Additional review (mixed) of B&H experience [was "B&H has the worst customer service on the planet.]

This seems like the right place to post this, though it seems like
there's a chance of what must have been a flaming hot thread, based on
the number of posts to it (I'm posting from Google, just trying to put
a "mixed" review) in a place where other people looking for reviews
will be able to find it.

I purchased a number of items from B&H, most of them new, at prices
that were better than I could find elsewhere, from any company that
seemed to have a dependable history of at least delivering goods
dependably. I've had a bunch of bad experiences with other discount
electronics companies, failure to send the correct items, sending
refurbs advertised as new, failing to send merch at all, and so forth,
so I was very pleased when B&H handled my online order quickly enough
that the items reached my door by UPS within a week of ordering.

BUT, when it came to the used item I purchased, a battery for a
camcorder, it seems obvious they didn't likely even test the battery
using any effective means. The battery is DOA.

So, I guess the moral of my story is, on the one hand, to think twice
about ordering used items from B&H, but on the other that, at least in
my case, they were dependable on the shipping and handling. I am
going to guess they will be responsible about accepting a return, as
well, but I would rather they took the time to at least test the
battery before sending it to me. I'm happy with the new items, but
having to deal with a return on a DOA item is a hassle I didn't need,
and won't invite again.

 

What type of battery was it? I personally would never buy a battery
second-hand as it's life expectancy could be severely shortened, or of
course not work at all. Old Ni-Cad batteries are obviously the worst for
this, newer NiMH or Li-Ion batteries are much better and do not suffer from
the same 'memory' problems - but still, you may as well buy new and know
that your battery will not have any problems through misuse or simply being
old.
I'd be interested to know how B&H - or anyone selling used batteries for
that matter - would test a used battery. What happens if they don't have the
correct camcorder or charger for it? A very simple test would be just to
check it's supplying the correct voltage with a voltmeter - it wouldn't
surprise me if many people would just do that. But, that really doesn't give
any indication of how it would perform under load in normal working
conditions. So, maybe you put some resistors in the circuit and see how it
fares then - but again, it's not particularly scientific. Finally, if a
battery appears to be dead - how will they know unless they charge it? And
how could they charge it correctly without having the correct charger? I
guess there must be some generic chargers but it seems like a total grey
area to me, and probably not worth the bother from B&H's point of view.
They'd probably rather just send them out and let the buyer do the testing
for them - as you have done. I know it's a hassle but just send it back and
there's a lesson learned I guess (don't buy second hand batteries!).

Chris.

 

And I'll bet BH isn't any happier with that battery than you are...

 

My guess is that a camcorder battery is pretty trivial stuff to them. It
probably held a charge briefly when they took it into their inventory, but
then it probably sat on a shelf for who know how long where it slowly and
steadily discharged to the point beyond recovery.