B&H Photo Video

Before buying a new Galaxy S4 cellphone and batteries from B&H, I called Customer Service to verify that the batteries I was considering to buy (spare batteries - B&H #SAEBB600BUBE) would be authentic Samsung OEM product: made in Korea, assembled in Korea. The reason is that product made or assembled in China has a reputation for not holding a charge, "bloating" soon after first use, and/or burning up. "Joel" stated in our telecom at 2:15 pm on 12/16/2014 that the products were authentic Samsung OEM product: made in Korea, assembled in Korea. He even directed me to the B&H website to see the statement on the picture of the battery shown as proof that the batteries are authentic Samsung OEM product. So, what did I actually get? Two batteries that state "made in Korea, assembled in China". See the digipics of these two unopened batteries. If I wanted knockoff batteries from China, I could have paid less than $5.00 each on Amazon. Instead, I believed B&H would not be so dishonest as to pull a "bait & switch." So, it's clear their company should actually be called "B&S". Please be aware that B&H is a dishonest company and will cheat buyers if at all possible.

I cannot even remember now how I came across B&H, but I have been a fan for quite sometime. Only recently have I had the opportunity to try out their products and services while shopping for Christmas though, and I can now officially say, should B&H Photo Video keep up the service I have experienced thus far, I will be a longtime customer. I am a huge "tech nerd", always wanting the latest gadgets, and photography is my passion, my hobby, so B&H is certainly right up my alley. So far, prices are outstanding, deliveries have been timely and products received have been brand new as advertised. Just placed another Christmas order for several door prizes for my company Christmas party Friday evening - if they can get these to me before the party starts on Friday I will be Genuinely appreciative and so thankful - as will my employees! I paid for expedited shipping, so fingers crossed!

My employer tasked me in locating a professional camera for his child who was attending a media arts college. I was told by the child and boss that it needed to be a Canon, model TBD. After a week or so of researching Canon camera's and accessories, retailers, e-tailers and such I opted for B&H for the best pricing, service as B&H Photo Video are a long standing brick and mortar store.

Upon my first telephone call to answer some questions I felt confident that the individual (Mr. Meyer) I spoke with knew what they were talking about, the bosses child confirmed as they listened in. We placed the order with B&H at that time. The representative did not try to upsell any products, did make recommendations on additional batteries, also included some nice freebie's and such of about $400 retail value. The purchase price was above $6,400 from B&H, arrived in 2 days. I reviewed the invoice, comparing apples to apples B&H saved my boss almost $2k. Needless to say the child is a very happy media student.

(Copying my review and their response as it appears on Google reviews)

All it takes is one bad(really bad) experience to lose years of patronage to the store. In my case, it was a really really rude guy at the returns section.

I have shopped at the store in Manhattan, many times over the years. But for the first time ever, I had to return a camera, only to buy something better. But when I went there, there was this big white(jewish i think) guy who started making, remarkably rude but subtle innuendos which it took some time for me to digest. First thing was, there was a memory card that came free with the camera. I left it inside the camera when I returned it. After glancing at the contents, he asked "So you kept the card?" (Subtle, but yes, he did mean if I tried to steal it.) But I gave him the benefit of a doubt. Then after looking inside the camera and finding the card, he says "Yeah, it was not here. So!". Then he proceeded to open a box which was tightly packed, but not that badly either. The second he opened it, there came another canned response. "You don't have to squeeze everything in, just because you are returning it!" I was in shock! I asked him to repeat what he said 2-3 times, after which he dismissed me by waving his hand.

I don't know if it is B&H's strategy to dissuade people from returning stuff, by placing such people at the returns section. Because the canned nature of his remarks came so naturally to him that I am sure he must have been doing this for a while, to a lot of customers now. I did consult a lawyer about this and am considering my options because even after trying to let it go for some time now, I can't. Someone has to stop these people.

Response from the owner in the last week

"Thank you for your order and this feedback. We regret your dissatisfaction and regret this entirely innocuous conversation was open to any misinterpretation. B&H does not have a strategy to dissuade people from returning stuff people return stuff every day and were happy to accommodate them. Its part of being a retailer. I presume the return was processed uneventfully and you received the exchange item or refund you wanted."

Edit after reply from owner(As shown on Google reviews):

"this entirely innocuous conversation was open to any misinterpretation" -

So so according to B&H, it is acceptable behaviour for their employee at the returns section to say "You don't have to squeeze everything in, just because you are returning it!". And B&H Photo Video say it is a "misinterpretation" on my side. I don't know how else to interpret it but to think he is blaming me of "Squeezing everything in" just because I was "returning it". I will let other readers be the judge.

"people from returning stuff people return stuff every day and were happy to accommodate them"

Obviously, the store has no choice but to accept stuff returned within the return period without any damage since the store has a return policy. And stores get more sales because they have a return policy. But this guy certainly wasn't "happy to accommodate it".

Your employee needs more training on how to behave with customers. The customer is not your sink to vent out frustrations and complexes.

B&H is good, but not perfect. B&H Photo Video earned my family's trust over a period of years. We order from B&H and don't have to worry if the products we receive will be Chinese knock-offs (which is a real problem with Amazon). The few times we've had a problem with a B&H order, the issue has been very well handled.

But, they do have some problems with their ordering process. Very recently I placed an order, then decided to add something to that order. The website provided a way to do it, but doing so put my order into into "secretly hung status" where it showed an expected delivery date, but in reality the order hadn't shipped and wouldn't until I called to see why my package was never delivered.

Nor was that my first problem with a hung order at B&H. When I ordered a $7K HP workstation a few years ago, they sat on the order for months while waiting for a $70 PCI card to come in that I didn't even really need. By the time I got the PC, the price had literally dropped. Nobody ever even asked if I'd like to have the PC shipped without the missing PCI card.

Love B&H but the gift card communication could be improved, i purchase professional items on a continuing basis and the rewards program is a nice incentive. I used an $85 rewards card on a small headphone purchase for my spouse. She was excited to receive them as we picked them out together. It was a huge disappointment when B&H Photo Video arrived to only work on one channel, This is not characteristic of Sennheiser. When I called for an RMA authorization for replacement set, I was told that I would have to pay full price now and wait for the return to be processed.Not optimum but fair enough. I received the notification that the return was processed and that the refunded monies had been put in the buckets they had come from. Since I had fully used the total amount of the gift card i was sure it was defunct and no longer germane. Normally I receive an email with a gift card number and pin to apply at checkout. I received NO further email on this. In the meantime I made another large lens purchase for full price. Today I went to purchase a strobe for my son's Christmas and attempted to use the refunded gift card balance and did not see that it was available. After an extended call with customer service I was informed that the balance of the gift card had been applied to the one from the May purchase! I should go back to my email for the card number and pin. I did this and it worked fine. Keep in mind the May gift card amount was used COMPLETELY and I assumed it no longer existed. Your gift card communication needs to be improved. If for perhaps instead of Gift Card, it should have said Gift Card XXXX issued in May 2019, please see our earlier email for full number and pin information, that would have been very useful. I remain an avid B&H customer.

B & H
My message is to express my dissatisfaction with the service provided. Make two (2) purchases the July 5,2011 to come to Miami. The place from Peru for that country. Not finding anyone returned packages. One stay at UPS and the other returned to NY for no reason because both packages will be issued a "Hold" to stay in Miami. When contacting the Call Center B & H, coordinate delivery with Gabriel Muñoz, who gave me a lousy service to offer something that could never be. In addition, ordered the deployment of the package was in NY to Miami with urgency would only be 2 days because in this country and being a mistake you (B & H) had the decency to charge low $ 41.90. That is, I charged to my credit card an amount that you must assume. Additionally, request to hear the call of July 18,2011 I had with Gabriel Muñoz who could not solve the impasse that had and that made me lose all day since I returned to my country (Peru) the next day (19 July 2011). Because of this man, I lost all day and made me go 3 times ProQuad UPS tells me that he had made the arrangements to pick up the package when UPS knew nothing and the last call made at 5:30 about me change the version of the conversation during the day. Request to be heard these flames as well as the one I had with David Lopez (between 5:00 and 5:30 pm) because not only treated me badly but I cry on the phone. That is, a person should not be working in that area so if you treat people who have problems as I had. If not for the people of UPS, had not been able to return to the things you buy in stores because its people could not fix anything, lost me the day and gave me a lousy deal. If B&H Photo Video check their records, in 2009 had already made a purchase of $ 1223. 00 or so and not having any problem do another this year for a total of $ 4500. 00 but after treatment they have given me, I do not want to rely more on their services that they provide a very poor quality of service. I hope you hear the Call Ringtone of July 18,2011 and take action on the matter.
Atte.
Daniel Conde 987729394 (Lima, Peru)
*******@gmail.com

After my order did not show up for a week beyond when it should have I received this (see below). This item was a great price which I had spent serveral hours researching. B&H Photo Video did offer to credit me towards another model that was an additonal $300 I told them no thanks. My refund for the item I purchased and never received is approximately $350 and is still pending...:-( very dissappointed in this transaction. I have ordered from them before and had been pleased with the results.

In a message dated 2/28/2013 3:57:27 P.M. Central Standard Time,
*******@bhphoto.com writes:

DEAR ANDREW,
You placed a backorder recently for the CANON MF8380CDW IMAGECLASS CLR LASER PRINTER. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has informed us that this item is discontinued. As we are unable to fulfill your order at this time we
Need to either issue a refund or provide you with B&H credit toward another
Purchase, including your purchase of a replacement. Please reply to this
Email to request B&H credit in lieu of a refund.

We will automatically refund your account in five (5) days
If we dont receive a response from you.

Our Sales Department is standing by to serve you with all your product
Needs, including a possible replacement. Please contact them by emailing
*******@bhphoto.com_ (mailto:*******@bhphoto.com), calling *******969, or Live Chat at_www.bhphotovideo.com_ (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/).

We apologize for your inconvenience, and we look forward to serving you
Again in the future.

Customer Service Department
B&H Photo, Video and Pro Audio
*******743_http://www.bandh.com/_ (http://www.bandh.com/)

Bh used to be a good company. It seems like I have to call support every other order now. Takes 30-60+ minutes to get a human. Call for sales and you're talking to someone in 1-5 minutes, but B&H Photo Video refuse to help you. Seems like the company stops caring about the customer the minute they have your money. Last order I placed was on back order. I randomly checked the site about a week later and the item was in stock, but mine hadn't shipped. I contacted customer support and magically they shipped the item. I strongly suspect they would have sold it out from under me if I hadn't made a big deal out of it. I've just had too many problems ordering through bh over the last few years. Sad because they were a good company before that.

Update:
I've dealt with Henry Posner before. His mixture of condescension and arrogance is another reason to avoid this company if at all possible. Brian Markman smoothed over his mess after a previous unfortunate experience with BH, but I don't think I should recommend companies where you have to have a special contact to be treated well.

I bought a gimbal that was defective straight from the box. I left the country on the day the item arrived and was only able to open it when I got back, only to find out it was defective. When I reached out to B&H costumer care I was told that since it's been over 30 days nothing can be done. B&H Photo Video also advised to contact the manufacturer.
I e-mailed the manufacturer and got no reply. Then I called them and was instructed to contact the seller to get a replacement. Now tired of being tossed back and forth, I would appreciate B&H to take some responsibility for shipping me a defective unit in the first place. I didn't pay for a broken item.

It's frustrating that being B&H the company that actually sold me the item won't take responsibility for selling me a broken gimbal. I have always valued your quality and good prices, this however is turning to be one of the worst costumer experiences in a sense that
1. I don't expect to be shipped with defective merchandise
2. If and when defective units are sent I expect the company to take steps to fix it. After all there's a reason people go to specific companies, for reputation and price guarantee. Costumer satisfaction is key for retaining businesses.

One of the reasons i shop with Amazon is the fact that their relationship with me doesn't end after the purchase. I had a pair of Beats By Dre headphones that stopped working after 6 months. I contacted them and they send a replacement unit straight away. This unit I had been using, and got replaced. They have my business forever.

It's appalling that B&H would refuse to exchange a new, unused, straight from the box defective unit. Now, am I expected to keep an item worth over $400 which defective is essentially a piece of junk?

I would give 0 stars if I could but 1 star is the bare minimum to be able to write this review. I bought a laptop for my daughter's 15th birthday and I was not satisfied with the performance of the laptop. So I returned the laptop within the 30 day return window to make an EXCHANGE for another laptop, not even a refund, just an exchange for another laptop B&H Photo Video had in stock.

I sent the laptop and I even received confirmation along with a signature that someone named Stein at B&H Photo and Video received the laptop. Yet, when I call them they say that they haven't received anything even though UPS sent me a confirmation with a SIGNATURE that they did. I have been stuck in this situation with a month; shopping with B&H has been one of the most frustrating and terrible experiences I have ever had.

As well as dealing with the fact that I lost $1400 dollars on a laptop that they won't even bother sending back to me, I have had to deal with the worst customer service I have ever encountered with a company. These people will keep you on hold for 30 minutes then hang up the phone and they don't care about the needs of the customer.

IF YOU DONT WANT YOUR MONEY TO BE STOLEN, DO NOT SHOP AT THIS STORE! DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE! THEY ARE LIARS.

B&H Photovideo has a great website, with a LOT of detailed product information. B&H Photo Video have good (but not great) prices. They have above-average customer service. However, they will not bargain or price match, even when buying multiple items and regardless of price.

If you are buying a name-brand product, you can often find a better price elsewhere on reputable sites.

However, this is the only on-line site where I feel comfortable buying used equipment. Nearly 10 years' experience with B&H gives me confidence that they thoroughly inspect used items before offering them for sale.

On the other hand, I am not completely satisfied with B&H in the past year for a couple of reasons, which has limited my business with them. First, B&H is easily big enough to have leverage with the major manufacturers when it comes to Manufacturers Set Prices, but they apparently choose not to do this. Some manufacturers will require retailers to sell certain products, especially the latest-version or current releases, at a minimum set price. B&H is big enough to leverage MSP, in order to offer better prices, but they usually do not. When you see a high-quality camera or binocular on B&H Photovideo for the same price you see on other websites (sometimes even small outfits), you can be assured B&H Photo is not offering their best price.

The second complaint is that B&H has cut back a lot recently on its product offerings from Nikon, especially in the sport optics department.

In summary, B&H is a great place to do online research, which is saying a lot for a retail site! However, you can most likely find better prices elsewhere. And if you are buying used, it's hard to beat B&H.

Their online customer service leaves A LOT to be desired. I ordered a set of photo paints from them about a month ago and when these arrived I was greeted by a box of broken glass and spilled red paint. I was very unhappy since I needed these and can't get them locally and now had a huge mess on my hands. I was just glad that none of my photo paper ordered was exposed to the paint. I asked to return just the broken color so I could use the rest but was told I needed to return all. I did so and was told the replacement set would be packaged better. When this arrived I knew before opening the box that we had an issue because you could hear the paints rattling around in a box much too big and not protected in bubble wrap. I opened the box to find the same mess (except orange this time). B & H refuses to give me a partial refund for this debacle and seems really insincere about their mistakes so now I just am waiting for my next set of broken, messy paints in a box of glass shards to arrive. I won't be doing business with them after this.

Last year, I finally bought a digital SLR. Next came multiple lenses, memory cards, chargers, bags, backpacks, filters, flash, and other gadgets with many orders placed to B&H. Only once did I receive a defective product (an expensive lens) but B&H made it so easy to return. I emailed them with a description of the problem, B&H Photo Video sent a shipping label, I sent it off and had a replacement within a week. Their customer service is exceptional. I don't understand people that complain about receiving a defective product. They are a store, not a manufacturing facility. They are one of the best companies I have bought from on line. I was so grateful to find an online company that I could actually trust as there are no large camera stores located in my remote mountain area. Oh, and watch their daily deals - if it is a product you want or need, you better grab it while you can or you'll be kicking yourself when you have to pay full price for it.

Take care of your money and avoid this shop!
Is not normal that only after I ask for my order to "discover"that the product is out of stock!
Only if you ask!
If no,...? Is not normal! Is no correct!
What B&H Photo Video "forget" to say in their replay is that only 2 days of silence from their part, I've sent 3 emails in which the question was:"What's happening with my pack?"they sent me an email in which they informed me that the product is out of stock! If I didn't ask for my pack, from their part was the same silence! And regarding the money, I didn't receive a proof for the refund! Only... the sames nice words! This is the way they proceed with a client. Only if you insist to know where are your money, they react! Good way to trate a client! Congratulations!. It's very easy to make a good site, to sell products that you don't have anymore to take the money from stupid people like me(at the bank you have to pay interest, so is better like this) and only and if they claim, to give them money back after 1-2 weeks. It's a free loan from stupid people, like me! If you receive the money back! I didn't! Maybe you are more lucky! If you dare!

I've had it with B and H. I purchased the Vello LW500-u and wrote 3 reviews of this product and for some reason B&H Photo Video refuse to post any of my reviews on this product. Since they won't publish my review on their website I decided to post it on websites they don't control. I bought the LW500-u Black Friday November 2019 and the buyer cannot tell by looking at the product whether you are getting the LW500 (transfers photos to computer) or the LW500-u (transfers to computer and Lightroom or Capture One). The product itself states LW500 regardless of which one you receive which is a terrible business practice. There is a sticker on the outside box but since when are products sold with this lack of veracity? WHo is to say you received the correct item? This item is supposed to be support a wireless file transfer to Lightroom or Capture One. The product is supposed to work with an app that you download from Vello. I have 2 MACs and the software is supposed to work with the MAC. My MACs operate with Mojave and the other with Catalina OS and neither one would load the program (and yes I went into Security and allowed the app to open on my computer). I called Vello several times and they finally told me there was a software problem. I also told them I couldn't understand why a product that normally costs $349 couldn't be properly labeled. They finally told my their marketing team would look into it. This is back in December. I returned the product and tried to leave a review of this product and for whatever reason B an H refused to publish. I tried again this week now February 19 and the software still doesn't load. I left another review of my experience and B and H once again did not publish my review. I fail to understand the issue here but leaving reviews is an important factor to consider when deciding to use or buy a product. I don't blame B and H for the defective product but if B and H is going to pick and choose which reviews they want to publish this obviously distorts the process. At this point there are other options out there to buy Photography supplies and while I always thought highly of B and H apparently something has changed and I'm done with them.

7/12/2021 Update. In response to B&H I want to show several screen shots. What these screen shots show is that there is NO information on either the B&H website (Specifications) or the Vello website (Specifications) that the LW-500-U is incompatible with Mac OS 10. 15. 1. As a matter of fact screen shots from both the Vello and B&H websites UNDER "QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS" state explicitly the Vello LW-500 U is "compatible with Catalina 10.10 or above." Furthermore I also show that I now have the Mac Big Sur 11.1 update and I again downloaded the Vello app for MAC and show another screenshot demonstrating the app would still not install successfully. I fail to understand why Vello has not fixed their app and that B&H still lists it for sale on their website.

These are the objective facts of my recent experience with B&H. I leave it to you to decide on whether you should trust them to supply equipment, taking into account the possibility that the equipment might need returning or replacing.
· Ordered NEW equipment from B&H and paid $795 + $82 delivery charge online. Straightforward ordering and fast delivery.

· Received goods. Paid additional $97 in tax. Goods found to be defective as a number of the suction cups did not hold suction for more than two minutes.

· Returned goods. Straightforward procedure and good support from B&H in issuing return labels etc.

· Received replacement equipment. Paid additional $110 delivery charge and a further $104 tax on delivery. This equipment found to be WELL USED stock, with numerous marks, dents, scratches and a vital attachment ¼ thread stripped rendering it unusable.

· Contacted B&H to advise them that I was not satisfied. B&H refused to accept the goods were used and asked for photographs. Photos were supplied showing clearly the signs of use this equipment was WELL used, perhaps 1-2 years old and used heavily in that time. Verified by manufacturer (Digital Juice) that the condition as seen in the photos was not the condition of the item when supplied NEW.

· B&H continued to maintain that the items had been supplied as new condition, refusing to acknowledge even the possibility that a mistake might have been made and that a used unit might have been dispatched by mistake. I pointed out that B&H Photo Video had two USED units for sale on their website priced at $500.

· B&H offered $75 refund. I refused.

· B&H continued to maintain that the item supplied was NEW.

· After considerable time and inconvenience I received notification from B&H that a refund of $226 had been made as a final offer. They did not ask if this was acceptable to me, nor did give me an opportunity to respond.

· By this time I had paid $513 more than I should have for a USED item that was unusable. Understandably I was not happy with the refund of $226.

· I then advised B&H that I would not accept their offer and that I would like to return the item for a full refund.

· B&H responded by stating they would not accept the return of the item as it was now used!

ALMOST 2 MONTHS SINCE INITIAL ORDER AND I STILL DON"T HAVE A WORKING PHONE AND WON"T BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH I FILED A BBB COMPLAINT, B&H Photo Video REFUSE TO GET ME A WORKING PHONE!

On Apr 3rd I ordered a Moto G XT1625 4th Gen. 32GB Smartphone (Unlocked, Black) Used Cat.# 1750902 MFR # 00971NARTL which I received on Apr 12. On Apr 19th, I filed this RMA complaint: I have purchased used technologies from many companies including HP and BestBuy and I have never received one in such lame condition as this phone. I have loaded the requested update 10 times and as soon as it finishes, it asks to do another 10 min update. I don't know if this problem is why I can't get it to connect to my phone provider, but it can't connect. So, other than being a paperweight, this phone is useless. It is in perfect condition scratch and scuff-wise. I would like a replacement phone ASAP that actually works and is in the same perfect physical condition or new for shipped for free. On 04/22/18 I received the RMA label - Your RMA form and PRE-PAID RETURN LABEL(S) are attached to this email as a PDF document. On May 14th, I received a phone (that actually appeared to be the same EXACT PHONE) with the SAME EXACT issues (can't connect and keeps requesting an update). On May 18th I contacted B&H via chat: ------------Begin Transcript------------: Hello my name is Adam G and I'm looking forward to helping you today! Me: Great because I am giving B&H one chance before I contact the BBB! Me: I have had great service from B&H for over 25 years so I am absolutely appalled! They say that they are unable to replace the phone since it is used - DON'T SELL WHAT YOU CAN'T DELIVER IN WORKING ORDER OR SUBSTITUTE WITH A WORKING MODEL! My B+H Order # *******767 so folks can verify my experience!

I ordered a 40" TV through B&H Photo and it came damaged. I contacted them and i had to pay for another television to get a replacement sent out to me. I then received the second TV and it was damaged as well. The box the TVs were delivered in were very thin and offered no protection to the TVs. B&H Photo Video made zero effort on the second TV to ensure it would reach me undamaged. Both TVs were sent back and i have received my refund for both. Even after two damaged TVs i was going to try for a third time. Looking through their products i came across a TV that i was very interested in. It was on sale and a size 50". So i called them up and explained the past issues i had and the trouble i had been through and wanted to see if i could get the 50" sale price on the smaller 40", which one would think would be a better deal for them. The guy was rude and basically told me to go pound sand. I urge people to approach this company with caution.

B&H review
I've never ripped a company before like I am now. I understand the world is a mess right now but my issue has nothing to do with that!
1. opened live chat to get a recommendation for an external battery for Astro photo with my Nikon D850 purchased at BandH. I ordered the battery and it showed up w/ NO charger and the CoreSWX regulator. After waiting another week the charger showed up. Charged the battery and tried to use the product that was suggested by the B&H employee, but it is either defective or the incorrect product that was recommended by the B&H employee(yes I know that's twice). So after waiting in the tech support que for over two hrs I was told that he was unable to troubleshoot and suggested I contact the OEM. I did so via email for a couple days and was told I need to return it. Waiting another two hrs for "ClayZ to open my chat. This is where the water starts to boil! I told him very clearly by pasting the order number and product I needed the rma for. He then asked if I wanted to talk to a product specialist. I said no, it doesn't work(third time) and that I simply wanted a credit as I had already ordered the CORRECT part by doing my own research. He said it wasn't eligible for a return. I again(second or third time) told him to look up the chat log and see that this was an order placed by a specialist that said the part would work. I again was asked if I wanted a product specialist. Finally he agreed to return. But told me I would be charged for return shipping! I again(4th time) explained that wouldn't work. He then agreed to make a one-time "exception" and not charge me the shipping. Trouble is he started the RMA for the battery not the regulator that was pasted into the chat at the beginning with the order number. After asking me again if I wanted to be connected to a product specialist(5th time) It was suggested that I call the CS number as I couldn't speak to a manager via chat... I of course did so during the chat and received the message that customer service is not available. And why not, I mean it is Friday around 10:30 am PST. So now I have the correct part on it's way and will see if it works and never and I mean never visit this site/store ever again. I will also, do my very best and spend the time and energy to warn others of this horrible business practice. I guess the old saying "buyer beware" is spot on when it comes to B&H. Oh and yes, I'm a professional that has spent approx. 15-20K on gear over the years. But that is over as there are many, many choices out there.

I've had my worst online experience ever with them, but after reading some of the reviews on other sites, I figured it out.
So, if you are not american, or you don't have a pure american name, you will have to submit a verification, being international shopper, seems fine, some sites used to do it in 2010.

I've submitted the verification request 4-5 times, and contacted their customer service also 3-4 times, and everytime you mail them, B&H Photo Video send you a ref number, I useless Ref number that you can't use for follow up.

6 days passed, I decided to DM them on twitter, and I managed to get in touch with one of the directors ( communication) he seemed helpful ( at least someone replying) so I mailed them my last verification with ID, work email and I asked them if they needed more (as usual no reply just another ref number) was last Thursday and they went off till Monday.

By now more than 15 days had passed, since i got a load of ref numbers I decided to mail the latest one to their communication director hoping he will get back to me with an update, instead he replied to me in a discriminating tone, instead of explaining to me what went on with his verification team, he went on to tell the number I mailed is not the order number.

It seemed he saw that I got an Arab name, so probably I still ride a camel and live in a tent, and might stole the credit card I paid with from a tourist.

So I decided, to cancel the order and since there's a reasoning option I chose to type it myself and I put my reasons, was hoping someone would get back to me to get clarification like proper businesses, they cancelled it instantly like they were praying I do it.

What I'm unhappy about that the days I wasted following up with their bot, getting my mail filled with Ref numbers that I should say it again, you can't use to follow up, just randomly generated numbers.

And Henry Posner don't jump here offering support now, because when I needed your support you did nothing.

I ordered a Fugi XT4, for $1700. When it arrived, I did not think about the color of the outlet plug, until I couldn't charge the camera. When I called B&H Photo Video asked no questions, but assumed it was a faulty battery and expected me to send back the battery before they sent me another one. I discovered the problem on You Tube and on reinspecting the camera box, it was clear it had been tampered with and the original parts had been replaced with parts that did not work. I was on hold a long time for a customer service manager, who could have cared less and insisted multiple times that the package came directly from the manufacturer. I did not like that I spent 1 1/2 hours trying to get the issue resolved while the manager put on me on hold and then insisted they had no cameras in stock to replace the camera I had ordered. I was told that Fed Ex would pick up the faulty camera package and when I didn't hear from them for THREE days, I called and customer service told me the package (a camera) was too heavy and I would have to take the package to Fed Ex myself. There are other vendors that match their prices. Shop around. This company can not be trusted.

Working with one of their people for a home security system. Rep suggested
Cameras, NVR, and switch to make system work together. Put up initial
System with 4 cameras, all worked well. Ordered the remaining 3
Cameras, installed and tried to add to system. System responds that I
Am missing licenses. Now I'm stuck spending hundreds more that I was
Not told I would have to. Had the rep told me that I would have asked about other options. I found another NVR that would have worked for less money total. As the other NVR had the PoE
Switch build in. What kind of customer service is this? I already
Spent over $1100 now to find out that it'll cost hundreds more. So their so called experts either only care about making money for B&H, B&H Photo Video don't know their products or don't care about customer service. Sent an email from their website to what I thought was customer service. The reply said sorry for the miscommunication. Failing to tell the customer pertinent information about the products is now a miscommunication. Tried again to customer service and no reply. As of now I will not buy from B&H again.

Quite a number of years now, that I have been getting all of my photo gear needs from BH. The prices are excellent, and their return policy is easy and no issues. If something is wrong/not right, B&H Photo Video will fix it. You also can get access to staff with professional photography backgrounds, so significant no-spin support is available for choosing or using your gear. We needed to set up an in-house small studio lighting system for my daughter, about a year ago. The time that the lighting department spent with us on the phone, to figure out what we needed and how to use it, was amazing. For years, I bought from J&R Music World-they are great, too, but they went under, some years back. I was very nervous about picking a new vendor for my needs, after the demise of J&R. But after picking B&H, I never looked back. For low $$ or high $$ items, you can buy with full confidence.

Two weeks ago I loved B&H and spent thousands of dollars a year at the online store, but a single order has flipped my opinion. In essence, customer service is lazy and apathetic. In this case, an order for a single item was placed before 11AM and overnight shipping was requested and paid for. It was critical for my business to have it the next day. I had a feeling the item did not ship because I received notice a few minutes before 7PM that the shipping label had just been printed. The next morning I tried to stop the order because the item was of no use to me if it was a day late, and I was sure the item was still in their building. Instead of the rep simply checking with the shipping department to stop the shipment, he told me to wait and see if it showed up on time. A few hours later, after noticing that UPS tracking showed no activity on this shipment I called back and that rep told me the same thing in spite of my pleas. Unless someone got on a supersonic plane with the item there was no way it was going to make it to my business on time. There is more to add here, but let's move to today... I am 15 days and 6 phone calls deep into this one, and each phone rep seems to not care anything about me as a customer. Therefore, I am no longer a customer. The final insult was that my refund on this item did not include the shipping charges. In other words, I am paying for their failure to ship on time. I emailed customer service yesterday and as of 6PM today have not received a reply. Lazy, apathetic, and not concerned about losing a decent customer is a tough way to do business, but I suppose if you do the volume that B&H does you can get away with it. I am just posting here to warn others of the frustration B&H Photo Video might face if they have an issue with an order. As for me, I would much rather do business with someone who appreciates their customers, lets the customer know if there is an issue with receiving an item on time, at least pretends to want to resolve an issue over the phone, and who does not expect the customer to pay for their failures. Is that too much to ask from a business? If the business is called B&H Photo the answer is probably yes, way too much ask for.

I have purchased several things through B&H. I built most of a gaming desktop through B&H purchases and B&H Photo Video saved me around $300 on that build. I went to several different websites when looking for these Shure in-ear headphones and they were around $199 at all of them. I just purchased these around $130. I wanted these particular headphones because I had a conversation with a major music industry entertainer at the Kentucky Derby and he said he used Shure headphones on stage and in the studio. Disclosure... He uses the $1000 pair and I am not about to pay that much for headphones because that would break the bank for me. Anyways, I like that I can use PayPal on B&H's website for purchases. B&H also will personally contact you if your order will not get there in time (happened on a previous purchase).

To sum it up, B&H offers good pricing points and good customer service. I will use them again.

Have a great day.

I was always told B&H Photo-Video was THE go-to store for camera equipment. WRONG. Throughout my very 1st major buy from B&H, I experienced one of the most frustrating, screwed up, incompetence-riddled, drawn out experiences of my life.

It started when I made a fairly large purchase of about $2,000. Two of the cameras seemed like B&H Photo Video had been opened, so I returned them: 2 Olympus TG-6 waterproof cameras—1 black & 1 red.

The refund to my credit card for the purchase of the black one went off w/o a problem…. However, regarding the red one, as of today (date 9/2/21), the money for that camera has YET to be refunded to my credit card—although it was received by B&H nearly three weeks ago (8/16/21).

I have made about 20 phone calls to B&H. And each time I've been told: "there's a problem of some kind, I'll have to check" (no callback), "It should be coming soon," "Definitely within the next 48 hours," "that's still in process," etc. etc. Etc. Etc.

For nearly 2 wks, the camera wasn't even showing as having been returned. I called multiple times & no one knew what was going on. Finally, I found out that although FedEx had indeed delivered it (signed for), B&H apparently LOST the camera/package somewhere between the shipping dept. & the returns dept. And I only found this out after 2 wks when they FINALLY informed me that I needed to sign an "Affidavit" to be emailed to me, which would declare that I had indeed returned the camera (even though FedEx was showing that it had been delivered).

Then came the comedic farce involving me actually receiving (or rather, never receiving) the "Affidavit" via email.

• When I called on Fri. 8/27, I was told it would be sent by Sun 8/29.
—never came.
• When I called on Monday 8/30, I was told it would be sent by the end of the day.
—never came.
• When I called on Wednesday 9/1, I was told by the CS rep that no one knew why the "Affidavit" hadn't been sent out to me, but that it would "definitely" be sent to me by the end of the day because that CS rep was going to personally walk over to that dept. & have them send it.
—never came.
• When I called on Thursday 9/2, I was told that there had been some confusion over the RED camera vs the BLACK camera. They saw that the BLACK camera had been refunded, so no one bothered to send me any Affidavit for the other camera. I was then told FOR SURE that it would be taken care…… But it'd still take another 48-hours (or "maybe just 24-hours"), to get the Affidavit sent to me. Then, once they received that back & had reviewed it, the refund process would be started. But actually getting the refund credited would take another 7-10 business days…….

ARE YOU #@^#%# kidding me? SO, now I've had to file a "stop payment" fraud investigation "payment dispute" with my credit card company! Now B&H can deal with them. I'm done. What's really shocking is that I TOLD the CS rep that I was going to do file such a complaint with my credit card company and if they didn't want that to happen, then a manager could call me back to resolve it ASAP.
—no one has called.

GET YOUR CAMERA EQUIPMENT SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN B&H, which apparently, I now know, stands for Bull****&Hassle. I'M NEVER BUYING FROM THEM AGAIN (But at least I've been getting 3-4 email marketing/advertising announcements from them every day).

I am very disappointed in B&H Photo Video bhphotovideo.com.
I placed an order on May 27th for a 100 spindle of DVD-R 4.7 GB 8X disks. On June 9th I received my order (13 days later) The item received was for 16X Disks. I immediately went online and Chatted with both Luke and then Covington and was assured that the correct product would be shipped out to me asap. I told them both that on their website the 8x and the 16x had the same UPC code so someone needed to put visual on the label and make sure the 8x was sent out to me. Yesterday June 13 (4 Days Later) I received another package with the wrong item 16x again. I immediately sign on to Chat (calling hold time is like 39 minutes) Chat is shorter. I speak to Luke again. Bring to his attention again the errors on the UPC Code and explain to him that now I have lost 17 days and I have a project due. He says how sorry he is and that B&H Photo Video will try their best to get me my new product shipped out so I can receive it by Tuesday June 15 and not miss my deadline. Guess what - at 3:00 a.m. this morning I get an e-mail stating my order had been cancelled and my original order funds refunded.
I chatted with them again today and was told by Ken there was nothing they could do even though their website shows the item I needed to be in stock and ready for shipment.

If you don't care when or if you ever get your products then order from this company, but I will never order from this company again.

I purchased an Apple 12.9" iPad Pro (Early 2020, 256GB, Wi-Fi Only, Space Gray) on March 24, I paid $20 for overnight shipping since the website states that the item will be delivered March 25. I waited for a week, and when I checked my email on April 2, I was told that my order was out for delivery, I received an email saying the order has been shipped on April 3. I waited the whole day for the package, and I did not hear anyone knocking on my door, I lived in an apartment with a gate code and sometimes when I ordered something online, the package would come the next day despite being marked as delivered by the driver. It was not such an unusual situation at the time. Though as I anxiously waited for the next day, it turns out the package still hasn't come. I panicked and checked with the main office to see if the package was left with a receptionist or neighbor, but I found absolutely nothing. I contacted B&H customer service on April 4, and I received news on April 5 that B&H Photo Video would file a claim to FedEx and started investigating. On April 6, I was informed that the package might have gone missing and sent to the wrong apartment and that they will follow up on this claim and investigation with FedEx, there was also an email stating that a representative will contact me within 5 Business Day. I contacted the next day just in case, On April 7, I asked them yet again, "what happened to the investigation?", They never mentioned anything related to the initial investigation they told me they'd claimed the day prior. When I asked once more to a different person, they had to "updated request to set up a new claim." Up until this day, I'm not sure if they ever set up an investigation to begin with or not. At that point, I'm starting to doubt. Since the customer service kept on telling me that they will investigate the package with FedEx and contact me in few days, yet that never happened, I told them I should call the FedEx myself, yet they advised me and said "As the shipper, we need to file the claim on your behalf. Please don't worry. We will contact you again in a few days.". I asked them, If I were to file a police report, will I be compensated? Which made me feel hopeless. It's been more than two weeks ever since then, at this point, I'm not sure if they will ever locate and find the package ever again, I have lots of worries and doubts. Let's say that did find the package (which I sincerely doubt), the item would be damaged, and I will not be able to return it since it has exceeded its return date. And if they didn't find the package, or I have to file police to report, it still doesn't change the fact that I will never be able to get my money back.

I find it incredibly disappointing the fact that I've paid extra money for overnight shipping, yet the package turns out to be delivered the week after the purchase. Even worse, the order is now misdelivered and lost forever. I've been trying to contact the customer service numerous times ever since I was told that the package was misdelivered, but I just felt that no one is trying to look hard enough to investigate for the lost package. In fact, I begin to doubt their credibility, whether they even care to retrieve the missing package, nor did they even an investigation at all. Even if I did file a police investigation, I would never be able to get my money back. During this unfortunate period, I'm aware that all of us are struggling to get through. But please think about it from my perspective, I've been so stressed by everything and even more, the fact that I wasted so much money for an item I never received. I'm financially struggling, and this situation does not benefit me in any way at all. I will update my review after the problem is entirely resolved.

#*******063

Horrible Customer service... We ordered an item in January 11 months ago (large order) one item was flagged back ordered. I requested notification when it was in stock. 9 months later we move, update the account in B&H, and 11 months after ordering we get a bill at the new address for the item, we haven't received. Turns out B&H Photo Video shipped to old address, never notified that it was in stock or that it was shipping. Called and the agent wants to ague we should have contact of the buyers of our house... We sold the house at a title company, what?... I have been a very active customer over the last year, will not order anything else from them. Glad the timing happened when it did, about to place a large order and know not to use B&H for it. Not a good business model..., lost a $13K order over an $89 item... Adorama looks so much better now... B&H... I call it theft to be charged for something and not get it...