B&H Once again sued for discrimination

[Loswr]

It is fitting that the Canon fanboys on this website are racists/defenders of racists as well. Not surprised.

I had thought only one guy on these forums had a complete inability to understand what he read, sadly I've been proven wrong, and there's at least another 1guyy here who leaps to ridiculous conclusions with all the comprehension of a bowling ball and lacks the ability to distinguish a fact from a wart on his nose.

I suppose there are some on this forum that will take such an accusation as true merely because it was made. Personally, I find such an unfounded accusation to be reprehensible and offensive, and would in turn suggest the accuser is an unmitigated ass.

 

[9VIII]

It is fitting that the Canon fanboys on this website are racists/defenders of racists as well. Not surprised.

Wow...
Just wow.

You heard it here folks, according to people on the Internet, buying Canon means you're racist.

If you love freedom and want to stop puppy abuse, you'll buy from anyone but Canon. Down with the establishment! Reject all large corporations!
(Says the people of the imaginary revolution from their iPhones, while wielding Sony branded cameras with their radical, establishment shattering Exmor sensors and freedom inducing short flange distance.)

 

[josephandrews222]

I have heard bad things about B&H so many times. Where there is smoke there is usually fire...


I've said this a quite a few times on this forum, but it goes double right now for the American's with their high dollar: everyone should really consider shopping at The Camera Store in Calgary, AB Canada.

They honestly give the best service out of any of the shops I've dealt with, which is pretty much all of the big ones by now. They really go to no end of trouble to help, and I've been a massive pain in the rear on multiple occasions.

Since there's no duty on camera equipment thanks to NAFTA, might as well take advantage of the low prices while they last.

I bought the 11-22mm lens for the EOS M from Vistek (back when it was not sold in the USA, my home country).

Very happy with the service--shipped safely and quickly.

At the time the Canadian/American exchange rate was near unity...so I didn't have to think about how this all works.

Can someone help me out here?

Using an AMEX credit card (or VISA etc.) how is the exchange rate handled?

Today the rate is 1.35 (not so good for my friends in Montreal, eh?).

So a lens that costs $1,350 CDN...that I purchase online...goes for $1,000 USD?

And my AMEX credit card bill (for that lens) will be $1,000?

FWIW...the Camera Store in Calgary seems to sell/ship (online) only to Canadians/Canada.

That's right.... $1,350 Canadian will show up as $1000 U.S.

For Canadian shops that I know of,
The Camera Store in Calgary is very reputable....
Camera Canada is very reputable (my 7D2 came from there)...
Visitek is very reputable....
Henrys is very reputable.....

I'm not much for warranty cards...I just checked the warranty card for my Vistek-purchased 11-22mm Canon M lens...and it a 'Canada and USA' warranty.

Is this still true for the Canon lenses sold by Vistek et. al. to those south of the border (i.e. Americans)?

The Canon warranty, for lenses purchased from authorized Canon dealers based in Canada, to Yankees like me...is honored by Canon USA?

 

[Canon Rumors]

I'm not much for warranty cards...I just checked the warranty card for my Vistek-purchased 11-22mm Canon M lens...and it a 'Canada and USA' warranty.

Is this still true for the Canon lenses sold by Vistek et. al. to those south of the border (i.e. Americans)?

The Canon warranty, for lenses purchased from authorized Canon dealers based in Canada, to Yankees like me...is honored by Canon USA?

Canon Canada is owned by Canon USA, so yes.

 

[Admin US West]

Please be civil in your comments. I've already issues one permanent bad, and don't want others. The topic is still open for discussion, but be civil.

 

[Loswr]

I'm not much for warranty cards...I just checked the warranty card for my Vistek-purchased 11-22mm Canon M lens...and it a 'Canada and USA' warranty.

Is this still true for the Canon lenses sold by Vistek et. al. to those south of the border (i.e. Americans)?

The Canon warranty, for lenses purchased from authorized Canon dealers based in Canada, to Yankees like me...is honored by Canon USA?

Canon Canada is owned by Canon USA, so yes.

In particular for the M11-22mm, I believe that when the lens was not available for sale from US retailers, Canon USA would not have honored the warranty (at least partially due to service centers not stocking lens-specific parts). Now that it's sold in the US, I'm sure they'll honor it.

 

[AlanF]

Please be civil in your comments. I've already issues one permanent bad, and don't want others. The topic is still open for discussion, but be civil.

Just checked on the previous comments of the newly permanently banned guy. He has real form in being abusive.

 

[martti]

imagine...

Now we the lowly earthlings have learned that all the fuss there is and has been about B&H discriminating women and Hispanics is either due to greedy lawyers, power-hungry trade unions and the general suspicion raised by the redness of their website. There cannot be anything wrong with B&H's practices. The 4.3 million dollars they paid before was only to...to...to...you know, to calm down the situation, buy some time and peace.
Right now, B&H has failed to deliver two out the three items I have ordered before Christmas.
It wasn't like this before. There is something bad going on there.

 

[N2itiv]

B&H is once again being sued for discriminating against its employees (this time it's for discriminating against its Hispanic employees). http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/bh-electronics-store-sued-for-discrimination-of-hispanic-workers.html.

Like most pro and amateur photographers I know, I've been a loyal customer for years. But perhaps it's time we stop giving our money to companies with questionable morals and illegal conduct.

Deutsch Photography, Inc.: NYC Wedding Photographer | Actor and Corporate Headshots NYC | Family and Baby Portraits

I clearly believe with others that say B&H is innocent to proven guilty. Any possible wrongdoing may become clear eventlually. My concern at this point is strictly price. I've got some pricey gear to repurchase and if Canon Price Watch can save me the money while providing the USA warranty, that's the route I need to take. These legal matters will work themselves out. On a lighter note, sales people at B&H or Adorama don't provide conversation worth the extra $150-$600 cost when purchasing from them.

 

[slclick]

B&H is once again being sued for discriminating against its employees (this time it's for discriminating against its Hispanic employees). http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/bh-electronics-store-sued-for-discrimination-of-hispanic-workers.html.

Like most pro and amateur photographers I know, I've been a loyal customer for years. But perhaps it's time we stop giving our money to companies with questionable morals and illegal conduct.

Deutsch Photography, Inc.: NYC Wedding Photographer | Actor and Corporate Headshots NYC | Family and Baby Portraits

I clearly believe with others that say B&H is innocent to proven guilty. Any possible wrongdoing may become clear eventlually. My concern at this point is strictly price. I've got some pricey gear to repurchase and if Canon Price Watch can save me the money while providing the USA warranty, that's the route I need to take. These legal matters will work themselves out. On a lighter note, sales people at B&H or Adorama don't provide conversation worth the extra $150-$600 cost when purchasing from them.

As for Canon Price Watch, Street Prices lately have included more B&H items than lesser known sources. In fact I picked up one two weeks ago and it shipped without issue as all of my hundreds of purchases from them have. One thing I appreciate from them is when a sale is done it's done. No endless spamming of my Inbox, no upsale phone calls.

 

[mkihne]

A well-reasoned reply.

What would be the point? B&H settled a lawsuit in 2007, and they're being sued again now. You've decided that means they're guilty....both then and now.

What about the similar lawsuit in 2009? The one in 2011? No reports of those being settled, or ending in a guilty verdict. But no doubt they are guilty in those cases, too, right? I mean, they were accused, after all. Who needs due process?

The real jury is still out, even though you've decided the case.

Duke Lacrosse players approve this message. ;D

 

[JohnDizzo15]

As many others have stated, none of this means anything. Furthermore, if we are to use our moral and ethical compasses to determine where we spend our money, then you wouldn't ever be able to buy anything. You'd be living in a hut of your own making wearing whatever you could muster up from nature to use as garb. This concept of spending with only morally stellar businesses (barring a company having done anything explicitly heinous), is simply ludicrous.

The discrimination mentioned in the lawsuit pales in comparison to the moral and ethical atrocities being committed overseas by many of the major corporations you know and love. How many items do you have in your home that say "Made In China" on them (or any other Southeast Asian country for that matter).

Another thing, WTHeck does the word "guilty" or "innocence" have to do with a civil suit? I am interested to find out whether BH is found "liable" though (not that this decision will affect my buying habits in the slightest). LOL.

 

[martti]

...I am struggling now to make their customer service understand that I have received one of the three items I ordered and that is not good enough....they do not seem to read the messages they get at all.
Should I try changing the language?
'Dov' is not a Hispanic name, is it

 

[privatebydesign]

...I am struggling now to make their customer service understand that I have received one of the three items I ordered and that is not good enough....they do not seem to read the messages they get at all.
Should I try changing the language?
'Dov' is not a Hispanic name, is it?
[/size]
[/size]They used to be a lot better before.

Humour is rarely universal.........

 

[AlanF]

A well-reasoned reply.

What would be the point? B&H settled a lawsuit in 2007, and they're being sued again now. You've decided that means they're guilty....both then and now.

What about the similar lawsuit in 2009? The one in 2011? No reports of those being settled, or ending in a guilty verdict. But no doubt they are guilty in those cases, too, right? I mean, they were accused, after all. Who needs due process?

The real jury is still out, even though you've decided the case.

Duke Lacrosse players approve this message. ;D

I thought you were referring to the Anglo-French aristocracy until I googled it. Pretty nasty case and a real lesson.

 

[jrista]

B&H is once again being sued for discriminating against its employees (this time it's for discriminating against its Hispanic employees). http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/bh-electronics-store-sued-for-discrimination-of-hispanic-workers.html.

Like most pro and amateur photographers I know, I've been a loyal customer for years. But perhaps it's time we stop giving our money to companies with questionable morals and illegal conduct.

Deutsch Photography, Inc.: NYC Wedding Photographer | Actor and Corporate Headshots NYC | Family and Baby Portraits

A lawsuit is only an accusation, it is not proof. This is still a country where you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. This is also an environment that is increasingly hostile to employers over pettier and pettier complaints, bogus or borderline "racism" claims, etc. We need to see what the legal system actually proves here, before we judge.

For one, I get tired of hearing about the man/woman equality issues. There are some things that simply require physical strength, and a lot of the time women just don't fit the job REQUIREMENTS in those cases. That isn't a hostile form of discrimination, it is a NECESSARY form of discrimination based on the necessities of the job and for the safety of the workers. Perhaps there may have been other positions in the warehouse not dependent upon physical strength that a woman could have been hired into...but I suspect the 101 positions filled were not those.

I can't say anything about the rest. I've never seen those warehouse bathrooms. I've not observed the advancement policies. There may indeed be something to those complaints...but the fact is, WE DON'T KNOW YET. Those details need to come out as part of the legal process. That's why we have the legal system we do. (Although I don't feel the current federal court judges will be particularly balanced in their opinions in a case like this, as I said, the current environment is more hostile to business and overly accommodating to increasingly petty complaints of "discrimination.")

 

[NancyP]

That being said, the packages likely get to the purchaser via UPS, often with women loaders and drivers. Most of B and H's stock is relatively small and light. I imagine that there are few packages, maybe 10% or fewer, that exceed 40 pounds, and out of shape 5'5" I can lift 40 #.

 

[Loswr]

I imagine that there are few packages, maybe 10% or fewer, that exceed 40 pounds, and out of shape 5'5" I can lift 40 #.

Yeah, but you don't have to maintain liability insurance against the possibility of suing yourself for throwing out your back, or meet the terms of that insurance.

 

[AcutancePhotography]

It may be a minor point, but "innocent until proven guilty" is not correct.

The correct phrase and concept is that a person is "presumed innocent until proven guilty".

 

[unfocused]

[quote author=Pogo]
We have met the enemy and he is us.
[/quote]

Not taking sides or passing judgment on this civil case. I will let the courts and lawyers sort it out.

But...let's not forget who is really at fault here.

Consumers have become addicted to securing the lowest price possible at any cost. We buy from gray market dealers who circumvent the system just because it saves us a few dollars. We become tax scofflaws, buying from outlets that don't collect sales taxes and then we pretend we don't owe the tax. We buy from online outfits that pay nothing to support our local police, fire, schools, streets, etc.

Then we are shocked...shocked...that retailers cut costs in every way imaginable in order to compete.

I'm no better than anyone else and I don't know what the solution is. But, I do know that the current system may be great for consumers with lots of disposable income to spend on cameras and other toys, but it is not so good for working people.