Several years ago I submitted a couple of orders to Adorama on the internet. After they took my money no merchandise showed up in the expected time. When I contacted them I was told the items were backordered so I canceled. After two or three rounds of this I realized that Adorama was neither forthcoming or reliable and I stopped ordering from them and stuck to B&H.
About a month ago they had a good deal on a Hensel MPG 1500 battery pack. I debated. I poked around for recent reviews of Adorama. Most people seemed to like them. So I ordered. Then I found out that the image of the item they were selling was meant for Europe, not the USA. I tried to cancel the order. Not possible. But it also didn't ship as advertised, same day, but rather took several days to 'get it from another store.' Same old story, sigh. Misrepresentations.
So, correct power pack arrives. Turns out one battery is defective out of the box. I contact Adorama expecting an RMA and shipping label. They tell me I'm on my own and give me Hensel's telephone number which appears to be just an answering machine. That's the end of my dealings with Adorama.
I now await word from Hensel.
I have never had any such problems with B&H. Reminds me of all the problems I've had with UPS and never any problems with FedEx. Some companies know what they are doing and some just want to maximize their profit.
2 comments:
I'd like to set the record straight, if I may:
".........After waiting the expected time for Adorama orders that didn't arrive I contacted them only to find out that they had taken my money but hadn't shipped the order"
Adorama does not mke a charge until an order actually ships
"....I was unable to confirm with Adorama that they in fact had sold me the correct item so I tried to cancel. Not possible".
Orders can be cancelled right up until the time they have been loaded onto the truck. Even then, we are usually able to recall an item.
"Then it turned out that they weren't going to be able to ship it as advertised because they 'had to fetch it from another store' "
We only have ONE store - in NYC. And a warehouse in NJ
"But right out of the box one battery failed. "
The order was shipped on March 5th; I received an email detailing the problem today, April 28th.
"She passed me off to another guy. He said, "Here's Hensel's phone number. Good luck." "
What he actually said was: "Good afternoon,
We're sorry to hear about the battery. This unit has a year warranty from Hensel and the battery is still covered as well.
Please give them a call directly at (816) 268-3649 and they will explain how to exchange it directly.
Again, our apologies for any confusion or inconvenience.
Sincerely..."
"I had expected an RMA and shipping label."
It states on our website:
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=faq#Our Return Policy
For the first 14 days of your purchase you may return the merchandise for a full money back refund, excluding any shipping charges
No RMA number is required to return an item, simply download and fill out the Return Merchandise form
In terms of the other vendors to whom our returns policy was compared unfavorably:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Hel...rnExchange.jsp
At B&H, our goal is to ensure your complete satisfaction with your purchase. If, for whatever reason, you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you can return it to B&H within 15 days of receipt of item(s).
http://www.samys.com/index/page/stat...ge/faq#returns
Time period is two weeks from the time that you receive the order to exchange or return item.
http://www.17photo.com/pages.php?pageid=2
17th Street Photo Supply, Inc. offers an exclusive money-back guarantee for its products.
The return/exchange guarantee period is 7-days from receipt
"A brand new item failure shouldn't cost me a nickel and should just be taken care of."
I don't disagree with you; and it has been - by Hensel; after the initial 14-day period, as per the terms of our contract with all our suppliers, the responsibility for warranty service or replacement passes to the manufacturer.
I supplied you with the full contact details of Hensel - even though you had actually asked if you could return the battery purchased from Adorama, to Hensel, via Samy's. You didn't actually ask for Adorama to take it back!
You were given the 'phone number of Hensel to find out if that was a viable option, as it is not a procedure that we are familiar with.....
As for the silly title, it really doesn't bother me what I'm called.......
__________________
Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
www.adorama.com
In the interests of fairness I have allowed Helen's rebuttal comment. On the original forum where I published my complaint I have since posted emails showing irrefutably that Adorama took orders for items they did not have. I believe they charged me when they took the order and Helen disputes that. I don't have records with that much detail. What is interesting in that Helen keeps harping on the same issues, "They didn't charge you until it shipped" ... but ignores that it didn't ship and no one told me until I asked where the orders were when they didn't arrive!
I have also posted an email from Adorama "explaining" why the Hensel unit didn't ship. Helen jumped on the fact that I suggested that it had to come from "another store" and they only have one store ... well, pardon me ... it did have to come from "a store" but apprarently it had to come to "a warehouse" ... sorry for misrepresenting that, Helen!
I also had emails indicating that they couldn't cancel the order ... of course, that may not be technically correct, Helen, maybe it was they weren't canceling it for some reason or weren't canceling it now or some other technically subtle different reason.
I think the takeaway from this is that it wasn't a single event. It wasn't two events. It was a continuing series over years. And rather than ask, "What is it you would like us to do to make this right?", Helen, keeps trying to make technical/semantic distinctions, or as the politicians like to say, "parsing my words" to split some tiny hair ... to prove I'm wrong or mean spirited or something.
I leave it to my readers to decide what they think is actually going on.
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