Keeping credit card numbers is dangerous for venders. If someone gets hold of a vender's customer list with credit card numbers, they can go on a spending spree and the vender is potentially liable for $50,000 in fines. I've recently received a threatening letter from Visa/Mastercard to that effect. So it's understandable that some venders will immediately charge your credit card and then eliminate your number from their files.
It is *not* illegal to charge a card when the order is taken.
It is, however, a violation of Visa and Mastercard merchant agreements to do so without fulfilling certain requirements: special order item or one being made to order, and customer informed of up-front charge and expected wait time at time of order, plus notification if shipping date can't be met with option to cancel or wait. If a customer disputes a charge that hasn't met these criteria, it will be charged back to the merchant, along with a significant fee which the merchant takes as a loss. Too many complaints, disputes, or charge backs and a merchant can lose his merchant account, and with it the ability to accept credit cards -- which, for a mail order merchant, is effectively a death sentence.
From what's being described here, it sounds as if Gnass is mainly guilty of failing to notify customers when shipping dates slip -- and if in fact he's operating a cottage industry and making items to order, more or less, it does seem reasonable to give him some leeway. However! One shouldn't wait so long as to lose the ability to dispute a charge if there are still problems; as I recall (and it's been quite some time since I worked in this end of things) you have a maximum of 60 days from the date of the first statement that shows the charge on your credit card account, which could be up to 90 days from the date the charge was put through by the merchant. That should allow plenty of time to negotiate with Gnass and either receive the item or cancel the order and receive a refund (which will cost Gnass a lot less than a charge back on a dispute).
Eventually, if enough people follow up agressively enough, Gnass will learn to do a better job communicating with his customers -- or he'll quit in disgust or be driven out of business by his monetary practices, regardless of the utility or quality of his goods.
If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D
Eugene bought my Sinar sized case becausee I decided to drop down to a smaller lensboard size (My 171mm Arca boards were a touch too large for the Sinar case...). I used to have the Technika sized case when I had a Linhof. Excellent gear, but in the end I went back to just using lens wraps, because the case was just one more thing to deal with when I wanted to grab a lens. However, it does provide the best protection in its class, and if I had more lenses I'd go back to using one.
Come on guys. He is trying to grow his business and meet growing customer demand and the transition to the next level is not easy from the back bedroom of the house. Justin is a great guy and he will make good, just be a bit patient as the stock is not on the shelves. He makes each one custom and to order. There is never a good time to make the move, but it has to be done and it takes time.
Why is it that a certain camera maker back East can be given enormous latitude and praise with thousands of dollars on the line within our forum and relatively small change from someone that deserves our support and patience gets people ready to string him up. Take a deep breath and put things into the correct perspective. His products are good. He will make it right. We will be much better for his innovative products in the long run.
Cheers!
Actually, every time I see that certain camera maker back East mentioned he's generally vilified for his crappy business practices.
Managing customer expectations is every bit as much an important part of running a successful business as is making a good product. There's nothing wrong with long lead time from order to ship as long as those are communicated clearly at order time. It's also possible to deal with unexpected delays by taking the time to contact customers proactively to let them know what's going on. Simply failing to ship silently is unacceptable.
Nice to read this thread just as I was about to place an order for the lens case.
Asking Google, I see this has been a long running problem, see the thread at
http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/largeformat/2003q2/006187.html
I am surprised by the replies that support Justin under these circumstances. Maybe he is a 'nice guy' , but that ain't worth a damn in this case. I, too, own and operate a small high-precision manufacturing company. Quality is not an issue for me, I've been doing this for 30 years and am one of the best. But, customer service is everything. Cottage bedroom industry or mega-corporation, it makes no difference. He said it would ship 'this week' twice to me, and now I'm hearing that the product may not even exist yet! This is wholly unacceptable, and people that lie like that do not deserve 'a break' or 'some slack'. Get real, people.
Jeffrey, I have to agree with you on the importance of customer service etc, however, in my opinion it is worth cutting the guy some slack! The simple fact of the matter is this - he is probably the ONLY manufacturer of these types of product and therefore has the monopoly of the market. He CAN afford to be unreliable because we NEED him - his "other" business of manufacturing fire rescue equipment probably more than pays his bills! Having said this, I honestly feel from my dealings with him that he IS a genuine guy! Unreliable? Maybe! But still one of the "good" guys! Unfortunately if you cannot accept his business practice you will be hard pushed to "go elsewhere" - there isn't anywhere else to go! Finally, I've never had "good" service from Justin! But that's Justin! But I have no problem in using him in the future! I'm happy to take the guy as he is - he makes a top quality product that IS worth waiting for!
I ordered a lens case in December that has not arrived. My only concern is that I have not been able to reach them--I don't mind waiting a few more weeks. Does anyone know what their new phone number is? Thanks.
Paul, I wish I was the very forgiving guy that you are. And even if Justin thinks he is the only game in town, that makes it OK to treat paying customers like shit? On what planet? We really don't need his stuff. I've got lens cases, and enough bags to hold everything at B&H at once. His stuff looked nice, and I just wanted to try it. I don't need it. So, even if he thinks he is a monopoly, his attitude sucks. He does not even answer his phone today, and has no answering machine! This is unbeleivable! And, he still has my money.
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