[IchabodCrane]

Here are my two theories on what happened -- neither of which I'm claiming to be correct:

1) Ricoh wanted to throw USA Pentaxians a bone with a very short-term offer that would be under the radar of their distributors (not saying they wouldn't know but it wouldn't be advertised, either). Maybe move some excess inventory in the process, too. It backfired when some orders had 10, 20, or more units of a lens on them. If true, they should have seen this potential resale opportunity coming and taken prior strong steps to insure the offer was good for one unit per lens and per address/credit card #/Paypal account.

2) The temporary low price was real but was supposed to carry a "must be ordered with Pentax DSLR" caveat which, somehow, was left off.

I can see internal consequences if either of these oversights actually took place.

[jb0501]

I am not happy about my order on the 14th being cancelled and it won't make me leave Pentax after 35years. What it will do though is that the Pentax Webstore will not be used again by me. In all this time my purchases have been through B for almost everything. What bothers me is after talking to the Webstore Mgr., Jason I requested a response from an owner for which he took my number. I have not been contacted yet. I will move on.

Forum members I know your frustration is high but, there is no need to get snippy with each other. That will only turn you away from this forum. Everybody has knowledge that is needed by others.

Some are lucky and still have a lens coming most are not. I don't have an a/f prime in this range and could have used the 50 as my eyes need help.

Oh Well.

[hongzhibin1987]

I am not happy about my order on the 14th being cancelled and it won't make me leave Pentax after 35years. What it will do though is that the Pentax Webstore will not be used again by me. In all this time my purchases have been through B for almost everything. What bothers me is after talking to the Webstore Mgr., Jason I requested a response from an owner for which he took my number. I have not been contacted yet. I will move on.

Forum members I know your frustration is high but, there is no need to get snippy with each other. That will only turn you away from this forum. Everybody has knowledge that is needed by others.

Some are lucky and still have a lens coming most are not. I don't have an a/f prime in this range and could have used the 50 as my eyes need help.

Oh Well.

Strongly agreed.
For many years I try to avoid the so called ORIGINAL WEBSTORE cuz i just simply think they list MSRP and they are just expensive.
Now I have one more reason to avoid doing so.

[prime.partisan]

My order was on the 13th for both lenses and was cancelled quietly this morning. If they don't have the 50mm at least it'd be much better if they'd given me the option to get the 35mm.
Oh well, PentaxWebStore is not going to be used again by me. Actually since I don't already have a lot invested in Pentax glasses, I'm much more open to jump ship after this bad experience.

[ToyTank]

I'm glad some people have glass shipping their way.

Are these the lens ordered 8-13 "in stock" and shipping 1 day

[Brazeal]

I ordered on the 13th and just received my cancellation email. That was nice of them sending me the email saying that they were ready to ship my lens as soon as payment was received days ago and then cancelling my order today.
The $119 is still being held in my PayPal account after I placed the order NINE days ago. Unacceptable...

[RonakG]

Here's an update from my side.

I had placed my order for the 50mm on 13th and the order status on webstore is still showing as "Hold for Quote". I have their confirmation email with $120 price. No pending charge on my CC yet.

I called the customer support to find out what do they mean by "Hold for Quote". I talked to a guy named Thomas. I played ignorant so that he has to explain the whole situation, which he did nicely. When I asked about what it means for me, he told me that my order was 13th such order for the lens (with firesale deal) and it's put on hold till they figure out if they'll honor my order or not. Thomas was very confident that my order will be honored and I need not worry. The lens is right now backordered and will take 2-3 weeks to ship. He did not give me any estimate on when they'll finally tell me if I'm getting the lens for $120 or not.

Well, looks like they decided to cancel all the orders . I just got the cancellation email from SureSource. The contents are same as those posted by Adam on the first post.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I just got an email from Pentax Webstore consisting of what Adam posted earlier.

[thornburg]

I also got the email.

It's ridiculous that their apology to us is to offer to sell us the lenses for the same price BH & Adorama have had for weeks... And still $60 more than Canon or Nikon.

[tele_pathic]

I just got this email:

Dear valued customer,

We apologize for the delay in updating you about the status of your order and the pricing issue. After pursuing all avenues in an attempt to rectify the situation, we unfortunately are unable to fulfill this order. Since our billing policy is such that we do not bill for transactions until an order has shipped, you have not been charged for this order.

We sincerely apologize for having to cancel your order; we accept full responsibility for the error and regret any inconvenience it may have caused. To make up for disappointing you, we would like to extend a special offer of free shipping on your next purchase from our online store. Simply enter discount code PTXFGS13 at checkout for this special discount.

In addition, in light of the error, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation has added special rebates to our web store on the following five lenses:

[I deleted the table with all the rebate info]

If you have other questions concerning a pending credit-card authorization, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will work with your bank to ensure it is resolved promptly. All Pay Pal authorizations have been voided with PayPal.

We appreciate your patronage of the Pentax webstore. Should you need to contact our customer-care department with any concerns, you may email us at customerservice@pentaxwebstore.com for prompt, courteous attention to your needs.

Again, our sincerest apologies that we were unable to fulfill this transaction.

Sincerely,

Customer Service

The Pentax Webstore

I think that's a pretty decent apology. Yes, I wish I could have gotten the lens, but I will admit that is apology seems more sincere and full of regret than the last post by Adam (thanks again, yo!). But I guess I no longer have to wonder about this issue. Yeah, cuz I just spent that money on a couple kit lenses.

[prime.partisan]

Ok I just now got the email. First they make a mess, then come back and insult the customer's intelligence by offering basically the same deal going on elsewhere. The bulbs at PentaxWebStore and Ricoh are not very bright.

[mefodii]

Cancelled here too. Originally placed at 12:04am EST on 8/14.

I submitted a request to add pentaxwebstore.com to Reseller Ratings database (Store Ratings & Reviews - ResellerRatings.com - Find Trusted Stores) - it's probably the best place to provide feedback for anybody who will be researching this store in the future.

[fuent104]

I received the e-mail. This is a bummer. $60 is a significant amount of money to me, especially at the moment. I'll probably just continue to borrow my roommate's Canon 50mm when I feel like using an autofocus prime.

I bought the DA 35f2.4 from B&H a few years ago, and it was such a horrid copy that I sold it around a month later (my M35 f2.8 simply destroyed it).

I bought a Q +01 lens last week from Amazon. They ended up shipping it with the 02, "couldn't" replace it because Amazon Warehouse was the seller, and they couldn't guarantee they'd have stock. Although it was a major pain for me to convince them, they ended up refunding me some money so I could purchase the 01 lens from another Amazon dealer. The amount they refunded me ended up being about $20 short, but I really wanted the lens, so I went ahead with it.

Needless to say, my experiences buying brand new Pentax lenses have not been good ones. Any time I've bought new bodies, though, it has always been quick and painless.

[IchabodCrane]

Ok I just now got the email. First they make a mess, then come back and insult the customer's intelligence by offering basically the same deal going on elsewhere. The bulbs at PentaxWebStore and Ricoh are not very bright.

Looks like they just cleaned up their website mess and If you check there, it seems clear what they intended to do all along -- but failed, obviously. The $120 (DA 50) and $150 (DA 35) prices are still achievable when bought with a K-mount body. The $65 (DA 50) and $35 (DA 35) discounts, which bring the respective prices close to B&H and Adorama, get doubled in conjunction with the body purchase.

[realtorjim]

Pentaxwebstore.com. A 100mm prime da lens was advertised for $119.00 I ordered it. The order, and payment was confirmed, with which I do have the paperwork. A few days went by without shipment. I tracked the order on their website and it said "Hold For Quote". I called and they explained that a rebate had improperly been placed on the lens and that I would receive an email within 24 hours. 48 hours later the lens is still on the site for sale and I call again. This time I am told they are going to honor the price but are waiting on instructions. Two days later, no word, so I call again. They again tell me that they are going to honor the sale price but it will take about 6 days while they wait for the proper paperwork. Now, a few days later I notice a refund on my payment source. I track the order on their site and it states the order has been cancelled. I call and am told they had too many of the sale price orders so they decided not to honor the price, even after I had been charged and told that they would honor it. I mention their name because I have all necessary documentation to prove the validity of my claim. My complaint is not the mistake, it is that I was told it would be honored, twice, and then they cancelled without even informing me.