# Adorama, really?



## Vtec44 (Oct 7, 2012)

So I placed an order for my Nikon 105mm f2.8 on Oct 2nd an selected 3-day shipping so I could get it before the weekend (in stock item).  Three days later, the order was still showing as "packed" so I sent an email early in the day on 10/5 asking for a status update.  I didn't get a response back by the end of the day so I put in an order cancellation request for it on 10/6.  I got a reply back this morning (10/7) stating that the order has been invoiced, packed, and is on the loading dock.  The interesting part is that I get a UPS tracking number, but it won't go live until it is shipped out on Oct 10, per Adorama's email.  So the order is packed, ready to go, but won't be shipped out an additional 3 days later.  On top of that, it takes 7 business days to ship an in stock item?  Adorama, really??  I've purchased about $5k worth of equipment from them in the last 12 months, which is probably not a lot compare to other people but a lot for me.  Needless to say, I won't buy from them again unless I can't find the item else where.


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## ewick (Oct 7, 2012)

I hate when that happens. and its usually some new kid that don't know what to is going on. Be patient because overall they are prety good. I have not had a problem with them as of yet. Then again I am not spending nowhere near the amount you are spending.


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## pixmedic (Oct 7, 2012)

We have been ordering from KeH lately and their shipping has been very fast on every order.


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## jhodges10 (Oct 7, 2012)

I've had great experience with Adorama. I know B&H has been closed a lot recently for holidays and Adorama was closed for a few as well, maybe they just weren't open and weren't clear about the shipping procedures during that time.


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## Rob99 (Oct 7, 2012)

Jewish holidays, says right on their website "we will close on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 3:00pm and will reopen Wednesday October 10, at 9:00am." It pops up again when you add an item to your cart.


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## Netskimmer (Oct 7, 2012)

I recently ordered a Sigma 50-500mm OS from Adorama with 3-day UPS shipping. The lens got here pretty quickly but I looked like someone had played hacky-sack with the case by the time I got it. The lens box looked ok and so far the lens is performing properly but I was a little perturbed. Though I can't say who is responsible, UPS or Adorama. I also ordered a tripod head from them a while back and though it was listed as new, the product box was a little rough and the dials showed signs of wear. I let it go because the head was still in good shape and worked properly but these little things are starting to add up.


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## SCraig (Oct 7, 2012)

Rob99 said:


> Jewish holidays, says right on their website "we will close on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 3:00pm and will reopen Wednesday October 10, at 9:00am." It pops up again when you add an item to your cart.


^^ This.  Adorama, B&H, and JR Audio Video are all effectively closed until 10/10.  Adorama's notice isn't as obvious as B&H though, but it is there.  I was going to order some SDHC cards from them last weekend and remember seeing it before I placed the order.


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## Derrel (Oct 7, 2012)

Rob99 said:


> Jewish holidays, says right on their website "we will close on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 3:00pm and will reopen Wednesday October 10, at 9:00am." It pops up again when you add an item to your cart.



Diz-actly.


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## 480sparky (Oct 7, 2012)

Yet another reason I deal with local brick & mortar stores.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.


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## kundalini (Oct 7, 2012)

Both Adorama and B&H are pretty upfront about their holiday schedule.  The only difference... and correct me if I'm wrong... Adorama will process your on-line purchase within the holidays, but B&H will not.  

I would suggest to contact TPF member Helen Oster.  She is the customer rep we can contact for Adorama.  She is very much on the ball and IMO a good advocate to satisfy customer complaints.


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## Vtec44 (Oct 7, 2012)

Rob99 said:


> Jewish holidays, says right on their website "we will close on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 3:00pm and will reopen Wednesday October 10, at 9:00am." It pops up again when you add an item to your cart.



When I placed the order, nothing popped up for me or on the site.  BHPhoto Video has a warning when you place an order for this kind of stuff.  

That's fine if they're closed and the order couldn't be processed, but when I tried to cancel my order they said I couldn't because the order has "left" the warehouse... to be shipped 3 days later. lol  That's bad customer service IMHO but whatever.


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## Tee (Oct 7, 2012)

I wonder if Calumet's orders increased last week? I was at their NYC store last weekend and they were expecting an increase in foot traffic.


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## usayit (Oct 7, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Yet another reason I deal with local brick & mortar stores.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.



My thoughts exactly.  BUT.... not everyone has a decent camera store nearby (more so lately) so BH and Adorama a like bring the selection of a big nice brick/mortar store to the masses.  Its a holiday closing for them...


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## manaheim (Oct 7, 2012)

Helen Oster from Adorama is on the forum here somewhere... I think she's on as "Adorama"... if you're having troubles, give her a yell and she'll generally be very helpful if it's within her power to do anything.


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## JClishe (Oct 8, 2012)

I'm in the *exact* same situation. My order has been listed as "packed" since Oct 3.


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## Overread (Oct 8, 2012)

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/members/29476.html

For Adorama problems send a pm to Helen. She's their online customer rep and will help you out with any problems of queries that you have. Without any fuss. Indeed its her job and she's often very pro-active at looking around the web-groups and finding customers having troubles.


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## HelenOster (Oct 10, 2012)

Vtec44 said:


> So I placed an order for my Nikon 105mm f2.8 on Oct 2nd an selected 3-day shipping so I could get it before the weekend (in stock item).  Three days later, the order was still showing as "packed" so I sent an email early in the day on 10/5 asking for a status update.  I didn't get a response back by the end of the day so I put in an order cancellation request for it on 10/6.  I got a reply back this morning (10/7) stating that the order has been invoiced, packed, and is on the loading dock.  The interesting part is that I get a UPS tracking number, but it won't go live until it is shipped out on Oct 10, per Adorama's email.  So the order is packed, ready to go, but won't be shipped out an additional 3 days later.  On top of that, it takes 7 business days to ship an in stock item?  Adorama, really??  I've purchased about $5k worth of equipment from them in the last 12 months, which is probably not a lot compare to other people but a lot for me.  Needless to say, I won't buy from them again unless I can't find the item else where.





JClishe said:


> I'm in the *exact* same situation. My order has been listed as "packed" since Oct 3.



Please accept my deepest apologies for the frustration and inconvenience that this caused, and I welcome having the opportunity to explain:


Any orders placed on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th - and most from the 6th - will have been packed and picked up by UPS where it will have sitting in their yard waiting to be processed and shipped at 8:00 pm ET last  night. It won&#8217;t have been able to be shipped during the Succot holiday itself as under Jewish law we cannot be involved in any activities which result in us receiving payments; once an item is shipped customers would be charged&#8230;&#8230;

By ensuring that all orders were packed, on the UPS trailers and absolutely ready to ship basically the minute the holiday was over, we hoped to fulfil orders in the shortest time we possibly could. We hope that any additional outstanding orders will be shipped today


Once again, I really am very sorry; we had hoped that the steps we had taken, above - including an explanatory pop-up at checkout (maybe you have pop-ups blocked?) - would provide the best possible solution for the majority of our customers. The only other option would be that we would not pick and pack any orders at all until our return to full business today, but this would have led to much bigger delays for all.

All that being said, we are always ready to listen to customer feedback; any suggestions for another way that we could serve our customers better during and following our 2 week-long holidays per year, will be welcomed and discussed.


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## HelenOster (Oct 10, 2012)

Netskimmer said:


> I recently ordered a Sigma 50-500mm OS from Adorama with 3-day UPS shipping. The lens got here pretty quickly but I looked like someone had played hacky-sack with the case by the time I got it. The lens box looked ok and so far the lens is performing properly but I was a little perturbed. Though I can't say who is responsible, UPS or Adorama. I also ordered a tripod head from them a while back and though it was listed as new, the product box was a little rough and the dials showed signs of wear. I let it go because the head was still in good shape and worked properly but these little things are starting to add up.



Every item ordered from Adorama comes with a 30-day returns period. If you feel that UPS handling has resulted in any damage to your lens, please do email me directly with your order number and a couple of pictures of the damage to the packaging.


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## MLeeK (Oct 10, 2012)

I can't say I have ever had a complaint and if I order, it's through Adorama. If I go in, it's to B&H. That place is like Disney for photographers!!!
I will say that  you have to click through their notices if you order something on one of the many Jewish holidays. It's actually almost a PITA to put anything into a shopping cart or order when a Jewish holiday is coming up because those pop ups keep saying when they are closed and what won't ship. 
There are many Jewish holidays throughout the year, but only a few that really result in any big delay. For the service that I've gotten? Those few holidays are worth it whether it's B&H or Adorama.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Oct 10, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Yet another reason I deal with *local brick & mortar stores*.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.



The one remaining store here has an aggressive holiday schedule too


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## SCraig (Oct 10, 2012)

MLeeK said:


> I can't say I have ever had a complaint and if I order, it's through Adorama. If I go in, it's to B&H. That place is like Disney for photographers!!!
> I will say that  you have to click through their notices if you order something on one of the many Jewish holidays. It's actually almost a PITA to put anything into a shopping cart or order when a Jewish holiday is coming up because those pop ups keep saying when they are closed and what won't ship.
> There are many Jewish holidays throughout the year, but only a few that really result in any big delay. For the service that I've gotten? Those few holidays are worth it whether it's B&H or Adorama.


Agreed, although a walk-in is pretty much out of the question for me.  B&H and Adorama are the two places I check first for anything I plan to order.  If one of them shows an upcoming religious holiday I know that the other will respect it as well.  If there is something I really need, such as a  couple of SDHC cards last week, there are a couple of other places that I order from there are a couple of others I use that do not adhere to the Jewish holidays.

I've ordered from both Adorama and B&H many, many times and have not once had an issue with anything I have ordered.  That is the reason that I keep going back to them, because I absolutely KNOW that my order will be handled properly and if an issue arises I can get it handled to my satisfaction.


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## unpopular (Oct 10, 2012)

usayit said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > Yet another reason I deal with local brick & mortar stores.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.
> ...



Huh. So maybe this is why I get such lousy service at local stores.


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## henryp (Oct 15, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Yet another reason I deal with local brick & mortar stores.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.



Speaking only for one retailer, you're very much mistaken. If we didn't care, I wouldn't be here.


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## HelenOster (Oct 15, 2012)

henryp said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > Yet another reason I deal with local brick & mortar stores.  Online outfits really don't care whether you've spent $50k in the past year or this is your first order.... it's just an order to them.
> ...



+ 1


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## pixmedic (Oct 15, 2012)

we have gotten the best prices and service from KEH Buy & Sell New & Used Cameras that place is awesome.


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