B&H not shipping chemicals anymore?

[Bob Carnie]

I was hoping to order some LD 20 developer from B&H and I see they will not ship this across the border, so where are we going to find a source. For me B&H has always been
the place where I can get all the products I need even when my Canadian distributers tell me 6 week delivery. This is a PITA.

 

[cowanw]

You could get a post office box in Buffalo and have someone drive down and being it back, if you used cross border shipping enough.

 

[Bob Carnie]

You could get a post office box in Buffalo and have someone drive down and being it back, if you used cross border shipping enough.

Good Point - actually could be a good service for someone to consider as a part time job. Dealing with duties and custom fee's would be the tricky part. I wonder if local shipping services offer this .

 

[Bob Carnie]

I have friends in NY that could pick up and I would get a delivery service to handle this. This is a big problem for specific manufacturers like Fotospeed.

 

[canvassy]

I was checking out prices on Freestyle and some of the film prices are cheaper than B&H! Maybe if Freestyle keeps their prices more competitive, they could generate new customers, more business from regulars, while still meeting, or surpassing their profit goals.

I just received an order from Freestyle, for some Liquidol and Microphen, and when I saw the price of Acros 100 in 120 format I bought one of those, too. The 5 pack of Acros 100 was $23.99 at Freestyle and BH has it at $29.95. I'd always just assumed B&H had cheaper film prices, and they do for a lot of them, but I was pleasantly surprised on the price difference here.

 

[RattyMouse]

I just received an order from Freestyle, for some Liquidol and Microphen, and when I saw the price of Acros 100 in 120 format I bought one of those, too. The 5 pack of Acros 100 was $23.99 at Freestyle and BH has it at $29.95. I'd always just assumed B&H had cheaper film prices, and they do for a lot of them, but I was pleasantly surprised on the price difference here.

Wow, that's a good price. I will have to load up on Acros as that is my #1 favorite film. Time to put in a HUGE order.

 

[Jim Noel]

In the wake of the ValuJet Flight 592 crash on May 11, 1996, the federal government began cracking down on safety regulations for many different chemicals in airplane cargo holds. We don't ship ground so every order has to conform. We elected to observe the safety restrictions scrupulously and the result is a range of chemicals and similar items we cannot ship. Compressed air products like Beseler Duster fall under the same restrictions. More recently there have been similar issues with lithium batteries.

I am sorry this is new information for some of you and regret the inconvenience it causes.

A very good reason to order everything possible from a different dealer!

 

[Mark Tate]

Some time ago I contacted Fotoimpex in Germany about what they could and could not ship to me in Australia, it all comes down to the materials listed either in the MSDS or on the package, if it has any sort of acid it will be hard to ship, even if it is citric acid, they could not ship me powdered C-41 developer however they could ship me liquid Adotech developer.

Can not really go blaming B&H or any other company when it is shipping regulations that are making it hard, they have no choice but to comply with the law. The repercussions that could arise from not following the law could be extremely serious and cost them many times more than the sales they loose.

I get a lot from B&H and will continue to do so, I just do not get my chemicals from them. I have four main suppliers for all my photography needs , Vanbar Imaging and The Film Bloke here in Australia, B&H in the US and Fotoimpex in Germany and non of these suppliers can provide me with all I need, I need all four of them.

 

[Ben 4]

I don't know what's changed, but I ordered and received a variety of Ilford powdered chems last week: Bromophen, Perceptol, ID-11. I know that these had all been listed as store pickup only at the end of last year.

 

[bvy]

I noticed that too. They'll ship D-76 again.

Curiously, they'll ship Dektol but not expired Dektol...

 

[henryp]

I don't know what's changed, but I ordered and received a variety of Ilford powdered chems last week: Bromophen, Perceptol, ID-11. I know that these had all been listed as store pickup only at the end of last year.

What actually changed is we took comments in this thread to heart and redoubled our effort to get more darkroom products added to the "okay to ship" roster.

 

[wy2l]

Mr. Posner:

Thanks for listening. I appreciate your efforts to ship more B&W chemicals.

 

[bvy]

What actually changed is we took comments in this thread to heart and redoubled our effort to get more darkroom products added to the "okay to ship" roster.

Good to hear. Good for us. And thank you!

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

What actually changed is we took comments in this thread to heart and redoubled our effort to get more darkroom products added to the "okay to ship" roster.

Thank you. That's really great!

 

[Ben 4]

Your effort is much appreciated!

--Ben

 

[Born2Late]

Imagine that! Suddenly and magically these chemicals are safe to ship!

Congratulations B&H, you have managed to P.O. a large percentage of film shooters for no good reason at all.

 

[Luckless]

HenryP, I do hope you provide management with a detailed report on just how badly all of this has damaged the company's PR so that they can hopefully better guide things in the future and maintain customer confidence in the company.

Would it really have been so hard to just say that the shipping and handling of many chemicals was "Under review"? Seriously, most people in the modern world seem pretty happy with the whole "Workplace health and safety" idea, and are pretty supportive of proactive measures. You really missed the boat on issuing a statement along the lines of management having concerns over the potential minor risks, and therefore needed time to review the matter in detail to ensure everything was in proper order, with a goal of having new policies and decisions in place by "Early in the year".

I've generally liked B&H and the service they've given me, but I have not remotely enjoyed being jerked around on whether or not I still had easy and reliable access to materials for one of the things I enjoyed. My image of B&H as a whole has fallen several notches after this, and I will be strongly considering dealing with others going forward.

I very much believe that management of any company should be aware of the wider effects of actions. The "Blame regulations, and try to ignore there is a problem" view point on customer relations doesn't just affect B&H's film photography department, but impacts the company as a whole. B&H had been the goto supplier for a plan that hopefully will be seeing a multi-booth recording and video production company kitted out from scratch in the next year or two. I know it is petty and spiteful of me, and will likely cost more to source from other companies, but welcome to humanity, the petty and spiteful group who are easily insulted.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...

Why the vitriolic B&H hatred? Why the repeated attacks? Why attempt over and over to damage one of the largest, if not the largest, supplier of analog photography products? What do you get out of it? What does it accomplish for this community?

 

[EdSawyer]

yeah, let's not crucify B&H. They did the right thing and rectified the situation. Props to H.P. for coming here to take the heat and get things done. I'll continue to use B&H when I can.

 

[Julie McLeod]

I'd say it's a good thing for Mr. Posner to hear that some customers remain unhappy with the way he responded to concerns. Perhaps this will be remembered when next his company makes a business decision that isn't appealing to the analog community and the response will be handled more deftly.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Why the vitriolic B&H hatred? Why the repeated attacks? Why attempt over and over to damage one of the largest, if not the largest, supplier of analog photography products? What do you get out of it? What does it accomplish for this community?

I agree,

 

[Bob Carnie]

Now can I get LD20 shipped to Canada from New York ?. I also saw B&H sells Slavich grade 4paper, I will be ordering some of that soon Mr Posner.

Its a good think B&H is around , as the Canadian distribution network is lousy and when I need stuff , they always accommodate , in time and with a great attitude. Getting things in prompt order
is a reality with this company.

 

[Bob Carnie]

double post

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...vitriolic...hatred...

...some customers remain unhappy...

Note that those two are not the same thing. An important distinction.

In this era of unabashed incivility, it's worthwhile to question motivation when evaluating people's words.

 

[Bob Carnie]

It's simple. I don't like being lied to.

we are lied to all the time, but I like Sal would rather have a company that stocks all the stuff we use here active on this site , represented and welcome than the reverse.

 

[faberryman]

we are lied to all the time, but I like Sal would rather have a company that stocks all the stuff we use here active on this site , represented and welcome than the reverse.

I have deleted my posts so no one if offended by the truth. I'll bow out of the conversation now. No one cares anyway. Whatever is cheapest.