Venting - The saga of my wayward camera bag order

**cdw2000** · 06-17-2021, 07:57 AM

I'm not sure if I should post this here or in the General, general discussion, but here goes:

"Help! My order is "Out for Delivery" in some other state!"

That was my initial message to B&H Photo's customer support chat application at 9:05 this morning. The little animated rotating circles are still rotating on the chat app - waiting for a customer service rep to answer.

I placed an order for a MindShift Gear Outbound Camera Holster 30 (Carbon Gray) at B&H Photo. It shipped Monday and was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday, but something went horribly wrong after it was put under Fedex's care. On Tuesday their tracking indicated it was in Middletown, Connecticut, which is somewhere between B&H in New York and me in New Hampshire. So far so good. But what's this ominous update: "Barcode Label Unreadable And Replaced"? Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. On Wednesday things got worse, it arrived at a Fedex location in Ellenwood, Georgia. Well, at this point I knew it wouldn't be arriving on Wednesday. Last night I get an email update from B&H: Package delayed, new delivery time on Friday. OK, so they figured out things aren't going as planned and they are getting the package turned around and moving to the right part of the country, yes? This morning I see the package is out for delivery. Great! They (Fedex) managed to get their act together and it's coming only 1 day late! But alas this is not to be. It's on the delivery vehicle and out for delivery- in Tallahasee, Florida. So I guess when they couldn't read the bar code and replaced the shipping label, they decided any old address would do.

Now here's the kicker. B&H now shows this camera bag as "Discontinued", so I probably got the last one in their inventory. In other words, my camera bag is being delivered to someone in Tallahasee, Florida and there is no recourse should this person or entity be lazy or dishonest and not return the item as being mis-delivered.

Seeing the B&H chatbot seemed to be on a permanent coffee break, I called B&H customer support, and after waiting on the phone for almost an hour, their automated system hung up on me. I finally got through by calling their Sales number (they always pick up quick for sales) and then telling my story to a poor sales person who transferred me directly over to customer support. The customer support person kindly said they would call Fedex immediately to have the package diverted. I don't know if I ever got him to understand that the package was already "out for delivery", but this is where I am at right now. The fate of my camera bag reaching its rightful owner is probably now (or soon will be) in the hands of some unknown person 2,000 miles away.

Thanks for listening.

Last edited by cdw2000; 06-17-2021 at 08:27 AM.

**pepperberry farm** · 06-17-2021, 08:00 AM

perhaps contacting FedEx?

**cdw2000** · 06-17-2021, 08:09 AM

I tried that. They wouldn't speak to me, since I'm not the shipper.

**jatrax** · 06-17-2021, 08:12 AM - **2 Likes**

I have had similar issues with packages. I once watched the tracking of a package go from New York to Chicago to Oregon (30 miles from house) then to Seattle to Indiana to New Jersey. It eventually went back to shipper with "undeliverable". The explanation was that the bar code on the label was damaged. I did get my package about 2 weeks late.

At any rate, not B&H's fault. It is a little surprising to me that so many packages get shipped every day and its noteworthy when something goes wrong because 99.99999% it goes right. Sorry it had to be your package.

**cdw2000** · 06-17-2021, 08:14 AM

I agree, not B&H's fault with the shipping - unless they were somehow responsible for the label being unreadable. My frustration with B&H was their customer service wait time. I was hoping they could call Fedex and see that the package stays on the delivery truck. Every hour of waiting makes that less likely to be able to do.

**jatrax** · 06-17-2021, 08:21 AM

Originally posted by cdw2000

I was hoping they could call Fedex and see that the package stays on the delivery truck.

I actually do not think that is possible. I ship fairly regularly (and get shipments in weekly) and if it goes wrong someplace I have never been able to get anyone (Fedex, UPS or USPS) to do anything until the package turned up in the problem bin all by itself. Once it shows up in the problem bin it gets handed off to somebody one who has to resolve the problem but the regular folks are never going to take time out to fix an issue themselves. And that's not really a dig on the delivery folks, they just do not have the time or tools to solve a miss-directed package.

The only time I ever recovered a wayward package was with UPS. I saw it was out for delivery to my address then it went back to the local depot. I called and got routed to somebody who said that if I got to the local office before 5pm they would hold it for me. Otherwise it was going back to sender. But that was because it was at my local terminal.

**cdw2000** · 06-17-2021, 08:28 AM - **1 Like**

I updated the thread title to make it sound less like I was blaming B&H Photo.

**csa** · 06-17-2021, 08:41 AM

Perhaps have a Moderator move this to the B&H forum, as Chuck is great for helping us.

Here: Ask B&H Photo! - PentaxForums.com

mee · 06-17-2021, 08:44 AM

This isn't a B&H issue but a FedEx issue. The label likely got damaged in route.

**cdw2000** · 06-17-2021, 06:59 PM - **1 Like**

Update: It looks like it did not get delivered and is now back at the FedEx center in Tallahassee. I'm hoping tomorrow there will be an indication it is heading back to the Northeast.

**cdw2000** · 06-18-2021, 06:40 AM - **1 Like**

Today's update: No luck. It's back to "out for delivery" in Tallahassee. Seems to me, once it was back at the FedEx center last night, if B&H had actually done what they said they were going to do, it would have gotten diverted at that point. I sent an email to Chuck-B&H, to see if there is anything that can be done. Stay tuned ...

vonBaloney · 06-18-2021, 07:03 AM

I signed up with FedEx for delivery notifications, etc -- they (and UPS) are always pushing services on me like "reschedule your delivery" (ahead of time if you aren't going to be around or whatever). If the thing is actually addressed to you, seems like you should be able to do something about it as the receiver, not the shipper. (Like one time one of these services for some crazy reason decided it was going to take a package sent to me to my old Denver address they had on file even though the package was addressed to where I am now in Savannah, and I was able to stop them from doing that.) If it is misaddressed and you can't show that it is meant for you, nothing much you can do I guess.

**jatrax** · 06-19-2021, 10:37 AM

Originally posted by cdw2000

Seems to me, once it was back at the FedEx center last night, if B&H had actually done what they said they were going to do,

The problem is likely that the label is damaged so the package is now a 'ghost' in their system. Even if B&H could redirect (which I doubt) Fedex probably cannot find it anyway. Hopefully a human will step in at some point and get it to you.

**cdw2000** · 06-21-2021, 05:48 AM

Latest update 6/21/21: My package appears to be in an endless cycle. Every morning it is "Out for Delivery" with the delivery date incremented by one day. Every evening its back at the FedEx facility in Tallahassee. We are now on the 4th delivery attempt to a random unknown address in Tallahassee. Every time I am able to get a hold of B&H Customer support, they say they will contact FedEx to get the package diverted, but do not provide follow up after I request it. It seems I am also in an endless cycle with B&H. I posted a "Can You Help Me" message in the "Ask B&H" forum. We'll see if I can get a response there.

vonBaloney · 06-21-2021, 05:56 AM

If you have a tracking#, seems like you could at least get a message to FedEx that maybe they should check with the shipper?

06-17-2021, 07:57 AM	#1
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244	Venting - The saga of my wayward camera bag order I'm not sure if I should post this here or in the General, general discussion, but here goes: "Help! My order is "Out for Delivery" in some other state!" That was my initial message to B&H Photo's customer support chat application at 9:05 this morning. The little animated rotating circles are still rotating on the chat app - waiting for a customer service rep to answer. I placed an order for a MindShift Gear Outbound Camera Holster 30 (Carbon Gray) at B&H Photo. It shipped Monday and was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday, but something went horribly wrong after it was put under Fedex's care. On Tuesday their tracking indicated it was in Middletown, Connecticut, which is somewhere between B&H in New York and me in New Hampshire. So far so good. But what's this ominous update: "Barcode Label Unreadable And Replaced"? Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. On Wednesday things got worse, it arrived at a Fedex location in Ellenwood, Georgia. Well, at this point I knew it wouldn't be arriving on Wednesday. Last night I get an email update from B&H: Package delayed, new delivery time on Friday. OK, so they figured out things aren't going as planned and they are getting the package turned around and moving to the right part of the country, yes? This morning I see the package is out for delivery. Great! They (Fedex) managed to get their act together and it's coming only 1 day late! But alas this is not to be. It's on the delivery vehicle and out for delivery- in Tallahasee, Florida. So I guess when they couldn't read the bar code and replaced the shipping label, they decided any old address would do. Now here's the kicker. B&H now shows this camera bag as "Discontinued", so I probably got the last one in their inventory. In other words, my camera bag is being delivered to someone in Tallahasee, Florida and there is no recourse should this person or entity be lazy or dishonest and not return the item as being mis-delivered. Seeing the B&H chatbot seemed to be on a permanent coffee break, I called B&H customer support, and after waiting on the phone for almost an hour, their automated system hung up on me. I finally got through by calling their Sales number (they always pick up quick for sales) and then telling my story to a poor sales person who transferred me directly over to customer support. The customer support person kindly said they would call Fedex immediately to have the package diverted. I don't know if I ever got him to understand that the package was already "out for delivery", but this is where I am at right now. The fate of my camera bag reaching its rightful owner is probably now (or soon will be) in the hands of some unknown person 2,000 miles away. Thanks for listening. Last edited by cdw2000; 06-17-2021 at 08:27 AM.

06-17-2021, 08:14 AM	#5
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	I agree, not B&H's fault with the shipping - unless they were somehow responsible for the label being unreadable. My frustration with B&H was their customer service wait time. I was hoping they could call Fedex and see that the package stays on the delivery truck. Every hour of waiting makes that less likely to be able to do. Last edited by cdw2000; 06-17-2021 at 08:18 AM. Reason: To correct grammer and clarity

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Venting a bit....sorry	Astro-Baby	General Photography	12	03-05-2020 12:45 AM
Venting about paper sizes!!	mattt	Digital Processing, Software, and Printing	12	11-23-2019 12:12 PM
My K-5 repair saga	Jeff Charles	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	17	08-22-2013 04:50 PM
Cancelled my K-30 order and placing order on K-5	LeDave	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	10	06-30-2012 10:07 PM
My KR Saga (So Far)	The_Reasonable_Man	Pentax K-r	11	01-16-2011 08:02 AM

06-17-2021, 08:00 AM	#2
pepperberry farm amateur dirt farmer Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 41,636	perhaps contacting FedEx?

06-17-2021, 08:09 AM	#3
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	I tried that. They wouldn't speak to me, since I'm not the shipper.

06-17-2021, 08:12 AM - 2 Likes	#4
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	I have had similar issues with packages. I once watched the tracking of a package go from New York to Chicago to Oregon (30 miles from house) then to Seattle to Indiana to New Jersey. It eventually went back to shipper with "undeliverable". The explanation was that the bar code on the label was damaged. I did get my package about 2 weeks late. At any rate, not B&H's fault. It is a little surprising to me that so many packages get shipped every day and its noteworthy when something goes wrong because 99.99999% it goes right. Sorry it had to be your package.

06-17-2021, 08:21 AM	#6
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by cdw2000 I was hoping they could call Fedex and see that the package stays on the delivery truck. I actually do not think that is possible. I ship fairly regularly (and get shipments in weekly) and if it goes wrong someplace I have never been able to get anyone (Fedex, UPS or USPS) to do anything until the package turned up in the problem bin all by itself. Once it shows up in the problem bin it gets handed off to somebody one who has to resolve the problem but the regular folks are never going to take time out to fix an issue themselves. And that's not really a dig on the delivery folks, they just do not have the time or tools to solve a miss-directed package. The only time I ever recovered a wayward package was with UPS. I saw it was out for delivery to my address then it went back to the local depot. I called and got routed to somebody who said that if I got to the local office before 5pm they would hold it for me. Otherwise it was going back to sender. But that was because it was at my local terminal.

06-17-2021, 08:28 AM - 1 Like	#7
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	I updated the thread title to make it sound less like I was blaming B&H Photo.

06-17-2021, 08:41 AM	#8
csa Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Montana mountains Posts: 10,133	Perhaps have a Moderator move this to the B&H forum, as Chuck is great for helping us. Here: Ask B&H Photo! - PentaxForums.com

06-17-2021, 08:44 AM	#9
mee Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 7,403	This isn't a B&H issue but a FedEx issue. The label likely got damaged in route.

06-17-2021, 06:59 PM - 1 Like	#10
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	Update: It looks like it did not get delivered and is now back at the FedEx center in Tallahassee. I'm hoping tomorrow there will be an indication it is heading back to the Northeast.

06-18-2021, 06:40 AM - 1 Like	#11
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	Today's update: No luck. It's back to "out for delivery" in Tallahassee. Seems to me, once it was back at the FedEx center last night, if B&H had actually done what they said they were going to do, it would have gotten diverted at that point. I sent an email to Chuck-B&H, to see if there is anything that can be done. Stay tuned ...

06-18-2021, 07:03 AM	#12
vonBaloney Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 6,029	I signed up with FedEx for delivery notifications, etc -- they (and UPS) are always pushing services on me like "reschedule your delivery" (ahead of time if you aren't going to be around or whatever). If the thing is actually addressed to you, seems like you should be able to do something about it as the receiver, not the shipper. (Like one time one of these services for some crazy reason decided it was going to take a package sent to me to my old Denver address they had on file even though the package was addressed to where I am now in Savannah, and I was able to stop them from doing that.) If it is misaddressed and you can't show that it is meant for you, nothing much you can do I guess.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

06-19-2021, 10:37 AM	#13
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by cdw2000 Seems to me, once it was back at the FedEx center last night, if B&H had actually done what they said they were going to do, The problem is likely that the label is damaged so the package is now a 'ghost' in their system. Even if B&H could redirect (which I doubt) Fedex probably cannot find it anyway. Hopefully a human will step in at some point and get it to you.

06-21-2021, 05:48 AM	#14
cdw2000 Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: New Hampshire Photos: Albums Posts: 244 Original Poster	Latest update 6/21/21: My package appears to be in an endless cycle. Every morning it is "Out for Delivery" with the delivery date incremented by one day. Every evening its back at the FedEx facility in Tallahassee. We are now on the 4th delivery attempt to a random unknown address in Tallahassee. Every time I am able to get a hold of B&H Customer support, they say they will contact FedEx to get the package diverted, but do not provide follow up after I request it. It seems I am also in an endless cycle with B&H. I posted a "Can You Help Me" message in the "Ask B&H" forum. We'll see if I can get a response there.

06-21-2021, 05:56 AM	#15
vonBaloney Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 6,029	If you have a tracking#, seems like you could at least get a message to FedEx that maybe they should check with the shipper?