Category: | Electronics Store |
Address: | 420 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001, USA |
Phone: | +1 212-615-8820 |
Site: | bhphotovideo.com |
Rating: | 4.4 |
Working: | 9AM–7PM 9AM–2PM 9AM–7PM 9AM–7PM 9AM–2PM Closed 10AM–6PM |
VI
Vince
Youre better off with Amazon Prime or even Best Buy! I hate being "that guy" on Google reviews but given how much Ive praised B&H Photo Video to friends and family in the past, I feel obligated to correct perceptions based on recent experiences. Ive been a B&H loyalist for the last 5 or 6 years. Theyve been my go-to for any electronics purchases. Pricing has been somewhat competitive and their advertised "30-day satisfaction guarantee" seemed promising given the nature of buying electronics online. So when I was in the market for a new computer, iPad, and TV upgrade, naturally B&H was at the top of my list. I ended up buying an iPad Pro bundle and a Samsung 55" TV. I held off on the computer upgrade for a bit to see if the Surface Pro/Laptop reviews measured up. I returned the (unopened)10.5" iPad Pro bundle because I decided to wait until the more expensive 12.9" LTE iPad Pro was made available via B&H. No problem with that return although it was a little annoying that I was responsible for return shipping. This isnt unusual but not necessarily true to a "satisfaction guaranteed" policy they claim. As far as the TV, my existing TV was getting old so I did a bunch of research on what to replace it with. I have a very bright living room so I knew I needed TVs designed to work in those conditions. I had read that the Samsung UHD I purchased from B&H was good for those conditions so I bought it. The TV arrived and I set it up. I was impressed with the crisp picture but noticed it had a fair amount of glare and reflections. I tinkered with settings and looked up calibrations online but none of it helped much. The room was just too bright for this TV so I decided I might have to rely on B&Hs advertised "30-Day satisfaction guarantee" in this case. No one likes the hassle of returning something cumbersome like a TV so if they bother to return it, it usually means they are pretty dissatisfied with it. To my surprise, TVs above 35" or so are not returnable once opened AT ALL. Not even less a "restocking fee." Yes, its in the fine print and having been so pleased with B&H for previous purchases, I neglected to read it. But is it even prudent to suggest something like "30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee" when you actually have such a stringent policy? How could you possibly know if you would be satisfied with something before you open it? This is a flat out false claim, in my opinion. I talked with Customer Service in the return department and their response was predictable. They quoted the policy and said no returns. I even offered to pay a penalty restocking fee of 15% and they simply said no. So unfortunately I cant recommend B&H anymore. They have a very misleading "30-day satisfaction guarantee" prominently advertised but its nothing close to that. I had always associated Best Buy with having a terrible return policy but even theirs is better than B&H. Especially for something like a TV purchase, which youre not likely to be able to assess until you get it home. So B&H may be good in instances where you know what you want and are pretty sure you wont need to return it but why would you take such a risk when there are hundreds of retailers with better policies? I wont be buying that iPad and computer from them anymore.
JE
Jeff Sloane
The B&H buying experience was pathetic (just scroll thru other reviews and you will see many complaints of a similar nature). I bought a Nikon D7100 body and a used 50mm 1.4 lens. The lens came in and the box was all beat up (too big) and the lens was not bubble wrapped well. I returned it and ended up buying another 50mm 1.4 lens which was in better condition. Trying to get a refund on the returned lens was incredible. First they denied they had received it - I had the UPS return receipt so there was no denying it but they did initially. Then they said they couldnt refund the lens $$ because I bought a "Kit" which is to say a body and lens together. Well, they have a new photo department and a used photo Dept and I transacted with each separately. When I bought the body I bought an extra memory card, LCD screen protector and a haze filter. I paid for the items noted ( jotted down each items price and other notes as I was on the phone with the "salesman") but B&H decided to put it all on one order and and show $00.00 for each item other than the body and the lens. This is the beginning of their scam - fictionally creating a "kit" so if there are problems they deny the truth and try to wear you out and hope you go away. They transferred me to 9 different people over a 3+ week period and I was given different versions of their "truth" multiple times. I was then told that they record their incoming phone calls. I asked to see a transcript or hear the calls and they said no. Recording phone calls is ILLEGAL in 11 states. Federal law permits recording telephone calls and in person conversations with the consent of one of the parties (See 18 U.S.C 2511(2)(d). This is called a one party consent law. HOWEVER, 11 states require the consent of every party to a phone call or conversation in order to make the recording lawful. These "two party consent" laws have been adopted in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts , Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Although referred to as 2 party consent laws, consent MUST be obtained from each party to to a phone call or conversation it it involves more than two people. When I posted my original review (yelp deletes or hides reviews that are not favorable to their advertisers) I got a call from Brian Markman of B&H who represented himself as being part of the CEOs staff and he asked me to delete the review (legalistic reasons as noted above - perhaps) - I refused and explained in detail why (I take lots of notes). Several days later my Yelp review went missing. I disputed the refund/charge with my credit card company and am still awaiting resolution. Since then I have purchased another lens, tripod, Lightroom with B&H competitiors - its simply not worth the hassle and I hate being lied to - there are plenty of other places to shop - the internet is a wonderful thing aint it? The shame of it is that B&H doesnt read the reviews and learn from their mistakes. They treat their customers like garbage - consistently so, instead of building o their base of customers they have to continue to search for customers they lose because of really poor sales and execution practices. Find somewhere else to shop.
D
D Railroad
Outstanding service, support, pricing and shipping over the years. Slight miscommunication recently during a support IM ("Chat") but easily resolved. However, this review is not as much about B&H as it is about some of the misleading, seemingly (keyword: "seemingly") vindictive posts. Weve noticed several posts/"reviews" with identical wording (exact, same message, with a word or two changed in an apparent attempt to disguise the duplicate, triplicate, etc posts) posted under different names (user names, titles, etc). Since we have been doing business with B&H for over 13 years, we havent had any issues other than a minor price discrepancy (price on an LED HDTV was lowered a day after we received the item) which, again, was easily and quickly resolved. A safe way to ensure a positive online shopping experience, with any retailer/vendor, is to thoroughly research an item prior to making a purchase rather than excitedly and hastily purchasing that item. Check warranties and wording, what is included with the item, ensure that it is not open box if you are expecting a new/never returned item and so forth. I.e. research, research, research. Im probably OCD when it comes to researching a prospective purchase, but then I detest the time consuming, agonizing process of returning or exchanging an item, and I do mean "detest it." I even check the manufacturers websites product specifications, features, etc. Not all vendor/retailers can be expected to be 100% accurate and thorough on a products listing with the 10s, 100s, etc of thousands of items sold and added to inventory. Mistakes, or inadvertent omissions, are bound to happen. Many times, weve discovered (especially with B&H) that when there are insufficient details on an item B&H is selling, it is because the manufacturer has been severely lacking that vital information on their own website. In fact, B&H has been able to provide additional product details on several items that the mfr could not (sad)! Summary to this winded diatribe: research, research, research (as many sources as possible including mfrs websites) and buy from B&H with confidence in their fast shipping, competitive prices and outstanding support. B&Hs support so far (a short 13 years) has been stellar, far superior to most online retailers we deal with, including major brick & mortar retailers.