AD-360 360W External Portable Flash

Oldschool1948 wrote in post #16358835
+1

I've been a loyal and happy Amex customer since 1987 and use Amex for almost all of my online purchases. When I've had problems with vendors, I contact Amex and they solve it for me. Their customer support is top notch.

Wow. I did not know that. I will use my AMEX card more often now for online purchases like these. Thanks for the info.

draderusa wrote in post #16358573
+1

Neewer has just slapped their label on standard Godox Wistro units. The Godox units and the Cheetah Light units are identical inside. Only the outside case color and badging is different. The huge question is whether New Harbor can be depended on to stand behind their products if problems develop after the sale. It won't do a lot of good if we save money on the purchase price and then have to ship the units to China and wait weeks for repairs if something breaks. As they say "the devil is in the details".

I understand that despite their apparent US presence (via Amazon.com shopfront), New Harbor are based in Hong Kong and as such any repairs would at some stage involve postage back to ......... China (in 1997, HK, Kowloon and New Territories were ceded back to China from British colonial rule/administration). The Amazon.com listing states that "Items are shipped from New Jersey. U.S." but what it does NOT state is that the items are IN STOCK in the USA. We have similar businesses in the UK who offer "Shipping by Royal Mail" but, again, carefully avoid saying that the items are held in stock in the country from which they are despatched. The phraseology allows customers to believe that they are buying from a US or UK company (respectively), very carefully without ever saying so. Some of the UK ones even have a Royal Mail logo or Union Flag (commonly, incorrectly, called the Union Jack) in the adverts. Perhaps coincidentally these businesses are frequently situated really, really close to International airports (mainly London Heathrow and London Gatwick but also Birmingham International in the UK variants) . Some of them are literally just across the road from the freight terminals. Draw what conclusions you may from that amazing coincidence ( )!!

Are there, I wonder, any International airports in New Jersey? Perhaps near Newark, NJ or Atlantic City? It's a rhetorical question in case you hadn't guessed.

I am massively, hugely, indescribably suspicious of this apparently amazing offer. Doesn't affect me personally other than as a general reflection on business ethics.

I read the listing thoroughly and am fully prepared to wait the 20 business days for my order to arrive. On day 21 I call Amex .

adammazza wrote in post #16359049
I read the listing thoroughly and am fully prepared to wait the 20 business days for my order to arrive. On day 21 I call Amex .

Buying when fully aware of possible consequences is an informed decision. Nothing against those whatsoever, I do it myself all the time. When folks don't read what is actually stated rather than what they "think" the advert meant is when problems arise.

Made in China - shipped from China, despite whatever badge it wears its the same product and will be susceptible to the same problems..

I rented a warehouse to a big name UK computer company and they told me that the mark up on 'boxed' products was very small. Ultimately, competition on the prices for these hit rock bottom and very little can be done about it. Often, selling a £10 USB cable on a £250 printer would net a higher profit than the profit on the printer itself.

Shipped from China direct only incurs one shipping cost. Thats what happens. Stuff which comes in boxes is the same wherever the box comes from.

adammazza wrote in post #16359049
I read the listing thoroughly and am fully prepared to wait the 20 business days for my order to arrive. On day 21 I call Amex .

Sic em!!

I backed out for several reasons:

1) I read about the possibility of it being an incomplete package in the CL-360 thread

2) The second you place your order with "New Harbor" your credit card is charged the full amount and you cannot cancel the order. You may request a cancellation but only if they decide they want to approve the cancellation and you will need to wait up to 30-business days to receive a credit.

3) "Caveat Emptor" Things that seem too good to be true generally are; having been burned in the past has made me more cautious in the future. The delta between New Harbor and Cheetah becomes very small if you end up with a bad unit.

Rocky Rhode wrote in post #16361625
I backed out for several reasons:

1) I read about the possibility of it being an incomplete package in the CL-360 thread

2) The second you place your order with "New Harbor" your credit card is charged the full amount and you cannot cancel the order. You may request a cancellation but only if they decide they want to approve the cancellation and you will need to wait up to 30-business days to receive a credit.

3) "Caveat Emptor" Things that seem too good to be true generally are; having been burned in the past has made me more cautious in the future. The delta between New Harbor and Cheetah becomes very small if you end up with a bad unit.

I think you made a very wise decision. Edward commented on this very situation and pointed out that New Harbor is offering these units in violation of the terms of their retail sales agreement with Godox. As a result it is highly unlikely that they would actually be able to sell these units as advertised. They would also very likely have no warranty support from Godox in case you actually were able to get one of these from them and it turned out to be defective.

Again, at a difference of 50% (well over $300), and Amex backing me, I'll take my chances...Most I have to lose is an hour or 2 of my time....

adammazza wrote in post #16361781
Again, at a difference of 50% (well over $300), and Amex backing me, I'll take my chances...Most I have to lose is an hour or 2 of my time....

+1

it is through amazon so I am totally safe.

Amazon pulled the unit; feeling much better about my decision.

Just curious - how does one tell that "Amazon pulled" it?

SamFrench wrote in post #16365430
Just curious - how does one tell that "Amazon pulled" it?

Go to the first page of this thread clip on the link and see what it says

Rocky Rhode wrote in post #16365387
Amazon pulled the unit; feeling much better about my decision.

How do you know it was Amazon? Says item is currently unavailable and they don't know if it ever will be again.

Could New Harbor have pulled it?

Anyway, if I don't get it, I get my money back. Pretty easy.

abbadon31 wrote in post #16365483
Go to the first page of this thread clip on the link and see what it says

I had done that - I guess I should clarify my question - When the Amazon listing says "Currently unavailable" - does that mean "Amazon pulled it" or could it be temp sold out or not available for other reasons?