# Amazon policies.



## sanj (Nov 6, 2012)

I wanted to order the 600 at Amazon and give them a shipping address later. Am attaching the online chat. Am not satisfied. 

Me:Hello!
I want to buy a lens: Canon 600mm II right now. BUT I want you to hold on to it and ship it later when I send you an address. Is that acceptable?
Saket :Hello, my name is Saket. I'll be happy to help you today.
Me:Namashkar
Saket :I am really sorry It will not be acceptable but You can place the order and You will not face any problem
Me:How can I place an order without a shipping address? Thx
Saket :I am sorry but You can use any friend address to place the Order as the deals and the price which is reflected on the site are subjected to change '
so I am not able to do promise for that
Me:Ah. See I am ready to buy it now. Pay for it in full. And then later give you an address to send it to.
Saket :SANJAY ,How can be this possible when you place the order It goes for shipping and the item for which you place goes for packing and then it goes for delivery
so It will not be possible to hold the package
Me:Ok thanks...


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## Mooose (Nov 6, 2012)

Outrageous!


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## dstppy (Nov 6, 2012)

How many online retailers do you know that do this?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 6, 2012)

This sounds very reasonable to me.
Amazon does not do lay-away orders. You must pay by credit card, and a address must be given that matches the credit card. That is also the address that the order will be shipped to. Holding the shipment for some other address is not a safe practice.
Order the camera when you are ready to get it.


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## billnelson75 (Nov 6, 2012)

I'd have to agree, you are asking for something that the retailer doesn't do. Amazon is an automated machine built on a process of getting you your products as quickly as possible. If you want someone to hold an item and ship it later, call your local camera shop, or if you don't have one, call a reputable dealer somewhere and get it shipped from them. I'm sure they will hold a product to ship it later. You are asking for brick and mortar service from an online retailer, and that isn't going to happen.


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## sambafan (Nov 6, 2012)

I'd have to agree, you are asking for something that the retailer doesn't do. Amazon is an automated machine built on a process of getting you your products as quickly as possible. If you want someone to hold an item and ship it later, call your local camera shop, or if you don't have one, call a reputable dealer somewhere and get it shipped from them. I'm sure they will hold a product to ship it later. You are asking for brick and mortar service from an online retailer, and that isn't going to happen.

+1


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## neuroanatomist (Nov 6, 2012)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> This sounds very reasonable to me.
> Amazon does not do lay-away orders. You must pay by credit card, and a address must be given that matches the credit card. That is also the address that the order will be shipped to. Holding the shipment for some other address is not a safe practice.



+1. Payment method billing address verification helps prevent fraud. They will ship to an alternate address as long as the billing address matches payment info. 

This is a $13K lens and what if you later provide a shipping address in Nigeria or some other international location?


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## RLPhoto (Nov 6, 2012)

Pay to play. Quite straightforward.


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## joshmurrah (Nov 6, 2012)

Yeah, that's not the way amazon works, they don't do layaway type service.

Also, as somebody else pointed out, the BNA (your shipping address) is part of the fraud prevention.


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## unadog (Nov 6, 2012)

In addition to the above, low level CSR's (Customer Service Reps) have no authority or ability to alter standard processes.

They are basically just 1 step ahead of you in reading the text on the web site. Anything. more complex is just out of their realm. 

In most places the CSR turnover is about 200% per year (average of 6 months on the job.) Unless it is outsourced to India, etc., in which case they are even more remote from any of the company management..

You can often identify alternate sellers on Amazon - Adorama, JR, etc. Call one of their stores, talk to someone who works retail there, they will help you


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## unadog (Nov 6, 2012)

Looks liker Calumet has it at the same price, $12,999.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/eng/product/canon_ef_600mm_f_4l_is_ii_usm_telephoto_lens/ca405852

Check store inventory and then call. Real salespeople from the floor ... Or one of their "professional services" reps, that is a big ticket item.

Share your studio/etc info,, let them know who you are. Smaller retail stores are better at some things (specialized customer service), the big, automated retailers at others (standard order, lowest price.)

FWIW, the owner of Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus, Ohio gave me his personal cell phone number and his **home phone number** and offered to come into the store on Thanksgiving for me to pick up a printer. (I actually needed it that weekend, not on Thanksgiving day.)

that is the kind of **great** customer service that the smaller independent shops can deliver, and which is worth paying a bit more for if necessary. Support them if they help you out!

Cheers. Good luck.

Michael


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## pierceography (Nov 6, 2012)

Totally reasonable on amazon's part. The fraud prevention part aside, they are a highly mechanized and automated service. It's not like the CSR is going to run back, grab that lens, and stick it on a shelf with a note that says, "hold for sanj".

Sorry, but if this is the type of service you expect, you should probably stay away from the Internet and stick to brick and mortar shops.


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## Dylan777 (Nov 6, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > This sounds very reasonable to me.
> ...



+2


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## canon_convert (Nov 6, 2012)

Shopping for the first time in US ? No online retailer would entertain such request...period !

And what was your reason anyways ?


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)

Thx. Understood. 

However I have shopped with Amazon for last 10 odd years and have used my India credit card. I live in India and order with my credit card and it gets shipped to a friend of mine in USA who is coming here and the stuff gets transported.
The credit card verification works simply: In the order form at Amazon there is a billing address and shipping address!! That takes care of the fraud bit.
I thought Amazon has a large warehouse but I think it is only virtual.


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## jdramirez (Nov 7, 2012)

This is a bit shady, but you can buy it today giving an address but a card that will probably decline because of not having enough funds. They will then take about 3 days to notice and then tell you to give a good card in 3 days and then rinse and repeat and you can buy yourself sometime that way.


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## sach100 (Nov 7, 2012)

fwiw, i've been ordering on amazon for the last 4 years and shipping stuff to India (agreed not higher priced products). No issues so far and their packaging / delivery has been amaz(on)ing!


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## Botts (Nov 7, 2012)

Check out www.reship.com

I use this service all the time to get tough to find items to Canada from the United States.

You can also sign up for reship with a US address, they will warehouse your package for up to 90 days free prior to mailing it. You could have them mail it to you, or to your friend.

Amazon.com has no problem with my Canadian billing address on my Credit Card, and my Oregon shipping address @ reship.

Brian


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)

jdramirez said:


> This is a bit shady, but you can buy it today giving an address but a card that will probably decline because of not having enough funds. They will then take about 3 days to notice and then tell you to give a good card in 3 days and then rinse and repeat and you can buy yourself sometime that way.



Ah! But my card WILL work as the billing address will be correct.


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)

Botts said:


> Check out www.reship.com
> 
> I use this service all the time to get tough to find items to Canada from the United States.
> 
> ...



Thank you!


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## canon_convert (Nov 7, 2012)

well, I am surprised that it took you so long to understand that online retailers do not offer such options. btw, why not buy in India itself ...?? with all the duties and tax that you'll have to pay this would likely cost you much more... I remember someone on this forum mentioned that he was able to source it locally


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)

Its not listed with Canon India yet. And YES if would be almost 1.5 times the cost here.


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## iris chrome (Nov 7, 2012)

sanj said:


> I thought Amazon has a large warehouse but I think it is only virtual.



Forget a bit about the possibility of fraud and all that. Once Amazon sells any product they will want to get it out of their warehouse and shipped ASAP. This is because they're basically losing money on their inventory space. Space that could be cleared out and have new inventory come in to replace it and be sold in turn. You'll probably say that you're only one person or they could spare a bit of their space to accomodate their customers. But in reality they can't. The whole business of Amazon is built on the principle that it is a warehouse that depends on clearing its inventory in record times so as to accomodate the newest products and continue the cycle again.


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## cayenne (Nov 7, 2012)

sanj said:


> jdramirez said:
> 
> 
> > This is a bit shady, but you can buy it today giving an address but a card that will probably decline because of not having enough funds. They will then take about 3 days to notice and then tell you to give a good card in 3 days and then rinse and repeat and you can buy yourself sometime that way.
> ...



Ok, if the card is good and will charge...then why on earth would you not already know who/where you're going to ship it to?

I've never heard of such a thing as someone wanting to buy something, and have it held till you can "come up with somewhere to ship it"...?

Aside from sounding fishy....I would never imagined someone wanting to do such a thing...doesn't make sense...?

C


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)

I'll explain.
I want to buy it now while it is still in stock.
BUT I do not know who will visit India next from USA who I know.
SO I thought I will buy it now and when I know someone is coming, I will get it shipped to that person.
Make sense now?


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## cayenne (Nov 7, 2012)

sanj said:


> I'll explain.
> I want to buy it now while it is still in stock.
> BUT I do not know who will visit India next from USA who I know.
> SO I thought I will buy it now and when I know someone is coming, I will get it shipped to that person.
> Make sense now?



I guess your reasoning makes sense....I've never dealt with someone trying to buy something in the US, and get it ferried to another country.

But, while I can see your reasoning, I couldn't imagine *any* retailer....especially online ones, doing such a thing. They can't afford to put someone in charge of keeping track of your item, sitting it on a shelf somewhere, tracking it...etc.

That's just not something any system for normal retail would be set up for...

A small, mom and pop store...everything done manually, etc....might could do it, but certainly no system that is built for efficiency or online ordering (Walmart or Amazon for example). 

Why are you afraid they'll be out of stock when you are ready to ship it? Not sure why you feel you have to buy it now....why not just buy it when you have someone to ship it too.

It isn't like Canon gear is a rare thing that goes out of stock and stays out of stock for more than a day at a time....? (Exception being something just released, but even then, after the initial rush, it will be a commodity like all other products).


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## neuroanatomist (Nov 7, 2012)

cayenne said:


> (Exception being something just released, but even then, after the initial rush, it will be a commodity like all other products).



The 600 II that the OP is looking at falls into that category, though. They're rare enough that availability is posted as a news item on CR and TDP, and they are still selling out pretty fast.


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## sanj (Nov 7, 2012)




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## canon_convert (Nov 7, 2012)

sanj said:


> Its not listed with Canon India yet. And YES if would be almost 1.5 times the cost here.



Not sure how this guy got it .... http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=8439.msg182063#msg182063

Perhaps you should IM him to check


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## PackLight (Nov 7, 2012)

sanj said:


> I wanted to order the 600 at Amazon and give them a shipping address later. Am attaching the online chat. Am not satisfied.
> 
> Me:Hello!
> I want to buy a lens: Canon 600mm II right now. BUT I want you to hold on to it and ship it later when I send you an address. Is that acceptable?
> ...



Sounds to me like you wanted to pay with a money order and you might be buying it for your cousin in Saudi Arabia. If I were the retailer the whole senario you proposed sounded fishy and like a scam.


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## sanj (Nov 8, 2012)

Why don't you like my cousin in Saudi Arabia?


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## preppyak (Nov 8, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> The 600 II that the OP is looking at falls into that category, though. They're rare enough that availability is posted as a news item on CR and TDP, and they are still selling out pretty fast.


Yeah, I was gonna say, I completely understand why the OP wants to buy it now and ship later, because if you have a limited window, who knows when it will come back into stock.

Amazon definitely isn't the dealer to do this with; you might be able to talk B+H or Adorama into it, but, more than likely you'd be looking at smaller stores.


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## sanj (Nov 8, 2012)

Thank you and understood.

Btw Amazon had 6+ in stock, now only one remain.


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## comsense (Nov 8, 2012)

sanj said:


> I'll explain.
> I want to buy it now while it is still in stock.
> BUT I do not know who will visit India next from USA who I know.
> SO I thought I will buy it now and when I know someone is coming, I will get it shipped to that person.
> Make sense now?


Hi Sanj, You can either,
1) Get it shipped to the most reliable closest person/friend in the lot and ask him/her to ship to whoever is leaving first. You get to incur a bit of shipping cost. Hey, if you are buying a 13K lens, $50 with shipping insurance should not be a big deal.
2) Try B&H or Adorama. They have more adaptable customer care. I prefer them over Amazon anyways due to Amazon reshipping returned items as 'new'. It is very easy for some idiot with credit card to order 600 II play/abuse for a month and return to Amazon. They will ship it right back to you sometime even without repackaging it properly.


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## sanj (Nov 8, 2012)

Thank you. Am using my commonsense now.


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