Today I got a soggy box and no developer from B&H

R

richiedcruz

Guest
Last week, I put in an order to B&H for a new bottle of Sprint b&W film developer and a few other odds and ends. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I have not done many times over the years.

Today, my order arrived. I opened the box from B&H, and inside was another box. I thought that was odd. Then I pulled it out and found that it was soaked through. When I opened that box I found an empty bottle of developer and the rest of my order covered in developer.

My first thought was to curse UPS and kick myself for not using the US postal service, like I usually do. Then I called B&H, but they were already closed. When I looked at the soggy box, I realized that it did not look crushed or otherwise abused. The rest of my order looked alright.

I was wondering if it could have been the Summer heat that did in my developer? Bumpy NY roads? Bad luck?

Has anyone else ever had problems like this?

Richie
 
Never had it happen to this extent- I had a bottle of something leak a little bit about ten years ago. Can't now remember what it was- it was a small bottle. B&H usually puts either the liquid or the rest of the stuff in a plastic bag when I order. I always use UPS with them. Was the outer box sealed with the B&H tape or had UPS reboxed it after it leaked?

It has been my (rare) experience that B&H will make it right very quickly.

Have you tried the re-badged Sprint from Freestyle? Marathon they call it- but perhaps it only comes in big cubes?
 
The one time I've had problems with B&H it was with darkroom chemicals. In my case the carrier appeared to leave the package out in the street and it was run over, apparently during a rainstorm. Although I returned everything neither B&H or UPS did anything for me.
 
A couple of times, I received orders that were for expensive items (lenses) and I was surprised how poorly they were packaged. They arrived fine but.......
 
I am still going to call B&H. But otherwise I am going to consider this a freak accident. The B&H box arrived in a UPS box, but it did not look like anyone had sat on it or anything.

The thing that gets me is that I have I dropped plenty of Sprint bottles over the years and none of them broke. I even dropped the same bottle three times in a couple of minutes. That bottle looked ugly after the third drop, but it did not leak.

Thanks for the tip about Martathon. I looked for Marathon at Freestyle, but they seem to be out. I have seen it before, but I did not know that it was just rebadged Sprint.

Richie
 
peter_n said:
...the carrier appeared to leave the package out in the street and it was run over, apparently during a rainstorm....
Click to expand...

Sorry to laugh Peter, but this is a great description. Did you get pictures?;)
 
LOL I suppose it is funny but I didn't laugh at the time, and especially when I didn't get any recompense. As I recall I think I did take a couple of pictures but I'm at work right now. Will have a look when I get home tonight...
 
OK so I'm home and here's a pic I found. Hope you like it... ;)


attachment.php
 
I wouldn't know who to blame for the mess, but that's why I always buy developing chemicals locally. However, I understand that there are many people in this forum who don't have that option, so I consider myself lucky.

BH
 
peter_n said:
OK so I'm home and here's a pic I found. Hope you like it... ;)


attachment.php
Click to expand...
:eek: Wow! And I was sore over losing a bottle of developer;)

Richie
 
I didn't make it clear in my original post but this happened in January of 2006. I notified UPS and also sent what you see in the picture back to B&H. I never heard from UPS and B&H sent the wrecked stuff back without comment. I don't have the time to get into a finger pointing exercise so I let it go and reordered the damaged parts of the shipment from B&H. They were delivered perfectly by UPS. ;) I still buy from B&H and recommend it to others here, it is in general a very good company and excellent with returns.

OTOH I got a Martin Munkacsi book from Amazon UK last night and it was very poorly packed and badly damaged in shipment (see my instant gripe in the "no packaging!" thread). This morning I got a very nice apologetic email from customer service at Amazon UK with the promise of an instant replacement and no need to send the 7 lb. book back. Now that's customer service! :)
 
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