I HATE being LIED to! B&H lied to me!

I have a D70 now and wanted to buy a D200 from B&H. Here is what happened:

I really hate being lied to. I also hate when people do not meet their commitments.

Some time ago I asked B&H (b&hphotovideo.com) to notify me when the Nikon D200 was available; they said they would. I never received a notice that they had the D200 for sale. I am a long time customer.

Yesterday, Sunday, I was on a Forum and learned that B&H was selling the D200 on their web site and that others had purchased that camera. I went to the site ordered a D200 and was given an order number.

Today I got an email saying that B&H made a “mistake” and that there was no D200 to send me.

I called Customer Service. The rep there first implied that I had made some kind of error, or my email address might not be correct and that is why I did not receive their notification that the Nikon D200 was available. Then the rep said that there was “no time” to send out notices, because the D200 came in on Friday and was sold out in an hour. When the rep could not answer as to how they were selling them on the Web on Sunday, or why his answers made no sense I asked for a supervisor.

The supervisor admitted that they never sent out notices to their loyal, long-time customers (“we’re the biggest company”) because someone made a decision to NOT send notices and instead just sell them on the web. He also had no reasonable explanation as to why orders were accepted and order numbers given out when there were no longer any cameras available. The supervisor didn’t see anything wrong with their business practices (failure to meet a commitment, and lying to a customer), because the “rep” just tells you what he thinks might be an answer, right or wrong, and that not notifying a customer when they said they would is just the way it is. But, the supervisor apologized profusely and said they would waive shipping charges for me when a camera comes in.

I hate being lied to. I hate it when a company makes a commitment and then deliberately ignores it. There is an old saying, “You can forgive, but not forget.” I don’t expect anyone to refuse to buy from B&H. If they have a product and you can’t get it elsewhere, that’s understandable. As for me, I will always try to find another source and will even pay more (just a very little more) so I don’t have to do business with a company like B&H that has given me such bad service, and lied on top of it.

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Ken-L

You are good looking, intelligent and you don’t waste bandwidth with pointless rants!

R Laing said:

You are good looking, intelligent and you don’t waste bandwidth
with pointless rants!

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LOL! No disrespect intended to the OP, but that was funny.

Hi Ken,

I see attack the poster instead of dealing with the issue has set in, expect more of that, it's sad but that's how it is on forums.

I can relate to your post, I would be angry too anbd probably post an even longer thread.

Look on the positive aspects, B&H may have done you a favour by giving you more time to see what the D200 can or cannot deliver and decide do you really want one.

I am also looking at the D200 and I hope that it turns out OK in the end, but the samples I am seeing from some experienced photogs make me think I should just stick with my D70.

So far I am just not seeing AUD $2600 worth of extra image quality, sorry.

I keep reading posts that repeat the story of how it takes a week or 2 to get used to a new camera blah bla blah.

I just don't buy that story, this is basically a Nikon family camera and I should be able to pick it up set it to shoot raw take a pic open it up in NC and tweak it to deliver a nice pic assuming I nailed exposure and focus.

Can't see why it should take weeks to do that simple task, it just doesn't make sense.

Get a grip and relax. Not the end of humanity.

It's just a camera and they did apologize to you. We all make mistakes. Give it a rest.
--
D70, 50mm 1.4, 18-70mm kit, PSE 4, NC 4, SB-600, soon to arrive D200.

Wally OZ said:

I keep reading posts that repeat the story of how it takes a week
or 2 to get used to a new camera blah bla blah.

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Actually, "back in the day" when I had a D Rebel, I was seriously considering getting a D70, this was when they first came out, but was put off by the quality of the D70 pics that where first posted, I thought they were flat, lifeless, and dull. I know a lot more now than I did then, but do not consider my self expert by any means, but yes, of course their is a learning curve to a new camera, especially a DSLR.

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Kristian Farren
http://kf3.net/gallery/

Ken,

Peruse the threads of the last 24-48 hrs. You'll see that somebody has already posted on the very same subject. Henry P. (a B&H manager) has clarified what has happened. In short: apparently there were 10,000 of us waiting for the e-mail notification ! And on top of that the first batch arrived on a Sunday, and B&H was not prepared for this because this was very exceptional. Hence the fact that the e-mail was not sent. Somebody suggested that B&H removes the link about early notification, hold & behold, Henry agreed and minutes later it was done.

I'm personally satisfied with his explanations. I don't think that you, me or anybody among the 10,000 people expecting that e-mail should take it personally. As for the 50 people or so who've called at the right hour, they were very lucky !
--
Thierry

Ordered Sunday, called today, spoke to a very nice man who made sure it was shipped. Tracking number received, D200 on a jet plane enroute Los Angeles, then Palm Springs. Best of luck m8. Sending you happy positive warm thoughts. : )

-- The glass is half full --

I really wish everyone would take a deep breath.

The D200 is the hot item right now and, imagine that, they are selling out of 'em.

Let's try to keep the tantrums to a minimum and realize you'll get one when you can. I was told I wouldn't have mine until mid January by Ritz.

IF I find one sooner...I'll go for it. If not, well...then that's that.

Julio

http://www.pbase.com/loansharkx

Ken's concerns are well-founded, IMO.

I think it's also worth pointing out that there are still 10,000 customers, according to Henry Posner, who requested the in-stock notification that are still waiting for a reply. Yes, I've read the excuses... but it was in stock briefly, and B&H deliberately chose not to honor their commitment to let these people know. And nearly 24 hours later, still no email from B&H.... like it never even happened.

B&H owes these 10,000 potential customers an explanation, an apology, and a reason why they should believe that "next time" they really will be notified. I think if B&H doesn't respond, they're making Ken's case for him.

--
Joe K.

Ken-L said:

I hate being lied to. I hate it when a company makes a commitment
and then deliberately ignores it. There is an old saying, “You can
forgive, but not forget.” I don’t expect anyone to refuse to buy
from B&H. If they have a product and you can’t get it elsewhere,
that’s understandable. As for me, I will always try to find another
source and will even pay more (just a very little more) so I don’t
have to do business with a company like B&H that has given me such
bad service, and lied on top of it.

Click to expand...

So, you're a long-time customer of B&H and for that "long-time" they've "given you bad service and lied on top of it"? if that's true, then you should have dropped them a long time ago, no?

More likely though, based on hundreds of other petulant D200 posts where Adorama/Samy's/B&H/Cameta etc haven't been able to deliver this new, hot techno-toy to their many "long-time customers", you're just pi$$ed off because you didn't get your toy when you wanted it.

My god, this board is rampant with people who are never going to deal with Adorama/B&H/Ritz/Wolf/Cameta ever again. Where are all you people going to buy your camera equipment now?

Jeez, really--lets get a grip here. The funny part is that this whole furor over D200 deliveries will die down in a couple of weeks and everybody will forget it, including the horrendously aggrieved parties such as yourself, and just like the hundreds of other tempests in a teapot that have repeatedly sprung up here on DPR.

You're mad now...but realize that you'll cool off after you get your D200 from wherever, and you will, sooner or later, go back to buying from B&H. B&H knows this, Nikon knows this, and anybody that's been reading DPR for more than about a year knows this.

--
H McCollister

I don't know why, but I was just thinking about Christmas morning here - I guess because it's only a week away. I have 2 kids, and they will be getting some nice gifts, but not everything that they would want I am sure. Some things my son (13) would like are out of my range right now (read Jet Ski). I am sure my daughter would like a new bedroom set, but we checked at our local furniture store, and the one we would like will not be available in stock before sometime in January. We may buy the wardrobe now and get the bed later in the year. Of course, they will receive some other nice gifts, and they already have more than they really need, as I do as well. I sure hope that we will have a warm time of giving, and that my kids will be able to keep in perspective that they are not defined by what they own, or want to own. In years past they seemed to be most excited about the gifts that they are giving, not getting, but you never know with kids these days.

At any rate, this just hit me and I hope no one minds my sharing it, even though it is clearly off topic for this forum. In any case, here's my hope that all who read this find joy and happiness whatever difficulties they face.

Merry Christmas,
Don

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Dave Lewis

You mean BestPriceCamera.

The D200's probably a piece, anyways. ;-)

For those of you that see my point, good for you, and you really should find a better forum as I did.

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Ken-L

I don't want to rub it too far but you cried out loud in that other forum. Like if it wasn't enough you started crying in here too, some 24 hours later.
Why?

Norwen said:

Why?

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Why not?

B&H shouldn't be exempt from criticism, especially in this instance. Remember, they offered to notify us when the shipment came in, and 10,000 people were deliberately not notified. I'd call that a legitimate grievance.

--
Joe K.

I have to say, customer "loyalty" is a thing of the past these days. People can sell $1000 to $2000 products in a heartbeat and they really don't have to bend over backwards to get your business. Our awesome local photoshop here in San Diego told me after I spent about $10,000 with them over the last 5 years that the D200 preorder is first come, first served and that people were going to camp out in front of the store the night before. Well, let me tell ya, even though this is San Diego, there is no WAY I was going to camp out for a camera. I haven't done that since buying U2 tickets in college.

So I went to Ritz camera and ordered it on line. And now my lovely D200 is in my hands. I didn't talk to anyone at Ritz -- just clicked with the mouse and spent the $$$. And then, just to be sure I would get one before the holidays, I ordered from a couple others sites too (including Adorama, which still hasn't shipped it). So I put in 4 preorders. And I got rewarded because Fed Ex came bright and early today with my new present.

So as disappointing as it is, no outfit these days really cares about you personally. Welcome to our new economy, where everyone can afford just about anyting. And welcome to ecommerce, where you can drop a pretty penny and still never talk to a soul (and most likely get better results than going locally).

Katherine

So if 10,000 people were notified that the camera was IN stock, and they sold out of the few hundred they had (that QTY is a guess) in a couple of hours - dont you think those 10,000 folks would be even more angry than NOT being notified??

Joe K. said:

Joe K. said:

Why?

Click to expand...

Why not?

B&H shouldn't be exempt from criticism, especially in this
instance. Remember, they offered to notify us when the shipment
came in, and 10,000 people were deliberately not notified. I'd
call that a legitimate grievance.

--
Joe K.

Click to expand...

--
ShutterBugin
http://www.exposureproductions.smugmug.com