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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

GROUP BUY - Easyrig Vario 5 with Gimbal Rig Vest | 5" Arm, 9" Arm, 5" Arm w/Serene

Still waiting, no word :sad:
 
Mine arrived today. There was some sort of order confusion and Adorama made two orders for me, and both arrived today! (This explains the two different charges on my credit card...)

In the process of refunding the extra one, however if anyone in LA/OC missed this deal and wants to purchase my duplicate item, DM me on Instagram @travismoulton
 
yeah i cancelled my order and went to my guys at Abel Cine and they got me a 5inch Extended with gimbal vest for 4k (just $200 over) and got mine in 2 days after i order it. If anyone wants one they have like 3-5 left at that price. Just ask for Matt Livingston he hooked me up. I tried to talk to Lewis from Adorama and it just got so frustrating and there was no communication and i just was like please i need this gear (lost 4 rentals due to the delay)
 
In all fairness to Travis and Adorama, this was a really incredible deal and I think that should be acknowledged. Also, Travis was very accommodating in allowing folks to jump onboard the group after the official end date, which should also be acknowledged.

I too was disappointed by the slow delivery schedule (and I still got mine earlier than many) and the billing issues, but I have been given no reason to believe that they are not doing their best to keep up with the huge list of orders (please correct me if I am wrong). So the negativity, while understandable in some cases, seems a bit unfair. Units are being delivered and regarding the tax issue, I had always assumed that taking delivery in 2018 (or at least payment) was always a long shot given how close to the end of the year it was. You can still write it off for 2019.

Also - just my personal opinion, feel free to disregard - I think counting on rental income before actually taking delivery of said item is not a good business practice. Especially when dealing with professional film equipment that is not manufactured in large quantities. I am not trying to call anyone out in particular, and I totally understand the frustration. I've been that guy before too - with cinema lenses and lens servicing in particular, the wait times can be months or even years (and yes, I have waited years in some cases). I just don't think this is a good mindset to be in since you have no control over it - always a good idea to CYA with regard to any rentals that you may have lined up. Only my $.02, FWIW.
 
Oh no... I'm not talking about Travis at all. I'm talking about the piss poor communication and down right incompetence displayed (for my order) that I experienced from Adorama . I'll expand on it and explain but I just don't have time at the moment to get into it. I have nothing but good things to say about Travis and his efforts in this group buy.
 
Just an FYI, it takes somewhere around 150+ hours of my time to set something like this up between the distributor and the retailer and manage the buy on a daily basis. This includes dozens of hours of emails, phone calls, texts, facebook messages, IG messages, co-ordinating with any friends or partners on sharing the buy, working with the retailer to manage customer expectations, while constantly pushing to get the absolute best discount possible.

As far as I know, no deal like this has ever been offered on this product. With every one of my group buys, there are always a few customers who don't quite understand that Adorama doesn't stock 150+ Litepanel Geminis or 85+ Easyrig Vario 5s. Like I very clearly stated in my post, the items will be delivered in the order of payment received. I'm not going to call anyone out here but some people waited days or weeks after they received the email, thus were late in line and then wanted the item immediately.

Adorama isn't going to give you daily updates via email if you continue to call and email pestering them for a shipping update. It comes from EU, through CA, onto NY and then to the customer. That is not a process that can be sped up. I provided my own personal contact information as well as numerous contacts at Adorama that could be contacted for more information about the ordering process.

There are always a handful of customers that are not grateful for the discount, ask for special treatment, pester me daily about shipping updates or don't follow the email instructions and then get upset when their order is delayed. This is nothing new and doesn't surprise me at all but complaining about lost rental days for an item that you don't have in your hand is pretty foolish IMO. If the equipment is such an important part of your bid, go buy it for full price!

Some of the emails I got during this process, along with the complaints and general maturity level of some of the feedback here make me reconsider doing this in the future.
 
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I for one appreciate it man. Its a really big savings and worth the wait.
 
I can finally get into my issues with this group buy as I now have time after my travelling. My problems have everything to do with Adorama and nothing to do with Travis. As I stated before I have nothing but good comments for Travis and his incredible efforts putting this together.

I live in Jamaica, and customs would have been a royal pain in the ass (expensive AF) to clear this. Hence my plans were to travel to the states to pick this item up and bring it home. I contacted Adorama about a week after ordering (I know the lead time is 2 weeks) to find out and ETA on the item's arrival to the warehouse as i wanted to know when to book my plane ticket. I got Lewis and he said he would have gotten back to me with information as to ETA when it would arrive to their warehouse. I got no such information at all and after waiting some more days I emailed and called but could not get him. He did not respond to any email I sent. Two weeks pass and i try again to get info...again this is just me wanting to know some rough ETA of it's arrival to the warehouse so know when to book a ticket ...not delivery to my US shipping address. I finally get Lewis and he informs me it should arrive within 2 days, but he will confirm that by the end of the day. Again he did not contact me. I tried getting him multiple times and I got no response. However I went off that information and booked a ticket and gave myself ample time for the package to arrive. It should have arrived to the wearhouse some days before I even went to the US.

Fast forward...I'm now in the US first day and called multiple times and could not get him. So wait till my 2nd day and I call Lewis and finally got him. He said its there and ready to ship so its time to charge my card. I thought that was already charged long ago when I ordered...but apparently it was only authorized. So I say ok cool charge it. He comes back and says something is wrong with my card as it wont go through. I know nothing is wrong with the card...so he tries again. Doesn't go through. He says to check with the bank. I check with my bank and they say nothing is wrong...Adorama authorized the card however they took so long to take the funds (because the item was not in stock I assume) that the authorization had expired. So I need to get a letter from them saying that they will not access the funds and to cancel the authorization so they (the bank) can allow the funds to be released. Adorama should have known this as they are the ones that authorized the card and they know how long it will take to expire. So now I have to call Adaorma tell them what the bank says and they say "oh...they just realized that it was expired..." blah blah. They eventually get me the letter ...i send to the bank...the bank releases the funds. I tell them to charge it again. It goes through. Great.

I have one week left in the states. They know (As I told Lewis before I booked a ticket) that my only reason for coming to the states is to pick this thing up. One week left...sure no worries it can surely reach to me in a week. I get shipping notification from Adorama, with UPS tracking. Great. 3 days pass and I see no updates to the tracking information. I found that very odd so I called Adorama and told them. They said it shipped but UPS didn't update the system and if it doesn't arrive by end of day then call them back the next day. I called UPS just to check...they have no record or anything being shipped. Next day...nothing has changed so I call Adorama again. They don't know whats happening. Now I'm livid. And its only after getting like that they do multiple checks they come back to tell me sorry they don't use UPS as their outgoing shipper anymore. I'm like WTF?? So why the hell did you give me UPS tracking information and tell me the item was shipped? The whole thing was so damn retarded. 3 days passed and they did not ship it but told me it was shipped. They now ask me for FED ex location they can send it to close by to where I am (as I had opted to send it to a station to pick up). Time is ticking away on my trip in the states and to change my return ticket is going to cost me. Long story short...it finally arrived with a day to spare. Too close for comfort when I estimated more than enough time for it to arrive.

So all in all their customer service was piss poor bordering on incompetence in my opinion.

Nothing to do with Travis and his stellar efforts which are completely and utterly appreciated.
 
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Hi, this is available in b&h for $4200 / easyrig vario 5 with gimbal rig vest. What exactly did the final price end up being on this group buy? Trying to ascertain what savings I could have had, and to figure out if NAB is going to bring an update that I should probably wait for.

Thanks,
Nikhil
 
Nikhil Kamkolkar said:
Hi, this is available in b&h for $4200 / easyrig vario 5 with gimbal rig vest. What exactly did the final price end up being on this group buy? Trying to ascertain what savings I could have had, and to figure out if NAB is going to bring an update that I should probably wait for.

Thanks,
Nikhil
Click to expand...

You'd have saved around $250 off that price. It was much more savings than that at the time.
 
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