5D Mark 3 Queue @ B&H

[prestonpalmer]

I have mine coming overnight to Hawaii. Hopefully we see some tracking numbers soon! C'mon BH!

 

[takoman46]

I have mine coming overnight to Hawaii. Hopefully we see some tracking numbers soon! C'mon BH!

Nice to see another user on this forum from Hawaii lol. I got one on next day air as well and received the order confirmation email at 7:34pm HST... which would be 12:34am EST but haven't been charged by B&H as some other user on this forum reported already. Their order went in 18 minutes before mine... but then again a lot can happen in 18 minutes haha!

 

[danny_oz]

Got this message just now, (I asked to cancel because there were so many people getting 5D3's without pre-ordering from other stores, yet BH could not give any indication on ETA)

"First of all you placed this preorder on 3/10/12, secondly we started accepting pre-orders on 3/2/12, so there are quite a few who pre ordered ahead of you. We are expecting our first shipment later this week. Once that arrives we can see how many ship, and how many will come with the next shipment. Perhaps at that point there will be a better idea of when you will get yours. If you can find it elsewhere and wish to cancel you can do so just let us know."

I cancelled.

 

[Kingw]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

 

[JerryKnight]

Wow, it must be really hard for some people to accept the possibility that they might not know for sure. Canon might not be telling them exactly how many they're getting when, so B&H can't possibly give their pre-order customers individual estimates.

This is still speculation. It's also possible you're all right and B&H really doesn't care about a few frustrated pre-order customers, but to me it seems more likely that they don't want to give false estimates.

As far as general updates, watch their two Twitter accounts (@BandHPhoto and @BHPhotoVideo). They are communicating about it some. Not as much as you'd like, but it's not 100% silence.

 

[chuckjr]

Via chat today they told me they had no idea when, nor could tell me where i was in line. I started looking on other sites and see availability dates of May 3.

I will definitely use this experience and reconsider my dealings with B&H. As much as I would like to support my local camera shop I have a hard time stomaching an additional $300 in taxes.

Funny thing when i searched google for a release date the top-most paid add is for B&H stating the kit would ship 3/20.

New Canon EOS 5D Mark III | BHPhotoVideo.com
bhphotovideo.com/Canon_5D_Mark_III -
75,419 seller reviews
The Kits Start Shipping Today 3/20! Order Now, $3499 Charged Upon Ship
1,507 people +1'd B and H

 

[JasonATL]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

 

[Live Refocused]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

+1. You're right, I myself have been impatient. Your perspective is refreshing.

 

[epiieq1]

I think the lack of patience is, in large part, due to the lack of communication from B&H. While they may be dealing with a large shipment, and trying to figure out the best way to handle it and get it out to all of their pre-orders, refusing to communicate with paying customers (a number of whom are probably new or fairly new) is not good business practice in this day and age. In the pre-online days, sure it's fine, but with the massive communication that goes on (read the entire thread we're in for a good example), they appear (while this probably isn't true) to be treating their customers as if they're insignificant nothings who don't matter. Communication is an extremely important part of customer service, and that's where people are having issues with them.

 

[Cooperphile]

From CR:

Lots of excitement
There is a ton of excitement for the new 5D Mark III, I’d still call the response overwhelming and completely beyond whatever I expected.

B&H, Adorama and Amazon are beginning preorder shipments this week. B&H has said they should be able to fill all preorders with their first 2 shipments of cameras.

Lots of places in the UK and Asia have reported having stock. I’ve even seen stock in Canada. Lots of smaller retailers are also emailing with stock notices.

I apologize I cannot link every store that has copies of the camera available for sale. I can’t be responsible for the crazy amount of phone calls a retailer would get because of a link here. I appreciate every retailer that has let me know you have stock, and I highly doubt you’re going to have much issue getting rid of your allotment of 5D Mark III’s.

B&H and Adorama both assure me shipments are going out this week, and both have a lot of inventory coming in. Amazon is a bit faceless and I have no idea what they’ll have for stock. I do expect a lot though, especially since they haven’t stopped preorders.

I’ll update as I know more.

 

[kiniro]

Bottom line, everybody just has to wait and be patient. Remember, this is a brand new item in high demand that as far as I know, never had an official sale release date (I might be wrong). B&H probably has their reasons why they are not communicating. More than likely, they're playing it safe or do not have any information at all. I believe customers from Adorama and Amazon are experiencing the same lack of information.
Are you going to have this only issue as the basis for saying that B&H sucks?
Plus, it is a pre-order item. It's definitely a special unique scenario.

 

[epiieq1]

Bottom line, everybody just has to wait and be patient. Remember, this is a brand new item in high demand that as far as I know, never had an official sale release date (I might be wrong). B&H probably has their reasons why they are not communicating. More than likely, they're playing it safe or do not have any information at all. I believe customers from Adorama and Amazon are experiencing the same lack of information.
Are you going to have this only issue as the basis for saying that B&H sucks?
Plus, it is a pre-order item. It's definitely a special unique scenario.

Agreed. I'm definitely not canceling mine and am keeping my place in line with B&H based on their reputation for handling returns and quality issues in a customer-friendly manner. I did talk to the local camera store who told me how many pre-orders they had, but not the number of items they'll be receiving. It sounded like they had a 4 to 1 ratio of bodies vs. kits. If this is happening all over, and is not something Canon had prepped for, this could be causing a bit of a supply constraint.

 

[SomeGuyInNewJersey]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

I am probably part of some of the things you say are ridiculous on thse forums but I agree with you on all you say here...

B&H did not form with the specific purpose of only filling 5d3 preorders, the systems they have in place for their business, big business as it is, are not designed to cope with these kind of events. They have all sorts of other business reasons to handle thinsg the way they are. To get so irate with B&H/Amazon and say you are new going to buy anything about them again because of this is pointless and something I suspsect those who said it will not stick to anyways... Just because stores that had no preorder mechanism have them in stock now and B&H have trucks full coming through to handle but cant give a specific ship time for each every one of their thousands of preorders does not make B&H evil all of a sudden.

 

[SomeGuyInNewJersey]

Ive just posted on the other preorder thread

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php/topic,3808.msg92844.html#msg92844

About chaning from body only to kit on my preorder... you dont lose your place in line if you switch body to kit... see the other thread for details...

 

[bchernicoff]

The solution to this of course is to drive to NYC and line up outside there store Apple-style!

I kid.

 

[Ninja1283]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

Another possibility is that they did not want to disclose ship dates because they do not want to deal with cancellations and lose business to other vendors who can ship/deliver before they can...

 

[aluckyshot]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

Good post. Meanwhile...I'm still taking great pictures with my trusty 5D Classic while waiting on my new Mark III...

 

[Kingw]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

Ok so tomorrow is Mar.22nd. We will see what happens then. I will be curious of what you will say after tomorrow.

 

[JasonATL]

Good post. Meanwhile...I'm still taking great pictures with my trusty 5D Classic while waiting on my new Mark III...

Good point! If I had a Mk II, I'd be doing the same thing rather than watching these threads! I'm looking forward to having the Mk III. Only a few more days...

 

[Seamus]

B&H sells too much stuff and they don't care about a "small" portion of 5d3 users. Instead local or smaller camera stores who treasure every single customer, are doing a much better job.

Maybe all the guys who pre-ordered 5D3 from B&H should go onto google Review and start leaving negative comments, heh.

I was finding the comments here amusing. Now, I just find them utterly ridiculous.

Before smearing a reputable chain, consider this. When you pre-ordered from B&H, when did you expect them to ship the camera? There are only two reasonable answers to this question: 1) when they received them; 2) March 22. At time of pre-order, I was in the former camp, as no set date had been given upon which I could set my expectation. I think the 5D3 announcement said something about late March, so perhaps that was my expectation, but it was rather imprecise. Later, I started expecting March 22, mostly based on CR, which has consistently identified this date as both the date which Canon set for U.S. sales and shipments and the date that B&H specifically should be expected to ship.

The only legitimate complaint you might have is whether B&H could communicate more or better. My experience in business tells me that they shouldn't have communicated anything, as the timeline that they internally might be planning on depended critically on receiving a shipment 3/21 or 3/22 from Canon. Any communication to this effect would set expectations based on something out of their control. Worse, it risked putting Canon, their business partner, in a bad position. Suppose Canon missed the delivery. Then everyone here would be complaining about Canon, threatening (even more than now) to switch to Nikon. While B&H still might capture the Nikon business, they still have the reputation problem with Canon.

The above even ignores the possibility that B&H had to agree with Canon not to disclose a firm ship date. This agreement would have been in OUR (customers of B&H) best interest, as they might have agreed to this to get a larger initial alotment.

As I said elsewhere here. I'm anxious for this thing to get here. But, my expectation all along has been that it would ship from B&H as soon as they got it and that could be as early as 3/22. So far, there is NOTHING to cause me lose confidence in that expectation. Unlike smaller stores, B&H has a huge, well-earned reputation at stake with its large customer base and a beneficial (for us) relationship with Canon.

The lack of patience here rivals that of my 3-year old niece headed to Disneyworld. No, we're not there yet! But we're on the way and we'll get there when we get there!

Ok so tomorrow is Mar.22nd. We will see what happens then. I will be curious of what you will say after tomorrow.

Probably "how do you like you like your new mark iii?". Or so we all hope.