The never-ending camera saga continues.
I buy a camera nearly 2 weeks ago. It’s in stock and ready for next day delivery. Except of course it freaking isn’t. Cos that kind of sharp practice is the norm these day, us consumers are clearly mugs.
So… I wait… and I wait…
The expected delivery day passes, and I give them one more day on top of that before I contact them again.
“We didn’t get stock as expected but will contact Canon and inform you within 2-3 days whether or not we can expect more.”
Firstly…
Why didn’t you TELL ME when the stock didn’t come in instead of letting me stalk the postman for 5 days like an expectant father and secondly, 2-3 days to find out if you’re EVEN GONNA GET THE BLOODY CAMERA that I ordered 2 weeks ago?
On your bike.
Then it gets funnier.
I ask for a refund and get told it will take 7-10 working days to process. I don’t speak for a moment because I’m too busy trying to lift my chin off the floor.
.
I phone and get cross, they promise to process it within 3 working days. I should fucking think so. Though I’m still waiting…
3 days ago… I go somewhere else.
Bear in mind that this camera is now getting increasingly hard to find in stock because it’s just been superseded (hence me being able to afford the bugger!). I need to get a wiggle on if I’m gonna be able to source one.
But source one I do. Live stock update – 8 in stock. Great. Sold to the lady with the overused Paypal account.
I log on to Twitter and moan about my camera troubles but delight in the fact that I’ve finally got it sorted.
I follow a couple of great photographers on Twitter who by some strange photographer sixth sense (or maybe just a shared shite experience) BOTH basically (without ANY prompting) reply that they wonder if my previous experiences were with a company based on the I.O.M called S***** E********** who are apparently complete scum bags.
“No”…. says I as my head simultaneously hits the desk.
Why does my head hit the desk then?
BECAUSE THAT’S WHO I’VE JUST GONE AND BLOODY RE-ORDERED THE SODDING CAMERA WITH!
Are you still with me? This rant has basically turned into a stream of consciousness and I apologise for the lack of grammar and fragmented sentences.
So, here I am…. 2 weeks down the line. One failed attempt at getting a camera (and still no refund). 2nd attempt currently underway with a company that has a reputation for being completely crap and not holding stock when they say they do.
I phone them and try to squeeze the info out of them. “You do actually have physical stock right?”… They answer in the affirmative-ish… but are more keen to keep repeating the line that stock was ‘allocated’ to me when I placed my order. I’m not fully convinced.
And then…..
This afternoon, I get a phonecall.
“Hello, Lloyds TSB Fraud Prevention Department here. We’ve declined your payment of £689.90 to S***** E**********. Please confirm that you made this order.” I confirm, but that doesn’t change the fact that the payment’s still been declined and needs to be made again. It’s Saturday. Can’t do it.
I’m on holiday tomorrow and GOD KNOWS how I’m going to be able to sort this mess out and re-order with what is (possibly) a completely shiteous company anyway on Monday.
I think I need a desk to strap to my head permanently.
oh BLIMEY i felt distressed just reading about your woes with this sodding camera business… complete codswallop!! Can’t imagine how (understandably) raging you must feel, friggin CS nowadays *shakes head* fingers crossed it gets sorted, and sorted SOON!! xxx
Hahaha, thank you! It was great to be able to sit down and just VENT like that… felt much better afterward… sorry I made you lot all read it though LOL
Oh no!! It’s terrible when this happens!
I had a terrible experience with Cheapsmells, but the main problem was with the post office, not the website itself. Although I think it would have been nice if they were a bit more helpful.
Confessions of a Beautyholic
Cheapsmells can be a bit hit and miss can’t they? I’ve had equal good and bad experience from them – nothing dreadful, just a bit shoddy. Love their prices… hate their ever-increasing postage charges!
Wow, this is really turning into the saga from hell.
Can’t fault Lloyds TSB fraud protection though, they stopped someone doing a test purchase & clearing out my account earlier this year.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
No, you’re right.. I’m glad they do what they do – it jus couldn’t have been more inconvenient for me at this time. But that’s a selfish way to look at it! They saved me in the past too!
You could try Jessops, if you are close enough to one. They keep physical stock, and they will match a reputable internet price in store. So just take a print-out to the nearest shop and you’ll get at the internet price of the competing retailer. I did this with my last camera purchase. Took 5 minutes.
Thanks for the advice, I’ve just looked… there’s one store and it’s 50 miles away… 100 mile round trip. I’m actually tempted (especially if they would actually price match). Shame I’m off on holiday tomorrow now *sigh*
I hope you get this sorted soon- what a nightmare! It’s sad that you can’t trust people to simply do what they offer in an honorable, trustworthy way anymore. What ever happened to making an HONEST profit from selling a good product at a fair price and getting repeat business becuase you have good service? I guess it’s easier to just turn a quick buck by being deceptive. Boo.
You’d think we were asking for the earth huh?
I wouldn’t have confirmed the order. I would just let the payment be stopped. Tell the fraud detection person that you’re being defrauded and the purchase is in dispute!
but a). that’s fraudulent! and b). I’m still hoping and praying they’ll come up with the goods *fingers crossed*
They were cheating when they sold you the camera saying they had stocks on hand. They were being fraudulent, isn’t it?
It’s sounds like you had a lucky escape from the second company to be honest by Lloyds asking for confirmation… if several people have warned you off them I wouldn’t bother making a second order – you want the camera now but when they’ve taken your money and run you may not want it so much!
I would take a little more time to find a reputable company that’ll deal with you in a way deserving of spending 600+ quid with them!
Good luck with it all 🙂 🙂 X
Thanks Nina,
There is literally nowhere else that has it in stock at the moment other than on eBay. They all state stock coming soon which is dependent on Canon releasing more… which is unlikely now.
If the first company hadn’t buggered me about for 2 weeks, I would have been able to get one from Currys, Dixons etc… albeit paid a bit more for the privilege. I’m clinging to the hopes that the current company who KNOWS what happened with my last order, cos I told them on the phone aren’t deceitful enough to say they have stock when they don’t actually IN PERSON.
In fairness, the people who have warned me about them were alluding to problems with things not being in stock when they website said they were… I know.. I know *headbrickwall* but I’m desperate.
Thank you xxx
I believe the second company fulfils orders from the far East. I placed an order with them a couple of Christmases ago and their Customer Service was absolutely diabolical. The order went well over it’s due date; when I called them the phone just rang and rang with no reply. They took days to reply to my emails and then it was just a standard reply with a ‘ticket number’. As I had paid using Google Checkout, I eventually entered a dispute in order to get my card refunded and purchased from Jessops online.
At the time, there were loads of negative reviews on an online forum. I have just googled the thread and more recent reviews seem far more positive. Good luck!
http://www.avforums.com/forums/camcorders-video-editing/739921-simply-electronics.html
Blimey I feel really annoyed for you!!
I don’t know if it’s of any help but I got my camera from Jessops and they were really helpful.
Hope it gets sorted soon xx
Gawd this is just like the saga of buying camera for son’s 18th b’day – in fact bar the bank getting in contact it is the same word for word – I feel your pain I truly do. When I look back on it some 2 months later I can’t even laugh about it, it was that awful. I just hope it sorts itself out soon. Am thinking of you, try to enjoy the holiday. Janx
Do they not have camera stores where you live? Or is the camera so hard to find now that you can only get it online? I bet there’s plenty over here in the US. You’ll just pay $100 in shipping. Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Have you tried B and H?
it is a camera supply located in NYC (they have a website and ship internationally). they have excelent prices, and customer service (my family has gotten a total of 2 DSLR cameras, 1 point and shoot camera, and one video camera from them with no customer service issues what so ever).
The only down side is that they are closed till october 3rd for the jewish holidays, but you may want to consider looking into them rather than going with an unreputable seller.
That reminds me of a story of mine with a uk based website that sells cosmetics (it’s not popular) ! Although I paid them right away, it took 2 months and several e-mails from me to get the foundation I had ordered!!! I even had to contact the website owner, whose e-mail address I found through the paypal payment I had made! Tragic huh? I hope everything will be sorted out for you very soon!!
Whaaaat?! Tsk tsk, bang bang! (blows smoke from smoking barrel) i just caught them, sigh* (trying to imagine I did…) How awful 🙁 Bad guys…
Hmm, you don’t have amazon in the UK?hmmm, that’s where I got my digicam in the US…
Hope you get a camera soon, and a refund for that matter!
Assembled my new computer. All pieces bought in a shop, except for the gpu, bought in internet.
After ONE MONTH, the gpu broke. Contacted the internet site, they were going to holiday for 3 weeks. Waited for 3 weeks, then called them again. “Sent uf the gpu” at MY expenses.
Sent the gpu. This happened the 23rd of September. Still waiting. They sent my gpu at the importer site, and now they are waiting for a new one coming back to them, who have to send it to me.
Of course, all the info I got are due to my redundant telephone calls, since their customer support simply doesn’t care less of informing clients.
I would NEVER buy anything in internet again.
V