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Charged for Olympus 300 F4

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Colin Smith1

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I pre-ordered this lens from Olympus USA the morning of January 6th. Today they ran the charge against my Discover Card. Any meaning to this? Am I getting close to receiving my new lens, or if not, why the delay of a month to charge for a pre-order?
 
You should receive the lens soon, my guess.

Congratulations!
 
Colin, we will need to hear all about it you know. Just as soon as it comes in. ;-)
 
Did they actually charge it or simply place a hold on that amount on the card?
 
They usually put a hold on the amount and then charge when the item reaches the destination.
 
LMNCT said:
They usually put a hold on the amount and then charge when the item reaches the destination.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately what I thought was a charge was only a hold. I ordered two of these lenses on the morning of January 6th, one from Olympus USA, and one from B&H Photo. I have since noticed that Olympus charges over $200 in tax and B&H doesn't. For that reason I cancelled the Olympus order. This lens is too expensive to pay tax on top of it. I only hope that I am in the first group at B&H, and that they get their lenses in an early batch.
 
Colin Smith1 said:
LMNCT said:
They usually put a hold on the amount and then charge when the item reaches the destination.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately what I thought was a charge was only a hold. I ordered two of these lenses on the morning of January 6th, one from Olympus USA, and one from B&H Photo. I have since noticed that Olympus charges over $200 in tax and B&H doesn't. For that reason I cancelled the Olympus order. This lens is too expensive to pay tax on top of it. I only hope that I am in the first group at B&H, and that they get their lenses in an early batch.
Click to expand...
 
drj3 said:
Colin Smith1 said:
LMNCT said:
They usually put a hold on the amount and then charge when the item reaches the destination.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately what I thought was a charge was only a hold. I ordered two of these lenses on the morning of January 6th, one from Olympus USA, and one from B&H Photo. I have since noticed that Olympus charges over $200 in tax and B&H doesn't. For that reason I cancelled the Olympus order. This lens is too expensive to pay tax on top of it. I only hope that I am in the first group at B&H, and that they get their lenses in an early batch.

--
Colin Smith
Click to expand...
I decided to stay with Olympus - the tax in NJ was $175, but the 5000 points I got is worth $100, so the tax was only $75. The primary reason was that my B&H E-M1 was shipped a couple of weeks after the Olympus USA orders. However, if the B&H projected date is correct, then there should be little if any difference for this lens.

Actually I think Olympus may have produced a fairly large number of these lenses prior to release date (the earliest sample images I have seen were from the end of Oct and the lens had a serial number) so there may be little delay for any of the orders.

--
drj3
Click to expand...
Then you have no reason to complain. I always cancel orders from merchants who charge immediately while promising to ship on some undetermined date in the future or charge inordinate tax or shipping charges. Amazon does neither.

If and when I decide to buy this lens it will cost less than $2,000, be shipped immediately and there will be no taxes.
 
Manti44 said:
drj3 said:
Colin Smith1 said:
LMNCT said:
They usually put a hold on the amount and then charge when the item reaches the destination.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately what I thought was a charge was only a hold. I ordered two of these lenses on the morning of January 6th, one from Olympus USA, and one from B&H Photo. I have since noticed that Olympus charges over $200 in tax and B&H doesn't. For that reason I cancelled the Olympus order. This lens is too expensive to pay tax on top of it. I only hope that I am in the first group at B&H, and that they get their lenses in an early batch.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Have you considered only paying them half the asking price... after all, if the focal length is equivalently doubled when used on m4/3 then you could argue your payment is equivalently doubled too :-)

Hope you get your lens soon, we need some real user reviews.

--
Have Fun
Photo Pete
 
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When I initially ordered there was a temporary hold for a day or so. On February 4th I was credited the 5000 points and the hold put back on my card, may be soon!!!
 
Manti44 said:
Then you have no reason to complain. I always cancel orders from merchants who charge immediately while promising to ship on some undetermined date in the future or charge inordinate tax or shipping charges. Amazon does neither.
Click to expand...
Amazon charges sales tax in my state, and it is 9.75%. Is that inordinate?

Amazon also will take up to a week and a half to ship something they claim to have in stock if the shipping is free. It's pretty obvious they are trying to give people a reason to pay for upgraded shipping service or Amazon Prime.
Manti44 said:
If and when I decide to buy this lens it will cost less than $2,000, be shipped immediately and there will be no taxes.
Click to expand...
Adorama and B&H ship today, not tomorrow whether you pay for shipping or they do. On an item like this, the shipping will be free and fast and you'll get some discount points. And they truly charge no tax. Well, outside NY that is.
 
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Sounds to me the 300/4 is shipped, and that means we can live through your pics soon! Congratulations on the new glass. I'm going with the Leica since I'm in the Lumix camp. I think you'll end up with a superior lens unless a large body of water is in front or behind you and you don't want to swim.

Keep us posted.
 
Photo Pete said:
Have you considered only paying them half the asking price... after all, if the focal length is equivalently doubled when used on m4/3 then you could argue your payment is equivalently doubled too :-)

Hope you get your lens soon, we need some real user reviews.
Click to expand...
 
Steve_ said:
Steve_ said:
Then you have no reason to complain. I always cancel orders from merchants who charge immediately while promising to ship on some undetermined date in the future or charge inordinate tax or shipping charges. Amazon does neither.
Click to expand...
Amazon charges sales tax in my state, and it is 9.75%. Is that inordinate?

Amazon also will take up to a week and a half to ship something they claim to have in stock if the shipping is free. It's pretty obvious they are trying to give people a reason to pay for upgraded shipping service or Amazon Prime.
Steve_ said:
If and when I decide to buy this lens it will cost less than $2,000, be shipped immediately and there will be no taxes.
Click to expand...
Adorama and B&H ship today, not tomorrow whether you pay for shipping or they do. On an item like this, the shipping will be free and fast and you'll get some discount points. And they truly charge no tax. Well, outside NY that is.
Click to expand...
To each his own. Having ordered hundreds of times form Amazon over the last few years I can count on one hand all the problems, which were always made right. No sales tax. A few orders I made from Adorama have been fine but I do not order from B&H because I have not been happy with their service and their frequent shutdowns.
 
Manti44 said:
Steve_ said:
Manti44 said:
Then you have no reason to complain. I always cancel orders from merchants who charge immediately while promising to ship on some undetermined date in the future or charge inordinate tax or shipping charges. Amazon does neither.
Click to expand...
Amazon charges sales tax in my state, and it is 9.75%. Is that inordinate?

Amazon also will take up to a week and a half to ship something they claim to have in stock if the shipping is free. It's pretty obvious they are trying to give people a reason to pay for upgraded shipping service or Amazon Prime.
Manti44 said:
If and when I decide to buy this lens it will cost less than $2,000, be shipped immediately and there will be no taxes.
Click to expand...
Adorama and B&H ship today, not tomorrow whether you pay for shipping or they do. On an item like this, the shipping will be free and fast and you'll get some discount points. And they truly charge no tax. Well, outside NY that is.
Click to expand...
To each his own. Having ordered hundreds of times form Amazon over the last few years I can count on one hand all the problems, which were always made right. No sales tax. A few orders I made from Adorama have been fine but I do not order from B&H because I have not been happy with their service and their frequent shutdowns.
Click to expand...
Adorama has the same "shutdowns" as B&H. They just don't make it as clear on their website.

If you look at Adorama shipping and delivery you will see

'...Please note weekend orders, placed on Fridays after 1:00 PM ET will be processed on the following Monday..."

While B&H does not accept orders on their website on Saturdays they actually accept and process orders on Sunday, but the order is not shipped until the following business day.

'...B&H generally packs orders Sunday - Friday. However, orders packed by B&H on Sundays or Legal Holidays are not shipped until the following business day...'

Amazon has sales tax in my state and while I routinely order far too much from all three I would rate my service and service speed somewhat better with B&H.
 
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