FDM Brands review: Failed to deliver my order 8

I bought photo album pages from them back in 2010. I was charged without the order being shipped.

Long story...eventually I got in contact with Joel, who told me the company had been outsourced to the Philippines (at least the customer service portion of Century Photo). He made good on the order. God bless him for that. But it took several years, between placing the order and receiving it. Joel had the order in the mail and sent to me in a very short time (that is, after years of waiting).

They once had quality products.

Caveat emptor.

I would recommend someone contacting the New York Department of Consumer Fraud, if you have placed an order and haven't received it.

Around Dec 4 2018 I ordered two frames from Light Impressions online; one frame was for a wedding gift for later in December. I have been a customer of Light Impressions for over 40 years and have always been satisfied with their archival photographic and art products but when I called to find out where my frames were I was told that the company's inventory had been bought out of bankruptcy. Although they were described as in stock, it's clear that I'm not getting the frames and I cancelled the order today.

Here's the thing: they bought the inventory, OK I get it, but they are continuing to use the Light Impressions website and ordering platform which would lead a reasonable person to assume that they are dealing with Light Impressions but they really are not. I called to cancel the order but was sent to a voicemail as they were "busy" so I cancelled by email, My credit card company says I have not been billed. My advice is to avoid Light Impressions.

Ever since FDMbrands sent me an email on March 25, 2013 to apprise me that they had taken over Light Impressions (which had filed for bankruptcy), I have been trying to work collaboratively with FDMbrands about a 2010 order I placed with Light Impressions for 1 panoramic archival album kit (cost = $99). They had contacted me because Light Impressions' records indicated I had paid for the album kit but not yet received it. They wanted to see if they could "make good" on this for me, even though it was a problem they had "inherited" from L.I.

I realized that the L.I. bankruptcy was not their fault and that L.I. had "led me down the wrong path" ... between [protected], I had trusted them to eventually fill my outstanding order for 1 more light gray/black panoramic album kit, as they had done for me so many times before. Light Impressions made me pay with a credit card upfront or else they would not have submitted my order that particular color of album kit in 2010 (apparently, they did not support that color option anymore). I guess when the item was not materializing (as it always had before), I should have guessed they were having financial problems and were lying to me (because they knew they were going out of business and they probably didn't have my $99 to give back to me). However, I had been purchasing archival quality materials from Light Impressions since the 1970s, and had never had any problems with them in all those years. (If I had not already started using the light gray/black albums to document my daughter's professional acting career, I would not have needed that particular color of album kit. Now I am left with 2 gray & black albums from Light Impressions and 100s of extra archival quality poly-pages that I cannot insert into any other albums currently on the market.)

FDMbrands had kindly reached out to me initially, offering to try to get another light gray/black panoramic album kit in for me. Things seemed to go OK in [protected], but as of August of '14, FDMbrands (aka Light Impressiond) stopped communicating with me entirely about this order. This year (2015), I have tried to contact them via phone and email several times, to no avail. At this point, I would be willing to pay $$ all over again (but C.O.D. this time!) to get another panoramic album kit ... at this point, any color would do!.

The last time I spoke to one of their representatives (early 2015), she told me that they had received a shipment that included some of the panoramic album kits from China back in 2014, but they had to return them because they were not high enough "quality" to be labelled as "archival." This makes me think that, unlike what others say in here, FDMbrands is concerned about having the proper pH levels in their products. Unfortunately though, FDMbrands, and specifically Light Impressions, DO NOT RESPOND TO THEIR CUSTOMERS appropriately.

I lament the loss of Light Impressions and its formerly great archival quality products. There is nothing on the market that is anything like the panoramic albums and slipcases that L.I. used to provide. FDMbrands is not living up to the expectations I had, and this is very sad.

I recently placed two orders with this company. I did receive the products but they charged additional shipping costs after the order was placed and and shipping cost was listed. When I spoke with the supervisor, Sarah, she said they just estimate the shipping costs and won't know until the order is actually shipped. I checked the UPS ground shipping rates, and they certainly were less than what they charged. Then one of the photo albums started coming apart at the seams within two weeks of receiving it. Poor product quality. I do not recommend ordering anything from this company! Their shipping costs are ridiculous and product is very poor.

The Post by Gemini123 is the owner of the company trying to help his rating. Very disorganized group there and the employees don't really care.

FDM Brands owned by Camsng Global, a company who has an F rating with the BBB...enough said.

FDMBrands is a rip-off! They charge double for shipping! They add 15% handling fee...they are out to get your money. I know. I used to work for them. I had to lie to the customers just to keep the orders open. We were told never to lose the sale, however, they are losing them anyway because of shipping practices. Also, product is being made in China, so your purchases will not be archival. They are cheaply made. Do not trust this company!

FDMBrands purchased four companies out of bankruptcy: Light Impressions, Century Photo, Century Business Solutions (CBS) & FileRite. CBS & FileRite were combined under CBS. Legally, they are not responsible for orders that were placed & charged by the previous owner. The sad thing is that customers did not take action & responsibility when the order that was charged and they did not receive their merchandise. To place faith in a company, that charges before sending product is quite foolish and to place responsibility on the company, who at least try to show some initiative in trying to resolve some of the issues is incomprehensible. People are angry but it's too late for that. I spoke with one of the representatives who was very candid about the foreclosure. They are not associated with the previous owner who outsourced the company. I really have to give credit where credit is due. These guys took on a challenge that no one would really have the guts to take on. They do not owe anyone anything. They will fulfill orders from their time of purchase, as they are obligated to do, however, there still needs to be goods available to do that. The destruction of the relationship with the vendors and the brand names of these foreclosed companies fall on the previous owner, not the original owners or FDM Brands.
We need to be patient with this company, as they resurrect these companies from the grave. Without them, we would never get anything. For some, it is unfortunate that there is loss, but FDM Brands did not take our money. I believe that. They made good on my order. It took them awhile, but I finally got it. You can always call to meke sure the items are available. They do not charge, if the order is not ready to ship. Shipping is high, but for the most part, I love the products. We need to work with them and be patient. We've waited this long, we can wait some more. Kudos, FDM!