Alien Bees Customer Care *Excellent*

[eurotrash]

So i was ordering some more stuff from my schladies over @ www.alienbees.com and i placed the order online on thursday after calling and verifying my student discount. So after i didnt recieve my tracking number via email i called yesterday (monday) to check the status and they had accidentily not processed the order. So the lady told me she would get it right out and it would get here wednesday at the latest. I got my tracking number last night and it said it would get here thursday, so today i called and they told me im sorry but theres nothing they can do cause its already on the truck in transit. so the lady felt bad, talked to her manager and called me back. she is sending out another package today overnight, which will get here tommorow by noon as promised, and i will refuse the one on thursday. they are nice girls from nashville and i was quite pleased with their customer service. they took the time out and called me back and fixed the issue. i order out of state a lot and as we all know most of the orders come from some place in New York, where the guys are all "whatdya want??" so its nice to have some southern hospitality for a change.


phew...so if you need some good studio lighting stuffs check out www.alienbees.com and tell them Todd from Houston sent ya, they will hook you up.

[LoungeLizard]

Cool. I've heard a lot about them, but haven't taken the plunge yet. I need to learn more about studio lighting first. I'll keep this in mind.

Any recommendations?

[cbuhay]

Originally Posted by LoungeLizard

Cool. I've heard a lot about them, but haven't taken the plunge yet. I need to learn more about studio lighting first. I'll keep this in mind.

Any recommendations?

LL-

Even for a beginner, I would still recommend the Alien Bees. I have the DigiBee package and they are great! Start small and get one light (maybe a B400). Or you can always go to home depot and pick up some cheap work lights and experiment that way. If your subjects are still-life, that shouldn't be an issue, but if they are living, breathing people, work lights may be a little hot. I myself have both Alien Bees and "Home Depot Bees" :)

I'd like to second what Todd said about AB customer service. They are a fairly small company, so they care a lot about their customers, and that southern hospitality doesn't hurt either.

-christian.

[sbug_adam]

alien bees, DROOOOLL!

Adam

[eurotrash]

Originally Posted by cbuhay

LL-

Even for a beginner, I would still recommend the Alien Bees. I have the DigiBee package and they are great! Start small and get one light (maybe a B400). Or you can always go to home depot and pick up some cheap work lights and experiment that way. If your subjects are still-life, that shouldn't be an issue, but if they are living, breathing people, work lights may be a little hot. I myself have both Alien Bees and "Home Depot Bees" :)

I'd like to second what Todd said about AB customer service. They are a fairly small company, so they care a lot about their customers, and that southern hospitality doesn't hurt either.

-christian.

i am also a member of the home depot/construction bees club. oh yeah and the "PVC/white sheet diffuser" club

hehe

[kumori]

I received my "Beginner Bee" kit last week and have been having lots of fun playing around with it. It's really fun to use with my Oly E-10. I took the advice of some people and spent the extra $50 or so to get the B800 strobe instead of the B400. I'm glad I did, because it gives me more flexibility, especially when I use the brolly box. I'm still a strobe newbie, but here's a little picture I took a couple nights ago using my macro lens extension. I'm hoping to take more photos of food, and later try some portraits.



And I did a comparison of three different lighting setups on my personal site here: http://www.takoyaki.org/comments.php?id=533_0_1_0_C

-Barron
barronfujimoto.com

[rhrocker]

Here's some of my setup: One AB (800), white/silver umbrella, I'm holding a white "brollie box" (poor mans soft box according to the AB people, if they really are people??). Also in this shot is my Sony 828, on a Manfrotto tripod. When I ordered my Bee equipment, a light stand got lost VIA UPS. I told the AB girls about it, and they FedExed one to me the next day. Great company.

[jazzdiver]

Interesting....I'd never heard of Alien Bees and haven't shopped for studio flash units in a long time, but their website style and location in Nashville, TN gave me sense of deja' vu. Doing a search on White Lightning flash units and finding their website at http://www.white-lightning.com, I saw Paul Buff's name. Returning to Alien Bees and reading about their founder "Ffub C. Luap", it was no surprise to see the connection. Prices for both brands of flash units are similar, and while I've never used White Lightning flash units before, I have heard very good things said of their service and quality from a co-worker. So, it's no surprise the same seems to be said here of Alien Bees.

Just thought I'd share that with those who don't know of the either company's products.

Daryl

[soundbelly]

I've heard great things about their company and products. When I invest in lighting equipment, I will more than likely go through them.