[soundn8]

I get that a lot of folks on here love Adorama and perhaps even consider them to be a legitimate company, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this:

I purchased a Pentax KP and DA20-40 lens in April as a travel camera opposite our K-1, which we love. We used the 20-40 for 3 days and it turned out that the AF was defective. Doesn't work at all. I returned the lens for a refund, and instead Adorama sent a "new" lens. However:

Adorama sent the exact same defective lens that I had just sent them. Not a different defective lens but literally the same copy that I just had. Doesn't this mean that all returned lenses just end up in their sales inventory again? Doesn't this mean they don't take defective gear seriously? These were the questions that I immediately had.

So I called them and the person on the phone was great and allowed a second return for a new lens. But the same person didn't seem at all surprised that I had been sent the same defective item that I had just returned. (Literally, it must have shown up and been unpackaged, placed on their shelf, and then sent back to me, with no testing or concern whatsoever. Lens was gone for less than 10 days total, including shipping time.)

So my question is, for those that know more about this than me, is this a common thing? Where can I go in 2019 to purchase new & unused if not directly form an authorized seller?

Thanks for your input,
Nate

UPDATE 6/29/2019: Well, I'm happy to say that the replacement 20-40 arrived yesterday. So my experience was that I ordered the lens (new, not used) from Adorama on April 24th and the autofocus on the lens I received didn't work. Additionally it had fingerprints on the glass, the packaging was damaged, and it was missing the lens bag and manual. I was quite impressed with the image quality as a walkaround lens with KP but obviously I wanted a functional lens so I set up a replacement with Adorama. Several weeks passed and they had returned the same lens, same damaged packaging, same issues. That's when I originally posted here. Now that another week has passed I received the new lens which they said came straight from the manufacturer since they were backordered for a while in May. This is when I realized that the lens was supposed to come with a bag and manual (I had previously just assumed that Pentax wasn't including the lens case and manual as a cost cutting measure). I'm pleased to report the autofocus works well. So all is resolved after a couple months and a few tries. I will say that Adorama had pretty good customer service and they were very apologetic when I explained to them that the second time around they just resent the lens I had just returned. All in all I'm pleased with the resolution, and it's been interesting reading accounts from other people as well.

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Last edited by soundn8; 06-30-2019 at 12:17 PM. Reason: updated for people reading the forum.

[aslyfox]

. . . Where can I go in 2019 to purchase new & unused if not directly form an authorized seller?

Thanks for your input,
Nate

I have had no problems with any of the equipment I have received from Adorama

___________________

where to go to get equipment

if you are interested in spending some $ for your own experimentation prior to buying

check out the rental companies ( which might sell the equipment to you as well )

Information on Businesses that offer cameras and lenses for rent - PentaxForums.com

_________________________

in addition, I believe https://www.bhphotovideo.com/ and Adorama sells " experienced " equipment as well as new

and there is https://www.keh.com/ as well for " experienced " equipment

don't forget the forum's market place which can be sorted by country

The Pentax Marketplace | Buy & Sell Pentax Cameras and Lenses (United States) - PentaxForums.com

I have been able to find good experienced equipment there

[Adam]

It's hard to know what goes on behind the scenes. I know that warehouses at big companies like Adorama are highly automated, and if the return wasn't processed properly (i.e. marked as defective) by their system, perhaps the lens ended up where it shouldn't have.

The rest is pure speculation on my part, but from a business perspective it would make sense to restock returned items that are still in new and undamaged condition. It would also make sense to sell returns as "open box" used items if there's some evidence of use, but no damage.

However, it wouldn't make sense to restock defective items, since returns cost money and reputation (and the manufacturer would replace the item anyway since it's ultimately the manufacturer's fault). All this ends up being an optimization problem, and perhaps the way Adorama assesses returns currently isn't perfect. But, as far as I'm aware, there's no deliberate foul play- if there were then we wouldn't partner with them.

[Wheatfield]

I get that a lot of folks on here love Adorama and perhaps even consider them to be a legitimate company, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this:

I purchased a Pentax KP and DA20-40 lens in April as a travel camera opposite our K-1, which we love. We used the 20-40 for 3 days and it turned out that the AF was defective. Doesn't work at all. I returned the lens for a refund, and instead Adorama sent a "new" lens. However:

Adorama sent the exact same defective lens that I had just sent them. Not a different defective lens but literally the same copy that I just had. Doesn't this mean that all returned lenses just end up in their sales inventory again? Doesn't this mean they don't take defective gear seriously? These were the questions that I immediately had.

So I called them and the person on the phone was great and allowed a second return for a new lens. But the same person didn't seem at all surprised that I had been sent the same defective item that I had just returned. (Literally, it must have shown up and been unpackaged, placed on their shelf, and then sent back to me, with no testing or concern whatsoever. Lens was gone for less than 10 days total, including shipping time.)

So my question is, for those that know more about this than me, is this a common thing? Where can I go in 2019 to purchase new & unused if not directly form an authorized seller?

Thanks for your input,
Nate

If you returned the lens for a refund rather than because it was defective, then these kinds of things can happen.
The question becomes, did you actually communicate to them that the lens was defective? Or did you just return it for a refund?

[EnglishBob]

OP returned the lens for a refund, and instead Adorama sent a "new" lens.

Read more at: Adorama re-selling defective gear? - PentaxForums.com


Refunding the money would have been the best choice. Makes me worry bout any "open box" lenses now.

[Fenwoodian]

.
While I've never purchased used lenses from Adorama, I recently had similar experience buying used lenses on Ebay...

I'm working on a project where I'm testing lots of inexpensive K mount lenses on my Pentax K-1 camera. In the last few weeks I purchased 14 older lenses on ebay. In each case, I did my due diligence, checking out the seller's feedback rating and asking them a few questions about the lens.

The results were shocking. All of the lenses were described as working condition without significant defects. Well, 8 of the 14 lenses arrived with fatal flaws (e.g. separation, heavy haze, heavy fungus, non-working aperture, etc.) that were NOT described in the description or shown in any of the photos.

So, I returned the terminal lenses to the sellers, couldn't leave feedback because of the refund, and guess what, in most cases the defect lens was relisted. I guess the seller was hoping the next time it sells the buyer would be someone who doesn't know how to properly inspect a lens.

In this day, let the buyer (customer) beware. While oversites do sometimes happen, from my experience, I believe that most such hiccups are intentional.

[Wheatfield]

OP returned the lens for a refund, and instead Adorama sent a "new" lens.

Read more at: Adorama re-selling defective gear? - PentaxForums.com


Refunding the money would have been the best choice. Makes me worry bout any "open box" lenses now.

This does make things a bit fishy. To me it sounds like there may have been some poor communication on the part of the OP. I really can't see Adorama not issuing a refund if a refund had been requested.

[Spodeworld]

Adorama has a pretty good reputation from what I know. I'd be surprised if this wasn't an accident.

[c.a.m]

is this a common thing? Where can I go in 2019 to purchase new & unused if not directly form an authorized seller?

I think that it is rare to receive back the same item that has been returned for a refund or because it's defective. We hear of many positive experiences with camera retailers, including Adorama. Nonetheless, it's normal that the onus is on the buyer to check the received item and contact the seller in the event of a problem. Retailers are generally quick and efficient to correct any mistakes.

Despite your experience with the lens, I think you could buy with confidence in the future from various sellers, including, for example, B&H, Adorama, Amazon, or Roberts Camera (Indianapolis). It's also possible that you could buy from certain Canadian retailers and take advantage of the currency exchange rate.

Of course, eBay is an entirely different ballgame.

- Craig

[pentaxfall]

Adorama sent the exact same defective lens that I had just sent them. Not a different defective lens but literally the same copy that I just had.
Nate

Once AmazonWarehouse did ship a faulty item that I had returned to them. I think it is mistake of some worker, not company policy. In such circumstances I do not blame the employee because employment scene is not that great, they work under lot of stress. I think the quality of service is proportional to the hourly wage they get paid.

[stevebrot]

Read more at: Adorama re-selling defective gear? - PentaxForums.com

Yep, that would be this thread...I have seen a couple of recent posts with recursive links. Does that do something special that I have not heard about?

Refunding the money would have been the best choice. Makes me worry bout any "open box" lenses now.

Perhaps the purpose of the post? FWIW, I don't accept open box unless sold that way.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Perhaps @Helen_Oster will drop in? She is generally very good at resolving this sort of thing.


Steve

[stevebrot]

So, I returned the terminal lenses to the sellers, couldn't leave feedback because of the refund, and guess what, in most cases the defect lens was relisted. I guess the seller was hoping the next time it sells the buyer would be someone who doesn't know how to properly inspect a lens.

Are we still able to report a fraudulent listing. I would expect that sort of thing would qualify.


Steve

[Craigbob]

.
While I've never purchased used lenses from Adorama, I recently had similar experience buying used lenses on Ebay...

I'm working on a project where I'm testing lots of inexpensive K mount lenses on my Pentax K-1 camera. In the last few weeks I purchased 14 older lenses on ebay. In each case, I did my due diligence, checking out the seller's feedback rating and asking them a few questions about the lens.

The results were shocking. All of the lenses were described as working condition without significant defects. Well, 8 of the 14 lenses arrived with fatal flaws (e.g. separation, heavy haze, heavy fungus, non-working aperture, etc.) that were NOT described in the description or shown in any of the photos.

So, I returned the terminal lenses to the sellers, couldn't leave feedback because of the refund, and guess what, in most cases the defect lens was relisted. I guess the seller was hoping the next time it sells the buyer would be someone who doesn't know how to properly inspect a lens.

In this day, let the buyer (customer) beware. While oversites do sometimes happen, from my experience, I believe that most such hiccups are intentional.

Funny, my experience has been just the opposite. Over the past 2 years I've purchased 14 lenses including 15-30, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8 and others, from eBay and all of them have been perfect or damn near so.

I guess YMMV.

[Wheatfield]

Perhaps @Helen_Oster will drop in? She is generally very good at resolving this sort of thing.


Steve

Helen is now retired.