Adorama 360 membership... this is so odd

I'm not even sure where I should have posted this. I have a VIP360 membership that I paid for last November. Originally they had the avage paper included on the website as being VIP360 eligible which is why I got the plan. Same price as local and they shipped to me at no additional charge other than my membership. I was also enticed by the "special offers" promise. However, in the 6 months since I signed up I had never gotten a single VIP360 deal notification as they claimed.

That changed today. I got an email that had a special deal on the glow version of the Wescott Eyelighter. What is odd is that when I went to the website on the computer and logged in to my account and went to that product, the item was still showing regular price. So I called Adorama and they were willing to place the order over the phone.

This is where it gets really strange... While on the phone with them. (from my desk phone) the email on my cell phone completely disappeared without a trace. Literally not in any folder, spam folder, deleted items folder, nowhere. To top it off, I never got the email confirmation from my phone order and it did not show up in my order history. I've since called back and someone else confirmed the order and sent me a copy of the receipt, but that is the strangest thing I've had happen.

So I'm wondering from others, have emails ever just disappeared for you? Second, if you are a VIP360 member, do you ever get the special deal emails? This was the first one I got since I signed up 6 months back. When I asked CS at Adorama if I had been missing them they couldn't answer my question, so I asked for a supervisor and the person refused to either transfer me or even give me a name or email of who I needed to contact. I just want to know if it is standard to offer the special VIP360 deals 2x a year or have I just not been getting the stuff sent to me.

mikeinctown wrote in post #19055896
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This is where it gets really strange... While on the phone with them. (from my desk phone) the email on my cell phone completely disappeared without a trace. Literally not in any folder, spam folder, deleted items folder, nowhere.
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That is very odd indeed. . I had no idea that it was possible for anyone to retract an email, once it is sent to someone else's email account. . Are you sure it was an actual email from them, and not an ad that appears as an email? . I get ads that appear to be emails, and sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference, especially when viewing on a phone.

In the future, if you get another similar email from them, I think it would behoove you to forward the email to your other email account, and also to get a screen capture of it. . Let them know that you are not a customer to be f _ _ _ _ _ with; that you will fully document everything that they ever send to you, and hold them accountable to live up to every word.

I have had to get this way with Adorama and AdoramaPix before; demand to speak to supervisors or managers and force them to make good on what they promised. . At the "other big place" I have never had to get insistent - that other place just makes good on everything all the time without the customer having to force them to do so.


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Now that you mention it, I guess it could have been an ad, because they always show up at the top of my email on my phone. Perhaps I saw it was from Adorama and just clicked on it. That would be very problematic though as it would mean I will have NEVER gotten an email with VIP360 deals yet they published the VIP360 deal prices in an ad???

I know Helen's replacement is around here somewhere so I hope to get in contact so I can find out what is going on with my account that I am not getting things promised to me in my extra paid membership deal.

Emails don't just disappear from your inbox. Not possible.

Are you using webmail? Not even sure it's possible that way.

I figured it out. It was a FACEBOOK AD. When I clicked on it it looked like an email that I get from them every week telling me hey we got this stuff at regular price.

Now I am REALLY UPSET. In the 6 months I have been a 360 member I haven't been offered a single deal, but people on facebook can see the deals?

Adorama actually called me back and told me they would get with their web team to see if something was wrong with emails going to me account. I explained I get every other junk email from them.

mikeinctown wrote in post #19055923
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..... I will have NEVER gotten an email with VIP360 deals yet they published the VIP360 deal prices in an ad???
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I used to get emails very frequently from AdoramaPix (same ownership and parent company as Adorama). . The promotional emails with specials and deals would come about twice a week, week in, week out.

Then I noticed that a month or so had gone by without any promotional emails coming from them. . So I contacted customer support (called them) and they said I had to sign up to receive the emails. . I told them I'd been signed up for years, and suddenly stopped receiving them. . The guy looked into it and got back on the phone and said that he thought they just hadn't sent any out lately.

It's weird that there would be great deals every week, year after year, and then suddenly the deals would stop. . I called a few more times and bugged them about it. . Finally they started sending promotional emails out every now and then, but the deals weren't nearly so good, and not as many items came with free shipping anymore.

Then about a year ago AdoramaPix changed their name to Printique. . Now that they are Printique, I again receive lots of promotional emails ...... but not specials or deals. . The emails are like advertisements, telling me about all the "great" things that they have to offer. . Yet I hardly ever get the emails about 25% or 35% off site-wide deals anymore. . Just doesn't happen. . Don't even get the specials where they pick a certain print size or aspect ratio or print medium and give it up for 50% or 60% off ..... like, "8" by 8" metal prints now $8 each - this week only!" . Or "all poster size prints 50% off!" . Things like that used to come all the time, now they never come ...... hence, I barely order anything at all from them anymore.

I wonder if perhaps there has been a change in the over-arching philosophy at Adorama about the balance between making customers happy and the bottom line.

Over the past year or so, there have been several notable changes;

- the release of Helen

-the rebranding of AdoramaPix to Printique, and significant price increases to some of the print products they offer

- the reduction/elimination of huge % off deals

- the reduction of orders/items that qualify for free shipping

- having to haggle over the phone about getting a refund, instead of the easy "full refund for any reason at all" policy that I enjoyed in previous years

- and the seeming abandonment of the 360 membership that you have brought up

Each of the changes seem to point in the same direction, with respect to the balance between how much Adorama gives you versus how much they charge you.

I cannot help but to think that there has been a paradigm shift in the overarching business philosophy ...... especially when one considers some of the things that Helen hinted at. . She was a super high quality lady who wanted Adorama to do right by the customer, even if it affected their bottom line. . Why would they push someone like her out the door unless .....


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mikeinctown wrote in post #19055940
I figured it out. It was a FACEBOOK AD. When I clicked on it it looked like an email that I get from them every week telling me hey we got this stuff at regular price.

Now I am REALLY UPSET. In the 6 months I have been a 360 member I haven't been offered a single deal, but people on facebook can see the deals?

Adorama actually called me back and told me they would get with their web team to see if something was wrong with emails going to me account. I explained I get every other junk email from them.

Hi Mike,

I'm sorry you haven't received any VIP360 membership offers. I'd like to look into what happened here and review your contact with our Customer Service team as well. Can you please email me directly with your most recent order number so I can look up your account?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

I joined VIP360 in December. I've never gotten any notifications about the "VIP360" deals.

What I do get is a weekly email with several advertised specials and at the bottom of each one is an invitation to join VIP360.

Nancy Miller: how often are those VIP360 notification sent out? Thank you.

dangermoney wrote in post #19055998
I joined VIP360 in December. I've never gotten any notifications about the "VIP360" deals.

What I do get is a weekly email with several advertised specials and at the bottom of each one is an invitation to join VIP360.

Nancy Miller: how often are those VIP360 notification sent out? Thank you.

I'll have to check this with our Marketing team. Can you DM me your email address so I can have them look into this?

Nancy Miller - Adorama wrote in post #19056036
I'll have to check this with our Marketing team. Can you DM me your email address so I can have them look into this?

Hi Nancy,
I sent the info to your adorama.com email address.

Thanks.

Hi Tom,

I am the Social Media Manager from Printique. I can help you - let's take a look at what's going on. We have changed email platforms, so I think that may be the issue, but I won't know for sure until I know your email that is linked to your account. You can always find our sales at the top of our page on the banner when you click on it too. We run about 1-3 sales a week.

Please email me at libby@printique.com with your email linked to your account and we'll get it all sorted out. Thank you for your patience!

LibbyPrintique wrote in post #19056080
Hi Tom,

I am the Social Media Manager from Printique. I can help you - let's take a look at what's going on. We have changed email platforms, so I think that may be the issue, but I won't know for sure until I know your email that is linked to your account. You can always find our sales at the top of our page on the banner when you click on it too. We run about 1-3 sales a week.

Please email me at libby@printique.com with your email linked to your account and we'll get it all sorted out. Thank you for your patience!

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Thanks for responding, Libby!

If Adorama has you and Nancy being responsive to customers the way you are here, then perhaps my faith in Adorama and AdoramaPix / Printique will be restored!

I used to get emails with specials for extremely huge discounts on metal prints (like over 50% off on certain sizes and aspect ratios), and free shipping on any order over $49. . If that stuff is still going on, then I want to know about it .... and I will definitely be submitting orders the way I did in 2016 and 2017!

I emailed you at the address you gave, and look forward to your response.

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19056082
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Thanks for responding, Libby!

If Adorama has you and Nancy being responsive to customers the way you are here, then perhaps my faith in Adorama and AdoramaPix / Printique will be restored!

I used to get emails with specials for extremely huge discounts on metal prints (like over 50% off on certain sizes and aspect ratios), and free shipping on any order over $49. . If that stuff is still going on, then I want to know about it .... and I will definitely be submitting orders the way I did in 2016 and 2017!

I emailed you at the address you gave, and look forward to your response.

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Like you I stopped getting all the offers as well. In fact the only emails I now get are the ones after you look at something but don't buy it. Never thought I would have to sign up for all new email lists even after paying for a service and ordering as much as I have.

mikeinctown wrote in post #19056418
Like you I stopped getting all the offers as well. In fact the only emails I now get are the ones after you look at something but don't buy it. Never thought I would have to sign up for all new email lists even after paying for a service and ordering as much as I have.

I looked at several things and bought two of them. The next email I got showed the two things I bought and the ones I didn't.

Adorama customer service still exists. I exchanged a few emails with Nancy at Adorama, she found out what happened and it has been fixed.

Thanks Nancy!