Is B&H Just mental, or...?

usayit · Oct 11, 2008

fstopusa said:
I'm not Jewish, but, personally, I think it is cool that they follow their beliefs to that extent. I'm sure it is not a "good" business decision if all you are concerned about is the bottom line. It tells me that the company is concerned about people and principles and in my dealings with B&H that has always been true. If I have had an issue with something I purchased from them, they took care of it.

:thumbup:

My thoughts exactly... sure sounds like we have forgotten that there are other things important in life than the bottom line. The automotive shop that gets almost all of my business is one of the few shops that are closed on Sunday and Saturday. I once asked the owner about it and his response:

"In order to provide the best service, I need to take care of my employees... which includes downtime and rest."

Now that is an A1 kinda of business guy!!! His shop is one of the largest and most successful in the area... much like BH.

In certain municipalities (at least here in NJ especially) it is required by law to close businesses on Sunday. Blue law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law

In the south, the Chick-fil-a chains close on Sunday... too...

PhilGarber · Oct 11, 2008

manaheim said:
In this day and age... heck in 8 year ago's day and age... how does this make any sense?

Welcome to B&H Photo!
We are temporarily not accepting orders. Online ordering will resume at Saturday 7:45 PM EDT.

Do they just have like thousands of keebler elves lined up watching computer screens for the orders, stuffing boxes as they come in, quickly! Before the order scrolls off the screen! Quickly! Oh noes! We missed one!

*Chris goes off to purchase his stuff from Adorama, since they are apparently willing to keep the elves working on the weekend.*

Yeah, B&H is closed because they follow the Jewish holidays strictly. I would imagine that they're closed for Yom Kippur. (did I spell right?)

PhilGarber · Oct 11, 2008

fstopusa said:
I'm not Jewish, but, personally, I think it is cool that they follow their beliefs to that extent. I'm sure it is not a "good" business decision if all you are concerned about is the bottom line. It tells me that the company is concerned about people and principles and in my dealings with B&H that has always been true. If I have had an issue with something I purchased from them, they took care of it.

Yeah B&H rules!

D40 · Oct 11, 2008

usayit said:
:thumbup:

My thoughts exactly... sure sounds like we have forgotten that there are other things important in life than the bottom line. The automotive shop that gets almost all of my business is one of the few shops that are closed on Sunday and Saturday. I once asked the owner about it and his response:

"In order to provide the best service, I need to take care of my employees... which includes downtime and rest."

Now that is an A1 kinda of business guy!!! His shop is one of the largest and most successful in the area... much like BH.

In certain municipalities (at least here in NJ especially) it is required by law to close businesses on Sunday. Blue law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law

In the south, the Chick-fil-a chains close on Sunday... too...

Agreed! It shows a lot about their character, I am sure they know they loose money when they close for their hollidays, but they do what they feel is right. Also the fact that they post that message up for us means a lot as well, most places would just take in orders and then you are left not knowing what is going on. I will continue to use B&H for my photo gear.

D40 · Oct 11, 2008

manaheim said:
Yup, that's kind of where I'm coming from. B&H has lost about $2000 in business from me to Adorama just this year.

That's ok, they have gotten that $2000 back from me :lol:

Joves · Oct 11, 2008

KD5NRH said:
I personally don't care whether or not they're sitting there live to read the order as it comes in or not. I just want to be able to place it when it's convenient for me and they can fill it when they get back. So far, every time I've started to get something from them I've gotten one of those popups, gone to Adorama, and given them my business.

Seems like fairly often it's on my doorstep before B&H is even willing to let me try to place an order.

Yes but you must understand the law they follow. If the computer accepted orders on a Saturday (Sabbath) or, a religous holiday, then the it represents the buisness doing work. Even their livestock are forbidden from doing work at any of those time, hence the computer is now like an ox or, any beast of burden. That they even allow you to look amazes me, they could just put up the message and, not even allow you to look. Despite the minor inconvenience I still give them my business. To me it shows they actually apply and, stick to what they believe. So it they are unlikely to be they type to screw you.

reg · Oct 11, 2008

It's like Chick-Fil-A.

If you absolutely *have* to have that chicken sandwich on Sunday (you probably don't), I guess you'll have to find somewhere else. But it's nothing worth making a huge deal over.

royalWITHcheese2 · Oct 11, 2008

I've never really had a problem with this. It's like this every Saturday, it's not like if you order something from Adorama it's going to get there faster since it's probably not going to be shipped out right away anyways.

ranmyaku · Oct 11, 2008

Ive had issues with adorama in the past. Very rude customer service over the phone...since then BH has gotten all of my business. They have exceptional customer service. I will probably never use another store.

FidelCastrovich · Oct 11, 2008

The reason B&H don't allow you to even place orders on holidays is because they don't want to tempt Jews who are not as strict to go on their site/use a computer/make a financial transaction or in any way break the rules of said holiday. There's a religious term for it in Hebrew, but i don't know how to translate it.

It's less a matter of having their computers work(because if the site is up, the computers are too) - but, rather, not adding a temptation to break the rules for other less-observant jews.

Jews are a crazy nation.

http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff180/fidelcastrovich/holidays/
Here are a few pics from the last Yom Kippur in Jerusalem, and two from a special market for the upcoming Sukkot. On Yom Kippur the whole country comes to a standstill as EVERYBODY stays home or goes to a sinagogue. Nothing works, nothing is open, and most importantly - there are no cars (and i mean NO CARS) on the roads, which is of course a great opportunity for cyclists and kids and whoever else can enjoy a nice walk on a major highway.

Alex_B · Oct 11, 2008

In most places in Germany most business is closed on Sunday, and many businesses are closed Saturdays. And online orders from saturday or sunday will usually only be processed on monday anyway.

manaheim · Oct 11, 2008

royalWITHcheese2 said:
I've never really had a problem with this. It's like this every Saturday, it's not like if you order something from Adorama it's going to get there faster since it's probably not going to be shipped out right away anyways.

The internet is all about ordering when it's convenient for me... if 2:00 AM on a Sat is when I happen to remember that I want XXX, then that should be when I can order it. Doing anything else is kinda missing the whole point.

Obviously, any business can do what it wants, but in this case B&H loses out with me occasionally... and under normal circumstances, I probably would pretty much only shop there.

Josh66 · Oct 11, 2008

I was going to order a new lens next week... I just looked at their holiday schedule, they're going to be closed almost the whole month. I'll probably just wait and still order from them (everything else was from B&H), but it is a little disappointing that I won't get my new toy as soon.