Adorama customer service.......

[SolaresLarrave]

I've only bought a teleconverter from them. This was a while ago. It wasn't perfect (a bit too loose), so I called them, got a return number and sent it back. I got a refund in my credit card a month later, and a phone call from a very courteous guy who wanted to know how to help me better with my future purchases.

I think I did buy a leather case for my Nikon F80 from them. It was backordered, but since I wasn't in a rush I didn't mind. My card was charged when the package arrived, which happened about a month later.

All in all, I never returned to them, though. Their shipping choices are limited. As for service... I was probably lucky. However, their used gear is very reasonably priced... and now I see the reason! 😱 Thanks for the cautionary tales! 🙂

 

[ray_g]

What customer service?

When I want good service and people you can talk to, I go to popflash, photovillage or freestyle, depending on what I am buying. If not available there, B&H.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

B&H for new

KEH for used

stick to those two old hands, and you'll win everytime, good luck

 

[Nachkebia]

I have bought everything I own from adorama, but I can say treat I got from popflash is something magical, I actualy hate adorama, only reason I am using them is, they can ship on different address from billing address 🙂

 

[eric]

You should try going to the store, that's a lot of fun

 

[peter_n]

Never had a problem with them. Recently bought an item on eBay from them and they subtracted the PayPal 3% fee from my bill, presumably because I've had an account for 3 years.

 

[rxmd]

I had a strange experience with Adorama last weekend. They had this Rolleiflex T with case in their online store that a friend was interested in, so we agreed that I should go to Adorama, buy it and bring it to him.

I sent them three e-mails about it, all of which they ignored. I went into their store Sunday at 4 PM and talked to a clerk there, let's call him #1. #1 didn't know what a Rolleiflex was and had me point to one and spell the brandname out for looking it up in the computer. So I told #1 their item number for the camera; #1 phoned their storeroom guy who apparently couldn't find the camera, so #1 said, well, we can't find it, and without any further explanation turned to another customer who had come after me. After he was finished with this guy I asked him again if maybe they could look for it, but he said that it'd turn up sooner or later and there was nothing he could do for me in the meantime; after which he turned around, phoned a colleague on the internal phone and complained in Yiddish about how I was getting on his nerves (which, being German, I kind of understand). I also asked him for some accessories such as a double accessory shoe that apparently he had never heard about and said that they didn't stock these.

I then looked up a couple of item numbers for other items myself on their in-store catalog computer and went to another clerk #2, asked him for those other items and he got them for me (including a double accessory shoe), and I then thought, what the heck, and gave him the number for the Rolleiflex. He went into the storeroom himself, came back without the camera and then looked into the shelf right behind #1 where it was standing in a corner that I couldn't see. I tried the camera, we chatted for some time about the Bessa I had around my neck and it was all very nice. Apparently #1 just couldn't be bothered to turn around and look behind himself, and instead just decided to send me home again without any further word or effort. So I got the camera and a light meter for my friend, some accessories for myself and all in all spent about $420 there, which, if it hadn't been for clerk #2, would have remained in my friend's and my pockets.

Morals:
- A little effort goes a long way in earning $400 for your company.
- If you hire staff who know about the stuff they're supposed to be selling, you might actually end up selling something of said stuff.
- Don't assume your customers don't understand when you're badmouthing them in what you think is a foreign language.
- I'll think twice before going there again.

Philipp

 

[SuitePhoto]

I'm currently waiting on an order from Adorama - and I have to say that I will probably never do business with them again, unless they have a deal that I just cannot pass-up.

I ordered a complete set-up for developing B&W film on the 6th. When it came time to select shipping, I chose the 3-5 day UPS shipping. Due to the fact that I do a bunch of shipping at work, I'm very familiar with the fact that 3-5 UPS shipping is also called 3 day select. But once I finally recieved a tracking number (it finally shipped two days after the order), I found that Adorama had actually shipped it UPS Ground - which has a 5 to 7 day transit time.

So instead of developing my first negs this weekend, I'll be shopping for additional purchases on B&H!

 

[kbg32]

There are very few people around these days in the large major shops in NYC, that really understand photography let alone know the "old" film equipment. If you asked for some attachment for your Rolleiflex, I doubt anyone behind the counter would really know what you were talking about, unless you were in Photo Habitat or Photo Village, etc.. It is really not their fault. Photography has changed so much in the last 5 years that it is difficult for some sales people to keep up. At Adorama, and at some other nameless shops, their internet department and the floor sales staff do not have much connection unfortunately. I bought some equipment off of ebay from Adorama and went to pick it up at the store. I had to patiently wait for someone from upstairs to come down and help me. I can see how some people would find this annoying. But they honestly gave me their undivided attention and found the items I had purchsed.

I had worked for a few years as a darkroom salesman in a large camera chain that is no longer in business. I can tell you from experience that a lot of customers are rude as hell and they don't even know it. They figure that since they are from out of town in the big city, they want to ensure that they won't get ripped off. 99% of the time, they had no idea what they were talking about and when you tried to explain things, they went off on, "I'm the customer. You're the salesman. You do what I say." I usually walked away.

 

[RdEoSg]

Weird. We order from Adorama all the time here at the shop. Been doing it for 8 years or so, and never a single problem from them. Ever.

 

[rxmd]

If you asked for some attachment for your Rolleiflex, I doubt anyone behind the counter would really know what you were talking about, unless you were in Photo Habitat or Photo Village, etc..

Clerk #2 told me how he loved TLRs and how after three years of looking he had finally bought a Wide Rolleiflex with the 4/50 that he had been lusting for. I guess he would have known.

The problem wasn't really that Adorama doesn't have qualified staff, the problem was they apparently also have unqualified staff that are too lazy to look at the shelf behind their very backs and badmouth customers while said customers are still in the store. It was still a good deal in the end, but getting to the actual deal was pretty hit and miss, bothersome and a waste of time.

Philipp

 

[RdEoSg]

Clerk #2 told me how he loved TLRs and how after three years of looking he had finally bought a Wide Rolleiflex with the 4/50 that he had been lusting for. I guess he would have known.

The problem wasn't really that Adorama doesn't have qualified staff, the problem was they apparently also have unqualified staff that are too lazy to look at the shelf behind their very backs and badmouth customers while said customers are still in the store. It was still a good deal in the end, but getting to the actual deal was pretty hit and miss, bothersome and a waste of time.

Philipp

Personaly I would have made the supervisor show up and then first ask the clerk to explain why he said what he said, and then asked the supervisor why clerk two found it no problem but clerk one could not... You might have ended up with an even cheaper price 😉

 

[StuartR]

Some people are good, some people are bad. If you really want someone to pay individual attention to your questions about older or oddball items, you need to go to Tony Rose, Camera West, PhotoVillage, Tamarkin, Robert White etc. Adorama and B&H are geared towards the pro market and the consumer market, not the collectors market. They may offer everything, but on a day in and day out basis, the majority of the staff are going to know what they sell most -- 20D's, point and shoots, EF lenses, D200s, mainstream films and storage cards, manfrotto, gitzo and slik tripods etc etc. If you go in there and ask, "Do you have a series 5.5 retaining ring for a 1970s Leica 40mm summicron?" they are going to look at you like you have a hole in your head. But lo and behold, they do have one...or at least they did until I bought it. But I just got it through the website...anyway.

As for Chris's suggestion, I don't think playing the clerks off one another really works too well at Adorama and B&H. Please don't take this the wrong way, but their religion segregates itself rather strongly from mainstream American society, and as nice as many of the sales guys are, they are going to look out for themselves rather than take the customer's side in an argument. Also, their sales volume is so high that losing a customer or a 400 dollar sale is not even a drop in the bucket for them. These guys are moving millions a week...Or at least that is my impression. I have spent a lot of time in Williamsburg (and I am moving there in Sept), and if you wander around there you will see how strongly the Orthodox community isolates itself from the rest of the neighborhood...all the yards are completely fenced in with no outside gates, all the windows are barred etc etc.

 

[BrianShaw]

- Don't assume your customers don't understand when you're badmouthing them in what you think is a foreign language.

This is a lesson that mroe people should learn. I had a barber that did that once. He was chatting with his buddy in Spanish while cutting my hair, making fun of me. He basically thought I had big ears and was calling me "Dumbo". My ears are big, but not *that* big. So after he finished I asked him (in English) if my ears are really that much bigger than most other guys. He looked astounded and told me that I can't possibly understand Spanish... and then he asked me to prove to him that I can speak Spanish. I paid him for the haircut, told him to "drop dead" (in Spanish) and never went back again.

To get back on topic, however, I;ve bought a couple of times from Adorama and had a good experience. But I always knew exactly what I wanted and never had to discuss anything with them.

 

[StuartR]

Yeah, no kidding. Try being a white guy living in Japan who speaks Japanese, or an American who lives in Russia who speaks Russian, or an American who lives in Iceland and speaks some Icelandic. I have learned some crazy languages, and the Japanese and Icelanders in particular think that no one can understand their language so that they can say whatever they want. The Icelanders are right 99.999% of the time, but it is still no excuse. To be fair they don't do it nearly as much as the Japanese do. The Japanese? I have no idea why, there are tons of non-Japanese who speak Japanese, particularly in Japan, but they still assume that you cannot speak a word, and many nearly drop down dead when you start out with any day to day conversation.

 

[anaanda]

I think Bh photo is the best all around , you have to be diligent with Adorama and KEH, they're just not as technologically on point as BH.

 

[bigdog]

I have only contacted Adorama a few times on the phone and they acted like they could not be bothered. I have since spent thousands on lenses, cameras, printers and supplies from B & H and I have been extremely happy!

I have only purchased new from B & H so I can't comment on used gear. I have purchased from KEH for used gear and I can recommend them as well. Ebay has been a mixed bag for me but I have purchased some nice gear there and have not been burned....yet!