Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/02/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Without the context of the original posting, I was curious about what Leonard Caplan had to say. Here is my request for further information and his reply. This is a great example of how meaning can be lost or implied when messages are used outside of the original thread. Cheers, Blair -----------fwd------------ <Blair; <I just found this cross-posted in another list and attributed to you. I was <wondering whether it is accurate and if so, whether it represents your <personal or professional opinion. Thanks for your attention in this matter. <Cheers, Blair -----------enclosed letter------------ From: Leonard Caplan <72254.3576@compuserve.com> Newsgroups: rec.photo.marketplace,rec.photo.equipment.35mm Subject: Re: Mail order houses. Those AAA bastards! Date: 10 Feb 1996 05:48:49 GMT Organization: London Imports Ltd. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <4fhbk1$r0l@ixnews4.ix.netcom.com> References: <1430@blake.win.net> <4f8f73$au@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> <4fdd5c$qef@news2.aimnet.com> >I had actually been considering a Fogg bag for a Leica I am ordering in >March, It would be greatly appreciated if you don't. 1)I would not want to have to deal with you in the event of a problem. 2)Most buyers of the bag have class and style...neither of these traits seem to be your strong suit. 3)I would not want any of my Dealers having to deal with you. 4)The bags are not price competitive anyway, so there is no way that you would be interested. 5)You probably would not be attracted to them anyway since they are elegant and understated. PS-Please do not buy Jim's books either <s>.>> I am not sure what you mean by " whether it represents your personal or professional opinion. " The unfortunate scenario concerning this thread started with Adam blasting B&H, who bye the way is _not_one of my dealers, for supposedly sending Grey goods when he expected USA. The initial tone of the message was abusive and IMHO and in the opinion of others who read the post way over the line. Although B&H is not one of my favorites because of heavy discounts, and not a dealer of mine by choice, I do know for a fact that they are totally reputable, and go out of the way to keep it that way. Henry Posner is constantly on line giving help and working out wrinkles. After reading the initial post I wrote a reply expressing my feeling about B&H, and strongly objecting to the tone and language used, as well as the Title of the thread "AAA those bastards", which wasn't started by Adam, as well as words such as "Sucks", etc. which I do not feel belongs on a public forum. Words went back and forth between Adam and myself as well as others. Following is a short excerpt from the exchange. HENRY POSNER FROM B&H RESPONDED TO THE ALLEGATIONS FROM ADAM: > This is simply not logical. Whether a customer purchases one item or the other, our profit margin is unaffected. If you buy the grey item we paid 500 for and sold to you for 515, or the USA item we paid 540 for and sold to you for 555 -- there's no difference to us. B+H has very few gray market items -- >We have both -- WHY? 1) Sometimes grey is less expensive to the customer who's watching a budget 2) Sometimes the features differ slightly -- the EOS 5 vs EOS A2E for one 3) Sometimes the USA distributor runs out of an item & grey's the only way it's available Again, this is debatable - I have heard numerous examples of B&H sending people gray market equipment when they asked for stuff with blank, USA warranty cards - myself included... One unfortunate unsubstantiated incident certainly cannot be extrapolated to indicate a malicious habit. ----------------------------------------------- >Henry Posner / B&H Photo-Video >70550.1616@compuserve.com ADAM REPLIED: Unsubstantiated? You sack of shit! What the hell is that - are you implying that I lied? Your company is the miscreant in this scenario, not I, the customer. I can post order numbers, serial numbers and dates if you want - why you would want to draw more attention to your companies bullshit I do not know. -A. I think that you can get the drift of this whole matter. Somewhere along the line I received a post from Adam which stated >>I had actually been considering a Fogg bag for a Leica I am ordering in March, you sir are the reason I will find something esle to put that camera in.>> not just >>I had actually been considering a Fogg bag for a Leica I am ordering in March, >> That is what preceeded my quoted post. This whole mess took on a very bad life, and there were too many words expressed by many. In answer to your question in the beginning....I do not want customers like this, nor would I want to subject any of my dealers to the sort of foul mouthed abuse that this individual dishes out. I am aware that his message came from some sort of Leica Readers thread. Being new to the Net am not familiar with it and would appreciate any details that you could provide. You also have my full permission to post this entire E-mail message if you so desire. Best regards, Len