STEAMED at Light Impressions

[Roger Thoms]

I spoke with Photographers Supply in San Francisco a while back and they have pretty much stopped ordering from Light Impressions. Photographers Supply said that their orders had way too many back ordered item and that for example on a recent order they had received 3 out of 30 items ordered. This conservation came about because I was inquiring about a LI item that was out of stock.

I was also angry when LI start hammering me with marketing emails. Quite doubtful that I'll ever order from them again.

Roger

 

[billbretz]

TFC-
I wasn't speaking to your experience, just citing my own in a thread that was otherwise piling-on LI.

 

[Les]

I have used University Products for years and they have always been honest and delivered as promised.

 

[Monophoto]

For me, Light Impressions used to give decent service when they were in Rochester, NY. But since they moved to the West Coast, they've gotten pretty sloppy, not to mention the increased cost of shipping from there to Puerto Rico. I rarely order anything from them now.

This is the issue: the move to the West Coast came about when Bill Edwards, the founder and original owner of Light Impressions, sold the business. The move to Los Angeles was only a side show - the key point is that there was a change of ownership.

Actually, Edwards fairly quickly recognized that his traditional customers weren't getting the kind of service he had provided, and his solution was to start a new business - Lumiere Photo.

By the way - Lumiere sells Dead Link Removed.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I will rarely jump on the thread bashing a business bandwagon but this is a company that has had good business that is now just trying to kill itself. Scott, I agree that this case was definitely bad enough to publicly air and post a thread.

I hope you get your L pins in time.

Steve

 

[Stephen Frizza]

Maybe Ive gotten lucky but Im based in sydney australia and order the archival renaissance tissue from light impressions and have never had a problem with supply from them.

 

[eclarke]

Bill-

the issue was not a matter of ordering something custom - I'd be far more understanding of a delay in providing the item if it were custom. But this was a very simple communications issue revolving around what SHOULD be a stock item that they buy from a supplier. Regardless of the cause, it speaks to at best very poor inventory management on LI's part- if they know that the lead time to get replacement for a given item from the manufacturer is 6 weeks, then they need to manage their inventory so that they order again when they have a six week supply remaining. They also need to do sufficient inventory tracking such that when an order comes in for something that is in fact out of stock, they notify the customer within a reasonable period of time and offer the customer options on how to handle the shortfall. Because they have done none of the above, they've lost a good repeat customer.

LI backorders silly stuff that they should have in stock..period. Film envelopes, crystal bags for prints which they backordered every time I tried to buy them. I never got a complete order from them. There are lots of other places, the prices are good and the websites easier to search...

 

[eclarke]

Freestyle has them....

 

[bblhed]

I have only used Light Impressions once, I was not impressed with their delivery lead times, the products were good though.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'm definitely not faulting them on the quality of their products - it's just everything else about ordering from them is a pain in the ass.

 

[Michael A. Smith]

We are sponsors of APUG. We stock highest quality mat board (ArtCare) no minimums, cut custom overmats (no minimums), have extremely low prices. We also stock negative and print storage boxes and negative folders from archival paper (much better than negative envelopes). Take a look: www.lodimaarchivalmaterials.com

Michael A. Smith

 

[mitch brown]

wish i had read this post before i placed an order last week. just called to check on the order ( 1 JAR of rennisance wax ) and was told that it was on back order , a jar of wax, give me a break, cancled the order and will never from them again.
mitch

 

[lxdude]

wish i had read this post before i placed an order last week. just called to check on the order ( 1 JAR of Rennisance wax ) and was told that it was on back order , a jar of wax, give me a break, cancled the order and will never order from them again.
mitch

Well, the Renaissance was a long time ago; maybe it's getting scarce.:rolleyes:

 

[mitch brown]

well i never said i could spell.

 

[lxdude]

well i never said i could spell.

Hey no problem-I'm just trying to figure out why it's apparently so scarce.

I new whot you ment.

 

[Mahler_one]

We are sponsors of APUG. We stock highest quality mat board (ArtCare) no minimums, cut custom overmats (no minimums), have extremely low prices. We also stock negative and print storage boxes and negative folders from archival paper (much better than negative envelopes). Take a look: www.lodimaarchivalmaterials.com

Michael A. Smith

I can highly recommend the service and materials sent by Lodima Archival Materials. My mat board and over mat arrived promptly, perfectly shipped, and perfectly cut. Michael, or one of his assistant, is always available to provide advice on framing and the correct presentation of your prints.

I also order some materials from Frame Destinations who are sponsors here as well. Once again, the service and products are top notch and the staff is extremely helpful. One can often speak directly to the owner of the company who is happy to offer advice and counsel.

It's great to have such resources available.

 

[mikeastoria]

I ordered mylar enclosures from Light Impressions in the beginning of August. They said they were back ordered. But charged my credit card anyway. They have never sent me another email since then. I called in September, they still were back ordered. They didn't know when they would come in. Still no emails from them. I called 2 days ago, and the customer service person said their computers were down and could not check on my order. I called today and they got on the computer, my order was still back ordered. They still had no idea when it would come in. So I cancelled my order finally.
This company has gone down the tubes. I have been ordering archival supplies from them since 1985. Ever since they were bought and moved out of Rochester they have been going downhill. Oh well, all good things have to come to an end. Hollinger you say.....