Did anyone replace Helen Oster at Adorama?

joayne wrote in post #18984895
Now they see the error of their ways!

Exactly what I was thinking, might be 'too little too late' though.

In a company that size you think there would have been at least one person in management would have been smart enough to realize how valuable the services Helen provided were to the company and not let her leave in the first place, given her what she needed to do her job properly, and hired or trained more like her. Their added sales and overall customer satisfaction would have far offset what they paid her.

I just became aware of this thread...

Helen, you helped me out at least twice, even got me a better deal on a used lens (one of my favorite lenses now)...
I wish you well and hope you find something you love doing!!

I have been very annoyed by Adorama's emails, to the point where I just delete them now, don't even bother looking at them.
They do this thing where I view a lens and then in the next day or two I get an email that implies that that lens is on sale but it never is.
It makes me feel manipulated and creeps me out.

There are alot of sites that track what you look at and what you have put into your cart, only to automatically follow up with an automated email. It is the future... You won't be able to go anywhere eventually where a display will recognize you via your phone and display things of interest to you. Car manufacturers want to sell retailer ad space in your vehicle based on where you are and are headed. That is coming even sooner.

philodelphi wrote in post #18984936
I just became aware of this thread...

Helen, you helped me out at least twice, even got me a better deal on a used lens (one of my favorite lenses now)...
I wish you well and hope you find something you love doing!!

I have been very annoyed by Adorama's emails, to the point where I just delete them now, don't even bother looking at them.
They do this thing where I view a lens and then in the next day or two I get an email that implies that that lens is on sale but it never is.
It makes me feel manipulated and creeps me out.

I don’t know if they still use it, but in the past they used Criteo, which does indeed track online viewing. (Personally I’ve ‘turned off’ as many site tracking services as I can, but I doubt you can ever rid yourself completely from them.

It was the Adorama spam emails that tipped me over, because of the insistence from the marketing team that it was a ‘system error’, whenever I complained on behalf of the customers. And I knew that wasn’t true. That’s when the pressure came for me to go.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18985260
There are alot of sites that track what you look at and what you have put into your cart, only to automatically follow up with an automated email. It is the future...

Website tracking is everywhere. The original complaint was that Adorama sends targeted daily email even when the customer specifies once-a-week only. The auto-generated subject lines are random or deceptive to entice a recipient to open each message. This is considered spam when defined as unwanted or deceptive advertising.

Aggressive email marketers like Adorama are creating a whole new ethic. They claim it’s not spam if they are tracking and following your interests. Nancy-bot is just another example of that new ethic.

There are few regulations deterring spam from websites where customers make purchases. Such aggressive email tactics might only be deterred by negative feedback or losing their customers to more ethical competitors.

wildlife2020 wrote in post #19007812
LOL , people don't know what behind the scene between Helen and Adorama.
Everyone go through laid-off , fired and demotion, etc...

So don't sit in here blaming Adorama there a reason for everything.
She just need to moved on with her career.

Actually, Helen laid it out pretty clearly. So yeah, we have a pretty good idea what went on. LOL

wildlife2020 wrote in post #19007812
She just need to moved on with her career.

Not correct. I loved my job and had every hope to stay until retirement. But I could not agree with certain procedures - some new; others that I'd been fighting for over a decade.

HelenOster wrote in post #18984821
Well, knock me down with a feather......... I just received the most beautiful card with heartfelt words of thanks from the owner of Adorama. Together with a lovely gift. Must go and write and thank him.

Finally feeling happy to look forward to a New Year, with new opportunities.

It is nice to feel appreciated for one's efforts...just a little to late, since you've already gone.

HelenOster wrote in post #19008576
Not correct. I loved my job and had every hope to stay until retirement. But I could not agree with certain procedures - some new; others that I'd been fighting for over a decade.

For whatever it's worth, Helen, you may have missed status of the commenter you replied to.

As that person is "Studying our rules," you should know that they have been less than diplomatic
in their activities here, and they are a VERY new member to this forum.

Be it known that you have been appreciated and admired by many of us,
and that a single person's uninformed comments will not sway the masses.

"uninformed". See, that's a great example of being diplomatic.

I was wondering when the actions of that person would be noticed as "not POTN appropriate"
I don't believe that the person had read all the way through the thread, and I know they never had any interaction with Helen by the way they spoke.
I hope there will be a test at the end

If you converted POTN member feedback for Helen into an ebay seller rating it would be 99.9% and the 0.1% would find it difficult to garner any supporters.

I’m a bit late but I am sorry for all that you went through Helen and that you are not longer at Adorama. You were the reason I made a few large purchases from them.

I recently pre-ordered a new camera from B&H. I won’t say I’ll never order from Adorama again but B&H is the top of my list now.

Glad to see you around these parts still Helen. I appreciate all you’ve done for all of us. Hope everything is going well for you.

Bazinga wrote in post #19010333
Glad to see you around these parts still Helen. I appreciate all you’ve done for all of us. Hope everything is going well for you.

Thank you for your kind words - can hardly believe that it's more than 10 months since I left......and I miss you all!

I qualified as a medical pedicurist a few months ago, I'm editing a thesis, and I read and play board games with an elderly gentleman a couple of times a week. I've had 2 approaches from people who were at Adorama, but moved on to other things - waiting to see if either of those works out. Finally, I've been approached by another business in the photography field - which could mean you seeing me back on POTN in a professional capacity.

HelenOster wrote in post #19012968
Thank you for your kind words - can hardly believe that it's more than 10 months since I left......and I miss you all!

I qualified as a medical pedicurist a few months ago, I'm editing a thesis, and I read and play board games with an elderly gentleman a couple of times a week. I've had 2 approaches from people who were at Adorama, but moved on to other things - waiting to see if either of those works out. Finally, I've been approached by another business in the photography field - which could mean you seeing me back on POTN in a professional capacity.

That last sentence makes a helluva a lot of sense. I'm surprised that hasn't happened already.