Beach Camera: information

HORRIBLE!!
TERRIBLE communication. I received a "Confirmation" of the order from the site, but they never processed the order. I ordered the Christmas gift for my children on Dec. 5th and 18 days later found out the order had never been processed! Happy December 23, you won't be gettin that gift by Christmas! Beach never contacted me about the order. AWFUL! I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM BEACH CAMERA!
The story:
Doing my Christmas shopping online, I ordered a portable DVD player on Dec. 5th. Was given confirmation from the website. On December 20th I STILL had not received the player. Went onto the website to check the status of the order, and discovered you must phone or e-mail the Billing department and wait a day for a response, unlike better online retailers like Newegg and Buy.com which allow you to enter your confirmation number and view your purchase status online.
My response from the Billing Department at Beach Camera the next day:"We apologize for the inconvenience, but you must call the billing department to verify information on the order. An email is not sufficient enough for verification. Thank you for understanding.." What's the point of offering an e-mail option if you must call?! I work long days and cannot call during their short phone hours so I replied again in e-mail asking what do they need for verification? Next day, same canned email response from Billing!
Tried replying to Billing again and this time cc'd customer service informing them I am unable to call during their phone hours and asked 'what does the billing department need for verification?'
Beach Camera's response on the 23rd of December: "Please provide a valid phone number to process this order.." Beach, I could have used that information 20 days prior so that I could order my christmas gift someplace else! I do not give out my phone number to any retailer(can't stand telemarketers!) and have never had a problem with all of the online retailers from which I've ordered. Beach had all the info they needed to process the order but never did and, although I provided my e-mail address in the order information, they never contacted me nor processed the order! NO THANKS!
.. like I told my friends and family over the holidays, Stay away from BEACH CAMERA...

On Christmas day, I ordered two SanDisk SD/HC 8GB Extreme III flash memory cards from Beach Camera. They were at $58 each. Not the cheapest, but the lowest cost among credible ererailers (as measured by resellerratings).

But less than 12 hours later, even before my order was shipped, Beach Camera lowered the price by about $8 on the card.

Not expecting much success, I wrote a pleasant email to customer service at Beach Camera requesting a (discretionary) credit to my credit card for the difference. About $18 total.

But, I did not expect success. It is their busy season, and the economy is not sustaining these eretailers.

Well, I could not be more wrong. I got an inmediate automated acknowledgement of my request with a ticket number, anticipating delays due to the holidays, and promising a reply by early next week.

Yes, I received it on Tuesday December 30:

"Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting us.
As a one time courtesy, we have refunded $10.00 to your account."

Brilliant as they did not vhave to do a thing. I just wanted you yo know.

I received my item in less than a week w/ free shipping. Price was very good. I am happy to recommend Beach Camera.

Ordered new battery on a Friday (Dec 5th) and needed it by the following Thursday (Dec 11th). Immediately after, I realized that I needed to upgrade the shipping and attempted to call the store. Turns out they are closed after 2pm on Fridays.

So, I emailed them immediately through their website to upgrade the shipping and then called on the following Monday. I was assured that the battery would be at my home no later than Thursday (by the time I needed it). Turns out, the battery did not even show up until the following Tuesday (Dec 16th).

Beachcamera.com is a great place to order from and they are a fine store. But in this instance, they failed in promising a certain date and then failing to meet it.

I would order from them again but would not do so if I had a tight window in which I needed the product.

Bought 46" LCD TV from them. Told them all I wanted was the TV and nothing else, and was that O.K.? They said no problem. TV arrived soon after, as advertised. Best price I could find at the time. Very good shopping experience.

I ordered a TV from Beach Camera on Dec 15, 2008. They shipped it on Dec 18, and it arrived in perfect condition on Dec 20 about 6:30 PM via FedEx; well within the 6-9 days they promised on the site. The handling of the order and service were better than I had expected. They had been recommended to me by one of my co-workers and I can see why. They will definitely be on my short list for future orders as needed. Good company to deal with

Ordered item on December 18. Given that the order was placed so close to the weekend and to Christmas as well, getting delivery on December 22 by USPS was phenomenal. Tracking was simple. Very positive experience. Would have no doubts about buying from Beach Camera again. Thanks Beach Camera!

wonderful people to work with. I have ordered from them many times and am very happy with every aspect of there service

There was a really good deal on SanDisk SD cards on Black Friday. Beach Camera is one of the only merchants to offer free shipping. The website was flooded, but I managed to get my order in. It did not show up in my order history, so I contacted customer service. They told me they were overwhelmed with orders, and will slowly try to get this sorted out. Sure enough, I received a shipping confirmation email 10 days later. I'm very happy that BeachCamera kept its word, and I will order from them again.

Great price and fast shipping.
Put order on 12/21/2008 with 7-9 business day free shipping. received on 12/23/2008.
Highly recommended.