Buying Equipment from KEH

[Joe Grodis]

This is getting out of hand!! KEH shopping cart has been down for a week!

 

[L Gebhardt]

I just ordered some new equipment from them last night. It was a terrible experience. Lost my cart twice. Finally I figured out that the wish list survives the session timeouts that happen even when you are refreshing pages avery 30 seconds or so. As someone who programs websites for a living I have to say they got most of the navigation wrong. Quite a shame as I really like KEH. I hope they get the programmer to improve it.

 

[pschwart]

The old site was badly designed and performance was very poor. It looks like the underlying schema of the new site hasn't changed much and the performance is still very poor. The new features would be welcome, but many are broken or behave incorrectly -- I have had stuff added to my cart that I didn't put there, and valid credit cards marked as expired. Attempting to checkout has returned a server error for almost a week, so it didn't
matter ...

Bottom line: I have been a loyal customer for years, but KEH gets a failing grade for failing to acknowledge these problems on the home page, not providing a mechanism for reporting and tracking problems, and forcing web site users to do their product testing. Going back to ordering by phone would be a giant step backwards.

I just ordered some new equipment from them last night. It was a terrible experience. Lost my cart twice. Finally I figured out that the wish list survives the session timeouts that happen even when you are refreshing pages avery 30 seconds or so. As someone who programs websites for a living I have to say they got most of the navigation wrong. Quite a shame as I really like KEH. I hope they get the programmer to improve it.

 

[Alexander Ghaffari]

Now, if Freestyle will follow suit, my online photo shopping world will be complete.

Oh, I know...3 weeks time in the cart before deletion is not enough...I never want my Freestyle cart/wish list to be empty, haha.

 

[pschwart]

KEH site still fails on checkout

Monday 11/23 and the KEH site still returns server errors when attempting to check out. I initially got some pro forma responses to my mails reporting problems, but even these have ceased. Maybe KEH has given up on their web site? In my world, the appropriate response to a down site is 24x7 attention until the problem is resolved.

The old site was badly designed and performance was very poor. It looks like the underlying schema of the new site hasn't changed much and the performance is still very poor. The new features would be welcome, but many are broken or behave incorrectly -- I have had stuff added to my cart that I didn't put there, and valid credit cards marked as expired. Attempting to checkout has returned a server error for almost a week, so it didn't
matter ...

Bottom line: I have been a loyal customer for years, but KEH gets a failing grade for failing to acknowledge these problems on the home page, not providing a mechanism for reporting and tracking problems, and forcing web site users to do their product testing. Going back to ordering by phone would be a giant step backwards.

 

[olwick]

KEH General Manager just sent this out:

Dear MARK,


We want to thank you for your patronage and patience during our website rollout.


NEW WEBSITE

As you may know, KEH.com rolled out a new website nearly two weeks ago. While we anticipate this site to be a great improvement over our old website, we still have some challenges to overcome.

As with many new websites, we are experiencing some growing pains and are working to remove several issues within the site, primarily regarding our "search" function as well as our checkout pages.

Specialists are working around the clock to correct these issues and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. As an alternative to the web, you may also call 770-333-4200 to place an order via phone.

Our ultimate goal at KEH.com is to exceed your expectations at every level, however, we feel it equally important to keep you honestly informed.

Sincerely,

Todd Murphy
General Manager
KEH.com
todd@keh.com

 

[Toffle]

KEH General Manager just sent this out:

Dear MARK,


We want to thank you for your patronage and patience during our website rollout.


NEW WEBSITE

Thanks... got this just a few minutes ago. At the very least, this is good. They are acknowledging the problems and trying to fix it. I can't remember getting such an email from other sites I've worked with. (apart from the countless emails from ebay offering me new ways to give them my money. :rolleyes: )

 

[rphenning]

So it turns out my 7 and 80 f/4 DID slip through the cracks of the new website, but a quick call to Will at KEH solved the problem and got me some upgraded shipping at no cost. Pre stoked. Also got that email today too ^^

 

[nsouto]

Got their email as well. Sensational reaction from KEH! They definitely won me over.

 

[goldenimage]

I got an email from them yesturday telling me of the site problems and that it should be up and running flawlessly very soon

 

[Joe Grodis]

KEH is outright addictive... Not a day goes by that I don't dig through their listings. One day while on KEH my OCB paid off. Under the "as-is" section I found a Bronica-S in EXC condition but described as INOP. But, at $9.95 for such a rare item I thought it would be a nice "Shelf" camera. So I ordered it and bought the finder, back and lens separately. When the items arrived I assembled the set up to see what was wrong with it. After an hour or so trying to make the camera malfunction it occurred to me it was 100% operational with no defect I could find! So I grabbed a few rolls of film and gave it a bit of a work out. That camera is still working like a champ today!

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I agree that KEH is addictive. I look them up quite often.

Jeff

 

[John R.]

It depends.
For LF Lenses, their BGN rating is usually pretty darned good.

For 35mm bodies, it can make a big difference. They also seem to grade 35mm bodies on cosmetics ONLY. Therefore, a body graded EX will look good but may very well have a mechanical problem. Maybe, it depends on brand. I've never had any luck trying to buy used Nikon Manual focus 35mm bodies from them and, believe me, I have tried many times. I have given up and will not buy 35mm gear from them - nothing but trouble and endless mailing stuff back and forth.

I have used KEH for many, many years. I've purchased all kinds of gear, bodies, accessories, lenses ranging from 35 to 8x10. If I had to rate them I would say they are a reliable dealer and always aim to please. With that said, I have had problems with some gear and it has always been with 35mm. I agree that their cosmetic ratings are very conservative and generous. Mechanically is where I have discovered issues. Being that they deal with so much equipment it is easy to understand that pieces with mechanical flaws can slip through the cracks in the inspection process. My last experience involved a Contax AX autofocus body. I went through three of them on exchanges because of focusing or firing issues. I believe the camera was too sophisticated for the average repair tech they use to properly evaluate and test the focus system on this unique 35 body. Two of the bodies were not focusing at infinity, the split image was slightly off from alignment at infinity with several Zeiss lenses I tested. The test images were slightly soft, not a trademark of Zeiss glass. KEH immediately granted a return approval on each body. One body was just like new, like it just came out of the box. That body was the one I wanted and they had to send it back to Japan for proper repair. They were supposed to notify me when it came back and they never did. Anyway, I eventually obtained a couple that are fine. I do believe the more sophisticated a piece of equipment is the greater the risk of running into a mechanical or electronic issue. I agree that 35mm is their weak spot in quality control but I also can understand why. I am not making excuses for them but I can also understand that it can be extremely difficult making certain every item is operationally perfect. Buyer beware, thoroughly test upon receipt and just send it back if there is an issue. They are always very receptive to returns. I rate them highly overall. I still think buying at shows in person is the best way to go.

 

[rmolson]

KEH still having trouble

KEH


I just brought another camera from KEH. I probably don’t need it but I lust for it. I had to work for it to buy it though. Their server must be giving them fits. It timed out on me three time and slow…. I have had faster dial up And I am on Cable broad band. Any other company I would have given up on but KEH has always given me great deals even on Ugly rated. If I were still in the business and someone’s service gave me that much trouble and probable loss of business They would either fix it NOW or there would be a lawyer with a lawsuit that would hurt them bad, or Vinnie with baseball bat!!!!

 

[Terence]

I agree on all counts. Having had some bad IT departments at companies over the last decade, I realize it's not the store's fault, per se.

They need a better IT group. This happened the last time they updated their website too. Unfortunately, unless you're in the IT industry, it's tough to find good IT people who really know what they're doing. In my experience, most talk a good game, but don't know what the h#ll they're doing.

Being a concrete and steel engineer and not a computer guy, I would think you'd create a mirrored test site to work out the bugs before "going live".

It tarnishes their reputation to many, but hopefully most folks realize they're still, by far, one of the better places to buy from.

 

[tkamiya]

I'm in IT. While I agree it's not the store's fault, the problem KEH is having is one of those things that happens only when the system is deployed in real-time use. They could have tested in "conference room pilot" with 10 or so users and it probably worked just fine. Situations can be different when hundreds of users are viewing page after page making requests in hundreds or thousands a minute. I am guessing each page is rendered in real-time via JSP in the background - and that's overloaded to a point it can time out.

With that said, I hope the issue get resolved soon. It's so annoying that I'm on the other side of the Ethernet cable.

 

[domaz]

I'm in IT. While I agree it's not the store's fault, the problem KEH is having is one of those things that happens only when the system is deployed in real-time use. They could have tested in "conference room pilot" with 10 or so users and it probably worked just fine. Situations can be different when hundreds of users are viewing page after page making requests in hundreds or thousands a minute. I am guessing each page is rendered in real-time via JSP in the background - and that's overloaded to a point it can time out.

With that said, I hope the issue get resolved soon. It's so annoying that I'm on the other side of the Ethernet cable.

They are not using JSP-- obviously ASP.NET from the .ASPX extension. That opens up the blame Microsoft for the slowness game, but clearly it is a design problem with the website. Maybe the database is slow- maybe the code is flawed who knows. So many things can go wrong in IT it's hard to take a guess what it is.

 

[tkamiya]

It'd NOT be funny though.... in the end, they find the problem to be a faulty network cable giving intermittent network errors....

I've seen THAT, too.

 

[elgato]

I would strongly suggest that, until they get their site working right, you place any orders over the phone. I ordered a camera body on the web site last Monday, and when I called on Wednesday to check on my order, they said there was no record of it. So I placed a new order over the phone and was assured that the first order would be canceled if it ever re-emerged. Friday, I got two shipping notifications. This morning, two charges appeared on my credit card. So it looks like I'm going to have to bounce a package back to them and wait for a refund.

Also, they don't seem to reply to email.

KEH are basically an honest bunch of people and I understand that the glitches are probably due to a flaky contractor, but it is irritating to have to take time out of my day to wait on hold to deal with what should be a simple online order.

 

[Craig Swensson]

Well after seeing all the positive feedback regarding KEH i was looking at buying some stuff from them, problem is it would be quicker for me to take a flight to the store. Maybe best to wait a couple of months untill sorted?

 

[tkamiya]

I recently called KEH because I needed some clarifications on some items. To my surprise I received very short and surprisingly rude response form one of the sales person. I'd imagine the problem with web is causing much grief and increased workload. I plan to order from them as my experience previous to this call has been vastly positive; however, I do plan to wait until the holiday season is over and web issues resolved.

 

[whlogan]

Whatever.... but KEH is still the best. If you want something for the next short while... call on the phone and ask for Dan Orchard and he will help you right out... things done by phone don't go thru the computer... those poor guys are on it 24/7.... let's give 'em a break here...
Logan

 

[Arvee]

I ordered about a week ago and couldn't place the order online so I called direct. I asked if my item was in stock-yes, it was-and placed the order while commenting about the website problems I encountered. Salesman apologized, waived the shipping charge and I received the item a couple of days ago.

They seem to be doing fine in the 'work around' mode.

-F.

 

[Toffle]

I ordered a Luna Pro SBC the other day without difficulty and it was delivered today, one day earlier than anticipated, so in my case it appears that things worked out. (Now, if only I had been home to pay the international brokerage fees, I would have it in my damp, girlish hands... ) I say "appears" because it wasn't until I was in the final stages of checkout that I realized that the "secure content" icon (the little padlock thingy) had a red exclamation mark and displayed the message, "Contains unauthenticated content". Having twice been the victim of compromised identity on the internet, I find this a little concerning. I am hoping that this does not mean I will find untold spurious charges on my new chip-and-pin Visa.

Cheers,

 

[matt miller]

A phone call is definitely your best bet at this point. I placed an order online a couple of weeks ago & paid with paypal. My paypal payment went through, but the order hung up on the "submit" screen and would not process. When I called, the guy I spoke with was very pleasant and told me that phone orders are the way to go until they get their website problems fixed. I got my 105/2.5 Nikkor a few days later and just love it.