B&H Photo VideoReviews 3,782

This site has fair prices on items that are sold at MSRP price. I only shop on this site because I don't have to pay tax. However, their daily sale items kept me coming back. For that reason, it's a great place to shop if you're looking for a particular item on sale.

However, they have horrible customer service. If you shop on Amazon, you'll get your item on time or they give you compensation for items that arrive late or if something goes wrong with your order. BHphotovideo only apologizes for delays or problems with your order. You will only get frustration as your order arrives late or your "sales" item order cancelled at your request. For example, two weeks ago, I ordered a $300 item that was only sale for $155. I paid $20 shipping because apparently "everything ships free" except for that item that I ordered. UPS screwed up my shipment and damaged it in the process. They never deliver or attempt to deliver the item. They just returned to sender without my consent. I contacted BHphotovideo to send replacement for "damaged" product and they said that they will not send me a new one. They will attempt to resend the shipment that UPS said had been damaged once they receive the shipment back from UPS. I asked them to just contact the manufacturer to send me a new one. They said that the item is discontinued and they will not be able to order another one for me. I sent them a link to the manufacturer's website for the exact item that they said is discontinued. The item is actually still available from the manufacturer and ready to be added to cart and shipped. The representative with whom I chat said that he was unable to open the link I sent (I copied and pasted directly from my browser). So all in all, I will not receive my order and they refused to send me a replacement because they ran out of stock and refused to contact the manufacturer to send me a replacement. You can shop with them at your own risk. They have great deals on some very specific products but you may or may not get your order if someone goes wrong.

3 months after the one year cutoff, a Windows 10 auto update crashed the machine. The machine would only boot to an error message, showing a critical missing driver (thanks Windoze 10). Acer technical support, automated, will only pass you to 3rd party fee-based support -$99 minimum. B&H, where we bought it, says not there problem -- go to Acer sales. Acer sales gives you one option: even though they embed the OS in the machine when you buy it for $521, you have no way of restoring, so you have to pay $48 to get a Flash recovery USB. Years ago, you had the OS on a disk and could just insert and boot up the machine. Now you go through hell. This is progress? This is my wife's PC -- I have Mac and am convincing her to go the same. Send Acer, B&H, and Windoze to hell where they can cause great pain for each other.

These are the objective facts of my recent experience with B&H. I leave it to you to decide on whether you should trust them to supply equipment, taking into account the possibility that the equipment might need returning or replacing.
· Ordered NEW equipment from B&H and paid $795 + $82 delivery charge online. Straightforward ordering and fast delivery.

· Received goods. Paid additional $97 in tax. Goods found to be defective as a number of the suction cups did not hold suction for more than two minutes.

· Returned goods. Straightforward procedure and good support from B&H in issuing return labels etc.

· Received replacement equipment. Paid additional $110 delivery charge and a further $104 tax on delivery. This equipment found to be WELL USED stock, with numerous marks, dents, scratches and a vital attachment ¼ thread stripped rendering it unusable.

· Contacted B&H to advise them that I was not satisfied. B&H refused to accept the goods were used and asked for photographs. Photos were supplied showing clearly the signs of use this equipment was WELL used, perhaps 1-2 years old and used heavily in that time. Verified by manufacturer (Digital Juice) that the condition as seen in the photos was not the condition of the item when supplied NEW.

· B&H continued to maintain that the items had been supplied as new condition, refusing to acknowledge even the possibility that a mistake might have been made and that a used unit might have been dispatched by mistake. I pointed out that they had two USED units for sale on their website priced at $500.

· B&H offered $75 refund. I refused.

· B&H continued to maintain that the item supplied was NEW.

· After considerable time and inconvenience I received notification from B&H that a refund of $226 had been made as a final offer. They did not ask if this was acceptable to me, nor did give me an opportunity to respond.

· By this time I had paid $513 more than I should have for a USED item that was unusable. Understandably I was not happy with the refund of $226.

· I then advised B&H that I would not accept their offer and that I would like to return the item for a full refund.

· B&H responded by stating they would not accept the return of the item as it was now used!

In real life among other things I'm a commercial photographer and B&H has been a primary source for photo gear for many years.

Their web site allows easy searching and apparently un-edited customer reviews. Very helpful.

What really sets them apart is when you call in to the store. Their salespeople are very helpful - and they route you to a salesperson with actual product knowledge, not just the order taker of the day.

If you are in the market for photo gear of any kind - I heartily recommend B&H.

Everything about B&H Photo screams PRO.
I normally purchase most of my consumer electronics on Amazon but when it comes to professional Audio, Video and Photography equipment, B&H is my go-to one-stop-shop site.
If you really want to get blown away, next time you're in NYC, go visit their mega store on 34th St. Every sales person is a professional expert and can answer any questions about the items they sell.
Pricing is normally the same as Amazon, however there are deals that can be had for savvy consumers. For example, I recently purchased a ZTE Axon 7 smartphone through B&H. Not only was it cheaper than Amazon, B&H threw in a FREE pair of JBL Bluetooth headphones worth $60.
Bottom line: Highly recommended.

I have used B&H a few times over the years and everything is fine until you have a problem. It maybe ok if you live in the US but if you are ordering from Canada beware things are not so rosy. I bought a 9+ lens from them and it broke within a couple days. Ok that can happen and I know they warranty their products BUT the problem is if you want your money back you are out the duty and taxes (in my case was 100 bucks) or if you want to exchange for another exactly the same they won't mark return or warranty on the box so again you have to pay the duty. Your only choice is to have the one you have repaired which in my case was a lens and I wasn't happy about paying top dollar for a used lens only to have it worked on in a repair shop.

Not only do these guys have everything a photographer could possibly want but they are just the real deal in so many ways. I visited their physical address downtown Manhattan many many moons ago and that was a trip. My online dealings with them since then have been a combination, amusing and impecabble because the dude on the other end of the line is a real character/personality, has a great accent straight out of a movie and i have to say that i don't shop online that often but when i do i want it to be a feel good experience and B&H did provide great shipping speed, efficiency, ease of purchase and good phone support also.

Last year, I finally bought a digital SLR. Next came multiple lenses, memory cards, chargers, bags, backpacks, filters, flash, and other gadgets with many orders placed to B&H. Only once did I receive a defective product (an expensive lens) but B&H made it so easy to return. I emailed them with a description of the problem, they sent a shipping label, I sent it off and had a replacement within a week. Their customer service is exceptional. I don't understand people that complain about receiving a defective product. They are a store, not a manufacturing facility. They are one of the best companies I have bought from on line. I was so grateful to find an online company that I could actually trust as there are no large camera stores located in my remote mountain area. Oh, and watch their daily deals - if it is a product you want or need, you better grab it while you can or you'll be kicking yourself when you have to pay full price for it.

I ordered a small telescope(USD87) from B&H and arrived to the customs in a reasonably time. I paid USD 46 for the delivery cost which is also nothing to complain about. However the item stuck in the customs because of missing digits in HS Code. It was impossible to clear and get the items with these codes. So I contacted B&H for a return actually a recall as I dont physically have them with myself. They quoted me some USD 255 for the return! This was rediculous. This means my return right is usurped, this is that simple.
As a customer I don't care about company's third party relations or agreements with logistic partners but what I will definitely expect is a trusty and fair manner in each part of the service; this is selling and returning practices.
In short don't expect this from this company once they sell, they finish the service. This is what they understand from a online customer shopping experience.

Needed a Macbook and the tax at best buy and amazon were putting me over my budget, but a friend said that BH Photo has the same price and does not charge tax in any state except NY. Bought form them and it came quick and will use them in the future

I ordered a 40" TV through B&H Photo and it came damaged. I contacted them and i had to pay for another television to get a replacement sent out to me. I then received the second TV and it was damaged as well. The box the TVs were delivered in were very thin and offered no protection to the TVs. They made zero effort on the second TV to ensure it would reach me undamaged. Both TVs were sent back and i have received my refund for both. Even after two damaged TVs i was going to try for a third time. Looking through their products i came across a TV that i was very interested in. It was on sale and a size 50". So i called them up and explained the past issues i had and the trouble i had been through and wanted to see if i could get the 50" sale price on the smaller 40", which one would think would be a better deal for them. The guy was rude and basically told me to go pound sand. I urge people to approach this company with caution.