[pntxjack]

I admire your "forgivingness". You will probably live longer than I. I agree that this was not aimed directly at me. But there is no way in the world I could ever be convinced that this box found its way back into the "not yet (already) sold (once, or who knows how many times) inventory" by accident or divine intervention. This was a conscious corporate decision. And I'd bet that someone at B&H has already calculated the "win/loss" profitability of peddling opened crap as new until they get away with it. And I'd bet that the result came up "profitable". Hate to be so paranoid, but you know the name of the game: profit.
I am going to try to post this on the section of the forum you mentioned to see if any one there has a wild enough imagination to come up with a description of the physical plant and inventory handling practices to convince me that this was an isolated event or "accidental". And, so they can check to see exactly how many times this particular camera has been sold and returned, the serial number is 3936970 (its on the outside of the box fellows probably as part of a UPC or other bar code so tracking this camera's travels should be a snap.)

[DogLover]

I admire your "forgivingness". You will probably live longer than I. I agree that this was not aimed directly at me. But there is no way in the world I could ever be convinced that this box found its way back into the "not yet (already) sold (once, or who knows how many times) inventory" by accident or divine intervention. This was a conscious corporate decision. And I'd bet that someone at B&H has already calculated the "win/loss" profitability of peddling opened crap as new until they get away with it. And I'd bet that the result came up "profitable". Hate to be so paranoid, but you know the name of the game: profit.
I am going to try to post this on the section of the forum you mentioned to see if any one there has a wild enough imagination to come up with a description of the physical plant and inventory handling practices to convince me that this was an isolated event or "accidental". And, so they can check to see exactly how many times this particular camera has been sold and returned, the serial number is 3936970 (its on the outside of the box fellows probably as part of a UPC or other bar code so tracking this camera's travels should be a snap.)

Thing is, B&H has no real incentive to do this. They can get full credit from Pentax for any returned units. Only an unofficial Pentax dealer who has no return privileges would consider doing something like this as policy. I respectfully agree with you that you are being a bit paranoid. This was simply somebody screwing up.

[Ubuntu_user]

pntxjack, I really wouldn't worry so much about it. Just contact B&H and tell them what the deal is (keep your cool you don't want them to think that you're just a mad customer). They will exchange it no problem. So many of us around here have bought from B&H and their customer service really is stellar.
And, just in case you're wondering... Neither DogLover nor I are affiliated with B&H. We're just happy customers.

[henryp]

Gotta believe this is an isolated incident. B&H is known for some of the best customer service in the business. Yes, it sounds like someone screwed up, but, unfortunately, it happens. I am positive that if you contact them about this, they will be glad to make it right. And I assure you, B&H ain't hurtin'.

Thank you. I replied to this here.

Has anyone noticed that Adorama's advertising pages are near what B&H's are? Remember just a few years ago B&H ad pages dwarfed everyone else? There is a reason.

Indeed there is and it's the same reason our flyer, which used to be monthly, is now printed and mailed twice a year. Traditional print ads in magazines like PopPhoto, Shutterbug, etc., don't have nearly the drawing power they once did so our managers decided it was a wiser use of our resources to concentrate or marketing and advertising elsewhere. Adorama makes their own decisions about this. The March 2011 PopPhoto is 112 pages. Neither Adorama nor B&H has a dozen ad pages.

...the day may come when a manufacturer tells them how to retail and treat their customers.

Fortunately we don't NEED a manufacturer to tell us how to treat our customers. We're human and imperfect (who here is otherwise?) but we know how to treat customers -- courtesy and respect and appreciation being among the principal priorities.

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Last edited by henryp; 03-31-2011 at 12:34 PM.

[aleonx3]

I have never been in favor of easy policy so biased for the consumers where people just return the product within 7 days no questions asked and no penalty. Some people even took advantage of this; buy it and use it for one gig and return it just to avoid having to rent it. Sometimes retailers put it back to the shelf and sell it as 'new' while other may sell it as 'open' items for less. It is not fair for the consumer to pay for a 'new' item and get something less 'new'.

[30v iPentax]

Eiköhän ole paras jos pystyy perumaan kaupan 7 pv aikana. Jos ei ehdi niin toimittaa huoltoon ja odottaa vähän nykyään odotusajat on lyhentyneet. Kun muistaa laittaa rungon numeron Pentaxforums rekisteriin tiedot vikoineen. Tämänjälkeen jos kyseinen numero näkyy mailmalla ja se on myyty uutena. Myyjä vain petoksesta syytteeseen ja korvaamaan koko lystin. Muuten kannattaa unohtaa koko tahra ongelma, kunhan ostaessa muistaa, että rungon numero on yli 400xxxxx.

[JimD]

My K-5 arrived from Adorama and it is, too, start with 393xxxx!
The production date is 1/23/2011 on mine and come with firmware 1.01. I am NOT HAPPY!

My K-5, shutter count is 2 and everything looks new. You can download the exiftool:
ExifTool by Phil Harvey

it will tell your the production date, etc.


Lee

Bought mine on Saturday. it's 39411******** with a build date of2/21/2011 from a Pentax main dealer and advertised as 'New Batch Stain Free'

Where in this ExifTool can I find the number of shutter activations?