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Adorama trade in items returned damaged, any advice on how to proceed?

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wfaast

wfaast

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I decided to skip flea-bay and try to trade some of my older studio gear to Adorama. I'll skip complaining and whining about their offer and get right to the issue.
I received my items back damaged and not working.
I sent Adorama
1x Hensel Porty1200B Pack
1x Hensel Porty charger
2x Hensel EH1200 Flash heads
1 Profoto Pro-5A powerpack
2x Profoto Pro-5 Heads
1x Profoto Pro-5 Bitube head
and misc reflectors and speedrings for the Profotos and Hensels.

I turned down their offer and they shipped the items back to me, all of the items were packed wedged together with nothing separating each item, just a (granted very nice) cushion around the whole bolus of items. If there was any room in between the items they would have been hitting each other directly without anything more than a plastic bag for protection.

Most problematic were the Powerpacks. Both the Profoto and Hensel where shipped together, touching. Now imagine some UPS guy dropping a 50lb package and that 35lb Profoto pack slamming into the rather dainty 12lb Hensel.... I tried out the Hensel, and surprise it doesn't work. I can't tell if it's the heads that are busted or the pack. The pack does have fresh damage to the battery drawer. After discovering the Hensel wasn't working I found the charger to have a huge piece broken out from the side and won't charge a battery when plugged directly into it.

Thanks for making it this far. Here is my question, has anyone dealt with damaged items through Adorama's trade in before? Will I be given the run around similar to the initial trade in? Will they only cover the price they estimated as the value (all the profoto and hensel together $350.00)?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Tdoan said:
dinoSnake said:
When they started out, many many many years ago, they were located on the 2nd floor of a side street in NYC and were a "second choice" location. But they've come up since that far away time and are simple great, the only place I deal with. I go to them and shop face-to-face and the experience is far better than B&H which is simply a zoo, you're just a number sadly. B&H's volume of visitors means that you are just another one of thousands that day.

Adorama is different. When you go in you can, if you want, see the same representative over and over again on every visit.
Click to expand...
hmm, I didn't know. Wonder if it works the same via phone (I rather deal with one person over and over) :)
Click to expand...
Note that you can see the same person per department - they have a 'general' department that handles cameras, lenses, computers and pretty much all accessories therewith, and then a lighting department, a video department, an A/V electronics department (new! on a brand-new second floor installation), a customer service department and a few others. Again, I've gotten to know a few faces and they are beginning to recognize me fairly well, I really enjoy going and shopping there, you are not just a wallet.
Tdoan said:
Tdoan said:
The showroom is modestly-sized, like a good sized retail store and not a "superstore", and when you want to see things they bring it out for you to touch and try, not simply stay at a display stand with some type of tethered product. They hold your hand (and, in my case) remember my name every time I go (I've bought so much from them).
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knowing this now, I will try to visit the store the next time I get to NYC
Great people trying hard to do good. Listen said:
madecov, post: 58954801, member: 1651321"]
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When I worked in Manhattan, I used to go to the second floor walk up. It was a nice little shop. At that time B&H wasn't even a store, they had an order desk and everything was in back. B&H had no displays at all. Both operations had 6-8 page advertising in POP photo, Modern Photo magazines. next trip to NY I'm making it a point to see them
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Thank you dinoSnake and madecov for chiming in. How's your studio setup coming ? :)

Have a nice weekend everyone.
[/QUOTE]
You too! If you are talking about my studio setup, I think I'm pretty much done for a while (yet here I am, considering selling off some of my recently acquired OEM flashes with Cactus V6 triggers for the Adorama Flashpoint R2 system with a studio strobe and several manual built-in RF trigger flashes...argh, GAS attack!!! :-P )
 
madecov said:
When I worked in Manhattan, I used to go to the second floor walk up. It was a nice little shop. At that time B&H wasn't even a store, they had an order desk and everything was in back. B&H had no displays at all. Both operations had 6-8 page advertising in POP photo, Modern Photo magazines. next trip to NY I'm making it a point to see them
Click to expand...


d15e35cda00d4353a10f530058799fb2.jpg

This is our second location, on W17th St. Before that we were further downtown on Warren St.

--
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video
 
henryp said:
madecov said:
When I worked in Manhattan, I used to go to the second floor walk up. It was a nice little shop. At that time B&H wasn't even a store, they had an order desk and everything was in back. B&H had no displays at all. Both operations had 6-8 page advertising in POP photo, Modern Photo magazines. next trip to NY I'm making it a point to see them
Click to expand...
d15e35cda00d4353a10f530058799fb2.jpg

This is our second location, on W17th St. Before that we were further downtown on Warren St.

--
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video
Click to expand...
I shopped on the 17th street store before the windows went in (at least by my aging memory). It was just a big heavy steel door and an order desk. The lines were down the road at the time. I remember when the windows and displays went up. I never saw the warren street store

I used to shop with that store on my lunch break, before you were hired on.

I thought it was funny back then when both Adorama and B&H claimed no knowledge of each others existence. It is a testament to both stores business practices when you consider that all the other big advertisers in the magazines are gone now.

I used to also frequent Cambridge Camera on 14th street since I worked just around the corner from them.

BTW, Thank you for the level of service you provide when things don't go quite right.

--
Police Officer (Retired)
 
I thought it was funny back then when both Adorama and B&H claimed no knowledge of each others existence.



Especially since they are owned by cousins!

--
Ellis Vener
Free your eyes and the rest will follow. (With apologies to George Clinton.)
 
I'll take you at your word 'cause you're a heck of a lot closer to it than I am, and that is for sure.
 
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