B&H is great, but not perfect

StR · 12-04-2012, 11:17 PM

Dear B&H Representatives:

I would like to share with you my less-than-perfect experience with B&H.
Henry and Chuck, I see that you care for the good level of Customer Service at B&H and you have been very constructive about that. (And I have known Henry and his great work on the good and improved image of B&H since 1997 through his extensive presence in Usenet newsgroups and brief presence in more recent years on PDML.) So, I hope that my feedback provided below would be helpful for keeping it up.

I've been purchasing my photo (and computer accessories) gear from B&H for 15 years. Half of my and my immediate family's photo equipment was purchased from B&H. B&H is always on my shortlist of vendors, because the level of service is good and mostly consistent.
But once in a while, I experience things that remind me that I should not relax completely.

My saga:
1. Original purchase: I ordered a new DSLR and a lens in the early morning hours of the Black Friday, soon after Adam posted on PFs links to the sales for these items on B&H. The lens is one of those subject to the Pentax instant rebate with additional $100 if purchased together with a body. While making the purchase online, I didn't get that additional $100 discounted on the final total. I don't know if it was my mistake, a problem/glitch of the B&H website or whatever, the story is not about that. I was afraid that the camera and/or lens would be sold out in the morning when the sales people would be available to help, so I placed the order anyway.

2. Conversation with B&H CSR#1.
With the holidays, my own work, etc. I didn't get to call B&H until Monday morning (when the sale prices were still in effect, and my order had not shipped out yet). I spoke with a CSR who was very friendly and agreed that I should receive a credit of $100, and that it will be posted to my credit card. It was great, quick, and I saw on this forum that B&H was very accommodating with that sale going on. I was extremely happy about how smooth that purchase was despite the glitch. (And happy about the sale B&H had.)

3. Conversation with B&H CSR#2.
A week later, on Monday, I saw that the credit still has not posted to my credit card. I called B&H in the morning and spoke with Shea. He listened to my story, and then asked to hold. After coming back and apologizing for a long hold (close to 10 minutes), he told me that the previous CSR made a mistake, and that no credit should be issued. Then he told me the following: 1) The special "bundle" sale was not in effect when I was placing the order on Nov. 23.
I argued that it was not the case, and the Instant Rebate memo from Pentax had been in effect way before, and that other people have been buying with that additional discount in the morning of Nov. 23 (as evidenced through PFs). None of those arguments had any weight with him.
So, I told him that even on Nov. 26th, in the morning, while talking with the previous CSR, I could have canceled my order that has not been shipped yet, and re-ordered it with the "bundle" discount.
At that point, he told me: 2) On Nov. 26, when I called, the prices for the lens went back up, so that the price with the additional $100 discount would be higher than my original purchase price.
I told him that the special prices were in affect until the end of the day on Nov. 26. He first disagreed with that. It took me two iterations until he said that he'd check. Then, after additional hold, he came back and told me with the tone of a big achievement and some condescension (and no apologies for his prior insistence on the wrong facts): "I have a good news for your. The manager agreed, as a courtesy, to give you $100 credit..."
According to the phone timer, that conversation (with all the holds) was over half an hour.

So, I finally got my $100 back, but it left some unpleasant aftertaste. I appreciate that B&H is willing to work with the customers on price adjustments (even if it were my own mistake somewhere along the way of placing the order). But I don't appreciate my time being wasted on disproving incorrect facts made up by B&H CSRs. If you put me on hold for that long, learn all the details of the situation and don't BS me with incorrect facts. And if you made a mistake ("nobody's perfect"), be professional and acknowledge it.

With respect to B&H, I will come back as a customer, but I hope to avoid the negative part of the experience in the future. And that's why I took time to write it here.

henryp · 12-05-2012, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by StR

With respect to B&H, I will come back as a customer, but I hope to avoid the negative part of the experience in the future. And that's why I took time to write it here.

We're very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced and we regret it's had an impact on your confidence in us. We too hope there won't be a negative part to any of your future transactions or to any customer's future transactions.

But you're right. Great as we may be we are not perfect. Being the good-better-best type I hope we're closer to perfect today than yesterday and closer still tomorrow than today. But we will never be perfect; we're human.

That said, your experience gives us a direction to see where we can improve and for that, I want to thank you.

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12-04-2012, 11:17 PM	#1
StR New Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 20	B&H is great, but not perfect Dear B&H Representatives: I would like to share with you my less-than-perfect experience with B&H. Henry and Chuck, I see that you care for the good level of Customer Service at B&H and you have been very constructive about that. (And I have known Henry and his great work on the good and improved image of B&H since 1997 through his extensive presence in Usenet newsgroups and brief presence in more recent years on PDML.) So, I hope that my feedback provided below would be helpful for keeping it up. I've been purchasing my photo (and computer accessories) gear from B&H for 15 years. Half of my and my immediate family's photo equipment was purchased from B&H. B&H is always on my shortlist of vendors, because the level of service is good and mostly consistent. But once in a while, I experience things that remind me that I should not relax completely. My saga: 1. Original purchase: I ordered a new DSLR and a lens in the early morning hours of the Black Friday, soon after Adam posted on PFs links to the sales for these items on B&H. The lens is one of those subject to the Pentax instant rebate with additional $100 if purchased together with a body. While making the purchase online, I didn't get that additional $100 discounted on the final total. I don't know if it was my mistake, a problem/glitch of the B&H website or whatever, the story is not about that. I was afraid that the camera and/or lens would be sold out in the morning when the sales people would be available to help, so I placed the order anyway. 2. Conversation with B&H CSR#1. With the holidays, my own work, etc. I didn't get to call B&H until Monday morning (when the sale prices were still in effect, and my order had not shipped out yet). I spoke with a CSR who was very friendly and agreed that I should receive a credit of $100, and that it will be posted to my credit card. It was great, quick, and I saw on this forum that B&H was very accommodating with that sale going on. I was extremely happy about how smooth that purchase was despite the glitch. (And happy about the sale B&H had.) 3. Conversation with B&H CSR#2. A week later, on Monday, I saw that the credit still has not posted to my credit card. I called B&H in the morning and spoke with Shea. He listened to my story, and then asked to hold. After coming back and apologizing for a long hold (close to 10 minutes), he told me that the previous CSR made a mistake, and that no credit should be issued. Then he told me the following: 1) The special "bundle" sale was not in effect when I was placing the order on Nov. 23. I argued that it was not the case, and the Instant Rebate memo from Pentax had been in effect way before, and that other people have been buying with that additional discount in the morning of Nov. 23 (as evidenced through PFs). None of those arguments had any weight with him. So, I told him that even on Nov. 26th, in the morning, while talking with the previous CSR, I could have canceled my order that has not been shipped yet, and re-ordered it with the "bundle" discount. At that point, he told me: 2) On Nov. 26, when I called, the prices for the lens went back up, so that the price with the additional $100 discount would be higher than my original purchase price. I told him that the special prices were in affect until the end of the day on Nov. 26. He first disagreed with that. It took me two iterations until he said that he'd check. Then, after additional hold, he came back and told me with the tone of a big achievement and some condescension (and no apologies for his prior insistence on the wrong facts): "I have a good news for your. The manager agreed, as a courtesy, to give you $100 credit..." According to the phone timer, that conversation (with all the holds) was over half an hour. So, I finally got my $100 back, but it left some unpleasant aftertaste. I appreciate that B&H is willing to work with the customers on price adjustments (even if it were my own mistake somewhere along the way of placing the order). But I don't appreciate my time being wasted on disproving incorrect facts made up by B&H CSRs. If you put me on hold for that long, learn all the details of the situation and don't BS me with incorrect facts. And if you made a mistake ("nobody's perfect"), be professional and acknowledge it. With respect to B&H, I will come back as a customer, but I hope to avoid the negative part of the experience in the future. And that's why I took time to write it here.

12-05-2012, 01:58 PM	#2
henryp B&H Photo Representative Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New York, NY Posts: 491	Originally posted by StR With respect to B&H, I will come back as a customer, but I hope to avoid the negative part of the experience in the future. And that's why I took time to write it here. We're very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced and we regret it's had an impact on your confidence in us. We too hope there won't be a negative part to any of your future transactions or to any customer's future transactions. But you're right. Great as we may be we are not perfect. Being the good-better-best type I hope we're closer to perfect today than yesterday and closer still tomorrow than today. But we will never be perfect; we're human. That said, your experience gives us a direction to see where we can improve and for that, I want to thank you.