Inventory Questions for B&H

Jeremy Z · Jan 18, 2007

Yesterday night, I went online to order a birthday present for my grandpa. Some of you might have seen the sale post in which I was selling off his EOS equipment to raise the money for something new that he would actually use.

He's already got a Kodak EasyShare P&S and the EasyShare printer, so he was leaning toward Kodak cameras.

I looked on B&H, since they seem to be a site sponsor here, and this beauty showed up as "in stock"
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...485&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
Schneider-Kreuznach lens, f/2.8-3.9, 12X optical zoom, optical image stabilization, 2.5" LCD, and a dedicated hot shoe round out the package. Pretty nice ultrazoom, I think. It reads pretty well at Steve's Digicams.com too.

I placed the order, and looked at the web page again for that camera, and it showed as "out of stock"

"Whoopee! I got the last one!" said I. This morning, I got an email from B&H saying that due to an error in their stock count, they don't have stock on this camera, and they appreciate my patience. :angry1:

Has this happened to anyone else here? It has happened to me at other New York retailers. Once at the place that had the lowest price. They tried everything. They called me and told me it was out of stock, tried like hell to sell me a bunch of accessories. I told them that I would wait for it to be in stock and that yes, I'm sure I don't want your cheap camera bag & tripod. They said it would be about 4-6 weeks, hoping I would cancel and they wouldn't have to honor their price. I said OK, I'll wait. What do you know, I had the camera later that week! I thought B&H had a better reputation than to bait & switch.

If this hasn't happened to anyone else there, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and let the order stand, depending on how long they expect to be backordered. I emailed them first thing this morning asking; no response yet. If I don't get a response by the end of the day tomorrow, I'm going to cancel just on principle.

If it HAS happened to someone else, I'm definitely going to cancel.

fmw · Jan 18, 2007

Zero tolerance for mistakes? Sorry but bait and switch is a really strong term to describe an out of stock.

Big Mike · Jan 18, 2007

B&H has a pretty good reputation. I don't think they would be trying to hustle you like the other place. You might also try Adorama.

Jeremy Z · Jan 18, 2007

fmw said:
Zero tolerance for mistakes? Sorry but bait and switch is a really strong term to describe an out of stock.

"Out-of-stock-after-order-is-placed trick" would have been more accurate, I suppose. Sorry.

I consider this worse than bait & switch, because they wait until they have my credit card # before telling me, and I will have to wonder for a while what they will do with it.

For mistakes, I have good tolerance if I think it is an honest mistake. If I think the retailer is shady, yes. Zero tolerance.

Peanuts · Jan 18, 2007

It may be more along the lines of when they placed they received the order and tried to find the camera - that was when they first realized it was out of stock. If that is the case, their service was prompt and they corrected their error. Now if I had heard similar cases, then I would be suspicious, but I am guessing it was truly a case of miscounted stock.

Alex06 · Jan 18, 2007

I've ordered from them several times. The only problem I had was with the "mail in rebate". I thought they were going to send the rebate stuff with my order. Well they didn't and by the time I got my lens the rebate had expired. It was for a substantial amount and I was really upset but I guess I should've downloaded it off their website. Also they my camera UPS 3 day express. Well UPS doesn't work on the weekend and it took my stuff a week to get here. I called UPS and they said I'd have to deal with the mailer. All this was really annoying but I don't think they were out to scam..

usayit · Jan 18, 2007

Don't worry... they are one of the largest stores in the world when it comes to photo/video/audio equipment. They would not have earned that reputation by purposely stealing from their customers.

BTW>.. if you make a trip to NYC sometime, you should stop by and take a look at their operation. Its a pretty impressive sight and their propery takes an entire city square block.

woodsac · Jan 18, 2007

I've placed no less than 12 orders from B&H. Never a single problem.

You have to take into account that the inventory is updated electronically. If an item is removed but not accounted for, the balance will not reflect the action. It's impossible for stores to do 100% stock checks and remain 100% accurate all of the time. I would definitely give them a second chance.

mysteryscribe · Jan 18, 2007

I have never ordered from their website and not at all in many years, but when I phone ordered from them several years ago it was perfect every time.

Jeremy Z · Jan 18, 2007

Good to hear, guys. I'll play it cool for a while and see what happens.

I will admit that I get awfully anxious if I don't get a reply email within 48 hours...

Oldfireguy · Jan 19, 2007

I've purchased a ton of items from B&H and never had an issue.

Iron Flatline · Jan 19, 2007

Yeah, I'm not one to jump up and defend the reputation of a retailer, but I buy a lot from B&H, and have had great dealings with them. I think you'll be fine, although having to wait is annoying. For all we know they sold the last available model on the floor or to someone else on the site just as you were entering in your order. Also, most good online retailers don't actually charge your credit card until they ship the product.

burtharrris · Jan 19, 2007

If you got it from some shady place in Brooklyn or Secaucus, I'd say yeah, maybe bait and switch. But B&H is run by honest, religious Hasidic Jewish men. I've ordered online many times (shipping to jersey is cheaper than NY sales tax), and bought in the store often also. They are serious about their products, and their low prices are only due to incredible efficiency.

Also think about the sheer volume of sales they have, they might not be able to answer every email right away.

fmw · Jan 19, 2007

I'm sorry, I have a really hard time with people trying to destroy company reputations on the internet. B&H has been in business for more than 1/2 century and is one of the most respected and reliable mail order/on-line sellers in the industry. If you don't know that, then you shouldn't assume they are something else and invent motivations on their part in order to attempt to trash them. If your post had said you were disappointed that they ran out of stock on the product, then that's fine. If it had asked a question about B&H, that's fine. But it was an unfair and inaccurate description of their activities. In other words, know what you are talking about before you attack company's reputations.

Bait and switch is a very specific activity defined in the law. Basically it means that a retailer engages in advertising something with no intent to sell it to you but rather to switch you to something else. It is not even illegal but it is unethical. The camera industry is known for having engaged in it over the years. But not B&H. B&H doesn't do that. They do run out of stock like anyone else. You can cancel the order if you like. They'll handle it with no problem.

This is a very sore spot with me and I will always jump in to defend a seller who hasn't done anything bad. I'll help you trash a bad one but we need to be careful about being fair unless we know it is a bad one.