Problem buying F3

[Ben Peake]

at a mates house today, he showed me the emails he has sent to 2 different camera shops in LA, he has sent a multitude of emails over a 2 week period asking to buy the sony F3, he has said he will pay in full upfront and also wants to spend more money on additional lenses, both companies have failed to reply to emails, have the email servers gone down in LA or is it that LA is not affected by a credit crunch,
maybe this is a new way to do business, dam im getting old, is there anyone else in LA that would like someone to throw 20 grand plus at you, all you have to do is take product from A and pass to B making a profit from difference between the two,
what makes me laugh is the amount of money both these shops spend on advertising
if anyone knows the boss of abelcine or samysdv maybe they could have a word

why am i bothered? when my friend goes abroad on a regular basis he always leaves me his car his house and his cameras lol

[Chris Medico]

I don't quite understand the problem. Are they being rude or not able to sell one due to the availability of the cameras?

I don't think anyone has them in stock right now and from what I understand won't have any till late summer or fall.

[Peter Moretti]

I think the problem is that they didn't reply. Which is pretty rude, IMHO.

[Chris Medico]

Well I don't think I was fully awake when I read it the first time. For some reason I read over the "no response" part of that.

Agreed that is not good customer service.

[Ron Wilk]

Sadly, I've encountered similar unresponsiveness when emailing one of the mentioned dealers.
I recently sent off an email to the NYC location of one of the aforementioned dealers, asking if a particular costly lens was in stock, and whether it was available for immediate purchase. Did I receive a reply? NO! No reply at all.
They must have an interesting business model. However, the particular item in question was not hard to find and was available from various other sources, and I now own the item in question.

So, either these organizations do not monitor their email or they do not need the business.

[Alister Chapman]

Has he checked his spam folder?

[Jon Braeley]

I wonder whats going on myself.

Even before the March 11th disaster, major Japanese manufacturers could not keep up with demand - just look at the Panny GH2 debacle ... even though it's now easier to own, you cannot still find batteries - six months after release!!
Now post March 11th, it will probably be much worse. It will be 9 months after release when a new camera filters down to the general user!
Reminds me of the airline situation now - just try flying without notice today - impossible as their are just too fewer seats for too many people!

[Jacques Mersereau]

BH is out of stock with a 'notify when available' click box.

My guess? The supplies of the F3 are either out or very low.
The place didn't answer because they want the biz,
but don't have the cameras and don't know when they will.

[Chuck Fishbein]

I too, have had a similar experience with one of the equipment suppliers mentioned, but in most cases, a phone call (remember phone calls?) received prompt, immediate attention. Often, email requests are handled by the same sales person that is working the floor and the phones and are not responded to until the end of the day.

The availability of the F3 or any product that you must be wait-listed to buy, (Zacuto's EVF, for example,) seems to be a growing phenomenon. Having said that, when I was ready to purchase the F3 and all the NYC dealers were unsure of delivery dates, a few phone calls helped me locate a unit in Boston.

[Nate Weaver]

Some of the shops in LA have a problem with lookie loos and big talkers coming in and wasting time. Add that to the fact that they are short staffed anyway. Pretty much every time I walk into Abel or another high end retailer, there's always somebody in there talking crazy talk, acting like they're gonna buy 100K worth of gear, but you can tell they're not working pros. Some of these folks have money, some don't, but they all waste a lot of time in those shops....

It's annoying for sure, but I think your best bet is getting them on the phone.

[Chris Medico]

I normally buy gear from B&H but this time with no hope in sight for getting one from them I turned to other dealers. Found a forum sponsor that had some coming in and was fortunate enough to get one of them.

+1 on making some phone calls. Emails are too easy to ignore. Make that phone ring and don't give up. Its a great camera.

[Allan Barnwell]

As a dealer for F3's, I can say that the supply is highly constrained, and every camera that ships from Sony is manually allocated by the account reps. That said, there are two types of dealers: the box houses and the actual value-added resellers. As the later, the only way I'd not respond to an email request for anything is if I simply miss the email in my inbox or junk folder.

Another tip - the box houses and larger resellers have taken more backorders for cameras. There will be shorter lines at smaller dealers right now. I think we have 3 or 4 folks on our call-back list right now because people don't want to risk putting down a deposit and having a camera pop up elsewhere.

Allan Barnwell
Omega Broadcast Group - Professional Video Sales, Rental & Services

[Chris Medico]

FYI, The F3 I have came from Allan.

[Jim Michael]

If you don't intend to respond (at all) to electronic requests for information, don't give the customer that option else you risk losing their business. Some companies "get it" and follow all sales leads and others merely put up with this new Internet thing.

Originally Posted by Chuck Fishbein

I too, have had a similar experience with one of the equipment suppliers mentioned, but in most cases, a phone call (remember phone calls?) received prompt, immediate attention. Often, email requests are handled by the same sales person that is working the floor and the phones and are not responded to until the end of the day.

[Allan Barnwell]

For anyone looking right now - we have some PMW-F3L's on their way and able to ship out to customers this Friday.

Allan Barnwell
Omega Broadcast Group - Professional Video Sales, Rental & Services