doclrb

I know this post will likely trigger the B&H faithful into attack mode, but I wish to tell my brief story.

Earlier this week, I noticed that one of the rubber feet from my Sirui W-2204 Tripod had somehow shaken loose and had been lost...yes...bad on me.

Precisely because numerous UHH members sing the praises of B&H, and I had purchased the tripod from B&H, and after searching their website without success for Sirui replacement rubber feet, I called-in. I spoke to 'Jacob'. I explained my problem and asked if he might know of a compatible replacement rubber foot.

Before I could even take my next breath, he gruffly responded "You'll have to call Sirui." So what was missing here? Well, no inquiry as to whether I had purchased the item from B&H, no mention of "I'm sorry we can't help you with this matter but...."

Just a gruff "You'll have to call Sirui," after which I politely replied "Thank You" and ended the call.

BTW, I called Sirui USA and was told that I must submit a service request on their website complete with serial number and bill of sale/receipt. I located the information, submitted a request and I haven't heard back from them yet.

Despite my displeasure with B&H, I did order another manufacturer's replacement product from B&H and it is now installed.

So I ask, where's the customer service? Where's the courtesy?

TY

doclrb

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Maybe you caught him on a bad day? I have nothing but good things to say about B&H.

Bill_de Loc: US

Sometimes people get upset because they want conversation more than the correct answer. Was it so bad the world needed to be made aware?

What constitutes 'gruff'?

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rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Doclrb - I sympathize with you in this frustrating situation. That said, B&H fields a great many calls daily and Jacob might have been equally frustrated by some previous call he dealt with or B&H may have been requesting parts from Sirui which have not been forthcoming. Yes, wrong to take either of those out on you, but understandable, human nature being what it is. When was your form request mailed to Sirui? Have you called them to follow up? Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel in order to get the grease. In any case, the frustrating issue has been rendered moot by your decision to purchase another product. In 73 years I’ve learned a ‘complaint’ technique that is very effective - send a formal letter calmly detailing what happened (names, dates, dollar amounts, etc.) without vitriol, complaint or sarcasm to a senior official of the company and, if necessary follow your letter up with a call. That has worked for me on several big ticket transactions.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Was he nasty to you? Did he not respond to your question with the appropriate feedback? What was gruff about his response? Did you need him to hold your hand and tell you how very very sorry he was before he told you to call the vendor? How would his answer have changed if he first asked if you were a customer. Seems to me you called and found out very quickly that you needed to call the vendor. Nothing at all happened that was worthy of you complaining to us about it.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

He said, he said...
Couldn't have been as bad as you appear to want us to believe since you made another purchase from them.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Simply put, the rep's response was short and to the point.
That's usually just fine with me. In many countries, it's actually the norm for customer service to skip all the nonessential fluff and keep it "gruff" when communicating with customers. It's what customers expect.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

To put it bluntly, why would B&H or any other retailer have any responsibility tom supply replacement parts.
If it bothered me that much I would find another Dealer.

BebuLamar

But you're not frustrated with SIRUI?

ggenova64

Jacob just had a bad day! Sirui has great customer service.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Exactly. I would add that the way New Yorkers typically speak (ask my non-New Yorker wife) is perceived as gruff.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Conduct other than he thought was acceptable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The "Voice on the Phone" is the company. A rude or indifferent person gives the whole company a bad name. Unfortunately, no company can control how all their employees behave all the time. As long as these unpleasant experiences are the exception, you can maintain a good relationship with a company. You have to consider the company as a whole: products, prices, return policy, etc.

A related peeve for me is people dealing with the public without a smile. I've worked at several jobs in which I dealt with the public all day. A smile is easy to form, and it goes a long way toward making transactions more pleasant.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I dealt with B&H for tripod spares and they were excellent. I found it best to use the chat service (or it might have been e-mail) but I am on the other side of the pond.

Everybody has a bad day, sometime or the other - I'd suggest you try again maybe using the chat.

AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

Anyone can have a bad day. I know your expectations weren't met, but I wouldn't judge the entire organization on this one incident. He probably did give you the right answer but it could have been delivered in a much friendlier and more helpful way. "Be the reason someone smiles today!"