Why does Greentoe allow retailers to sell backordered items without telling you?

azhenley · Apr 10, 2018

I put in an offer for a Batis 25 last Thursday and quickly got a counter for $1089. I accepted it not too long after. Friday morning it was accepted by the seller. Yesterday (Monday) it went from "Processing" to "Pending shipment" on Greentoe.

I went to the retailers website today to check the order status... "Backordered".

Why does Greentoe allow this? The retailer ACCEPTED the transaction after I accepted their counter, so they knew their stock, sold it anyway, and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

gudongmin · Apr 10, 2018

It is not surprising. I ordered a Batis 25 last month and was put on hold for 3 three weeks, eventually had it cancelled after emailing Greentoe five times. In my experience customer service is not their strong suit.

BBQue · Apr 10, 2018

azhenley said:
... and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Why are you spending this much on the lens is not even new??? You can get them grey import for same price brand new with warranty, without having to play greentoe-games!

azhenley · Apr 10, 2018

BBQue said:
azhenley said:

... and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Click to expand...

Why are you spending this much on the lens is not even new??? You can get them grey import for same price brand new with warranty, without having to play greentoe-games!

The particular lens is new... I meant it isn't a newly released lens, which you would expect to be backordered (like the 24-105).

BBQue · Apr 10, 2018

azhenley said:
BBQue said:

azhenley said:

... and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Click to expand...

Why are you spending this much on the lens is not even new??? You can get them grey import for same price brand new with warranty, without having to play greentoe-games!

Click to expand...

The particular lens is new... I meant it isn't a newly released lens, which you would expect to be backordered (like the 24-105).

Ah OK, then yes the price makes sense. Could get it for same from eBay retailers with great feedback though today.

azhenley · Apr 10, 2018

Thanks! I’ll take a look.

wpstl · Apr 10, 2018

azhenley said:
I put in an offer for a Batis 25 last Thursday and quickly got a counter for $1089. I accepted it not too long after. Friday morning it was accepted by the seller. Yesterday (Monday) it went from "Processing" to "Pending shipment" on Greentoe.

I went to the retailers website today to check the order status... "Backordered".

Why does Greentoe allow this? The retailer ACCEPTED the transaction after I accepted their counter, so they knew their stock, sold it anyway, and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Most people would rather save money if it meant waiting a bit. If you are in a rush you should have looked for a retailer with stock and paid full price in the first place. Greentoe is for deals, not deals quickly.

azhenley · Apr 10, 2018

wpstl said:
azhenley said:

I put in an offer for a Batis 25 last Thursday and quickly got a counter for $1089. I accepted it not too long after. Friday morning it was accepted by the seller. Yesterday (Monday) it went from "Processing" to "Pending shipment" on Greentoe.

I went to the retailers website today to check the order status... "Backordered".

Why does Greentoe allow this? The retailer ACCEPTED the transaction after I accepted their counter, so they knew their stock, sold it anyway, and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Click to expand...

Most people would rather save money if it meant waiting a bit. If you are in a rush you should have looked for a retailer with stock and paid full price in the first place. Greentoe is for deals, not deals quickly.

--
"Sometimes I like to throw a grenade and run away."

Why? There is nothing on there website about it being slow. In fact, there’s the opposite: you can pay for expedited shipping. Why offer expedited shipping if you may wait an unpredictable number of weeks for the item to come back in stock? Very misleading.

“You should have looked for a retailer with stock” - I thought I did. It was *never* communicated to me that the item was backordered. I don’t understand the concept of accepting a deal if they can’t make the deal happen.

BBQue · Apr 10, 2018

azhenley said:
wpstl said:

azhenley said:

I put in an offer for a Batis 25 last Thursday and quickly got a counter for $1089. I accepted it not too long after. Friday morning it was accepted by the seller. Yesterday (Monday) it went from "Processing" to "Pending shipment" on Greentoe.

I went to the retailers website today to check the order status... "Backordered".

Why does Greentoe allow this? The retailer ACCEPTED the transaction after I accepted their counter, so they knew their stock, sold it anyway, and never communicated that it was backordered. This isn't even a new lens!

I knew I should have been leery of this website. I'd rather pay full price.

Click to expand...

Most people would rather save money if it meant waiting a bit. If you are in a rush you should have looked for a retailer with stock and paid full price in the first place. Greentoe is for deals, not deals quickly.

Click to expand...

greentoechris · Apr 11, 2018

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to take a moment to clear the air here. We explained this to AZHenley via email. But, since others have some concerns, I thought it may be a good time to provide some color to the concerned Greentoe customers and prospective customers about what happened here and our policy.

The retailer that accepted the offer is very religious. They accepted the offer and then closed later that same day for the Jewish Holidays. It was an anomaly that created this inconvenience for AZHenley. We apologized to him and offered to honor the price on the product despite the fact that the price is now higher for the same product. We were not aware of the product being out of stock because the retailer was off for the Jewish Holiday and they were not communicating with us since they were not working and observing their faith.

We do not allow retailers to accept offers if they do not have inventory in hand. However, there are some rare occasions when the retailer sells out of a product immediately after accepting an offer. The reason being that retailers sell through many channels, stores, marketplaces, and more. Therefore, it is impossible for this to be perfect. In this rare occurrence, we email the customer instantly. However, we were not aware of the issue due to the retailer being closed.

We want to make sure our awesome customers here understand what happened and how our retailer policy works.

Thanks,

Chris

BBQue · Apr 11, 2018

azhenley · Apr 11, 2018

greentoechris said:
Hello Everyone,

I'd like to take a moment to clear the air here. We explained this to AZHenley via email. But, since others have some concerns, I thought it may be a good time to provide some color to the concerned Greentoe customers and prospective customers about what happened here and our policy.

The retailer that accepted the offer is very religious. They accepted the offer and then closed later that same day for the Jewish Holidays. It was an anomaly that created this inconvenience for AZHenley. We apologized to him and offered to honor the price on the product despite the fact that the price is now higher for the same product. We were not aware of the product being out of stock because the retailer was off for the Jewish Holiday and they were not communicating with us since they were not working and observing their faith.

We do not allow retailers to accept offers if they do not have inventory in hand. However, there are some rare occasions when the retailer sells out of a product immediately after accepting an offer. The reason being that retailers sell through many channels, stores, marketplaces, and more. Therefore, it is impossible for this to be perfect. In this rare occurrence, we email the customer instantly. However, we were not aware of the issue due to the retailer being closed.

We want to make sure our awesome customers here understand what happened and how our retailer policy works.

Thanks,

Chris

I'll copy and paste my response to Chris from the Fred Miranda forums:

I was never informed, by either Greentoe or the retailer, that the product was backordered, even after they re-opened from the holiday, processed the order, and sent me an invoice.

I understand that keeping track of the stock is a difficult problem and this can happen, but COMMUNICATE. I was never informed. That is the failing.

jdmuys · Apr 11, 2018

Let me add another testimony: I purchased from Greentoe the Sony 24-105. The reseller that accepted the offer was out of stock. They finally delivered, but only after several weeks of waiting time (4 weeks IIRC), during which they had my money.

So Greentoe's policy as outlined in the message above is far from being the general case.

atuquero · Jul 6, 2021

Just wanted to confirm that this is still the case. I placed an offer in Greentoe for the new Sony 14mm and immediately received a counteroffer. I responded with a counteroffer which was immediately accepted, and my credit card charged on 6/19 with a shipment date of 7/1. After 7/1 passed with no updates or further communications, I emailed to Greentoe and they promptly emailed to the retailer CCing me.

There was no response from the retailer so I called them on 7/5. What I got was a rude response from the retailer’s customer service, and eventually ended up being told that they don’t know when they will get the item in stock to ship.

Greentoe should look into taking care of their customers. The fact that their email got no response, they shouldve spoken to the retailer directly. And also, there was no indication at all that a retailer can accept an offer even if they dont have the item in stock and hold on to the buyer’s money.

I’ve bought from Greentoe before and this is the first disappointing transaction I have with them.

Art

Stflbn · Jul 6, 2021

Mykal · Jul 6, 2021

greentoechris said:
Hello Everyone,

I'd like to take a moment to clear the air here. We explained this to AZHenley via email. But, since others have some concerns, I thought it may be a good time to provide some color to the concerned Greentoe customers and prospective customers about what happened here and our policy.

The retailer that accepted the offer is very religious. They accepted the offer and then closed later that same day for the Jewish Holidays. It was an anomaly that created this inconvenience for AZHenley. We apologized to him and offered to honor the price on the product despite the fact that the price is now higher for the same product. We were not aware of the product being out of stock because the retailer was off for the Jewish Holiday and they were not communicating with us since they were not working and observing their faith.

We do not allow retailers to accept offers if they do not have inventory in hand. However, there are some rare occasions when the retailer sells out of a product immediately after accepting an offer. The reason being that retailers sell through many channels, stores, marketplaces, and more. Therefore, it is impossible for this to be perfect. In this rare occurrence, we email the customer instantly. However, we were not aware of the issue due to the retailer being closed.

We want to make sure our awesome customers here understand what happened and how our retailer policy works.

Thanks,

Chris

Really now. It happened to me twice with the same retailer and both times I had to be refunded. You are not truthful. I have stopped using your service.

Sm629 · Jul 12, 2021

This is exactly my experience also.

I just receive an email from Greentoe apologizing and letting me know I can block this particular vendor if I want to. To little too late. I doubt I will use Greentoe again as I can’t reconcile that Greentoe doesn’t vet their vendors stock. Also I shouldn’t have to block a vendor I don’t like or is unreliable. Greentoe should do this based on all the negative feedback.

MikeInOr · Jul 12, 2021

I tried Greentoe once and for me it is not worth the hassle. I don't really know who the item will be coming from and how much of a hassle they will be if I have a problem with the item. The items I looked at were only a couple percent cheaper than nationally recognized reputable dealers where I know they are authorized dealers of the product and I will not have problems with a return or warranty support down the road.

Euell · Jul 12, 2021

MikeInOr said:
I tried Greentoe once and for me it is not worth the hassle. I don't really know who the item will be coming from and how much of a hassle they will be if I have a problem with the item. The items I looked at were only a couple percent cheaper than nationally recognized reputable dealers where I know they are authorized dealers of the product and I will not have problems with a return or warranty support down the road.

The items you “looked at”?? You don’t know what the price is until you buy. Second, Greentoe uses only authorized dealers that provide USA warranty. Price discounts do vary, but I’ve never had less than 10%. Some people have had problems with delivery time, but I never have.

MikeInOr · Jul 12, 2021

Euell said:
MikeInOr said:

I tried Greentoe once and for me it is not worth the hassle. I don't really know who the item will be coming from and how much of a hassle they will be if I have a problem with the item. The items I looked at were only a couple percent cheaper than nationally recognized reputable dealers where I know they are authorized dealers of the product and I will not have problems with a return or warranty support down the road.

Click to expand...

The items you “looked at”?? You don’t know what the price is until you buy. Second, Greentoe uses only authorized dealers that provide USA warranty. Price discounts do vary, but I’ve never had less than 10%. Some people have had problems with delivery time, but I never have.

Yes, The products I "Bid" on. Camera gear, 4K TV's and some other electronics.

They "might" be authorized resellers but every bid reply I received was from some business I had never heard of and very few had any searchable reviews online. Sony does price fixing through out its authorized reseller network so how is an "authorized" reseller on Greentoe going to have a better price? Not only are you paying another reseller less than the fixed Sony price for the same item Greentoe is also taking a cut... something sound off here?

If you want to use Greentoe that is fine. For me it wasn't worth it. None of there counter offers made any sense for me. It is worth it to me to pay and extra $10 or $20 to do business with a seller I know and trust and know I can get a full refund from instead of one nobody has ever heard of.

Why does Greentoe allow retailers to sell backordered items without telling you?

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