[Spotmatic]

The link does not appear to be working.

[Chuck-B&H]

Hello,

Sorry, it works for me from home.

Here's the search link

C h u c k C a p r i o l a
Live Chat and E-Mail Sales Manager B&H Photo-Video

Thank you, we appreciate your business.
*** Peace on Earth ***

[chalion]

When I put that in the search, what I get is the Limited Edition Silver K5 (out of stock - $1699).

I checked the Black K5 body only and get $1399 for the price. Does the $100 discount apply when you do the checkout, or is there a promo code to apply?

Thank you.

[Chuck-B&H]

Sorry, I am not understanding what you are asking ?

Chuck

[Stringmike]

Many of us were led to believe that the $100 discount was applied on the existing price listed on the B&H website of $1399 for a final price of $1299 and that this offer would be valid through April 2.

I put a K-5 in my basket yesterday for a final price of $1299, went briefly to another web site to move funds for the purchase and when I returned the B&H price had increased by $100 to $1399. This happened to a number of us linking to your offer from this site. The explanation given was that B&H had raised the price of the K-5 to $1499 and the $100 off now lowered the price to $1399 - exactly what it was before the $100 cut was introduced.

As a result, a number of us, feel a bit miffed at B&H and have switched our purchases to your competitors, a couple of whom have prices significantly below yours.

It may not have been anyone's intention at B&H to mislead us (we all have a high regard for your store and service), but there was definitely a miscommunication that has led to unhappy customers (including me!)

Mike

[chalion]

Mike: +1. Thank you very much for the explanation.

[Adam]

Many of us were led to believe that the $100 discount was applied on the existing price listed on the B&H website of $1399 for a final price of $1299 and that this offer would be valid through April 2.

Yup, it seems like the day after the discount was posted, the price was just increased by $100. Same goes for the amazon deal- so it's probably drama from Pentax's side.

Adam
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[Evolution]

+1 here. I even spoken with numerous people at B&H (Lewis, Dov, and one of your sales managers) who said there was nothing they could do for me regarding the price. I wanted to purchase the K5 and Epson r1900 printer, but the $100 price jump really frustrated me. And now that the r1900 is out of stock again I have no incentive to buy from B&H for $100 more than Amazon or Tristate Camera.

Coincidentally I also need to pick up an Apple TV, an Avid mbox3, and a few other things in the coming weeks which i would have been happy to purchase all at once. But this experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. To clearly state "$100 Instant Savings - Offer ends 04/02/2011" but raise the price $100 during the promotion period is disappointing behavior from such a respected retailer.

[Balog]

I am so glad I got one in the short $1299 window, sorry to hear about all the folks who missed it.

[aleonx3]

I would have to guess that the promotion has been a great success (in fact probably more than originally anticipated) to move some stocks. Oh, well, hopefully, it will come again soon and often.

[henryp]

Yup, it seems like the day after the discount was posted, the price was just increased by $100. Same goes for the amazon deal- so it's probably drama from Pentax's side.

Unfortunately circumstances beyond our control sometimes result in price changes. Adam makes a valid point -- when multiple retailers whose reputation for ethics and integrity is pristine are obliged to make similar price adjustments it's rarely the retailer's "fault." We understand some may find this disappointing, and we regret that, but being put-out at B&H does not benefit you, nor does it appropriately apportion responsibility for the situation.

[Adam]

Unfortunately circumstances beyond our control sometimes result in price changes. Adam makes a valid point -- when multiple retailers whose reputation for ethics and integrity is pristine are obliged to make similar price adjustments it's rarely the retailer's "fault." We understand some may find this disappointing, and we regret that, but being put-out at B&H does not benefit you, nor does it appropriately apportion responsibility for the situation.

It's not your fault by any stretch of the imagination- it's probably Pentax's!

[chse]

Giving a discount 1st and than increasing the price for the amount of the discount is just lame! I don't believe Pentax is dictating the price for retailers this closely-

Thumbs down for B&H!

By the way: amazon gives you 20% off a kata bag if you buy the K-5 there or 10% of an Rokinon 8mm for the same price K-5

[KLSMpls]

If you go to the Pentaximaging site, they have a $100 instant discount which brings their price to $1499. I would guess it was never Pentax's desire to have B&H or Amazon selling for $200 less than their now discounted price. As we know there are in fact price agreements between the seller and the manufacturer. I second the motion there was a communication screw up by Pentax who I would strongly bet does keep in close contact with their on-line merchants....there aren't really that many to keep track of! Whatever happened, a real bummer as the $100 is important psychologically for many it would seem. Maybe Pentax will take notice in the volume sold and change their mind?

[Evolution]

Unfortunately circumstances beyond our control sometimes result in price changes. Adam makes a valid point -- when multiple retailers whose reputation for ethics and integrity is pristine are obliged to make similar price adjustments it's rarely the retailer's "fault." We understand some may find this disappointing, and we regret that, but being put-out at B&H does not benefit you, nor does it appropriately apportion responsibility for the situation.

Hello Henry. I really appreciate your open discourse here; I think it's invaluable to the community. However I think B&H does have to shoulder some responsibility here. Firstly, the comparison with Amazon is only marginally valid. We all know prices can change in an instant these days, and simply adding something to your cart is not a price guarantee. That said, Amazon's product page never mentioned an instant rebate or a promotional period. The questionable nature of this (for me) comes from advertising a week-long $100 instant rebate on the product page and raising the pre-rebate price by $100 less than 2 days into the week.

The larger issue though is not the price increase; rather it's the customer service, for which B&H is wholly responsible. I know B&H can provide quotes which lock prices in for 4 weeks, and apparently you will also match competitors' prices. Yet between my e-mail exchange with B&H regarding the purchase (while the price was still $1299) and the Amazon/Tristate prices, I was still later told by 3 different people that the $1299 price could no longer be done. In fact 2 separate B&H employees attempted to tell me that the $1299 price never even happened.

I run a small store. We don't even do a tiny fraction of the business B&H does, I'm sure. But I know that if a product incurred a price increase while one of our associates was essentially mid-conversation with a customer regarding purchase of said item, there's no way we would suddenly refuse that customer the original price. Beyond that, for all the speculation about Pentax nudging Amazon and B&H to raise their advertised prices, both retailers are still well within their rights to privately offer a customer an unadvertised discount on any product for any reason.

I'm sure I will make purchases from B&H in the future. All my previous experiences with B&H have been great ones. In fact, I currently have a 31mm Ltd I'm testing for focus problems which I will be able to return or exchange if necessary because of B&H's emphasis on customer satisfaction. It's just that in this particular instance, the entire experience was extremely disappointing.