Adorama
reviews and complaints

I had a recent experience with Adorama's online store that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. While I've had decent experiences with their rental side, buying from their website was a whole different story.

I started small, just ordering a tripod quick release plate. As a New Yorker, I expected a quick turnaround time, but instead, it took 8 days for them to even ship the item. Maybe they were just backlogged, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

When the part finally arrived, it was the wrong one. I reached out to their chat function, and they directed me to call customer support. After speaking with them, I found out that the SKU# for the part I ordered was mislabeled in their system. The website said one thing, but their system said another.

I asked if I could just get the part I ordered, but instead, they told me I needed to fill out an RMA form and return the item. Once they received it, it would take 4-6 days to process the request, and if they had the item in stock, they would send it to me. The catch? They couldn't check if they had the item in stock until after they processed my RMA request.

So, to recap, it took me a week and a half to get the wrong item, and now I had to fill out paperwork, repack the item, and drop it off at a UPS store. Then, I had to wait another week and a half to see if they had the item in stock and another week and a half to receive it.

All in all, it could take up to a month and a half to receive an item I could have easily purchased from a store I could bike to in less than an hour. Or, I could get a refund and pretend the whole ordeal was just a month-long dream.

It was a frustrating experience, and I wouldn't recommend buying from Adorama's online store. However, I will say that the packaging was well done, so at least there's that.

In conclusion, if you're looking to buy something from Adorama, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. Unless you want to die alone and unhappy, that is.

This company is a total scam! I made a purchase of over $2000 on 04/02 and was supposed to receive my package on 04/07, but it never arrived. I called Adorama to let them know, but they gave me the run-around. They told me I had to wait 48 hours before they could open a claim with UPS, which is not true. After waiting 48 hours, they still didn't open a claim until I called two more times over a two-day period. When I finally reached the "claims department," they told me I had to wait 10 more business days for UPS to finish their investigation. I waited 12 business days and still heard nothing. I tried to get in touch with a supervisor, but it was nearly impossible. I was told I would be called back by a supervisor on two different occasions, but I never received a call. It has been 22 days (16 business days) since I started this journey, and it has been the worst experience of my life.

Now that the "UPS Claim" is finished, they say they need their own security department to complete an investigation. However, they won't provide a time window or specific date that the investigation will be finished.

While some of their customer service representatives are nice and helpful, the majority of them are not. One specific "claim representative" named Red R. is extremely rude and belligerent. On all three occasions that I attempted to contact a supervisor, I was only ever transferred to Red R, who is definitely not a supervisor. He then proceeded to raise his voice and argue with me because I nicely asked to speak with his supervisor.

Today, 04/29, I finally spoke with a supervisor named Lance after waiting on hold for nearly 1.5 hours. Lance reviewed my case and said that he "doesn't know how long this will take."

I have had to take matters into my own hands and file a small claims lawsuit for the purchase and lost wages, which has totaled to around $4300 at this point.

If you are unsure about this company, just go check out their BBB reviews, then make a decision about making a purchase with them. WARNING: You do not want to have to deal with their customer service department. They will give you the run-around to save their money.

I gotta say, my experience with Adorama was not great. I had some low hours equipment that I ordered from them, and it took forever for them to even acknowledge that it had been shipped. After a week of no correspondence, I reached out to them and they said it was on their loading dock and they'd email me once it was unloaded. But then I didn't hear anything for 12 days, even after I reached out again. They kept telling me to call instead of emailing, even though I explained that I was traveling and couldn't always make phone calls. When I finally did call, I got no response. It took them 16 days to even acknowledge that they had my gear, which is worth $3000. And when they finally did return it to me, it was carelessly wrapped and half of the equipment wasn't even wrapped at all. It's like they didn't care about it at all. Honestly, I feel like they were trying to scam me from the beginning. They over-quoted me at first to make me think they were trustworthy, and then lowballed me afterwards. I wasted five weeks of my time dealing with them, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They're incompetent, uncooperative, and fraudulent.

I had a really bad experience with Adorama when I ordered a Lenovo Flex 14 laptop. When I received it, I noticed that it was making a lot of noise and getting really hot, which is not normal for a new laptop. I contacted their customer service and they sent me a return label. I returned the laptop and forgot to include the charger, but I sent it the next day. Adorama received both the laptop and charger on 08/25/2014, but it took them a long time to process the exchange. I called them multiple times to make sure everything was in order, but they kept delaying the process.

Finally, on 09/08, they refunded me $411 instead of exchanging the laptop. I called them back and asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor was very rude and blamed me for purchasing a defective laptop. She even suggested that I take the defective laptop or go to hell. I was shocked by her behavior and attitude.

I want to warn other customers about Adorama's false advertising and poor customer service. They sold me a defective laptop and then blamed me for it. They also charged me a restocking fee for returning the laptop, even though it was their fault. Their customer service is terrible and their supervisors are rude and unprofessional. I will never buy anything from Adorama again and I will tell everyone I know about my bad experience.

I gotta say, I had a pretty rough experience with Adorama. I thought I was getting a sweet deal on two Lenovo Yoga 15 laptops on Cyber Monday 2015, but boy was I wrong. The laptops were listed on Rakuten for $869.00 each, and the ad said they would ship within one to two business days. But that didn't happen. It took a whole ten days for the computers to finally arrive, and when they did, things got even more interesting.

I had a feeling something was up when Adorama took so long to ship a simple order. So, before opening the sealed boxes, I carefully checked to make sure they were the right model. And guess what? They weren't. Adorama had switched out the computers I had ordered and shipped a much cheaper model that could be purchased anywhere for less. Sneaky, right? I think they were hoping I would make the mistake of opening the manufacturer's computer boxes upon receiving them, which would have forced me to keep them. But I didn't fall for it. When I called to tell them they had sent the wrong computers, the customer service person asked me if I had opened the computer box. I got the feeling they were disappointed when I told them I hadn't.

Over the next ten days, I went back and forth with several Adorama customer service personnel trying to get them to ship the correct computer. But they just kept making excuses and delaying the process. It became pretty clear to me that they weren't going to honor their advertised price, and every response was just another attempt to rationalize their intent not to honor it. And to make matters worse, they left the ad posted on Rakuten for a long time after claiming it was an error. Who does that if they made an honest mistake? It seems like they knowingly continued to falsely advertise by leaving the ad up. Who knows how many other unsuspecting people might have been caught in this "trap."

Adorama blamed Rakuten for the ad error, but after talking to Rakuten, I confirmed that all the ad content was provided by Adorama. They never admitted their error and ran me out of time with their delays in decision making. The laptops were Christmas presents, and Adorama knew this. Instead of offering a solution, they only offered a $100 per item discount off of their regularly priced computers or a $50 gift certificate. But even with a $100 discount, I could order the computers cheaper elsewhere. And I don't think I would care to risk ordering anything else from Adorama in order to use a $50 gift certificate. I even asked them to price match their competitor, but they refused.

In short, I feel like I was the victim of a bait and switch. So, if you do decide to order from Adorama, be careful. And whatever you do, don't open the box the manufacturer provides the product in until you have first verified the model number is actually what you ordered. Otherwise, they'll have beat you at their game.

Adorama has been a real pain in the neck for me. I wanted to buy a new camera and lens using the student discount, which made the order about $2000. As a college student, that's a lot of money, so I was a bit hesitant. I also decided to get a warranty that would cover $2000 worth of camera bodies and lenses, which was super convenient. I placed the order in mid-December of last year, and with the shipping, it was supposed to arrive within 3 business days. The warranty was digital, so it arrived right away and covered both the body and the lens I had just purchased. I checked the tracking number every day, but there was no indication that the package had even been received by the carrier. I contacted Adorama multiple times to ask about this, but their response was to be patient and check the tracking number every day. 5 days passed, and there still had not been any new updates to the shipping, so I contacted an Adorama service rep for about the 3rd time. They claimed that the package had most likely been lost in the mail (doubtful as the carrier would have scanned it as soon as it was received) and said that they would send a replacement. I was already very frustrated because I was expecting it to arrive before a trip I was going to take, but that opportunity had passed.

After placing the replacement order, I was checking the shipping information daily again. This package had been delayed AGAIN as it was not given to the carrier in a timely manner. I was furious, however, I was not as mad as my own mother. She knew that I had worked very hard to save up for this and when I was being treated so poorly by Adorama customer service (they were indifferent and daft), so she had gotten on the phone with a representative and demanded that the replacement be shipped overnight and that I receive some kind of compensation for the trouble. They agreed to ship the camera overnight after nearly an hour and a half on the phone, as well as issuing a $50 refund, which I was very surprised by. I do not think that it made up for the inconvenience they caused, but at least it was something.

Also, in order for them to send the second replacement, they required me to pay another $2000, and they would just cancel the original order rather than just modify the shipping on the existing order. They didn't issue the refund for the original order until WEEKS after, which had me very worried. The camera arrived after the THIRD attempt, which was a relief. The lens and camera were under warranty, which was also relieving. But it was too good to be true. About a month after receiving the camera (which is around 1.5 months after placing the original order), the warranty from the original order was canceled and refunded out of the blue. I had NEVER told anyone to cancel or refund the warranty, so I cannot imagine why it was stopped.

I had contacted customer service reps many times to try to figure this out, and they were absolutely horrible. One of them accused me of sending a return with an empty box, and then just left the chat! She was threatening me and accusing me of fraud. I called one of their reps on the phone named Roxanne. She said that all I had to do was place an order for a new warranty, and everything would be taken care of. I placed the order, and I waited. Nothing happened for a few days, so I called her back. She said that she would take care of it and that she would follow up with me within a day. Another 3 days passed, so I called again. She said she would call me back by the end of the day, but never did. This went on about 2 or 3 more times, and then I told her that if she could not figure the issue out by the end of the week, I would want a refund for the warranty. The end of the week came, and I had no refund. I had emailed and called her asking to respond or for some kind of update, but she was totally silent.

This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life from any company. I beg you to use B&H instead for whatever you need and to avoid these people at all costs. Their customer service is utterly incompetent and does not care about you one bit.

I recently decided to upgrade my camera equipment and trade in my old gear. I chose to use Adorama, a popular retailer in the photography business, as I have purchased from them before without any issues. They were running a special offer for an extra $300 trade-in credit for the camera I wanted to purchase.

I sent my equipment for evaluation on Feb 27th and was told I would hear back within 5-7 business days. After 7 days, I tried to contact them but received an automated response saying they were closed for a Jewish holiday, which was not mentioned in any correspondence or on their website. I finally received a message on Thursday saying my equipment was evaluated and I needed to call Jack Gold to discuss trade-in options.

When I called, I was sent to another gentleman who initially offered a low price for my gear and said there were no promotions for Sony equipment, despite a banner ad on their website. After some back and forth, we agreed on a fair price, which I thought was "out the door," including tax and shipping. However, I was charged around $200 more than the agreed price, which they said was sales tax. I asked for my gear to be returned, but they were reluctant and eventually agreed to the original "out the door" price.

The next day, they called me with a new price, which was $100 more than the agreed price. I asked for my gear to be returned again, and they agreed to ship it back immediately. However, Jack Gold called me the next day and made another offer, which I reluctantly accepted.

When the package arrived, they had sent a different model than I had ordered. I left messages and emails, but nobody responded until I called again on Monday. They promised to cross-ship the replacement, but I have yet to receive a tracking number.

Overall, I had a terrible experience with Adorama's trade-in department and would not recommend it. It was frustrating to deal with the constant changes in price and the wrong model being sent. I hope Adorama takes note of my experience and improves their trade-in process.

So I ask where my package is? They send me proof of delivery wich actually is another website. Parts geek to be specific. Adorama avoids their mistakes by blaming it on someone else. I have security cameras all over my property and no package was ever delivered. They just make excuses instead of trying to resolve the issue. It has been since Dec 8 2021 trying to resolve this matter. Tired of talking to people in other countries who read from scripts.

I bought the Asus ZenBook duo from adorama a few months ago. The laptop crashed several times in the first few months so I tried to exchange it for a different device. Different brand, different model. I had no option to return or exchange the laptop on adorama's website so I called and specifically asked for an exchange to be processed. We had back and forth where I was told I was past the laptop's returnable date even though their website clearly states that purchases can be returned by February. I was told I couldn't return the laptop because the manufacturer disconnected it. They acted as if I couldn't exchange it for a different device. I practically had to state several times that I wanted a different device before they finally said they could process it. I had to literally instruct them to add a note on what laptop I specifically wanted. I was sent a shipping label and returned the laptop. I didn't get tracking info do I called adorama and they told me the saw the laptop was on the way and my refund would be processed once they got it. This is the 3rd call I've had with adorama about this exchange and they're still ignoring the notes on the order and trying to refund me. I had to once again refer the technican to the notes on the account. She confirmed the laptop I wanted and assured me my exchange would be processed. This was Monday. The laptop arrived to them Tuesday. Thursday I get an alert saying my refund has been processed... AFTER 4 PHONE CALLS WITH DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS, THEY STILL DID THE EXACT OPPOSITE THING I WANTED. I NEEDED THIS LAPTOP TO START A NEW JOB AND THEY'VE MESSED THAT UP. Then they best they can do is offer $50! For the inconvenience on my next purchase AFTER I REPURCHASE THE LAPTOP I WANTED EXCHANGED. I can't even use their measly credit on this next purchase. The incompetence is mind blowing and i do not recommend adorama

They robbed me out of +$300 and I returned everything in genuine packaging andvnew condution.
I can't wait to close this account today and cancel the card.
P.S. the first time they robbed me, they said i didn't include the cleaning kit! Now i know!
I am a man of integrity!:(
I can't believe that a company is allowed to scam honest working people like this

I was ordered a camera and lens from Adorama on 2nd April 2021. Initially the delivery was showing on 8th April 8th and then to 11th April. But nothing happened.
I have contacted Fedex and as per them they received an empty box and so the shipment stays in their Memphis branch.
I raise this complaint to Adorama on 12th April. I am doing the followup everyday but no response rather than asking to wait another two days.

NEVER RECEIVED MY ORDER! DO NOT BUY FROM ADORAMA

I bought a lens from Adorama 25 days ago. UPS tracking said it would be delivered around 8:30pm. Since it is a valuable item, I decided to wait for itat my door. They never delivered it.

Next day I get an email from Adorama saying my lens was delivered. I checked UPS tracking and it shows it was delivered.

I think it was misdelivered, since UPS has misdelivered items from other people to my house. They have even misdelivered my orders, my neighbors knocked at my door saying my package was left at their door.

I contacted Adorama, they opened an investigation with UPS, and asked me to wait for 10 business days.

I thought: "they will find out they misdelivered my package."

20 days later they emailed me saying "UPS says you package was delivered. But as you haven't received your package, we will reopen an investigation and please allow 10 more business days. Please contact UPS so they know how frustrated you are."

I naively contacted UPS and they said "We can only give that information to the shipper, contact them".

HORRIBLE! They sent me the runaround putting all the blame on UPS. I don't care about UPS, I am not UPS customer, I am an Adorama customer! I paid Adorama, they should be liable for my order!

All the emails and chats are copy/paste messages. Chat support is clearly outsourced in some asian country. I could easily tell, their spelling is horrible!

It is the worse customer service! I want a refund to buy that lense somewhere else! Otherwise I will start legal actions.

I will post my review in all the sites I can, make youtube videos, and anything to warn people not to buy from them. I won't let Adorama rip me off!

I returned a drone to Adorama well within my 30 days. I used an ups label that they sent me. UPS has misplaced or lost the package. Ive contacted UPS and Adorama didn't declare the value and also they are still looking for the package. It has been three months. With Adorama telling me to call back every 10 days. There IS no way to directly talk to the claims department to solve this. It's always under investigation. I didn't provide the label. So I claim no responsibility for the value declaration. It is now between Adorama and UPS. It is ridicules that I am supposed to wait months for this to resolve it self when they have insurance and its their responsibility in the first place. Of course this could be resolved if I could talk to someone that is actually handling this but they make it exceedingly difficult. To the point that it seems shady.

I ordered Microsoft office for Home and students online. The order went through just fine. The next day I received an email saying it was on hold, and to contact them. I did this, and got a return email saying they could not send it to my shipping address (street address) and that they would send it only to my billing address (PO Box). This would change my order from free shipping to a charge, so I replied asking if I would still get free shipping. My next email stated that the order was now canceled, as they have not heard from me. Really? Then with whom have I been emailing? So, I called. They agreed that they have heard from me, but then I was told since they have not received the information they requested, they canceled it. They NEVER ASKED for ANY information. I could reorder if I wanted. Do you think I want to go through this again?

Folks in the Philippines done even know where South Carolina in the US.
Order # [protected] - place on 05/28 for delivery 05/29 next day air. No delivery today and find out the package is still sitting in NJ, arrived too late to the location for shipment. Call and spoke with Customer Svc numerous times after calling UPS and Customer Svc refused to call UPS to expedite the shipment for pickup at a UPS Svc Center location. After speaking with numerous people including Lucy and Sarena and getting hung up on by Sarena, I demanded to speak with a supervisor. I have NEVER had such POOR customer service in my life. They did refund the shipping but don't seem to want to do anymore for this issue. Adorama - NO MORE.

Simple,
I asked to have a quote for a pristine still in the original packing Camera and a used 70-200mm fine lens.. with several extras. I double boxed and took great care in packing the material to send to them from Virginia. They did quote on the materials... which took them well over a week after it had arrived. The quote came in WAY under what I was willing to sell it for.. So I asked to have the material sent back to me. They indicated I would receive a shipping tracking number in 48 hours. 48 hours came and went and I called. They tried to give me another quote adding $200. Which was still WAY under what I thought the equipment was worth (they were selling a Used BODY of the camera for more than they were quoting.. mine included 2 fine lenses as well with many extras and filters...) Anyway I asked that the camera be sent back asap.. After several more days and many emails I was overnighted my equipment (Which I appreciated).. But the way it was shipped back and the packaging was horrible for $3000 worth of equipment... See the pics. The 70-200mm lens was sitting on the bottom of the box in the plastic wrapping... I will never order or recommend Adorama to anyone. NEVER.

Had I read the reviews earlier I would have NEVER sent the equipment.

Purchased used from Adorama on Sept. 17, 2018. Received on Sept. 19th but it was defective and company provided a label to return it which I did Sept. 20. Adorama received it Sept. 25 and they have a policy of refund if sent back within 30 days. I have had multiple e mails saying that my refund is 'delayed'. E mails on Sept. 25, October 3 and October 11. I would like my refund without further delays.

I took a number of items (pro equipment) in for trade. I worked with several people (Josh Rubin, Alba Castillo, Jack Gold) on the valuation and trade in of the equipment. I asked that they meet their stated 70% valuation in the trade for other equipment. They indicated they would work with me and lowered the price of the purchase WITHOUT telling me that they were replacing new equipment (which is what I asked for) with USED equipment. There was also a time sensitive element to the trade, and they neglected to tell me that the USED equipment that they were going to be giving me was unavailable. I learned all of this from the customer service person who is in MANILA and could not help me at all. They processed a large amount on my card in addition to the equipment I gave them and now I have been taken not once, but twice. I feel really stupid for doing business with this sleazy bunch. All I wanted was to trade good equipment for a new camera and lens. This is not the outcome.

as of 06/19/2018, I have ordered a camera on 06/15/2018 for a cannon rebel t7i, with a order number A2018061409453522762, up on tracking the order, it showed it was delivered by the door, but when I came back from work, I could see no package infront of my house, and I ordered it for one of my friends Birthday, which is ruined, and I tried calling to the customer care which said, store closed, so I need this issue to be resolved quickly. mostly refund

My latest order:
Which included the following:
fujifilm x100f 24.3mp digital camera
np-w126s li-ion battery
bc-w126 battery charger
shoulder strap
lens cap
metal strap clip
protective cover
clip attaching tool
usb cable
owner's manual
fujifilm 1 year limited warranty
32gb sdhc card
camera case
spare battery
tripod
dual charger
video light
cleaning kit
memory card case
card reader
table top tripod
software package
1- only received 1 battery holder for the dual charger sent. what good is the dual charger?
2- received the video light with battery holder but no battery. useless..
3- was charged (03/27 adorama inc 212-[protected] ny $4.68) after purchase was paid due to a back order. that's not right at all.
After spending almost an hour with your philippine service people (who could not be understood except for the ("i'm so sorry ron") my total frustration caused me to finally hang up. I have spent thousands of us dollars over the past 20 years with adorama and never had a problem. now with your total lack of us customer service, long holidays and short us hours, i'm sad to say i'm done with adorama. i'm giving up on the over charge to my account, the lack of properly equipped accessories and poor customer service, my money will now be spent with business's that respect their customers and are us reachable for service.

The story that happened to me is unbelievable in a bad way.
I ordered some stuff in September. Now it's December and the items are still in processing. Can this happen for real? Because it's a nightmare.
I think that each employee from customer service department knows who I am because I am their pissed customer who wants his items to be eventually sent.
They promise and promise and promise, but nothing happens. I am so tired of this treatment.

I have been buying from Adorama for years, however, when I bought a new Nikon D750 from Adorama this November, I discovered they removed the OEM battery (which Nikon includes with the camera) from the box and substituted a cheap-o after market battery in its place. When I contacted Adorama, they offered to sell me the battery they took out of the box! This is the worst case of unethical behavior I have ever seen from a major retailer!

I am disappointed. 4 months ago I ordered a present for my father who's a photographer. And the order hasn't arrived yet.
No, I wasn't even shipped. How do you like it?
ok, maybe the company cant handle things like this, but why us, your customers should pay ahead for something you can't control as you say? Maybe it's just another excuse not to look unprofessional. I don't know what is your reason, but I will never use you again and tell everyone you are unreliable. Goodbye.

Hi I've been getting kicked out of my account and the site sending me to a Bad Request site.I've done about everything I can do and it just seems to not change I've removed my cache I've deleted my cookies and nothing has changed, can you please help me. I'm a photographer, cinematographer, and I'm currently trying to purchase a massive amount of equipment for my business and my data is saved in the cart but it won't even let me access the site.
It says: Bad Request - Request Too Long

HTTP Error 400. The size of the request headers is too long.

I'm pretty much disappointed with Adorama and I will no longer be their customer. In the past I bought a camera from them and it took a long time to get it. They made a mistake and it took a long time to fix it, but in the end I received my order. About two months ago I decided to give them another chance and ordered camera lens.
My order arrived pretty fast but it was incorrect!
I had to waste my time and go through the entire return process. I sent it back and I hope that I'll get the correct lens.
They are highly unprofessional and they make tons of mistakes. I will not waste any more of my time.

I had one of the worst ever experience of my life working with Adorama Camera. Their customer service is very impolite and rude. I ordered a camera back through order number :A2017021413545559231 The product was supposed to reach me in 3 days. I never received it and when I am contacting them, they are being completely rude to me and giving me excuses about their some process, dispute and something else. I am continuously literally begging them to give my money back, or give me my item. Lesson learnt . Avoid Adorama at any cost. Do not buy from them. B&H or Amazon is the way to go.

Shame on you Adorama.