I ordered some gear from B&H on the 28th of Feb and its still not here. It usually takes round 5 days. I've communicated a number of times and been told the order has been cancelled and will be resent only to get another email saying that's not the case and the original is still on it's way.

Anyone heard any news about the company? I'd be devastated if they didn't survive.

I find it hard to imagine that they wouldn't survive. I think you're looking at supply chain issues under these times. About a month ago I ordered a web cam from Dell. The only place I could find that "had it in stock". Was supposed to to arrive on April 2nd. When I contacted them early last week, they said it was to arrive that very day which I had already seen on the order page. When I pointed that out I was given the usual stock answer for this type of situation. I'll give them another week before contacting them again.

I agree, B&H is not going away. Have you tried using the live chat feature on their site? I only did this once, and they were really helpful - I had purchased a computer a couple weeks earlier that was now listed at a lower price. Only took a few minutes for them to send me a credit for the price difference.

Hope your gear arrives soon. Unfortunately, this is a bad time to be dependent on international shipping.

International shipping has gone mad. Competition for space on aircraft is intense. Most Chinese sources don't ship themselves, they provide it to a freight forwarder who then engages the company. One package got quoted for four times, getting more and more expensive - far more than the actual goods in the end! DHL, then said sorry, they couldn't take it, so it went to Fedex (another price increase). Tracking wise, it sat in the Fedex depot in China for two weeks, then suddenly got on a flight to Paris, then to Germany, then to the UK, suddenly arriving - AND - no usual Fedex request for the duty, VAT and handling........ yet. So I have it, but have no import invoice yet. Clearly, they're all struggling. I've a big shipment at sea, and that too took ages to find a space on a ship - they guessed as 60 days, rather than the quoted 41!

Everything is messed up even local shipping. I mailed my parents some food supplies using the US postal. They live 40 minutes away, a week later the tracking indicated they accidentally shipped it thousands of miles away to another part of the country. Almost 2 weeks later they called saying it will be delivered today.

I also placed an Amazon order for my parents. Because it was non essential and I’m not prime member eta is a month.

My clothes dryer heating element blew out last Wednesday. Went to the Westighouse parts site, ordered and they said it would arrive in two days. Was here around noon Friday, which really surprised me. Placed an order from Apple last night (replacing my ancient Apple TV3's). The estimate is April 24-25 with free delivery. We shall see...

Aside from that, I've been completely isolated here, have only left my place for trips to the grocery store twice in the past month, haven't ordered anything else or gotten any deliveries. Hope your B&H order arrives soon, we're all having to make adjustments to this completely different world.

NYC has a pretty strict shutdown. I think B&H would violate "Essential Only" clauses as well as banning of mass gatherings. That or maybe they're doing their employees a service and having them self-quarantine during this, and not reopen. It could become bad publicity in the industry if their employees became infected & helped spread it within NY/NJ.

Just guessing but I don't think B&H is in any more trouble than anyone else. Not sure their missing out on much right now, most in photo/video aren't working, and the outlook for the rest of the year doesn't look to include many upgrades or large purchases. I suppose people looking for streaming gear.

Just got a notice that my Apple order has shipped, with UPS estimating delivery on April 22, instead of the earlier April 24-25 estimate. This is what I would have expected from Apple before the crisis, but not now, Will see what really happens.

Regarding B&H, I have no inside knowledge about their operations, but they have moved their warehouse and shipping to New Jersey. Here's an excerpt from a response that I got on 5/4/2018 after sending feedback about having to pay NJ sales tax

-----------------------------
Dear Boyd,

[stuff deleted]

We will be shutting down our multiple NY warehouses, opting to consolidate operations at one massive modern warehouse in New Jersey. Management tried for several years to find another location in New York, but the hot real estate market proved too be too challenging to overcome. Our lease with the Brooklyn Navy yard was not renewed. As a result of this, we will be relocating our distribution center to New Jersey. Our new facility will be a beautiful modern 500,000+ square ft. space that will have comfortable employee spaces, with state of the art technology, allowing us to serve our customers in a quicker and more efficient manner.

[stuff deleted]

Sincerely,

Ralph S
B&H Photo Video Pro-Audio

-------------------------------------------------

My reading of the NJ shutdown rules suggests that they can operate, although must reduce on-site employees to the minimum needed. But I'm no expert....

https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/nj-information/general-public/what-are-the-“stay-at-home”-rules-in-new-jersey-what-businesses-are-closed

Also, see this:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/b-h-photo-committed-providing-200500160.html

"B&H has prioritized employee safety and health as it navigates this crisis. The company temporarily closed its New York City retail store on March 16th, in advance of government directives, and rapidly moved its office teams to work from home. At B&H's New Jersey warehouse, the company reduced hours and implemented aggressive distancing, cleanliness and safety measures. In addition, B&H decided to close its warehouse every Sunday so it can complete a weekly deep cleaning and sanitizing protocol."

yea - I think you're right, it's more likely the transport companies - well plenty of people thought 2020 would be a special year, just not quite this 'special'

Stay Safe