bhphotovideo.com and BOI credit cards...

B0rG

Tried shopping in bhphotovideo with Bank of Ireland credit card.

BH held an order for two weeks, then told me that BOI as a policy does not verify it's customers billing address and suggested to wire the money over. Somehow I do not like that wire the money idea...

I know few ppl here shop in BH, do you use BOI credit card?

Roen

I've had my credit card knocked on a number of occasions by American websites. If you look in their FAQ's or in their Shipping or Billing (or whatever they call them) pages you may find that they don't accept non american cards. When I looked hard enough this was always the reason that I couldn't deal with them. I'm with AIB btw.
I decided not to give any business to the yanks after that and went with the Hong Kong eBayers instead.
I'd say wiring the money to B&H would be safe enough as long as wiring money to anybody is considered safe if you know what I mean. They only accept PayPal from a confirmed address (coincidentally I tried confirming mine earlier) and PayPal says that only some homes in the UK and Canada can presently be confirmed So that rules us out.
Best of luck and I hope some BOI people can shed more light.

dubtom

I bought a video camera a few years back from them with an AIB card. If I recall correctly there was a bit of a holdup with the card, I could have had to mail proof of address and ID, not sure if that was for some other vender, my purchase went through anyway only to be noticed by the tax man:(

Ruu_Old

I guess wiring the money (it'll cost extra) to the company would be okay but make sure they are legit. I don't shop with them so I don't know. Let them know that Paypal addresses can't be confirmed for Irish users but your account is verified (if you have one), a pain I know. Hope it works out.

leinsterman

Hi,

B&H are a legit operation ... I'd trust them ... but then I've been to their store ...

Last Monday I rang and asked them about verification and they said you can fax or email a photocopy of your card ... I hope this is the case coz I'm about to order a lens there!!!

The other option is money transfer ... if you have their IBAN code it shoukld not cost you anything ... I think!! ... at least this is the case in the EU.

Let me know how you get on ... I have to have a lens delivered to New Hampshire ... then the person receiving it is bringing it to Texas ... where my bro is picking it up on a business trip !!!

leinsterman

B0rG wrote:

Tried shopping in bhphotovideo with Bank of Ireland credit card.

BH held an order for two weeks, then told me that BOI as a policy does not verify it's customers billing address and suggested to wire the money over. Somehow I do not like that wire the money idea...

I know few ppl here shop in BH, do you use BOI credit card?

I presume you followed these instructions -

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=helpcenter.jsp&A=getpage&Q=HelpCenter/InternationalCust.jsp

B0rG

2 insterman: better get someone with acard in the US to pay for it.
customer service is very hard to get - spend about 5 times - 20 mins each trying to get to customer support - no luck there. took me 2 weeks trying to get to verification@bhphotovideo.com answering time is 3 days...

At this stage I'm actually thinking of cancelling my order there and going through ac-foto.com - ok, let it be 400 quid more expensive, but I can still write the VAT off - so won't make much of a difference.

Hope that germans do not have such nasty "verification" procedures.

B0rG

Course I followed those. Apparently there is an additional verification process where they fax something to the bank... Apparently BOI doesn't reply to those faxes as some kind of a "policy"

B0rG

:rolleyes:

Roen wrote:

Best of luck and I hope some BOI people can shed more light.

Customer service in BOI is clueless as god knows what about anything related to verification. But then again - every time I phone them I seem to get to the least experienced guy, who's constantly running up and asking their manager - "please hold on why I transfer your call... 5 mins later - oh, Hello this is me again, actually... " clueless chicken...

hallelujajordan

I have a VISA card from MBNA Ireland and it worked perfectly for me. . I had to send them a photocopy of the card but had no problems at all ! As mentioned by others, I wouldn't be concerned about their legitimacy. B&H are a top class store.

DotOrg

i've shopped online from b&h a few times, the first time they required a faxed copy of my credit card after that it was simpler. their shop in new york is fantastic and their prices and stock can not be beaten

B0rG

DotOrg wrote:

i've shopped online from b&h a few times, the first time they required a faxed copy of my credit card after that it was simpler. their shop in new york is fantastic and their prices and stock can not be beaten

What bank is your credit card from?

DotOrg

B0rG wrote:

What bank is your credit card from?

it was my AIB card

B0rG

DotOrg wrote:

it was my AIB card

I knew you'd say that...

Valentia

B0rG wrote:

Hope that germans do not have such nasty "verification" procedures.

Ah but they do At least TechnikDirekt do.

jlang

Speaking of which, I see technikdirekt now have a map on their home page and appear to charge Irish VAT to Irish customers, German to German, etc. At least the prices on the German page are the same as the sitewide prices last week and the Irish prices are up a bit on that.

slumped

I've ordered a lot from BH and used a BOI Mastercard.

Once you order, scan your card, front and back and e-mail it to their verification department.

Then ring BOI credit card and tell them you are expecting a verification for X amount from a shop in New York and that its OK.

Never had a problem following this procedure.

Slumped

leinsterman

OK ... fingers crossed ... despite this thread ...

I just ordered this item -

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=162616&is=USA&addedTroughType=search

... from B&H using my BOI Visa ...

... shipping it as a "gift" to a friend in USA ...

... rang BOI card services to warn them about this ... they say verification should not be problem ...

... uploaded a scan of my card to B&H website ...

Now it is a matter of wait and see, and hope you are not saying "I told you so..." in a week or two's time ...:(

If this fails then I will have to do IBAN ...

DotOrg

what you gonna use that lens to shoot?

leinsterman

DotOrg wrote:

what you gonna use that lens to shoot?

Well, in my case mostly landscapes, wildlife etc .... I went a bit mad a bought a 1.4 teleconvertor for it too ... this was probably a rush of blood to the head ... I'm not too sure for what I will need a very slow 900mm lens (allowing for 1.6 FOVCF on the 20d) ... but I plan to get a 5D next year ...

I spoke to a pro who was using one on the side line at the Waterford v Cork hurling semi final and he swears by it as a sports lens for daytime and certain floodlight conditions ... it may not be super fast but the pull zoom gives him more options over the guys using the 400mm & 300mm primes ... as soon as the action gets close to you these guys are at sea ... but the pull zoom is ideal and very fast ... he also says forget the image stabiliser ... not needed ... but he is a pro !!!

It also has the advantage that it can be hand held unlike the big fast primes (though it comes with a mono/tripod mount, this can be removed) ... I tried this combo with his 1DS ... very user friendly ... but I'm not sure I want to be hiking too far with the 1.4Kg weight of it ... especially in some of the more extreme places I can get to ...

So it seems it will also be my sports lens when there is enough light ... having said that I don't do much sport ... just the GAA at croker.

B0rG

leinsterman wrote:

OK ... fingers crossed ... despite this thread ...
I just ordered this item -
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=162616&is=USA&addedTroughType=search

If this fails then I will have to do IBAN ...

Good luck to you leinsterman Let us know how you get on there!

I spoke to BOI today - they said they have no policy against mail order verification. Apparently BH faxes your details directly to the company called euroConex. I also spoke to euroConex, they said that USA merchant really need to contact their own merchant service provider in the US. euroConex guy offered to help, if don't manage to resolve it. Which was good. We'll see how it goes.

Good luck with the lens, I'm sure you'll have to do a lot of push-ups in the morning to get rid of that hand shaking...

leinsterman

I placed the order at 1pm today.

By 3pm B&H mailed back with a verification problem.

It may be ok because this was due to the fact that I gave an incorrect phone number for my US shipping address. (My friends work number and niot his him) ... so the lesson here is fill out your order exactly as requested ...

Anyways ... I just mailed them the correct phone number for my friends place in New Hampshire ... hopefully that will close the matter ... but I got a sinking feeling this is not over yet ...

B0rG

leinsterman wrote:

I placed the order at 1pm today.

By 3pm B&H mailed back with a verification problem.

was email from duvidm ... or from somebody else?
Strangely enuff, they didn't notify me of any verification problems there. May be my ranting got something done.

I'll pm you my mail address - we can join our forces against american capitalists

leinsterman

B0rG wrote:

was email from duvidm ... or from somebody else?
Strangely enuff, they didn't notify me of any verification problems there. May be my ranting got something done.

I'll pm you my mail address - we can join our forces against american capitalists

No in my case it was Mike who replied from verification ... Acting on your experience I proactively mailed verfication to say I had cleared their request with BOI card services (BOI are expecting the request now) ... and asked them nicely to go as fast a possible ... this may have made them more co-operative !!!

B0rG

leinsterman wrote:

No in my case it was Mike who replied from verification ... Acting on your experience I proactively mailed verfication to say I had cleared their request with BOI card services (BOI are expecting the request now) ... and asked them nicely to go as fast a possible ... this may have made them more co-operative !!!

Can you tell who did you speak to in BOI?

leinsterman

B0rG wrote:

Can you tell who did you speak to in BOI?

Nope :rolleyes:

B0rG

leinsterman wrote:

Nope :rolleyes:

Why not?
Cause it's still a mistery to me, some of the cusomer support told me they outsorce "mail order verification", some of them told me they process it fine, and some of them told me the merchant in US need to contact they own bank and run verification from there...

leinsterman

B0rG wrote:

Why not?
Cause it's still a mistery to me, some of the cusomer support told me they outsorce "mail order verification", some of them told me they process it fine, and some of them told me the merchant in US need to contact they own bank and run verification from there...

Ermmm ... actually ... I am not trying to be elusive I was simply answering your question ... I cannot tell you who I spoke to at BOI ... I don't know.

:rolleyes:

Covey

Had the same problem with B&H. The wanted to fax both sides of my card to them. That was just a tad too insecure for me, went elsewhere and got the goods at more or less the same price and no card hassle.

The also would not deliver to a hotel!

T.

leinsterman

Covey wrote:

Had the same problem with B&H. The wanted to fax both sides of my card to them. That was just a tad too insecure for me, went elsewhere and got the goods at more or less the same price and no card hassle.

The also would not deliver to a hotel!

T.

Actually ... sending credit card images is a fairly common practice for first time buyers on certian web sites ... in the case of B&H I would not be too concerned.

They need to be sure you are who you state you are and everything is cosher ... B&H are also extremely fussy about verifying shipping addresses when they differ from your credit card address ... as I am currently experiencing to my cost ... at least my order is progressing ... I placed it yesterday and they already sent several emails concerning address verification and even rang the shipping address phone number in New Hamsphire.

Roen

leinsterman wrote:

everything is cosher

Worst.Pun.Ever

leinsterman

Roen wrote:

Worst.Pun.Ever

In was wondering if it would be spotted ... there should be a prize for that ...


Anyways ... latest on my order from BH -

My credit card company (BOI) have approved the cash.
B&H are in the process of verifying the shipping address ... this involves checking it exists using some sort of white pages directory service, ringing the phone number and finally (in my case) leaving a message with a special number for the person to call.

Only problem I have now is getting in touch with the person who lives there ... he is away on a trip !!!

halenger

I ordered there recently. Another AIB person. I had two problems, one probably my own fault. a) they couldn't read the scans (which I of course edited first for security purposes) so I resent. The second was they couldn't verify the shipping address. I replied saying I think they had sent to that address in the last few weeks. ... No reply...

About two days later I received a mail saying my stuff had been shipped. I was quite pleased. I picked UPS 3 day because I don't trust ground - I've heard some bad things. All delivered perfectly. Happy first time customer here anyway. Hopefully I'll get to see the shop in person sometime in the reasonably near future.

leinsterman

OK ... finally my order is shipped ...

It took a week to sort out verification but this was entirely due to me and not B&H ... Their verification department were very good at moving things as quickly as they could but they will not under any circumstances deviate form their process script (fair enough I say) ...

The hold was not due to BOI Visa credit card issues but address verification... I was shipping to a friend in New Hampshire ... here are the lesson I learnt -

1. Initially I gave his work phone number but this was a problem for B&H since they need the phone number to the shipping adress to verify it.
2. Once this was sorted out they then verify the shipping address and phone number indepentantly. No problems here ... he is listed in whitepages.com ... but beware of ex-directory numbers ... for these you need to send a copy of a utility bill.
3. Next B&H verification department rang the number the day after the order was placed but this was the same day I gave them the correct number. Since nobody was at home they left a secret code number and a number to call them back on.
4. The big hold up was because my friends daughter deleted the voice message and also the weekend had Rosh Hashanna a Jewish fesitval (B&H closed).
5. It then took me until Tuesday to contact my friend because his work spam filters were taking out my gmails ... Grrrrrr:mad:
6. I finally got him from my work email and he rang them yesterday from his office ... they instantly rang his home number and left another message ... this time he got it and rang them back ...
7. Within about 1 hour the order was shipped.
8. I am using two days UPS and it is showing on track !!!

Wow ... what a hassle ... but it was down to me so I can't criticise B&H... they did their best to get thing moving ... me a culpa !!!

Now I wait for 1 month until I get my new toys.