability to rationalize the purchase properly. Then blame everybody else except themselves. I'm sure behind my back, I was always the villain blamed for their stupidity even though I had nothing to do with the transaction.

I can't tell you how many times I dealt with jaw-dropping stupidity. I'm glad to be out of retail and would never do it again.

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Aug 14, 2015 21:20:19   #
marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL
 
guligian wrote:
As the originator of this post, I'm very surprised at the raucous I have stirred up. There certainly have been a lot of varying response---and lots of them.. I like and respect Adorama, I was merely stating that their return policy needed to be revisited as it is unfair to the buyer of inexpensive merchandise. I continue to firmly believe this. Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this.


Yeah... vendors should spend $35 of their own money to let you try a $100 item that they sold to you for $40 and end up with it back, make zero profit, and it is in used condition.

Why don't you open your own photo equipment store and let all of us do that to you? We'll see how many days you stay in business. Your high school math teachers would be ashamed to have had you as a student if they were still alive. Personally, I find your self-centered lack of logic and business common sense to be amazingly depressing and revealing of the avalanche slide of the ethics of our society.

In fact, Adorama shouldn't even offer free $17 shipping on a $100 product marked down 60% because that's a losing proposition if you kept the item.

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Aug 14, 2015 21:22:19   #
Blasthoff Loc: Life halved NY and IN
 
henryp wrote:
I've had a customer or two equally eager to flood the server with an unending stream of comments. You catch more flies with honey, after all. :-)

BTW I've been following Helen around the "world wide interweb" for years now. She's much better at her job than I am at mine (and while there are similarities, they are NOT the same). The manner in which she excels IMO is she is far less abrasive and far less assertive than I am. I admire her patience, having almost none of my own.
Well Henry, the way I see it is, Helen is a real Sweetheart and no matter how hard you try, you will never be THAT! :mrgreen: LOL Seriously though, since I joined this forum and discovered both Helen and yourself contributing help to members here, I can't tell you how much of an impression that has left on me. It really means something for company reps to take the time to come out in the open to get involved and trust me, I'd bet 99% of members feel the same way. Thanks again to both of you.

:mrgreen:

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Aug 14, 2015 21:50:21   #
marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL
 
Blasthoff wrote:
Well Henry, the way I see it is, Helen is a real Sweetheart and no matter how hard you try, you will never be THAT! :mrgreen: LOL Seriously though, since I joined this forum and discovered both Helen and yourself contributing help to members here, I can't tell you how much of an impression that has left on me. It really means something for company reps to take the time to come out in the open to get involved and trust me, I'd bet 99% of members feel the same way. Thanks again to both of you.

:mrgreen:
Well Henry, the way I see it is, Helen is a real S... (show quote)


I know I do. Whether the solution is achieved or not, at least they're trying which no other online vendor does.

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Aug 15, 2015 01:04:24   #
BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA
 
guligian wrote:
As the originator of this post, I'm very surprised at the raucous I have stirred up. There certainly have been a lot of varying response---and lots of them.. I like and respect Adorama, I was merely stating that their return policy needed to be revisited as it is unfair to the buyer of inexpensive merchandise. I continue to firmly believe this. Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this.

You shouldn't be surprised. You made a bad decision and then whined when it backfired on you. At least have the courtesy to acknowledge and take responsibility for your actions.

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Aug 15, 2015 14:21:54   #
HelenOster Loc: New York
 
jayohwell wrote:
Finding a retailer who can and does provide competitive pricing, prompt delivery and quality customer service will not be difficult.

Helen, if you really cared rather than try to hide Adorama's poor delivery you would have agreed, provide an explanation and be over it. Indeed, I have moved on......

Indeed. And I did....but here it is again; the explanation is that the manufacturer did not ship to us so we could not ship to you. I agree, it was truly shocking service, and I hope you can find a retailer who can serve you better than we were able to..........

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Aug 15, 2015 17:43:27   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
BTW, I just confirmed KEH policy on things they ship for free. You only have to pay the return shipping.

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Aug 15, 2015 19:29:56   #
BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA
 
MtnMan wrote:
BTW, I just confirmed KEH policy on things they ship for free. You only have to pay the return shipping.

......which proves only that the KEH business managers built enough margin into other aspects of the operation to facilitate such a policy. Some businesses have very generous policies in various aspects of their business plans, but you can bet that they have built in safeguards to cover any losses incurred due to such generous policies. It's called BUSINESS, and those who fail to plan for such contengencies will not stay in business for long.

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Aug 16, 2015 00:30:06   #
HelenOster Loc: New York
 
henryp wrote:
.....I've been following Helen around the "world wide interweb" for years now. She's much better at her job than I am at mine .....


Lost for words, Henry......except to say a HUGE Thank you <3. Even as 'rivals' of a kind, I've always felt I could rely on you for unending support because ultimately, providing the opportunity for photographers to purchase what they need, at a fair price - without fear of being 'ripped off' - is a shared goal.

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Aug 16, 2015 08:59:26   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
Mogul wrote:
......which proves only that the KEH business managers built enough margin into other aspects of the operation to facilitate such a policy. Some businesses have very generous policies in various aspects of their business plans, but you can bet that they have built in safeguards to cover any losses incurred due to such generous policies. It's called BUSINESS, and those who fail to plan for such contengencies will not stay in business for long.


Yes. And maybe they are smart enough to only offer free shipping where the shipping isn't a large fraction of the item cost.

In my case the item is $430 and the shipping only about $10. I know they mark up items about 80%. You can tell by getting a bid from them and looking at their price for the same item. So eating a few shipping costs is just part of their cost of doing business.

So I like doing business with KEH.

But also Adorama. As long as you read their policy, which clearly states this, you don't get to complain. You also don't get to complain if you don't read the policy. Or, to put it another way, you only get to complain to yourself for not being the brightest bulb on the block.

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Aug 17, 2015 10:27:14   #
henryp Loc: New York, NY
 
wmcy wrote:
My experience with B&H's return policy is that it is restrictive and does not allow for ample customer satisfaction.

We're always receptive to customer suggestions to improve. We went from 15 days to 30 as a result of customer feedback and dropped the return policy limit on dslr shutter actuations for the same reason.

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