On 1/31/2010 7:14 PM, paul stenquist wrote:
On Jan 31, 2010, at 6:29 PM, P. J. Alling wrote:
I understand where B&H is coming from. However now I don't know if I can take any contract
they make seriously. Right now for example Staples.com has the HP B8550 printer on sale for
half price. Before if B&H had the same deal I would have had no hesitation to buy the same
item from them, now I can't afford to believe them. I don't think B&H is dishonest
exactly, but if they made a mistake, I don't know what I'd get, maybe I'll get half a printer,
(OK that's being silly), but really I don't know how they'd handle it. Maybe they'd send me a
different printer selling for the amount I authorized, (which depending on what they sent might
amount to half a printer), since they seem to be able to change contracts at whim. Sure the
disclaimer is they'll take it back at no cost to me, but what a pain in the ass that would be.
I guess I'll still buy from B&H iif their price isn't too much lower than the competition.
Nonsense. B&H's record speaks for itself.
Paul
Yes it does, they made a "contract", and when they discovered their
mistake they reneged, because they could.
Once again; if I see a deal on B&H[s web site, that looks too good to be
true, how will I know if it's legitimate or a mistake?
How will I know if they will honor it?
If it;s a mistake, and they decide not to honor it, will they simply
ship me something /like/ what I ordered and leave it to me to complain
and ship it back, rather than notifying me of the situation and give me
a choice?
I only have one data point, for when things don't go smoothly. It
doesn't inspire confidence.
On 1/31/2010 2:58 PM, P N Stenquist wrote:
'm forwarding this message to allow Henry to be heard. He sent it to me and
asked me to pot it on the list. It in no way reflects any opinions of my own. I
have none:-). I'm sending it in two parts, as it's too large a file for the
list.
Paul
I am sorry Igor is disappointed by our response to the customer who thought he
was buying two $250.00 speakers due to an inadvertent error on our site. Any
customer knowledgeable about the product would have immediately recognized
there was an error. I am sorry too Igor did not find my reply sufficiently
apologetic, but the flip side of this coin is the customer in question, knowing
there was an error, nevertheless wanted two for the price of one and when we
declined to accede to his request attempted to apply leverage to us via his
public complaints. What are the ethics of a customer who wants two for one,
knowing what he knew in the first place?
@P. J. Alling
I've never had a problem with B&H personally but the attitude does bother me. I
do however have a problem with their attitude. Even if they mad a mistake, what
they've done is still against NY State law.
Respectfully, I believe P. J. Alling is mistaken and our action in this matter
are not at all against NY state law. We have a team of in-house lawyers who
know pretty much everything we do in matters of this nature and would certainly
have stopped us were we violating the law.
Tom C
The disclaimor ... would probably not hold up under the law.
As above -- the disclaimer was written by our in-house lead counsel and will
certainly hold up.
@Igor
On a different subject, - I am rather annoyed by the recent thing
that B&H (and a few other resellers, including Adorama, Buydig,
Amazon, etc.) started doing when they do not show the price on their
website until you add the item to the shopping cart.
Some of them say that it dictated by the manufacturer not allowing
them to display low prices. I am not sure if that's all true, - but
that sounds like a bunch of bologna.
Does anybody know if there is any substantial reason behind that game?
In fact I do. It is not bologna. It's the manufacturer's MAP agreement. MAP = Minimum
advertised price. This dictates the lowest price we can advertise and what we may and may
not do in print or online when the selling price is below the MAP price. Retailers who've
told you, "it dictated by the manufacturer not allowing them to display low
prices," are telling you the complete truth.
@Tom C
it is still a matter of false and misleading advertising.
I believe you are mistaken. It was an inadvertent error. Saying it was "false and
misleading" implies it was done purposely with intent to mislead or defraud. It was
an inadvertent error.
@P N Stenquist
"I've been working with B&H for many years and with 47th Street Photo before
them, which I believe was owned by the same group.
I've only been with B&H for 15 years, but as far as I know the owners of B&H
and the owners, then or now, of 47th St Photo are unrelated.
@Boris Liberman
B&H has a small warehouse under our Manhattan store and our main warehouse is in
Brooklyn. We're working on a program to distinguish store stock from Brooklyn warehouse stock
for our web site. Any store customer who wants to buy an item that's only in stock in the
Brooklyn warehouse should be offered free shipping to any address in the "lower-48"
states.
@Igor Roshchin
"Did B&H offer him to honor the wrong price if he pulls off his review..."
We did not. That would be unethical and would also violate resellerrating's rules. The review in
question was written by "Polymistis." He apparently edited it so it's reverted to
"Pending" status. It will reappear when it shifts off
pending again.
@Tom C "It's a stretch to think B&H reads the PDML"
Stretch away. :-)
"the next time a PDML member has a problem with a retailer, that after the thread
goes a while..."
We are ALWAYS concerned when a customer has a problem and as B&H's customer
ombudsman (Not water carrier) I take a personal interest in resolving such
difficulties with a minimum of red tale whenever possible.
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