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Adorama Rant

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Okay time for me to vent. I just can't stand this store and i swore them off a long time ago but i was somewhat desperate to get a part for my Mamiya back. When you buy the Mamiya ZD kit you don't get a cover plate for the back , so if you take it off you have no protective cover which kind of stinks but anyway i went to B&H because when they say in stock it is in stock. Adorama on the other hand say add to cart and you think you may get it from stock but noooooooooooo. I get sorry item out of stock will take 10 to 14 days after i already paid the idiots. Well i am in Puerto Rico than and does not serve my needs at that point. This is one of the main reasons i purchase many small items or any items from B&H if it says in stock than it is 99.9 percent of the time otherwise a computer glitch from to many folks ordering the same time . Happened with the M8 but anyway to my dear friends at Dale Labs and Camera West. i love you guys but fair warning you do not have a setup like B&H with in stock notices than you will burn yourselves. Honestly this is the main reason WHY so many people buy from B&H besides being a good store this part is more important than you think. So my 35 years of heavy buying advice is have this on your new websites. You know this forum will support your stores but do this and make us all very happy. End of rant

David and Sean please take my advice on this with your upcoming websites.
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Feel the same way.....have sworn off of them as well
I much prefer B&H / POPFLASH / KEH,,,,, depending on item

One thing to keep in mind
B&H Employees are Salaried
Adorama Employees work on Commission

things will get Better /my new mantra
:) Helen
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Guy,

It is funny that you mention this. On our website the item is in stock unless it says otherwise. But so many folks are used to seeing "In Stock" at you-know-who. So, I already made the request over a week ago for some custom programming to reflect this. I'm justing waiting on the change right now.

You'll see this on the Dale Photo & Digital site very soon. I appreciate the feedback as it confirmed my own feeling, too.

David
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Great news David , i have to say it is the most irritating thing when you buy something and you get this e-mail saying sorry your item is backordered and they give you no real option to cancel on the spot. David even if this delays the opening of the store site , i encourage you to have this in place before even opening the site. Start off the correct way for your customers. Than you will have them for life. Honestly the main reason i buy from B&H and after all these years buying from them and as big as they are they know who I am that is how much I have spent there. I am a perfect case study for this function.

BTW we all look forward to your new site and as well as Seans at Camera West. My two favorite places to shop
 

Terry

New member
Agree but with one caveat. If you are planning to visit B&H, I would follow a slightly different procedure. They have a warehouse in Brooklyn and sometimes the stock come from there. The website could say in stock but it is not in the store. If you are from out of town and have a limited window of opportunity to shop there I would call ahead about any critical items.

On Adorama, they have also done weird things on new camera arrivals where they price it a little cheaper to get you to order and then whole world starts shipping the item and Adorama isn't.
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
The site is already up Guy.

You can order anytime you like. :) We take Visa, MC, Amex, Paypal, Google Checkout... but no kidneys right now. :D

I'm currently in the process of posting all of our items on the website. It does take time to get hundreds and hundreds of products listed with meaningful descriptions, good quality pictures and accurate tech specs. So, if you check back you'll see more and more items each day.

If you have any feedback on the site, I'd love to hear it. I'm really trying to make our online store as good as it can be.

Thanks,

David
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
David i just realized you are live now. It looks really nice and clean. Nice job. I will look at it some more but I like what I see very much.


Can you take a liver , kidneys are already gone. LOL
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Even though I don't buy anywhere near the amount of gear that Guy does, I do buy an awful lot of stuff on the internet (I live a long way from anything that could be called "metro"). I have had some great experiences and some really bad ones. The really bad ones are (I'm guessing) usually because the buying process is influenced too much by the programmers of the site rather than anyone who's primary goal is customer service/satisfaction.

The best ones anticipate what an online customer wants and streamlines the process for the customer's benefit, not the seller's. One example is any site that requires you to establish an "account" with a user ID and a password before you can proceed to the final checkout. It should strictly be an option. Those little loops in the process can get confusing and if things aren't accepted for some reason ("sorry, your password must be 6 letters in length and have at least two numbers included, please retry") is exactly when I bail out and try someone else.

Just give me my stuff!

p.s. Thanks for the rant Guy!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I agree Tim and this is a good discussion because i agree this signing thing is a turn off. i don't mind the first time but remember me the second time and don't hit me with a million things to do to get my stuff. Macs and if remember correctly PC do remember your info which is helpful.

But this thread maybe a good discussion on web site stuff like tis and help folks like David and Sean. i know Sean is still in his process to redoing his website also. Advice from us could be very valuable to them and anyone that is listening. I know Tony from Popflash is here also. Which BTW is another great store
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
BTW now B&H has the part so i ordered it but that in stock is the most important feature for me. Now i know it is coming
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
They lost my business years ago. Once every five years I do something stupid like order a filter from them. I guess I need to have my lesson refreshed from time to time.
-bob
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Same here. Adorama screwed me over about 7 years and they have had none of my business since -- and never will again...

On the flip side, B&H hasn't been perfect either, messing up royally more than once. On the plus, they corrected most of them pretty easily.
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Tim,

I agree with you on this. That is why we chose not to require a customer to register when checking out. It is an option. When you register you have access to previous orders, wish lists, etc. but you don't need to do it. We also let you bybass our checkout all together by using Google Checkout. We felt the more options and user-friendly we are the better it will be for everybody.

Keep the feedback coming!

David
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
Hey David, just went to your new site. It looks great and loads fast. From the sounds of things, you're just getting it going, but you're off to a good start.

I'll be very interested in the "Used Equipment" area. Probably a section of the site that will require some frequent updating on your part. I'll bet it could be a real draw though.

Best of luck with your new online presence!
 

robsteve

Subscriber
David:

I just checked out your web site. Here are the good things I noticed:

-It was quick.

-Well organized

-Able to get the shipping without filling in a bunch of fields.

-Easy drop down boxes for shipping.

The Negatives:

-Doesn't seem to be international shipping (Canada)

-The shipping methods on your site are just the couriers. If you do plan to do international, you should add postal shipping. On small items of lower value, like CF cards, brokerage fees from UPS or Fedex can be $35 or more. The post office charges about $5 for brokerage. B&H figured this one out a few years ago and the Postal method is the first choice when you get to their shipping methods for international.

Robert
 
D

DougDolde

Guest
I am wondering about these Adorama not in stock and backorder gripes.

I just looked up an item I need and got the full info at the bottom of the page.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
The problem is that their database is out of sync with their inventory too often.
-bob
 

cam

Active member
as an aside, i have had near two decades worth of experience with B&H -- first as a rival, then as a manufacturer who sold to them (pro audio not photo gear). as a rival, i hated them (we were a very small store). as a manufacturer, i adored them. they are as much a pleasure to work with from the other end -- which is why i believe they give such great service. they understand. they work *for* the customer.
 
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