5D Mark 3 Queue @ B&H

[carmello22]

Just called B&H and they said they weren't receiving stock until Friday.  The CSR wasn't sure what time the shipment would arrive, so he couldn't tell me if the order would ship out Friday or not.

[kevinmundo]

I called B&H this morning also to check and customer support confirms the camera will arrive "sometime" today and will ship between now and "anytime" next week.  But he will not confirm if my order will ship or not.  I was on early pre-order and also got the backorder status so I told them to cancel my order as this was poor sales service.  I called Adorama and it's in stock.  I placed my order.  The camera will arrive tomorrow.  If you can wait, stick with B&H, otherwise go elsewhere.

[Kingw]

Just called B&H and they said they weren't receiving stock until Friday.  The CSR wasn't sure what time the shipment would arrive, so he couldn't tell me if the order would ship out Friday or not.

Great. Thank you for the update.

I bet some of the B&H fan boys on this forum will now say "just be patient, with my multi years of million dollar experience with B&H, they won't fail me!"

Personally I believe how they handle this pre-order situation, resembles a total failure. My friends in Hong Kong have already been shooting with a 5D3 for several days. lol.

[Bubbaknoxz]

I called B&H this morning also to check and customer support confirms the camera will arrive "sometime" today and will ship between now and "anytime" next week.  But he will not confirm if my order will ship or not.  I was on early pre-order and also got the backorder status so I told them to cancel my order as this was poor sales service.  I called Adorama and it's in stock.  I placed my order.  The camera will arrive tomorrow.  If you can wait, stick with B&H, otherwise go elsewhere.

You didn't happen to talk to a Israel S.? Because I got the same response when I talked to him about 5 minutes ago.

[AFurtado]

I called B&H this morning also to check and customer support confirms the camera will arrive "sometime" today and will ship between now and "anytime" next week.  But he will not confirm if my order will ship or not.  I was on early pre-order and also got the backorder status so I told them to cancel my order as this was poor sales service.  I called Adorama and it's in stock.  I placed my order.  The camera will arrive tomorrow.  If you can wait, stick with B&H, otherwise go elsewhere.

You didn't happen to talk to a Israel S.? Because I got the same response when I talked to him about 5 minutes ago.

The answer you get will depend in the rep you get. I have called more than once and the explanation keeps changing back and forth.

[JerryKnight]

Just called B&H and they said they weren't receiving stock until Friday.  The CSR wasn't sure what time the shipment would arrive, so he couldn't tell me if the order would ship out Friday or not.

Great. Thank you for the update.

I bet some of the B&H fan boys on this forum will now say "just be patient, with my multi years of million dollar experience with B&H, they won't fail me!"

Personally I believe how they handle this pre-order situation, resembles a total failure. My friends in Hong Kong have already been shooting with a 5D3 for several days. lol.

Kingw, what exactly are you expecting from them (B&H)? In what way have they made this a "total failure"? Do you honestly think that they have them but are deliberately not shipping them? No, they clearly don't have them, and they can't pull them out of a magic hat. They are completely at Canon's mercy (or the drivers of the trucks). They can't communicate any more than they have been because they can't afford to give false estimates. No estimates or over-estimates are better.

If anything is a total failure, it's Canon's distribution processes in the US. They can't afford a cargo plane or two for the east coast? They can't have legal agreements with retailers saying they can't sell or ship them until a specific date, so that everyone in the country gets them at the same time? (That's how Apple does it.) I blame Canon more than B&H, because the only way B&H could mess this up is to 1.) get the cameras from Canon and not ship them immediately, or 2.) Give customers every rumor they hear from the distribution companies and miss those estimates. I don't think they have done either.

[kiniro]

The answer you get will depend in the rep you get. I have called more than once and the explanation keeps changing back and forth.

That is somewhat good if you think about it. lol I e-mailed them last night.  Will have to see when and what they respond.

[Bubbaknoxz]

The answer you get will depend in the rep you get. I have called more than once and the explanation keeps changing back and forth.

It was the first time I actually got any info directly from a B&H source. Usually its the "we don't know when we will get it" routine.

[Warninglabel]

I have always ordered from B&H for years but I cancel my order today and had one overnight-ed from Onecall.com they still have some kits as of 5 min ago but now sold out with the body.  My order XXXXX5261X was way earlier then most, posted on this forum. What makes me sad about this experience with B&H, is that they never ask why I was canceling "OK will do, have a nice day, bye." Just under 5 sec I was sitting in my chair dumb founded. I was one of their customers, I have bought a lot from them over the years and I was just a order # nothing else. But anyway, some of you are one step closer, good luck.

[kevinmundo]

I called B&H this morning also to check and customer support confirms the camera will arrive "sometime" today and will ship between now and "anytime" next week.  But he will not confirm if my order will ship or not.  I was on early pre-order and also got the backorder status so I told them to cancel my order as this was poor sales service.  I called Adorama and it's in stock.  I placed my order.  The camera will arrive tomorrow.  If you can wait, stick with B&H, otherwise go elsewhere.

You didn't happen to talk to a Israel S.? Because I got the same response when I talked to him about 5 minutes ago.

The answer you get will depend in the rep you get. I have called more than once and the explanation keeps changing back and forth.

I don't remember who was on the other line at B&H csr but I wasn't satisfied with the uncertainty so it was best to take my business elsewhere.   I have now placed my order with Adorama with overnight shipping so unless the order get canceled by them, I "hope" to have it in my hands tomorrow. 

[Warninglabel]

Kingw, what exactly are you expecting from them (B&H)? In what way have they made this a "total failure"? Do you honestly think that they have them but are deliberately not shipping them? No, they clearly don't have them, and they can't pull them out of a magic hat. They are completely at Canon's mercy (or the drivers of the trucks). They can't communicate any more than they have been because they can't afford to give false estimates. No estimates or over-estimates are better.

If anything is a total failure, it's Canon's distribution processes in the US. They can't afford a cargo plane or two for the east coast? They can't have legal agreements with retailers saying they can't sell or ship them until a specific date, so that everyone in the country gets them at the same time? (That's how Apple does it.) I blame Canon more than B&H, because the only way B&H could mess this up is to 1.) get the cameras from Canon and not ship them immediately, or 2.) Give customers every rumor they hear from the distribution companies and miss those estimates. I don't think they have done either.

I think after 300+ calls from customers in one week, management @ B&H would had a meeting with their CS associates and prep them with Talking Points and stop having different answers each time someone called.

[FyreStorm]

Their website has been down for the past 3 minutes...what does it mean Basil?

[FyreStorm]

I think I know...I **JUST** received notification my credit card was billed by B&H for the body only 5D3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Their shipping baby!!!!

[mtavel]

Looks like the B&H web site is dead.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

Edit:  Looks like it's coming back up now.  My order is of course still backordered - no miracles to report after the outage

[kiniro]

My order status now says "In stock, order sent to warehouse"!!!