4/5

posted Nov-02-2009

A lot of my photography-related equipment has been purchased from B&H.

Most recently I ordered "Gary Fong LIGHTSPHERE-II C1 CLOUD w/INVERT DOME - GALS2C1", and the model I ordered didn't fit my flash well. This is despite the fact that it was listed on B&H's site as the proper size for my Pentax AF500FTZ.
So, that was a downside of the purchase. The upside was the fact that I was able to send it back and upgrade to the "Universal" that fits to all flashes without problems.
It costed me the return shipping, but B&H did the replacement promptly and without any objection (Thanks for that!).

Negative: It's too bad that B&H does not ship to hotels. While traveling to the photo-shoot, I needed something shipped to the hotel I was going to stay at, but they refused to accept that order. I had to pay extra to receive it before the departure. If I were en-route already, - it would've been impossible to receive the order.
I understand that B&H is trying to defend against fraud, but it makes it inconvenient for traveling people. Also, their website suggest to call the customer service if you need to ship to a hotel, - but all what the customer service says: "we don't ship". Why do I need to call and waste my time?

Also, if you don't order overnight or 2nd day - it could take 2 days before the order is shipped out. - If the shipping was done within 1 day, - that would've saved shipping charges in some cases.

This review was modified by StR on November 02 2009 09:54:43 AM

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1/5

posted Jan-26-2009

Packing quality: very poor
Shipping confirmations, e-mail communication: fair to poor, misleading.
Phone customer service hold wait time: 20-30 minutes.
Customer service quality: reasonable representatives appear to be willing to fix the problems. Caveat: long hold time.
Prices: very reasonable.

The first time the order was sent, the box fell apart while being in transit, - the USPS office had to tape it together. 3 of 4 CDs were lost, the remaining one - had the jewel box cracked.
The replacement order came in an almost unsealed box that was barely holding together.

Moreover, you receive a separate confirmation message for each item that it has been shipped. Some of those can be sent several days apart (2 in the most recent shipment), but it does not mean that the items is shipped. Rather, the entire shipment is held until all items are confirmed and then everything is shipped together.

When the CSR promised to send the replacement order, she made a mistake: the confirmation for the items being ordered I received indicated one wrong CDs. I had to call again to have it checked/corrected.

Result: Order placed on Dec.31 was finally received on Jan. 23.

So far, this was the worst CD-buying experience in my life. I would think twice before ordering again from tower.com .

This review was modified by StR on January 26 2009 12:24:42 PM

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5/5

posted Apr-22-2008

I have been purchasing computers from KC since 1997: for my work, for my friends and family members, for myself. This most recent purchase was made in December of 2006.


I am very picky about what is inside my computer, as I want to have good performance, high reliability, and all that at a moderate cost.

What makes me coming back to KC? I am very experienced in putting computers together, but I value KC's service and support.
1. He is helpful when choosing the computer configuration.
2. He is flexible about the choice of the components, and is ready to buy components from 3rd parties, if he cannot find one himself.
3. He is great at providing support. He responds via e-mail very fast - even in late pm EST. He patiently walks you through diagnostics over the phone.
4. Once the problem has been diagnosed, he ships replacement parts very quickly, providing advance replacement.
5. In one (rare and unfortunate) case of misunderstanding, Kevin was very good at finding a satisfactory practical solution even though it costed him extra.
The prices he charges are reasonable but not the lowest. You can easily buy all the components from different places, and assemble the computer yourself. However, you save your time and energy, while getting a reliable, tested system.
And, what is even more important, once you have problems, #3 and #4 above are extremely valuable, and it makes it worth the extra cost you paid upfront.

I hadn't have much of problems with all previous computers, but during the failures of several different components in the current computer during 2007, I experienced exceptionally wonderful service.

A few additional support-related comments:
KC does not offer on-site support (I am not sure about NY). So, if you need that, you'd have to struggle with Dell and alike.
KC does his best to diagnose the problem remotely, so that the system doesn't get shipped back and force. The diagnostics steps are done at your level (e.g. even if you are a newbie, he'll walk you through). If you are not afraid of it too much, - KC is the right vendor.

I highly recommend KC-computers to anybody who is looking for a custom-built computer at a reasonable price and with a great remote support and service.

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1/5

posted Dec-05-2007

We have had Sprint service and this cell phone plan since 2000. Upon recent changes, around May 2007, when Sprint started combining their system with Nextel, the hell broke loose. They started randomly charging us for some long distance calls (long distance has always been included in the plan). Also, the count of total "anytime minutes" used is WAY off, if you just sum up all the minutes from the detailed call history provided by Sprint.

For 6 months we have been making monthly calls to Sprint customer service. Each time it take at least an hour to explain, convince the CSR, and to hold. Every time they promise to fix it, issue a credit, but nothing changes.
Their customer service supervisors are never available. IF you are lucky, you'll get one after 40-60 minutes hold (I am not exaggerating). If you are not, - they will tell you that the supervisor will call you back. They never call.
The records the previous CSR makes are often not available. It is impossible to identify a CSR (they either do not provide their ID or provide one that the next CSR cannot trace), so one can misinform you easily. They misinform often.
We have a good convenient plan, but we are almost ready to change the provider. One of the things that stops us is the expected hassle to transfer our phone number from Sprint.

Currently, their online account access is down. I was trying to access it on Dec.4 to pay the bill, but it was giving me an error message upon login, that the system is currently unavailable. I called they technical support to find out what was the reason. They yelled at me, telling that Sprint.com is working fine, and no maintenance work is happening, suggesting to wait. Today I called again to find out that indeed, they have been upgrading their billing system, and it is estimated to be going until Dec. 7, 2007.
Sprint.com failed to make that information available on their website.

This review was modified by StR on December 05 2007 10:43:20 AM

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1/5

posted Mar-25-2007

I was going to buy from this company, but it was not possible for the reasons described below.

For at least two weeks, two lenses that I was interested in (Pentax 77/1.8 and 85/1.4) were listed "in stock" with a possibility to purchase them via online interface.
I first called on the phone them to verify that that was true, as one of the lenses (Pentax 85/1.4) has been long discontinued. After long hold, the representative suggested to send an e-mail with the question. I sent an e-mail. I received no response after 3 days, so on the 4th, I called the store again. The representative told me that both lenses are out of stock for long time but they just don't have time to update the website. He also told me that they are working on getting the 85/1.4 in soon.
He told me that currently they have only two Pentax lenses in stock. They have 29 Pentax lenses listed "in stock" on their website.

This review was modified by StR on September 19 2007 07:04:02 PM

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