B&H Photo

Update as of January 6 10:35 pm (EST). While B&H reached out to me because of this review, they still have not taken any concrete action to help me recover the missing Macbook that I purchased from them. As the shipper and seller, B&H Photo is duty-bound to ensure the safe and complete delivery of the item to its customer. Instead, B&H Photo just kept on blaming the warehouse (freight forwarder) but did not even offer me, its customer, a replacement nor a refund for the product I paid since they know fully well that I did not receive the item. They did not offer any explanation why they would not hold their freight partner, Fedex, responsible for the loss. They would rather let their innocent customer suffer the loss.

This horrific experience I had with B&H Photo is far far different from my transaction with a leading online store in America who has better customer service and will surely get you covered if you encounter this type of problem. I highly suggest to all of you to just shop at trusted online chains so you’ll definitely have a peace of mind on your package actually reaching you. Make sure that you filter out the reviews well since there is an ongoing issue of fake reviews in online stores. Thank you B&H Photo for the miserable holiday you’ve caused me and for the worst online shopping experience ever! When the holidays come by again, think twice before buying from B&H Photo! I stand by my previous review that B&H Photo does not deserve even a single star.

It all started when I emailed about trading in a Reverb G2 that I preordered from them, and they took months to ship it out, and it turns out I cannot use the headset because it doesn't fit me correctly. No big deal, I thought, I will just trade it in for some money from B&H like I always did, because there was never a huge issue in the past, unlike now.

I emailed them listing the one item and received the generic reply, obviously not written by a human being. "Unfortunately, we have no market for, or are currently overstocked with the items you wish to sell. Subsequently, at this time we are unable to purchase the equipment which you have listed." On their website, as of this writing, there are two G2 headsets in the used department, and it is also listed at full price. What do you mean, "no market"? You are selling it new and used. It is also impossible to be overstocked, as not that many have been made in the first place. So I went further to ask questions and to get an answer from a human being.

His answer to my question was, "Sometimes the items are just there." A total avoidance and not an answer at all. Then he offered to buy it for $150, 25% of its worth (it retails for $600!). I asked him to explain that low offer. His answer? "Either take it, or leave it, I don't care, or keep the headset. No one's buying that stupid thing for more money anyway. The Quest 2 sells way better for us. I’m sorry, but that is how it is. Maybe you shouldn't have bought it if it didn't fit". Interesting. There's nowhere to go to try the G2 on and see how it looks and fits in the first place.

I already know what people might say, sell it on eBay, or Facebook Marketplace etc.; where I could list it for $300 and someone might buy it at that price. I doubt they will. Since for $300 or so, anyone can just get a Facebook Oculus Quest 2 and be done. The G2 requires a $1000+ desktop gaming computer to run on top of its $600 price. I already see people saying that to me, and probably the best I could get for it on eBay or Facebook is a measly $200 because it requires an expensive PC to run. I am basically stuck with trying to make it more comfortable, so I can use it for my flight and racing simulators.

This, and the other negative experiences I had interacting with management, has forced me to reconsider doing any further business with them. What he basically told me is that it is my fault that the thing I bought doesn't fit properly, and he wanted to basically cheat me by taking it for 1/4 its value, and sell it for 3 times that. That is immensely crooked. I hope this look into how the people at B&H Photo treat you when you have been a customer for any length of time helps you reach a decision. They really need to treat their customers (and their employees too, I sense something wrong because “a fish rots from the head down”) better. As for me, I will buy my electronics elsewhere from now on.

I had purchased a high end lens before by internet and the finder was missing from the set despite being prima fascia listed as included on the description. I had to physically ask for it at the used counter and it was "found on someone's desk". There was a high end camera body I purchased prior which also had an included item missing from it. This is the third incident with an online purchase and I think they are pulling items from the products despite listed as included. Keeping the refunded amount's taxes seems very improper, as I have had full returns with the tax before and even without their "restock fee".

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. For nearly 2 weeks, 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 weeks 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 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 **&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).