GreenToe - Reverse Auction Photography Site

photowhim wrote in post #17345251
New to site, and have benefited greatly from your wisdom today! My offer on a 24-70 II was accepted, to my great shock.

Nice, how much did you end up paying?

ptcanon3ti wrote in post #17342035
I've used PP as payment. just clicked it as my payment option.

Lurker for a long time, new poster, and I want to say THANK YOU for being the best source of info on Greentoe available on the net.

I am currently having an issue with them and my PP payment. I authorized PayPal, have a nice PP balance, and have Discover as back up, with several other cards linked as well. I had an offer accepted and I was SUPER excited (even jumped the gun and posted here about my experience, then had to delete). However, now, on the offers page, there is some sort of issue with my payment. It says "accepted" and is red, not green, and states there is an issue with my Paypal, and to contact them, which I did, both directly via the site, and in response to Andrew, who was working with me JUST prior. I also had the option of changing my payment info, which, as a last resort, I will do, but not until I hear back for them. I am afraid if I just change the payment, I might get double charged. :/ Paypal is set up and preauthorized for the amount, so I don't know what might have happened.

A few things are odd and noteable-- I did not get an email that my offer was accepted, nor about the above issue. It is just on my offers tab. I do not know who the retailer is, either, so I can't deal with them directly. And my emails, which were very promptly answered up to this point, have gone unacknowledged since this occuerred. That being said, it was late, and this is a personal attention company...and I am anxious to get this wrapped, so also up early today. I am going to assume that they aren't open/answering emails yet. I really hope that accepted offers don't expire, and that if it does, Greentoe will make this right.

I am hoping to hear back soon so I can go about my day. Anyone receive emails back early in the day, or do I have awhile to wait? And is there anyone out there with a similar experience to mine and a good outcome? Paypal says everything is ready to go; I called Discover and there is no issue on their end, either. I am part of a couple of FB groups and another forum and I have buddies out there waiting to hear that I had a positive experience...I am just hoping this ends positively. The lack of an email regarding my offer issue, as well as lack of response to my several emails right after my last communication with the company (they countered and my offer was accepted before I even had time to consider whether to accept) I am slightly disenchanted. I'm so hoping it is a "business closed for the day" issue, and that I hear back soon. Anyone have any luck with the 1-800 number?

Hopefully, I will be back later in the day to post on my positive experience. I really want to be a believer here. And YES, I do feel like I am acting like an impatient child at Christmas. LOL.

Lisa

As soon as it goes through, I will post my anecdotals. See my modified post regarding my experience above. I'm calling customer service now; they are citing "long wait times." I left a message.

Anyone know the fastest route to a response? I have read about long wait times for responses elsewhere, but hoping the great stories I have heard about Andrew and Greentoe will win out here. He certainly seems like the real deal in my initial conversations with him. Anyone have anecdotals to share regarding contact hours and wait time? Business hours? I was given such great service leading up to the offer, and since then, it's been a little frustrating. I am trying so, so hard to be patient here. I was JUST saying to another forum group that they were on par with CPW in terms of timely response and excellent customer service. Did I jinx myself? Ugh. I feel like a whiny teenager.

Send Andrew an email and be patient. Wait until something actually happens, good or bad, to go bananas with posts all over the internet. If you need to have the scale and responsiveness of B&H Photo at your disposal then buy from B&H and spend the extra 7 to 10%. This is not complicated.

photowhim wrote in post #17345591
As soon as it goes through, I will post my anecdotals. See my modified post regarding my experience above. I'm calling customer service now; they are citing "long wait times." I left a message.

Anyone know the fastest route to a response? I have read about long wait times for responses elsewhere, but hoping the great stories I have heard about Andrew and Greentoe will win out here. He certainly seems like the real deal in my initial conversations with him. Anyone have anecdotals to share regarding contact hours and wait time? Business hours? I was given such great service leading up to the offer, and since then, it's been a little frustrating. I am trying so, so hard to be patient here. I was JUST saying to another forum group that they were on par with CPW in terms of timely response and excellent customer service. Did I jinx myself? Ugh. I feel like a whiny teenager.

I'm sure Andrew will get to you today. I think emailing him is the way You'll get the quickest response. He will do everything he can to get this done for you.

Let me give you an example:

I put an offer in on xxxx lens. Then I sent Andrew an email asking if I was close on price.
He got back to me with the counter offers he was receiving from his vendors.
I didn't want to pay that much but I upped my offer to near what he said.
I then saw a MINT copy of the lens i wanted so I bought it.
I then dropped my offer at GT to $0.00
Andrew saw that and emailed me trying to get my last offer accepted.
Then I explained to him what happened.

Bottom line: Andrew will do everything he can to resolve your situation. Be patient.

Thank you. I guess I am concerned that the retailer will pull out of the deal or that the offer will expire. I have heard excellent things about Andrew, and he was very courteous when I was corresponding with him, so I am going to trust that he will make this right. Time to have a little faith. Thank you so much for the input! As soon as I close the deal, I will report back with more details.

Got 85mm/1.8 for $345 after rebate. Shipped within 24 hrs of accepting counter offer. Will be buying from them again very soon.

That's why I acknowledged that I was acting like a whiny teenager (I'm a high school teacher and speak fluent teenager, ha ha... ). It's really just that from my perspective, it seems a bit odd...especially since Paypal and the CC company are saying there shouldn't be an issue at all with payment. It really shouldn't be complicated.

I can see how it might have been interpreted that I was planning to "go bananas with posts all over the internet"; however that was not my intent. When I posted with excitement that my bid was accepted last night, it was because I truly believe in acknowledging excellent CS and wanted to add to the positive anecdotals here. I did jump the gun--as the deal didn't fully process, which I acknowledged-- and simply was hoping someone had a similar experience with a positive outcome. I will refrain from further posts.

I'm going to plead pre holiday craziness/stress, coupled with lack of sleep, and apologize to anyone if I've offended or intruded. Back to lurking. Thank you all again for pointing me to GT, even if it doesn't work out for me.

I think what you are seeing is normal Greentoe processing though. When you submit an offer there will be a small authorization (like $1 or so) to check if the payment info is valid. Then, when they found a vendor for you, either manually or through an automated process, your order gets 'locked in' and a full amount authorization is placed on your payment account (I believe this is the stage you are in right now). And then I think Greentoe has to press a button on their end to complete it all and send the order to the vendor upon which you will also get your confirmation email. If I remember correctly, Greentoe are located somewhere out West, so its early for them and they probably dont actually work on the weekends. I'd give it a little bit of time and let Andrew get to your email, I'm sure everything is alright and if not he'll take care of it.

photowhim wrote in post #17345913
That's why I acknowledged that I was acting like a whiny teenager (I'm a high school teacher and speak fluent teenager, ha ha... ). It's really just that from my perspective, it seems a bit odd...especially since Paypal and the CC company are saying there shouldn't be an issue at all with payment. It really shouldn't be complicated.

I can see how it might have been interpreted that I was planning to "go bananas with posts all over the internet"; however that was not my intent. When I posted with excitement that my bid was accepted last night, it was because I truly believe in acknowledging excellent CS and wanted to add to the positive anecdotals here. I did jump the gun--as the deal didn't fully process, which I acknowledged-- and simply was hoping someone had a similar experience with a positive outcome. I will refrain from further posts.

I'm going to plead pre holiday craziness/stress, coupled with lack of sleep, and apologize to anyone if I've offended or intruded. Back to lurking. Thank you all again for pointing me to GT, even if it doesn't work out for me.

haha...I teach too. Christmas break is almost here.

this is the truth, not nearly as drastic, but 3x over my offer wasn't accepted (but my coupon invalidated) - each time, he responded within an hour to help me through the site issues.

Ok- update. Thank you for your kindness and patience with a newbie. The truth is, I really started to believe it was too good to be true and so was freaking out a little when there was an issue. The poster that said I should just go with B&H if I expected lightning service was correct, though I feel that Andrew's service has been above and beyond my expectations, and equal to/exceeds any dealings I have had with other camera services.

In a nutshell, the order took some extra and specialized handling as there was a Paypal issue that, as I had expected, wasn't on my end. Andrew worked with me to find a solution to get payment to the retailer. I am so used to round the clock service from retailers that I forgot that small, family type organizations are different, but just as awesome, if not more so. I feel like this is more of a personal attention service. In fact, I am pretty embarrassed that I didn't see that before I started to get so concerned about all of this. I'm also guessing their hours differ, as another poster noted. I think it was just all the people that had posted and stated they never received a reply. I was also afraid that the offer would expire (I set a very short turnaround).

The item hasn't shipped yet, but I'm not going to allow myself to think about that right now- it will happen. I had some skepticism, but I have been assured that Greentoe will stand behind the purchase. I'm not sure how much I am allowed to reveal, and am awaiting Andrew's reply before I add much else. I will say that the discount was more than I'd expected I could get; my initial adjusted amount (I modified right after I bid, because I knew I was way too low) was accepted before I even had a chance to respond to the counteroffer. Money wise, I will say it was definitely worth not going through B&H or other price services. Definitely a believer on that part of it.

It's been a ride. Will report more when I can, and will also report back on my shipping experience. Thank you for reassuring me and reining me in where needed. I will try to be a better forum member.

Lisa

photowhim wrote in post #17346242
Ok- update. Thank you for your kindness and patience with a newbie. The truth is, I really started to believe it was too good to be true and so was freaking out a little when there was an issue. The poster that said I should just go with B&H if I expected lightning service was correct, though I feel that Andrew's service has been above and beyond my expectations, and equal to/exceeds any dealings I have had with other camera services.

In a nutshell, the order took some extra and specialized handling as there was a Paypal issue that, as I had expected, wasn't on my end. Andrew worked with me to find a solution to get payment to the retailer. I am so used to round the clock service from retailers that I forgot that small, family type organizations are different, but just as awesome, if not more so. I feel like this is more of a personal attention service. In fact, I am pretty embarrassed that I didn't see that before I started to get so concerned about all of this. I'm also guessing their hours differ, as another poster noted. I think it was just all the people that had posted and stated they never received a reply. I was also afraid that the offer would expire (I set a very short turnaround).

The item hasn't shipped yet, but I'm not going to allow myself to think about that right now- it will happen. I had some skepticism, but I have been assured that Greentoe will stand behind the purchase. I'm not sure how much I am allowed to reveal, and am awaiting Andrew's reply before I add much else. I will say that the discount was more than I'd expected I could get; my initial adjusted amount (I modified right after I bid, because I knew I was way too low) was accepted before I even had a chance to respond to the counteroffer. Money wise, I will say it was definitely worth not going through B&H or other price services. Definitely a believer on that part of it.

It's been a ride. Will report more when I can, and will also report back on my shipping experience. Thank you for reassuring me and reining me in where needed. I will try to be a better forum member.

Lisa

You'll be pleased. What did you offer on?

I ordered the 24-70 II. I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised at the level of CS from not only GT, but also CPW. I've been lusting after this lens for a long time, and both services provided exceptional service over the last two weeks. I wouldn't hesitate to use either service in the future while shopping a deal.

Shortly after my response above, I actually noticed the same situation with an offer I had made this past weekend. Used Paypal, the offer was accepted but there was an issue with payment (even though there shouldn't be on my end). I'm assuming they are maybe having some payment processor issues with the holidays and amount of transactions going on? I have not had these issues in the past, although the Paypal payment option is a fairly new feature. I emailed their CS and I am sure they will fix it.