B&H not shipping chemicals anymore?

Julie McLeod · Feb 20, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
Note that those two are not the same thing. An important distinction.

I agree and I think that the criticism is more likely to be accepted when the words are civil.

Bob Carnie · Feb 20, 2017

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

Actually not cheapest for me by a long shot, but the most important factor is B&H does have the product I need to survive financially week to week in stock.

Michael W · Feb 20, 2017

They still won't ship Edwal LFN wetting agent.

Neal · Feb 21, 2017

Thank you B&H!

RattyMouse · Feb 21, 2017

henryp said:
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 very much Henry! B & H has been my goto store for photographic needs (and others) for over 20 years. If anything I need is available at B & H, I will always buy from there. It was very very unfortunate in my opinion that I had to get my photochemicals from somewhere else. I look forward to getting my next set of chemicals from B & H!!

Thank you again.

Thomas Bertilsson · Feb 21, 2017

I just want to add my voice to the idea of being forgiving and being grateful that B&H have changed some of their previous stance and approach, which is something we all benefit from.
Whatever the reasons were for the original change actually don't matter, as long as we can purchase our supplies and have them shipped to us. In the end, that's what matters.

I commend Mr. Posner and B&H for listening and making a change that benefits us.

Sirius Glass · Feb 21, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
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. Enough of this vomiting on APUG.

faberryman · Feb 21, 2017

Looks like they "solved" the prohibition against shipping lithium batteries as well.

traveler_101 · Feb 21, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
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.

Well, I have not commented here, but on another forum and remained "civil" in my response; however, I will not be using B&H any longer - even if it costs me money. I simply do not like the double talk and arrogance displayed by the store representative.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 21, 2017

traveler_101 said:
Well, I have not commented here, but on another forum and remained "civil" in my response; however, I will not be using B&H any longer - even if it costs me money. I simply do not like the double talk and arrogance displayed by the store representative.

I appreciate the civility with which you described cutting off your nose to spite your face in that post. Enjoy higher prices elsewhere.

Dali · Feb 21, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
I appreciate the civility with which you described cutting off your nose to spite your face in that post. Enjoy higher prices elsewhere.

Well, there is more than "prices" in life. One is honesty. Another on is customers respect. It has no price.

summicron1 · Feb 21, 2017

I just bought some Ilford perceptol and B & H shipped it to me very nicely. Didn't see "pickup only" on any of the other chemicals I pondered either.

Perhaps the policy has changed? Anyway -- my experience, your results may vary. Batteries not included, some restrictions apply.

canvassy · Feb 22, 2017

henryp said:
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.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 22, 2017

Dali said:
Well, there is more than "prices" in life. One is honesty. Another on is customers respect. It has no price.

Everything in life has a price. Monetary or otherwise.

faberryman · Feb 22, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
Everything in life has a price. Monetary or otherwise.

Thank you for clearing that up.

I believe the point Dali was making was that he would rather pay a slightly higher price for the goods he requires than give his business to a retailer that lies to him. Seems like a perfectly reasonable position to take. Others are not troubled by that kind of behavior, and are happy to save a few dollars. Different values, different choices.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 22, 2017

faberryman said:
Thank you for clearing that up...

You're welcome.

faberryman said:
...I believe the point Dali was making was that he would rather pay a slightly higher price for the goods he requires than give his business to a retailer that lies to him. Seems like a perfectly reasonable position to take. Others are not troubled by that kind of behavior, and are happy to save a few dollars. Different values, different choices.

The poster's point was obvious. It is the same as yours in your previous posts. Reasonableness is in the eye of the beholder.

As Bob Carnie stated (although he's not alone in his perspective), monetary cost is not the only consideration. Availability can trump dollars. The 'price' of unavailability is sometimes very high. Remember Joni Mitchell: "...you don't know what you've got till it's gone..."

Dali · Feb 22, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
monetary cost is not the only consideration.

It seems to be yours when reading you post #476: "Enjoy higher prices elsewhere."

Sal Santamaura · Feb 22, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
...monetary cost is not the only consideration..."

Dali said:
It seems to be yours when reading you post #476: "Enjoy higher prices elsewhere."

You incorrectly infer and conveniently ignore the rest of my post #482.

You also ignore that my post #476 was in direct response to your explicit statement saying not purchasing from B&H will "cost you money."

Intense negativity toward B&H only has the potential to reduce availability of analog photography products, not just in the U.S., but around the world. It can accomplish nothing positive. Unless one's goal is to aid and abet digital in the elimination of analog.

Bob Carnie · Feb 22, 2017

We have many photocompanies here in Toronto wanting to do business with my community... Problem is not many of these companies wish to stock any product and always defer to Pay a deposit now and wait up to 6 weeks for delivery.

Or get on the phone to New York , order your material, pay the price, and then get the product ALWAYS within three days... and btw their prices with shipping , duties and customs are the same price my local vendor is wanting.

not hard to decide on who to deal with if your business happens to be being a photographic printer for others.

BTW this is also the case with the Canadian Distributer who routinely loses sales to to lack of product.
As a lab I can deal direct with most manufacturers and Distributers so I am not only talking about retail stores.

Sirius Glass · Feb 22, 2017

Frankly, I am more concerned about the financial impact on both sides of the border from this new wave of protectionism sweeping the southern side of the boarder. For example from the US side, if I want to buy something, say on APUG, from Canada I already have higher postal costs but soon I could have additional taxes and tariffs added on. From the Canadian side, ordering something on the other side of an arbitrary line could have additional taxes, levies, fees and tariffs added. So both sides end up losing: costs go up, jobs go down. The image of shooting oneself in the head instead of the foot comes to mind. This then has a bigger impact than the handling and mishandling of the chemical shipments during a period of reevaluation and the resulting confusion.

brass majestic · Feb 22, 2017

Just checked prices at B&H for 1 gal LPD liquid - $44.95 + $9.74 shipping to Detroit area. Total $54.69 "In stock, ready to ship" 2 days. Had to add 1 rl HP5 to bring total to/over $49 and eligible for free shipping. New total $50.14

faberryman · Feb 22, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
Reasonableness is in the eye of the beholder.

What is unreasonable about his position?

Bob Carnie · Feb 22, 2017

brass majestic said:
Just checked prices at B&H for 1 gal LPD liquid - $44.95 + $9.74 shipping to Detroit area. Total $54.69 "In stock, ready to ship" 2 days. Had to add 1 rl HP5 to bring total to/over $49 and eligible for free shipping. New total $50.14

thats great , its what I wanted to hear.

RattyMouse · Feb 22, 2017

faberryman said:
Thank you for clearing that up.

I believe the point Dali was making was that he would rather pay a slightly higher price for the goods he requires than give his business to a retailer that lies to him. Seems like a perfectly reasonable position to take. Others are not troubled by that kind of behavior, and are happy to save a few dollars. Different values, different choices.

B & H has proven to have immense integrity to me. Epic even.

I was living in China and ordered a Sigma DP2M camera and had it shipped to a coworker in Ohio. It sat there unopened for weeks while waiting for another coworker to fly over to China and bring it to me. He did so and I got my camera. I shot with it on the first day and noticed that the file numbers coming out of the camera were in the thousands. I wondered if I got a new camera or a demo. I wrote Henry at B & H and without even asking me, he authorized a return. I then let him know that won't be easy as me and the camera were in China. He said, bring it back any time you can, even if passed the normal return time and he would exchange it. I told Henry that the camera seemed fine and that as long as there are no problems, I would just as soon keep it. I just wanted to know if what I was seeing was normal (it was not). Again, without asking, Henry immediately refunded to my credit card $300 or $400 (can't remember). I was and am impressed with B & H.

Since that time I have bought many thousands of dollars worth of electronic gear from B & H and will do so again in the very near future.

Sal Santamaura · Feb 22, 2017

Sal Santamaura said:
...Reasonableness is in the eye of the beholder...

faberryman said:
What is unreasonable about his position?

You're dead set on perpetuating your B&H attacks from any and every angle possible. Why not let it go? What good can you accomplish for analog photography by persisting?

Your eye beholds reasonableness. Others, who are unwilling to convict without evidence, see accusations of lying as unconvincing. They also see cutting off one's nose to spite one's face on the basis of those accusations as unreasonable. There's nothing more to it.

B&H not shipping chemicals anymore?

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