Image tweeted by Ryan McKenna
I guess you all know the story by now. The 75 year old story Calumet closed overnight without saying any word to employees and customers that had cameras or other stuff on order. Calumet US filed for chapter 7 (bankruptcy). If you bought something that still had to be shipped by Calumet you will have to contact the bankruptcy attorney (with little hope to get the money back).
The real terrible news comes for the employees. They had no idea they would lose the job, they had no time to look for another one. I wish them all the best! I hope they will all find a new job soon!
A damn sad story.
P.S.: Calumet Europe still works fine.
61 Responses
Very unfortunate. I utilized Calumet for well over a decade, always realizing fantastic customer service in the process. They’ll be missed.
My only hugely concerning comment… the moderator stated “If you bought something that still had to be shipped by Calumet you will have to contact the bankruptcy attorney (with little hope to get the money back).” Doesn’t that border on outright fraud by Calumet? On 3-12,, I received another promotional email from that now defunct company. “Subject line: Fantastic Financing | The Latest from Hasselblad | Super Savings!” How could they continue to send out promo emails, with someone at the company knowing that the end could be near? Buy a new Hassy mf camera for $35K, and oh-by-the-way, you’re not only getting the gear, you’re out the $$???? That’s fraud in my book.
It’s not really fraud, at least not if you believe what’s in the letter taped to their door.
It mentions a “complete withdraw [sic] of lender support” — probably the same as how the company holding your home mortgage can foreclose on you if you lose your job. If the people that lent them money decided the loans were due *today*, Calumet’s got little recourse but to declare bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, if you gave them money for a pre-order, you’re now just another in a long line of “creditors” with unsecured claims against them.
BTW, I’d argue this is a good reason to only do business with companies that don’t charge your credit card until your (pre-ordered or not) merchandise ships. Adorama works this way, as does Amazon; B&H and others charge you as soon as you place the pre-order.
Really smart observation in regards to pre orders or out of stock item orders…
I bought the 7-14 from Adorama and had to wait until it was back in stock, I was charged once the product shipped.
Welcome to America.
Thanks for the heads-up comment on how vendors handle when they charge a preorder. I was completely unaware of those policy differences. I will take notice moving forward!
I’m surprised that all shops doesn’t work this way. I don’t think I’ve ever pre-ordered from a shop that charged me before the item actually shipped.
Many years ago, many of the photo companies did charge you as soon as you placed the order. But the bad public relations made the major legitimate companies shift to charging when the merchandise shipped. Back in the 1960s and ’70s, many of the New York camera purveyors were pretty shifty (slimy). It really was buyer beware then.
Untrue, B&H doesn’t charge until the item is shipped.
“….B&H and others charge you as soon as you place the pre-order.”
That is no longer the case for quite some time now.
Good to hear — B&H charged me the day I placed a pre-order about a year ago, and I haven’t ordered from them since.
B&H doesn’t charge until shipment.
It is only fraud if they did it intentionally (or due reckless behaviour or otherwise illegal behaviour). If they could reasonably expect that they would be able to continue operating at least in the short term, then they did nothing illegal.
When a company ‘dies’, it’s like when a natural person dies and the estate cannot fulfil all claims. That person did not commit fraud merely by dying, the same way that going bankrupt is not a crime. Only if you broke other laws (like falsifying accounts or taking on risks that you obviously would not have been able to muster), can this be called illegal behaviour.
There can be additional laws, eg, in regard to consumer protection that add extra provisions in regard to what is allowed and not in such cases.
No, it’s not fraud, unfortunately. It’s bankruptcy. BUT, if you ordered by credit card, contact your credit card company immediately. They’ll get you your money back.
Yes do a CHARGEBACK
Does it work both ways? What if you have a rental from them. Can you keep it?
No, you can’t keep their rental lenses. The bankruptcy trustee will need those to liquidate to pay creditors–hopefully including customers who have paid and have not received their order yet.
It however is the duty of the bankruptcy trustee to provide a means by which that return can be executed. You cannot bring it back to the store, as they are closed. You cannot even go their website and look for instructions or a return address.
I think if you simply contact the lawyers to ask about this, you have your back covered until you receive instructions by them.
You have to do exactly nothing. The lawyers have to contact you. I suspect that in a short time a letter with instructions will be sent out
Someone on another blog humorously wrote that they wish they had recently rented a Hassy from Calumet…
I couldn’t care less…
Wow you wasted electrons bothering to tell us that? Lame.
Ignorant bastard.
I thought being Australian was the same as being an ignorant bastard
One to another, correct.
If your an England cricket player, correct.
If your a South African cricket player, correct.
There are a few exceptions. I’ll let you know if you hit a raw one.
your right. who cares about other peeple? I got mine. thats the main thing.
reel photographers don’t give f*k about chumps and losers.
its all about me. i got mine. whats you prolbem?
I’m Callous, Y’all . . . just sayin”
Hey Nate, die in a fire jerk.
FL100D its time to up your anti-psychotic drugs and by quite a margin
Bob: Jerks of the world UNITE? I take it you couldn’t care less either?
Bob… Trolls are the most common form of bottom feeding scum on the internet. Ignore!
Nate, You posted as first TROLL on this thread.
You evidently got what you were trolling for.
I know, unfortunately, I wasn’t trying to troll anybody, I was just frustrated because so much gets posted on 43 rumors that’s irrelevant vs what used to be pertinent back in 08/09! Camera shops are going out of business daily, and It’s debatable whether this was even useful to post on 43 rumors. But whatever..
I’ve only been reading this forum for about a year so I don’t really know what I am missing. Thanks for clarifying. 😉
Disgrace. The directors would have KNOWN this was coming.
This is really sad news….. I never dealt with them, that I can recall, but with B&H, Adorama, and mostly Samy’s (as they are here in SoCal where I live)….. Everytime one of theses big stores goes out of business it makes for s chilling effect…. I guess, at the same time, it means a little more business for the other stores….
It is sad that the employees were not given advance notice…
However, there are reasons for that.
First, with bankruptcy law, it may not have been possible to let the employees know. Imagine of word gets out before the public notice; creditors would be lining up early to try to get paid. You could create a chaotic situation before the bankruptcy takes formal effect.
What if employees decide to steal some of the merchandise? Some employees might feel that because their jobs are no longer at stake, they can do so. Some employees might steal merchandise, believing they are not going to get paid anyway for their time.
What if, in the bankruptcy proceedings, it is found that some merchandise is missing, and creditors claim it was management working with employees to defraud creditors?
If you knew your job were coming to an end at a retailer, would you bother to show up every day? You may decide that it’s not worth it; you may decide that you are not going to get paid anyway, so why show up?
It is cruel to not give employees advance notice, but doing so opens up other possible issues. That’s why in the US it is normal that employees in retail not be given advance notice of closure, bankruptcy, etc.
So…. What is more important people or money?
Just remember you can have people without money but you can’t have money without people.
So rethink your answer if it was money.
Odds are that more Canon and Nikon buyers will be stiffed in this latest Capitalist
thievery.
BTW, The clowns posting this way are TROLLS.
He wasn’t stating his opinion, he was stating facts. Don’t turn on him with a money versus people, morality issue because it’s a red herring based in your own ignorance. If you have an office job you can get two weeks or more notice. If you’re losing your job in retail, regardless of whether the company remains in business or not (you may simply be fired for whatever reason) you get no notice. Fact is, the majority of theft in any retail business is from employees, even when they remain gainfully employed. So typically, if your job, store or business goes away, so do you… Immediately.
Why are you so quick to impugn the victims? The employees are not suspect here, despite your attempt to shift the focus.
The Calumet Store owners are the suspects. Let’s examine their bonuses, perks, spiffs, golden parachutes etc. before blaming the victims. The owners and “managers” are the ones whose reckless borrowing has destroyed Calumet’s credit.
There is some theft taking place here, and it certainly ISN’T the employees doing the thieving.
Yes. Lets take a close look at the high-flying lifestyles of the owners and managers of Calumet Camera. When, exactly did they begin to shift and hedge their personal portfolios and expenses.
They seem to have their flaks pleading their case here while (in typical Capitalist Pig fashion) trying to blame the employees, the customers, the lending institutions, . . . etc.
Let’s have a look inside that suitcase.
“If you have an office job you can get two weeks or more notice” did the office staff at Calumet get 2 weeks notice? You have a strange impression of how things work.
“Fact is, the majority of theft in any retail business is from employees, even when they remain gainfully employed” So, the world of retail is swarming with staff who are all there to steal the stock? All retail floor staff are thieves?
Have a look around and grow. The world has a lot of honest people in it. A lot more than you seem to have room for in your life.
I wasn’t impugning Calumet employees, I as simply stating how layoffs and firings are typically handled in retail, and backing up what One More. Thought had to say. Then jimspc jumped into the conversation with the money versus people comment. I’ve worked in retail most of my life and have had this same thing happen to me. I was a store manager that stuck with a company through a transition of ownership, came in on my day off when I was sick to handle a store inventory and received a call the next morning from my employees that someone was there to collect their keys when they showed up to open. I know neither my employees nor I were dishonest, but that doesn’t matter because that’s the way things are handled. I also was a customer of Calumet’s, having spent thousands of dollars at their Boston store. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of commenters were not. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons, if not the main reason, they went out of business in the US.
Ken, its the same process in most parts of the world. Its unfortunate but it happens.
The Government gets first hand out, then the financial organisations. Somewhere down at the bottom are people, the workers who possibley did not get paid.
In any financial crisis, a national crisis or a business crisis it is aways the workers, the person in the street who pays. There are no exceptions to that anywhere.
Politicians and directors mostly seem to be exempt from paying for their own errors. Financial sector directors and senior management are exempt world wide for anything, anything at all when someone else can be made to pay. I believe their stock phrase is “I did nothing wrong”
Sadly, you’re absolutely right.
Lost money on your pre-orders? You are part of the reason companies like this and thousands of others in the western world are failing daily. I want, I want, I want – never satisfied with what you have. God forbid you have to wait for the latest camera, as the one you have had for the last 6 months is now so out of date you are embarrassed to be seen out with it. So sad.
If it weren’t for the un-quenchable thirst driving our current round of materialism – these companies would have failed a long time ago.
Materialism is a false god and will not fulfill our empty hearts.
That said, your diatribe against these victims reveals something about your own heart.
What Reverend do you think my diatribe reveals about my own heart? I would be interested to know.
If you really want to know what your post reveals about your heart . . . . “Let a man examine himself”.
Self righteous? . . . judgemental? . . . unsympathetic? . . . haughty? . . . unmerciful? . . . arrogant ? . . .
Your post reveals that you delight in insulting the injured – blaming the victims – and kicking them when they’re down.
Such attitudes are not “just”. Justice is better served when we; “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”. No one wants to be blamed when they have been victimized – or kicked while they are down.
The Good Book says: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked: For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
I don’t find Mike’s post mean in any ways. Instead, you break in like you are better than us and misuse the word “diatribe”. Getting bored?
eaten by Amazon , BH . Capitalism , did you play in monopole game ?
Just one more reason of so many I would NEVER pre-order a camera or lens.
If you ordered by credit card, contact your card company immediately and ask for a charge back. If the merchandise was never delivered, you’ll get your money back.
What a prick. You don’t do that to your employees. You also don’t do that to your customers. You go down the list and call them and make things right. This is probably why they are out of business. They don’t treat people well. Good Riddance.
I’m guessing you don’t know what filing for chapter 7 stand’s for…
why would anybody buy anything camera related from anybody other than amazon ???
Um… ever heard of this thing called state tax?
I learned of this bankruptcy filing before it was posted here. I had just met someone at a bicycle show who worked for a camera store in the New York area. Well, the first part of his news was true, Calumet closed. The second part of his news was also true. He said that Calumet had been run by someone who moved from Ritz Camera. Search the name of the person identified as the President on the letter, he came from Ritz and he just took the helm of Calumet in January of this year… This must be really bad management…
That’s too quick to run a company to bankruptcy. Sounds like someone took the helm of an already sinking ship.
Crap I forgot my wallet in the shop – too late, you must go to the lawyer, then, maybe in 3 years… The American system is doomed, the sharks who run it have killed it with their own greed. Europe follows the moloch, like a goody loyal little colony.
I seldom agree with your posts . . . but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.