Whats up with Adorama?

W

wblanchard

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I do about 98 percent of all my shopping online. I usually go to resellerratings.com or another feedback site to help me decide on merchants.

I always shop at KEH or B & H for items and have excellent service with them. I've never tried Adorama before, but they have some really bad ratings and reports on them for the last six months: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1759.html

I was wondering what your thoughts on Adorama are?
 
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I buy from Adorama all the time. They are convenient to where I work and have never had problems with them at all.

Keith
 
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I have been happy with them also. Good on the phone and by snail mail. I ordered several Cokin filters and accys, the stuff shipped quickly. when I opened the box, they had doubled one filter and left another one out. I called and the guy on the phone was polite and helpful--he sent the filter priorty mail and when I asked where to return the duplicte filter he basically said "keep it, not worth the hassle"
I don't spend major$ with them so its not that I'm some big account they were worried about losing(I might have spent 100$ last year,maybe 3/4 of that the year before)
Rob
 
If you buy from Adorama, please get to their site from the link on the home page here.

JT
 
My only "issue" with Adorama is that their web site is not always accurate regarding what products are in or out of stock. I have had a couple orders in which items were back ordered. The orders were filled when the items came back into stock, and when I have spoken to people there they have been very helpful.
 
Hi guys,

New to the forum here. I just bought my bessa r3a from Adorama three weeks ago in their shop. (I snagged the last one at the time.) I have bought there before, but I can't say I love the place. They are not the most helpful people, and can sometimes be rude, but their prices are consistently lower than B+H by about 10% when a product first comes out. So essentially you save the amount that you would pay for tax. As big as B + H are, I always find them to be very helpful in person and have come to appreciate their wacky "streamlined" three step purchasing ritual.

Adorama didn't have the Nokton 40/1.4 so I walked up the street to Photovillage. It is more like a boutique than a traditional camera store, and the people who work there are super nice. They had run out of the Multicoated lenses so I bought one of two single coated lenses that remained. While initially a little skeptical, I am very pleased with the results. There does seem to be a certain patina that the photos have, but I'm not sure if it is entirely as a result of the lens. I will post some pics later.


Ironically Adorama gets their Bessas from Photovillage but sells them for the lower $549 price. Go figure.



On another note, I just got a Yashica GSN 35 from eBay last week. It seems to be in perfect working condition except for the battery check light. I just dropped a roll of film of at K&M Tribeca (they do great black and white developing and prints) so I will post some of those as well.


cheers,

jim
 
I've bought from Adorama and had only one problem, and they fixed it without a hitch as soon as I called. Excellent service, as far as I'm concerned, on film and equipment purchases.
 
I have shopped at Adorama online. Last time was August 2004. No problems whatsoever.

-Paul
 
This may be a subject for another thread and my apologies in advance for highjacking if that's what I'm doing.

For those who have bought used gear from Adorama, what has been your experience of the grading scale. I've read the equivalency table of course, but would rather hear from those with real experience.

For instance, a number of items in which I've been interested are rated 'G' or 'V'; are those kinds of items in KEH's 'BGN' class?

TIA!/ScottGee1
 
Welcome Jim!! :)

I shop at Adorama all the time. Just bought a stack of film from them having ascertained beforehand both by email and phone that it was in stock. UPS shipped in 1 day!! :D I did go through this web site to Adorama as Jorge requests.
 
For some reason, I seem to turn to B&H first and Adorama next. But, I have encountered friendly Adorama salespeople on phone transactions and have found them to be reliable. I don't understand why their ratings are not among the highest.

Alan
 
I have not had a problem dealing with Adorama and have found their descriptions on the used equipment I've purchased from them to be accurate, possibly even erring on the side of underrating the products. No complaints.
 
Only once did I buy used gear from Adorama, and it was a bad fit for my Minolta X370s. After calling them, they gave me a return number, so I sent the thing (a teleconverter) back with no further hassle.

I wish their shipping costs were lower than B&H's though...

My last purchase, however, was a hood (used) for my Tokina 19-35 AF lens for my Nikon AF SLR. Used? It just didn't look it! Of course, this time I didn't return it.

And, BTW, I bought it by going through the RFF Adorama link too! :)
 
I've dealt once with Adorama and don't ever plan to deal with them again.

The genius who runs the checks on credit card purchases used an incorrect street address for me, despite the fact that I'd typed in the correct one when I placed the order over the web. Of course this caused the credit card charge to be rejected.

When I returned his call to correct the problem, he was quite rude, blaming me for his error. The call ended with his instructing me not to call him again in the future.
I am quite pleased to comply; neither he nor Adorama will be receiving calls from me in the future.
 
Hmmm . . . clearly we have a case here of 'mixed' reviews.

I very much appreciate Adorama's support of RFF and want to do business with them to support their commitment. I guess the best way to approach it is to keep good documentation and hope for the best!

Jorge, my understanding is that we must 'click through' from the RFF site for RFF to get credit - correct? I assume mentioning RFF during a phone order won't count for much since the salesperson (e.g., "Herman") doesn't care.

Thanks!/ScottGee1
 
YIKES! Graybeard,
If I had that kind of experience I would certainly called back one more time--to have a nice, civil chat with that guy's boss! Learning how to be ruthlessly polite has served me well a few times over the years.
Rob
 
You know, every time I have emailed or called these people they have been rude and short. I honestly would not support them.
 
I've had good results with Adorama

I've had good results with Adorama

I've purchased used and new equipment from both B&H and Adorama. Both have a bit of the "get to the point" New York attitude, but I like that having lived there for 6 years in a previous life.
Both companies have shipped well, represented merchandise fairly and delt quickly with the few problems I've had, most of which were my fault and not theirs.
I find the B&H web site in a different league from Adorama and like having access to my purchases even going back 4 years.
I'm in retailing and know it's a difficult business and those who run into a problem not handled well often speak loudly while the vast majority of pleased customers never mention their good experience.
I'm very grateful to have two such outstanding retailers in a field I love. Particularly since I'm no longer able to visit their brick and mortar stores easily.
 
Get to the point doesen't even get close with how they have dealt with me. More like, get lost. Example, emailed on a demo M6. Response: You should be emailing so and so in used. No forward. No email address. And no response when asking for it. End result: no sale.
 
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