EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x in Stock at Adorama

[Waterloo]

Mine just came at 7:30 this evening. Got some business to do tomorrow morning. Will go out in the afternoon and see if I can find some of the wild horses out that are in the hills near my house.

 

[jaxxphotos]

Thanks, Helen. However, in this case I have to disagree. 'In Stock' generally means that it's available for immediate shipping, not that my order will put me at the back of a queue for shipping once it's really available.

Stating, "Adorama is receiving the lens and fulfilling preorders," would be an accurate statement.

Agreed, sort-of........ with the exception of when the quantity of units in any single delivery enables us to fulfill all pre-orders/back-orders, AND we still have some over for orders placed more recently. However, as we won't usually know how many units are going to be allocated to us within a single delivery - or how regularly we are going to receive them - we would never want estimate the likelihood of an order placed today being fulfilled within the following day or two. Especially if you add to the mix cancellation by customers of back-orders!

I would like to say that as an Adorama customer over the years this posting did rub me wrong as I had preordered the lens and was waiting like the rest only to see this posted about Adorama having the lens available. Figured great they must have filled my order but have not sent me my tracking info yet. On Monday - nothing - so I emailed CS and was told that I was still waiting to have my order filled.
So how does that happen then? I don't bash companies online and I was not given a decent answer from the CS rep so I did what I could do and cancelled the order and placed it elsewhere. I felt misled by the posting here and on other forums that said Adorama had it for sale when I was still waiting. :'(

 

[Helen Oster]

I would like to say that as an Adorama customer over the years this posting did rub me wrong as I had preordered the lens and was waiting like the rest only to see this posted about Adorama having the lens available. Figured great they must have filled my order but have not sent me my tracking info yet. On Monday - nothing - so I emailed CS and was told that I was still waiting to have my order filled.
So how does that happen then? I don't bash companies online and I was not given a decent answer from the CS rep so I did what I could do and cancelled the order and placed it elsewhere. I felt misled by the posting here and on other forums that said Adorama had it for sale when I was still waiting. :'(

In-stock/out-of stock is subject to a number of variables:

• it can be sitting on a trailer in the yard waiting to be unloaded and shelved.
• it can be in-stock but not yet available for shipping since it has not yet cleared receiving (there is a pre-stocking process that happens before goods hit the shelves).
• it can be en route from the manufacturer – and literally expected within the next day or two, or even the same day
• it can be out-of-stock but on order from the manufacturer - and expected within 7-10 days

Unless the CS rep you speak to has checked these variables for you, (which would involve contacting the purchasing department and getting back to you), they would only be able to tell you what is actually on the shelf in the DC)

 

[Loswr]

I would like to say that as an Adorama customer over the years this posting did rub me wrong as I had preordered the lens and was waiting like the rest only to see this posted about Adorama having the lens available. Figured great they must have filled my order but have not sent me my tracking info yet. On Monday - nothing - so I emailed CS and was told that I was still waiting to have my order filled.
So how does that happen then? I don't bash companies online and I was not given a decent answer from the CS rep so I did what I could do and cancelled the order and placed it elsewhere. I felt misled by the posting here and on other forums that said Adorama had it for sale when I was still waiting. :'(

In-stock/out-of stock is subject to a number of variables:

• it can be sitting on a trailer in the yard waiting to be unloaded and shelved.
• it can be in-stock but not yet available for shipping since it has not yet cleared receiving (there is a pre-stocking process that happens before goods hit the shelves).
• it can be en route from the manufacturer – and literally expected within the next day or two, or even the same day
• it can be out-of-stock but on order from the manufacturer - and expected within 7-10 days

Unless the CS rep you speak to has checked these variables for you, (which would involve contacting the purchasing department and getting back to you), they would only be able to tell you what is actually on the shelf in the DC)

Except if jaxxphotos was in the pre-order queue, and the item was listed as 'in stock' but his order was not in the process of being prepped/shipped, that's not ok (barring issues like his payment not going through, etc.).



Look at the screenshot of the original CR home page post, note the highlighted parts: "Ad Post" and "Adorama has told us..." 'Ad post' indicates an advertisement, and while we'd all prefer it wasn't the case, the reality is that there's no truth in advertising. I'm sure it drove a fair bit of traffic to Adorama's site, and that was probably the point.

While I appreciate Helen's contributions, in this case, I still call this deceptive on Adorama's part. "In stock" means, "We have the item available for shipping when anyone places an order." In this case, that wasn't true. I'm reminded of auto dealership ads, where they highlight a great deal, but then list a specific stock number and 'one available at this price' in the fine print. Except there wasn't fine print in Adorama's ad post.

To be fair, they do state, "Limited Stock." Apparently, very limited if they couldn't fulfill jaxxphoto's order.

 

[Helen Oster]

Except if jaxxphotos was in the pre-order queue, and the item was listed as 'in stock' but his order was not in the process of being prepped/shipped, that's not ok (barring issues like his payment not going through, etc.).



Look at the screenshot of the original CR home page post, note the highlighted parts: "Ad Post" and "Adorama has told us..." 'Ad post' indicates an advertisement, and while we'd all prefer it wasn't the case, the reality is that there's no truth in advertising. I'm sure it drove a fair bit of traffic to Adorama's site, and that was probably the point.

While I appreciate Helen's contributions, in this case, I still call this deceptive on Adorama's part. "In stock" means, "We have the item available for shipping when anyone places an order." In this case, that wasn't true. I'm reminded of auto dealership ads, where they highlight a great deal, but then list a specific stock number and 'one available at this price' in the fine print. Except there wasn't fine print in Adorama's ad post.

To be fair, they do state, "Limited Stock." Apparently, very limited if they couldn't fulfill jaxxphoto's order.

It WAS in stock at Adorama and has been coming into and out of stock on a regular basis; maybe these comments would be better directed at requesting CR admin to remove the headline?

 

[jaxxphotos]

Except if jaxxphotos was in the pre-order queue, and the item was listed as 'in stock' but his order was not in the process of being prepped/shipped, that's not ok (barring issues like his payment not going through, etc.).



Look at the screenshot of the original CR home page post, note the highlighted parts: "Ad Post" and "Adorama has told us..." 'Ad post' indicates an advertisement, and while we'd all prefer it wasn't the case, the reality is that there's no truth in advertising. I'm sure it drove a fair bit of traffic to Adorama's site, and that was probably the point.

While I appreciate Helen's contributions, in this case, I still call this deceptive on Adorama's part. "In stock" means, "We have the item available for shipping when anyone places an order." In this case, that wasn't true. I'm reminded of auto dealership ads, where they highlight a great deal, but then list a specific stock number and 'one available at this price' in the fine print. Except there wasn't fine print in Adorama's ad post.

To be fair, they do state, "Limited Stock." Apparently, very limited if they couldn't fulfill jaxxphoto's order.

It WAS in stock at Adorama and has been coming into and out of stock on a regular basis; maybe these comments would be better directed at requesting CR admin to remove the headline?

Then I guess it goes back to my original question I made to Adorama's customer service rep: - If it is indeed in stock for sale to anyone who calls or places the order why was my pre order not filled? That was all I wanted to know as other companies did not put out that they had it in stock - because they are currently filling pre / back orders only. If Adorama actually had it in stock and sold it then they did a great disservice to the customers who are on the pre order / back order list which used to include me. If it was just a marketing ploy then all it accomplished was a lot of traffic to their site and possibly the ire of any true customers who already had forked out the nearly $12,000 cost of this lens.

 

[Helen Oster]

If it is indeed in stock for sale to anyone who calls or places the order why was my pre order not filled? That was all I wanted to know as other companies did not put out that they had it in stock - because they are currently filling pre / back orders only. If Adorama actually had it in stock and sold it then they did a great disservice to the customers who are on the pre order / back order list which used to include me. If it was just a marketing ploy then all it accomplished was a lot of traffic to their site and possibly the ire of any true customers who already had forked out the nearly $12,000 cost of this lens.

It is a complicated process; just because the item(s) show in stock on the web doesn't mean they are in stock on the shelf at the DC. There countless variables; possible inventory cycle count adjustments or discrepancies, damage during any one of the steps to complete your order by a picker or packer; an item could have been stocked incorrectly, mislabeled by the vendor, or a category which covers every other eventuality, known in the business as 'shrink'.

When items are scanned in to our computer system, they are shown as being 'in stock', but with high demand items, frequent delivery and dispatch times mean that items can come in one door of the warehouse, be packaged, and out of another door within a couple of hours, so real time inventory on the website is often not possible.

The 'spiders' that trawl the web on behalf of CR - and other affiliates - pick up the in-stock notification and post it on their respective websites, but they can be hours behind the true reality of the situation.

As I said above, the ONLY accurate way to obtain up-to-the-minute in-stock info is to call in to the Sales Department - NOT CS. (and even then, with around 5,000 units arriving daily, there could be a pallet full of units awaiting re-stocking, so the stock situation could change minute-on-minute).

One thing I can promise you; ALL pre-orders are filled in the exact order in which they are received.

 

[Helen Oster]

Helen,

Sorry I was not clear. Could I have given you my CPS number and have Canon send you an extra lens so I could have gotten my lens sooner (or not spent so longer looking for it)?

Thanks

Just heard back from the Purchasing Manager as follows:


"No guarantee, however we fulfill the 200/400 lens quicker then he might get from canon direct"