B and H PhotoVideo: The Most Reliable Online Photography Equipment Vendor in the World

My last post was about my upset with UPS whose business practices surely result in hundreds if not thousands of complaints a day ... they seem to be about minimizing their expenses by minimizing their services and self monitoring in order to maximize profits. At the other end of the spectrum is B&H Photo Video of New York City whose word is their bond. I have been a customer of B&H for over ten years, starting back in the days of Usenet. Even back then they believed in Customer Service, dealing with complaints of customers right out in the open for all the world to see and doing one damn fine job of it. And even back then, it felt as though most of the complaints brought to them were about the poor delivery services of ... wait for it ... UPS, where they explained over and over that they had no control over the abysmal practices of UPS.

But you remember that most recent package of mine that they lost? Well, I did have to initiate the complaint rather than UPS stepping up and owning their failure, but it entailed a simple online query about what to do sent to their customer service department. And I got a reply that said essentially that they would look into it and ship another shutter release when the ten day "waiting period" elapsed. And that's what they did without wasting any more of my time.

Other great things about B&H? They don't sell you something if they don't have it. I won't shop online at Adorama any more because they sell things they don't have and don't tell you about it until you have waited a long time and finally ask! I have the emails to demonstrate this. They are simply not reliable. Another thing is that B&H keeps online records of your purchases if you login before you buy ... which I always do ... and you can look things up online for years after, say for getting tax information about equipment purchases. They will also maintain both public and private Wishlists for you. I use mine to keep track of items that I buy repeatedly such as Epson paper and ink. Also items that I am considering purchasing but haven't decided yet or that I am saving for ... this is a very handy feature. Most places want you to "register" so they can SPAM you but at B&H they only use your information to provide real services! And they'll give you advice either online or over the phone. And finally, since you might want to know when they do get your item in stock, they will let you sign up for a notification of when the item comes in and then you can buy it if you want ... no hassle, no pressure, no SPAM.

They only have a presence in New York so you don't have to pay sales tax if you live elsewhere, although I would urge you to pay it in your home state anyway. But the difference more than makes up for shipping ... and here I urge you to pay a couple of bucks more and step up to FedEx.

And finally, a word about prices. B&H may not always have the lowest price you can find on the 'net! But if you follow the stories associated with many of these other 'discount' vendors, you learn why. There are a bunch of these apparently cheap vendors operating out of New York. They are all the same vendor. They don't have a storefront because they are a scam. They sell you a camera online, but always they must telephone you to 'verify the order'. And when they do, they try to sell you add ons, like the manual, body cover, neck strap, etc. (that all come in the box from the manufacturer but they don't include) and when they can't upsell you such that the total price is actually more than the B&H price, they discover that they are Out of Stock. This is even worse than the Adorama trick of selling you an item, at a good price, that they don't have but eventually hope to have!

I realize that this has been another Rant and I promise to do some useful blogs very soon. But if I can save one person from being ripped off it is worth it.

Travel safe!

Dwight

When Brown, Flush Down

I've been very busy as usual. Since last I wrote I have photographed the Native American Heritage Celebration at the Chumash Casino Resort, a Veterans' Honorary Dinner, Foreigner, Hall & Oates, Anita Baker, done a weeklong workshop with Kevin Ames and played with my family. I will be writing a review of the Kevin Ames experience next.

But I'm here today with a complaint. As a result of the Andy Katz and Kevin Ames classes at Lepp Institute, I decided to upgrade my medium tripod. I made a trip to Really Right Stuff in San Luis Obispo and picked up a new tripod and ball head. Used 'em once and it is a fantastic setup. Then I realized I needed a new ball head to go on my tabletop tripod since all my bodies now have RRS L-Plates on them. I called and ordered. RRS said it would go out the same day, Tuesday, and arrive Wednesday by UPS.

Sure enough, I got the emailed UPS notification that they had received pickup info and that the ballhead was "In transit and On Time" ... a phrase I now hate! So, wednesday I went to work thinking how nice it would be to have the Gitzo G0012 with the new RRS BH-25 LR head for the Thanksgiving weekend. I got to work and checked the tracking number. Still said "In transit and On Time." Great! But as it got later in the day it hadn't arrived. At 3:00, my manager said that due to traffic concerns we could leave. Since I knew the ballhead was going to arrive I decided to stay. But at 5:00 pm when we close the doors, my "In transit and On Time" delivery hadn't arrived. So I got a two hour late start for nothing. Well, not too big a deal. So, we left the house on our Thanksgiving pilgrimage to the in-laws two hours late. But, on Hwy 46, just East of Paso Robles, the four lane divided highway came to a complete stop due to a fatal traffic collision. After an hour of waiting we got diverted to a detour into the middle of nowhere. After another couple of hours of delays we were on our way once again to Selma, California. But, being several hours later, we managed to hit the Tule Fog that we had planned to avoid since it causes so many accidents over there. We did finally make it without another incident. But I'm very unhappy with UPS. From my perspective, their service consistently stinks. This is hardly the first time that they have failed to properly update their tracking information ... it seems quite common. The last time that really distressed me was when my package from B&H Photovideo in New York City was "In Transit and On Time" but didn't arrive and it turned out it was part of a derailed train well before it was still tracking as "In Transit and On Time." Not only does it seem to me that their tracking information isn't useful, it is misleading which is a lot worse!

I ship to my customers. I use FedEx. FedEx is very reliable ... well, I haven't had a single delayed delivery since I started with them a few years ago. I check the tracking information on every delivery. Sometimes a package gets to its destination too early and they hold it a day ... which they clearly mark in the tracking information. I know when it's on the truck to be delivered. I know when it is delivered. My customers also know as they also get the updates emailed to them. And there is a convenient pickup box both near my office at the University and just down the street from me in my hometown of Buellton. They are RELIABLE! My guess is that UPS causes countless upsets every day but the companies that use them don't hear about it so they continue on. I certainly sent Really Right Stuff an eamil describing what happened.

So, back to Flush Down ... my ballhead still hasn't arrived, although I expect it will come on Monday, four days late.

Travel Safe

Dwight