B&H and Adorama Closed!

"carrigman" wrote in message
...
I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

John,
Ireland
I have to say I understand where John is coming from. I don't think "most"
people would expect a business to be closed for a week for a religious
holiday. That said, I respect their beliefs and their right to close in
honor of those beliefs.

Common, you've never been to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas?

The problem is that we've gotten so used to businesses that stay open 24/7
we can't believe it when one actually closes -- for any reason.

Live and learn. :-)

"John A. Stovall" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 15:16:06 -0400, "Neil Harrington"
wrote:


"John A. Stovall" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 12:20:15 +0100, "carrigman"
wrote:

I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find
the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

And just how much were you going to spend? I'm very happy they close
for religious reasons. It shows a quality lacking in the world of
commerce today.

I think the 6K I've spent with them this year will make up for your
not doing business with them.

Why, would you have reduced your purchases by the amount of the OP's if
they'd been open for him?

Anyway, his complaint was about their treatment of customers, not their
loss
because he couldn't buy from them.

If you don't like they way your are treated as customer take your
trade somewhere else. Nobody makes you do business with them at the
point of a gun but governments.

I have no problems with the way B&H runs it's business and if they
want to close all of October or what ever fine with me.

Fine with me too. I don't do business with B&H, so they can close all year
and I'm okay with it.



Why do some many people out there think they deserve special
treatment? It strikes me they are just a bunch of self centered
whiners.

The OP wasn't expecting "special treatment." He simply made the point that
closing for several days or a week or whatever, for holidays that most
people aren't aware of and don't expect, creates inconvenience for customers
and/or those who would be customers. This annoyed him.

Since the stores in question (in fact, *all* the camera stores in NYC that
advertise nationally as far as I know) follow more or less the same practice
for the same religious reasons, this is kind of a unique situation. The
stores are doing what their proprietors believe their religion requires, and
so cannot be reasonably blamed for it. At the same time, it does create
inconvenience for customers, which I believe most of the stores' managements
are aware of and apologize for. That's really all they can do in the
circumstances.

Neil

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 20:46:13 -0600, Sheldon wrote:

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

John,
Ireland
I have to say I understand where John is coming from. I don't think
"most" people would expect a business to be closed for a week for a
religious holiday. That said, I respect their beliefs and their right to
close in honor of those beliefs.

Most people being unaware of those Jewish holidays can easily be
surprised by the businesses being closed for a week when they first
hear of it. But I don't think you really understand where John is
coming from, because most people (including you, it appears) would
not consider it "outrageous for these two firms to treat its
customers like this". I can understand someone being annoyed upon
finding that their time was wasted. But for John to be outraged
long after he realized that the stores were closed for religious
reasons shows that he doesn't respect their beliefs, and feels that
his convenience takes precedence over their religious beliefs. That
he was twice bit (B&H *and* Adorama) shows that there might be
something to the concept of karma after all.

Per Neil Harrington:
"shabbos goy"

A guy straight from the shetel was staying with a relative in New York City.

"How many Jews do you have in New York?"

"Two million"

"Oy!"

"How many gentiles do you have in New York?

"Ten Million"

"Ten *Million*"????

"Yes, ten million".

"But what *for*?"
--
PeteCresswell

"carrigman" wrote in message
...
All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us?

Sure, religious freedom and private ownership of business are real bitches,
ain't they, boyo? Open up your own business, Carrigman, an' take St.
Paddy's day off to spite 'em. We'll all be behind you, lad.

Would it have made any difference if they had been closed for a week for
inventory? I have worked in various wholesale/retail locations with big
inventorys that do close for a week each year for an intense inventory. In
such a case the store would be closed and making purchases would still be
impossible. So is it only the fact that the closure was because of a
religious reason or because they were closed when you wanted to make a
purchase?

I am a night owl and frequently have the problem that when I am wishing to
go shopping, all the stores are closed due to it being 2am. Should I moan
and groan that these stores are incorrect or insensitive because they
close at night, or just put up with it. If I own a store I have the right
to set the hours and holidays as I see fit. I know of one manufacturer
here that closes for two weeks each year so that all the employees can
take a vacation at once. It may be that some of their customers or
suppliers have a problem with this policy but the manufacturer has the
right. It makes no difference why a place is closed when we wish to make a
purchase, only that it is. I would hope that there would be a way for a
retail outlet to notify potential customers well in advance of a closure
(holiday, inventory, whim, etc) so that regular customers would know to
plan accordingly.

As a regular customer of B&H I got a notice on the shipping list of a
purchase that the store would be closed nearly 2 weeks prior. And I did
see a notice posted on the web site about a week before. So I was not
suprized. I sympathize with the customer who didn't realize that a
closure was happening, and appeared at the store only to find it closed.
But to become irate because the store was closed for a religious reason as
opposed to some other cause just makes no sense to me.

JMHO

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

In article ,
"Neil Harrington" wrote:

Several days, yes; a week, no.

What sort of business would close for several days?

I know of a number of businesses that close completely from Dec 25
through Jan 1.

And if they do close for that entire ten-day period, what is the
big deal?

Other than inconveniencing customers, you mean?

Well, they do let the public know that they'll be closed for the period,
so people can plan to buy from them before or after, or find a
competitor that's open.

This is not like "blue laws" where the *government* *forces* the
businesses to close.

Right. But there aren't any blue laws that force businesses to close
for several days or a week or more, so that's not a very helpful
comparison.

Well, some people in this thread have been making the comparison, so I
decided to address it in the same message, and cut down the clutter by
one message. g

How about telling those jerks at Home Depot to have their non-Christian
employees open the place on Christmas while we're at it.

--
http://www.chapelhillnoir.com
home of The Camera-ist's Manifesto
The Improved Links Pages are at
http://www.chapelhillnoir.com/links/mlinks00.html
A sample chapter from "Haight-Ashbury" is at
http://www.chapelhillnoir.com/writ/hait/hatitl.html

"carrigman" wrote in message
...
I'm just back from a trip to New York City where high on my agenda was a
visit to B&H to buy a Canon lens. Off I went one morning only to find the
store closed for the week. No word of explanation. No matter, there was
always Adorama. So I hightailed it down to West 18th Street only to find
myself, together with a bunch of other bemused photographers, staring at
shuttered windows and a notice saying they too were closed for the week!

All to do with a Jewish holiday, I understand. Surely they have enough
non-Jewish employees to cater for the rest of us? I didn't see any other
major New York stores closed for religious reasons and I think it is
outrageous for these two firms to treat its customers like this.

John,
Ireland

"Rita Ä Berkowitz" ritaberk2O04 @aol.com wrote:

(PeteCresswell) wrote:

When's the last time anybody found stores open on Christmas Day in a
predominately Christian area? I've seen it, but my thought has
always been that somebody should get a life and just close the place
for that day.

What's Christmas? It's just another busy shopping day for most. It's sad
to say Christmas caved into the almighty dollar.

Rita

I think you exaggerate. Christmas eve for sure but not Christmas day
unless you run a grocery store

Wes
--
Reply to:
Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Alpha Charlie Echo Golf Romeo Oscar Paul dot Charlie Charlie
Lycos address is a spam trap.

Sheldon wrote:

I have to say I understand where John is coming from. I don't think "most"
people would expect a business to be closed for a week for a religious
holiday. That said, I respect their beliefs and their right to close in
honor of those beliefs.

Common, you've never been to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas?

The problem is that we've gotten so used to businesses that stay open 24/7
we can't believe it when one actually closes -- for any reason.

Live and learn. :-)

I'm not religious, but I try to respect other people's religious needs
and the roads they take because of those needs.

I sent an order in to B&H last week, and will patiently wait until they
can ship it when they get back in.

Another point to be made here is patience: we all seem to want what we
want when we want it. If we have to wait a week, we scream, holler,
fall down and flail our heels on the ground.

It's a symptom known as spoiled.