Z1 is shipping tonight

[Scott Shuster]

I just received a telephone call from B&H Photo here in New York (5:30pm Thursday January 20th) informing me that they have the Z1 in their hands now and will be sending me the one I have ordered right away. As I am local (NYC) I suppose I will have it tomorrow or Monday.

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks for the news, Scott! I sure hope you'll tell us all what you think about it -- no doubt many of our readers here will be anxious to know what you think.

[Heath McKnight]

Heck yeah! Congrats if it comes through! Sometimes box shops get things wrong, but let's hope they got it right!

heath

[Scott Shuster]

Thanks, Chris -- Of course I will report on the delivery, the opening of the box, how much snow was on the shoes of the messenger, etc.

Heath I'm confident this is for real. I'd be pretty embarrassed having posted this 'it's shipping!' topic if it turns out to still be "2-to-4 weeks" as B&H was saying just yesterday. But I received this news "first hand" from B&H personally.

It's not like B&H calls me all the time: I'm a regular customer at their fabulous store on 9th Avenue, but I recently ported my office phone number from Verizon to T-Mobile so when B&H was doing their routine credit check on my order they found my phone number was no longer listed where they expected it to be -- so they called the 'old' number just to make sure, and of course I answered the phone.

So the guy asked me some questions, checked me out, you know, the usual credit thing...and then he said to me: "OK, I'll ship it to you!"

...and I said "Uh...what? You...you mean now? You actually have it already??"

"Yesss," he replied.

So it looks like it's for real. I'll post to confirm when it arrives.

[Chris Hurd]

Hey Scott,

I've got kind of a weird request... if you have a digital still camera handy, and if you think about it, could you take some shots of the box it comes in, how it's packaged, kit contents and that sort of thing as you're unpacking it? Of course this won't be a priority for you when it actually arrives, but if you think about it and can do this, it would be a big help. Lots of folks like to see what they can expect before they get their cameras. If you could take a few shots and email them to me, I'll host them here so the potential buyers who are reading this can get an idea of what the package looks like. If this sounds do-able, then thanks in advance! If not, it's certainly no big deal.

[Scott Shuster]

You bet and no sweat, Chris. I always take pictures of unpackings anyway so I can reverse-engineer the re-packing-pack accurately in case of an immediate need to return the purchase!

Packing technology is so fantastic these days that it's impossible to figure out how to re-pack if you don't photograph the unpacking...so, sure, I'll be happy to do that.

Everybody's laughing here in the office tonight because we were debating, "should we tell everyone about this unexpected early shipment of Z1s or not? If we do, everybody's gonna be asking us to try stuff they're curious about on the new camera and we're too busy!" But I said "sure we'll have the time AND we will learn a TON from people smarter than us who want to know this-or-that about the Z1!" So now everybody's on board and if we really are among the first to get the Z1 we will be happy to try various settings and answer questions.

...But we did not anticipate being asked to take pictures of the box!! - HA!

[Bob Zimmerman]

I talk to a guy at Sony last week and he said they were told that it would be the end of Febuary before the Z1 came out!! It looks like he was alittle off.
Looking forward to a report on the Z1.

[Bob Costa]

Instead of still pics, how about shooting a little mini-doc of the arrival and birth? :)

And I can't believe you are NYC local and didn't just drive (okay subway, taxi, or bus) over there to have it for the weekend!!!

[Filip Kovcin]

to Scott Shuster


Scott,

i know that my question may sound weird - but did you checked them back? i mean - if you gave them your info from credit card, and the guy who called you wasn't the REAL one... well, it may go in a bit different direction.

i just spoked with a guy from sony and he said that first delivery should be (at least in europe) beetween 8th and 10th of february - at least THEY will (sony europe) have it from japan on that day. i know that this date may vary, but despite exellent service from b&h - maybe is not so bad to re-chek them, just in case...

conspiration rules :)

filip

p.s.
my co-partner in bussiness was ripped off in a very similar circumstances. he discussed his buyings (car parts) on-line on certain forum, so the bad guys had almost all info they needed. incl. phone numbers, address, the name of the company which was selling that part to him etc., the name of that very expencive part he was buying etc. and therefore can pretend that they ARE that company who is selling. and all that just because he was so happy that he finally found that veryspecific part. and wanted to share info about it.

anyhow, hope everything will be ok.

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Hey, if this is true...that's great news. But, it smells like a scam to me - BIGTIME. You said a "credit check"? Dude, it's a scam in my opinion.

I'm definately not saying B&H is scamming you, but possibly someone is calling you pretending to be them. The only way to be absolutely sure....you call B&H directly and talk to someone high up. Get the definative answer...like, "I'm staring at a Z1 shipment in front of me." If they can't give you every single detail on this call to you...and who made it then watch out dude.

I'm sure B&H wants to know if someone is messing with their customers. They could send out an APB, so people don't get scammed.

However, if you actually get the camera then I want mine too!!!! Argh!!!!

Murph

[Boyd Ostroff]

Well, FWIW on B&H's website they have changed the "availability" information. A couple days ago it said the Z1 would be available in February. This morning it indicates that the Z1 is a special order item.

! Important Notice:
This is a special order item. Estimated arrival at B&H 2-4 weeks. You will be charged upon placing your order.

So hopefully Scott isn't getting scammed.

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Regardless, call them directly yourself. Nowadays, the general rule is...if someone is calling you for information it's a potential scam. The only way to know for sure is if you are making the call to a known # at whatever business you want to deal with.

I've had to drill this one into my girlfriends head over and over. She's had calls from her "Credit Card" company asking her to verify her number. WTF! Luckily, I've been there at the time and stopped the scam. But, she's like...well, they "said the first 4 numbers of my card". I'm like...yeah, a lot of credit card companies have the same first 4 numbers on EVERY card they send out!!!! So, anyway...scammers are everywhere lurking and they're also making the effort to reach into your life too. It's not safe unless you are the one getting in touch with them.

I may sound paranoid, but I'm speaking from experience...bad experience!

[Scott Shuster]

Bob Z:
>I talked to a guy at Sony last week and he said
>they were told that it would be the end of Febuary
>before the Z1 came out!!
Right: I got a similar story when I stopped in at B&H...LAST WEEK. But last week was last week and this week is this week and things do change -- as we noted last week when the anticipated delivery was suddenly and delightfully bumped from April to February.


John G.
>Instead of still pics, how about shooting a little mini-doc...
Ha - well maybe, if we've got a camera that's not busy. But I think I can deliver better resolution, quicker, with stills. I do agree however that the audio would be more interesting your way - !

John G.
>And I can't believe you are NYC local and
>didn't just drive (okay subway, taxi, or bus)
>over there to have it for the weekend!!!
Neither can I. And it would be subway, by the way: B&H is two stops away from our office on the "A" train) but the truth is I was in Vegas (WORKING!) when the 'special order' e-mail came from B&H.com...I was afraid of this so I had arranged things so that someone here who does not usually handle ordering would receive the message and place the order instantly. The follow-through was not handled the way I would have done it and we ended up paying $39.10 for shipping instead of taking 20-minutes out of our oh-so-busy day and spending $2 (each way, = $4, total) to go get it. Sigh! But it's also possible that it's a drop ship from the docks in Long Beach, California. Who knows?


Filip K.
>i know that my question may sound weird -
>but did you checked them back? i mean -
>if you gave them your info from credit card,
>and the guy who called you wasn't the REAL
>one...
I agree with you wholeheartedly: Your question is definitely weird! I refuse to 'live in fear' this way. I have been pestering B&H for weeks about this, and they responded. Everything is happening as expected, period.

Also my case is nothing like your buddy's (the car-parts debacle) as nobody knew about my order except B&H at the time this exchange occured - I only started talking about this afterwards.

Christopher C. Murphy:
>Hey, if this is true...that's great news.
>But, it smells like a scam to me - BIGTIME.
>You said a "credit check"? Dude, it's a scam in my opinion.
Totally not. They had my credit card number already, (indeed, they have had it for years and years and years), so the phone call served absolutely no information-gathering or scam-like purpose whatsoever. They caller did not even ASK me any question. It was more like: "Is that you? Why isn't your phone number listed anymore?" I was impressed at the care they take to make sure they are shipping to the right person. That's how I read the call.

I have never had any problem with any order from B&H, ever ever ever - which is why they're number one with people like me who live in NYC and absolutely don't mind paying the tax (in this case $426.00!!) to buy from the most trustworthy, well-stocked, rapid, responsive, a/v retailer on the planet, B&H. The sense of confidence I have on every order is worth every penny.


Everybody:
Nah: It's no scam. But it is possible that the "yesss" that I got to my question when I received the call from B&H last night may conceivably have been hyperbole.

Maybe he said "yes" without knowing, truly, whether the shipment is about to go out.

Perhaps that fellow's job is just to take orders and put them into a shipment system -- and further down the pipeline that particular item order is going into a holding bin for action next week (or the week after...or the week after that) and he just said "yes" to me in a distracted way without really KNOWING FOR SURE.

Hey that's totally possible. And that occurred to me about a millisecond after I posted my enthusiastic "Z1 is shipping tonight" topic here on dvinfo. "Whoops," I thought, "this could end up being embarrassing."

But hey all this is really happening and now everyone's enjoying the story. I have the personal joy of having added to the excitement of the global Sony rumor mill, which is pots of fun. So it's ok.

Is it true? is it really shipping? Only time will tell. The only question is...how MUCH time...!!

It's -12 degrees Celsius here this morning (11-degrees above zero fahrenheit)...I don't like the idea of the camera moving through these weather conditions anyway: I actually hope they don't ship for a couple days...

[Filip Kovcin]

<<<-- Originally posted by Scott Shuster :

Filip K. I agree with you wholeheartedly: Your question is definitely weird! I refuse to 'live in fear' this way. I have been pestering B&H for weeks about this, and they responded. Everything is happening as expected, period.
-->>>

Scott,
my intention was not to make you upset or something similar. no.
since on this forum atmosphere is definitelly different then on other forums around, i wrote my opinion just to tell you that MAYBE -it MAY happen.
and because i was worried. that's it. but it looks that your reaction to my (and others) mail was very strong, at least in my opinion.
if i understood it in a proper way (english is not my native tongue) you were bit sarcastic when answering to my post. i'm not wrangler on this forum so i do not have "right" to "teach" you about what is ok to say to others and what is not, but if i understood your text well - please do not answer in this manner. i didn't tell you anything bad, offence etc. i didn't tell you that you don't know what are you doing. no. i just care. that's it.
thank you for understanding.

filip

p.s.

and please note, that i finished my post with:
<< ...anyhow, hope everything will be ok. >>

[Scott Shuster]

Filip - your comment to me was perfectly good! I was never upset or anything bad! And nobody else was upset either. Everything is ok and completely normal. There was no bad reaction. Could it be that you misinterpreted my New York-direct way of speaking? Maybe because of "second-language" - ? I think so because I did not mean to respond aggressively at all.

Actually it is funny to me to think I have become a New Yorker who accidentally upsets people by speaking too directly: I am from Wisconsin and my background is, like yours, Polish - and I hope to visit you in Warsaw someday - !!

Everything is OK!! Thank you for your concern: I appreciate it!