Amvona720

[Johnsoir]

Has anyone ever had any problem ordering with this company? I'm just nervous ordering online when a company doesn't use paypal. I know they have an ebay store, but after shipping to the Canadian East Coast, the small savings on ebay really isn't worth fighting the masses in an auction. Or atleast thats what I've found in the past.

Any help would be great and thanks in advance,
Johnsoir

[tjrenegade]

I ordered a cheap light weights tripod from the....no problems quality was inline with what I paid...this was shipped within US so can't speak to shipping to Canada

[Corejonp1]

I order my Tripod from them two weeks ago, they charge a crazy high price for shipping, and they do not ship fast. Once the tripod arrived, I was pleased that it seemed well built, except the kit I ordered was a tripod with pan tilt head, but the control handles where missing. After 3 emails (the last one kinda rough..) and several attempts to contact their customer support, I finally got to talk to a human. I had to ship the tripod back, and I'm still waiting.

I won the tripod for 35 bucks on eBay, and from what I can tell, its one solid tripod, one down side is it weights 11 pounds!! its a heavy monster.

Cons: overcharge heavily on shipping and customer support blows....hard. I could never think to recommend Ammvona 720 to anyone, unless of course you like being frustrated. Spend the extra 25 bucks that they would charge on shipping and deal with a better known company.

pros: The build quality (while not the greatest) is sturdy, in fact, after a day of shooting pictures, you could probably mount a machine gun on it and it would be fine. The head was well made from what I can tell. I'm planning on writing a detailed product review after I actually get it back, and get to use it.

[cfcRebel]

I know they have an ebay store, but after shipping to the Canadian East Coast, the small savings on ebay really isn't worth fighting the masses in an auction. Or atleast thats what I've found in the past.
Most of us Amvona customers ordered from their eBay store, much better deal. How much do they charge shipping to Canada? AFAIK, it's not that expensive for them to ship to Australia.

[spectre]

I never ordered via their website but I did win two auctions from them (one for a tripod and one for a head) I was pleased with both service and shipping. I am planing on ordering more from them in the future. The only thing I wished was better was communication... but I had received everything within 7 days from auction win.

[doubledragon]

i bought a tripod from their ebay store, for about $75 after shipping. I'm very pleased with it other than the fact that it smelled like gasoline for a week or two after opening the box.

[spectre]

i bought a tripod from their ebay store, for about $75 after shipping. I'm very pleased with it other than the fact that it smelled like gasoline for a week or two after opening the box.
Mine smelled a bit odd too now that you mentioned it...

[TMR Design]

I had a bad experience with them. The product I ordered was crap and if it weren't for the fact that I got in their face, they wanted me to pay to ship the crap back to them. Bad policy and I did not like the entire experience.

If others are happy with them, cool.

[thekid24]

I bought a large octobox from their ebay site, which oddly enough was half the price they posted on their website. No problems with that transaction.

[nutsnbolts]

I have two of their tripods. AT-A105T and AT-A101T. I love them both! I can't complain about the quality.

[namasste]

Mine smelled a bit odd too now that you mentioned it...

lol, mine too. It's something in the rubber but boy I looked dumb sniffing my tripod trying to find the source.:lol:

Spectre, my experience was exactly as yours. Poor communication but great product, price and I had it within a week of the auction end. I'd use them again.

[nutsnbolts]

You know, I'm very happy with the quality of this tripod. I know that every post I did that states this tripod, someone mentions how this is not a "real" tripod. At a price point, it's relatively pretty good. Quality may not be the best out there but it's amazing for the price!

Nevertheless, mine did SMELL as well. LOL!

[JohnJ80]

Has anyone ever had any problem ordering with this company?

Apparently so:

http://reports.bosbbb.org/Boston/Public/Reports/BrandedReport.aspx?firm=0000088879

J.

[nutsnbolts]

Apparently so:

http://reports.bosbbb.org/Boston/Public/Reports/BrandedReport.aspx?firm=0000088879

J.

It has a satisfactory rating. Take a look at any company, they all have some form or complaints or another.

On the other hand, their other products do get some bad ratings! Tripods seems to be where they shine.

[JohnJ80]

At least 24 people had various problems with Amvona - not the least of which were financial issues and falsified advertising issues. The question was if anyone had had problems with them - well - here are 24 that have. You can also find significant numbers if you do a web search.

If you read what satisfactory means, it is a very low bar - like no significant runs in with Law Enforcement.

J.

[TMR Design]

And then there are those like myself that had a bad experience and chose to not do business with them rather than filing a complaint. I can't be alone.

[jbdial1515]

And if you search on here, you will find a lot of people that have used them and have been very satisfied.

I for one bought a tripod from their ebay auction. I am not going to say it competes with the quality of a name brand but for the price point, it is excellent. It has served me wondefully.

I also thought I had problems with it to begin with and called their customer service and they were wonderful. I think I did have to call 2 or 3 times but the individual was very helpful.

[JohnJ80]

The OP's question was if anyone had any problems ordering from Amvona. The answer to that is "yes" (do a search for "amvona problems" for starters).

Amvona does not have an exemplary reputation as a supplier as evidenced by the BBB report which is significantly worse than, say, Bogen (comparable services and products) - a company many times their size.

One would presume that they would have more happy questions that unhappy ones or they would be completely out of business.

J.

[nutsnbolts]

At least 24 people had various problems with Amvona - not the least of which were financial issues and falsified advertising issues. The question was if anyone had had problems with them - well - here are 24 that have. You can also find significant numbers if you do a web search.

If you read what satisfactory means, it is a very low bar - like no significant runs in with Law Enforcement.

J.

I'm speaking of tripods. How many of the 24 are tripods related? My point in this is that there are problems with any company you deal with. I know that I wouldn't use amvona for backdrops and ballheads and lightstands for they have many people complaining about how they handle these items.

As far as tripods are concerned, they are great for the pricepoint. Simply stating a blanket statement that the company has complaints means that they are a crap company. They are not the best but anyone should proceed cautiously when deciding what to purchase with a company.

As far as their ebay auctions for tripods, it was done swiftly and painlessly.

I know that the OP's question is any issues with Amvona. We are simply stating other point of views.

[namasste]

They are not the best but anyone should proceed cautiously when deciding what to purchase with a company.

As far as their ebay auctions for tripods, it was done swiftly and painlessly.

I know that the OP's question is any issues with Amvona. We are simply stating other point of views.

Agreed. Also consider that while the feedback rating system on Ebay may not be perfect it does give some indication of a company's rep (Amvona is 99.6% in a sample size of 70,000, even taking two standard devs of that still gives good data). The problem with many retailers is that there is no system by which to judge them (let's be honest, most people do not file a complaint with BBB unless seriously wronged). In that sense, it's apples and oranges to compare so we blindly assume that the retailer with no rating must be better after reading some complaints about a company like Amvona. I'm not saying either is better, simply stating that it's tough to really compare the two and even if Amvona had a feedback rating of 90%, odds are still in the consumers favor.

Again, just another pov to the story. Always, buyer beware.

[JohnJ80]

I'm speaking of tripods. How many of the 24 are tripods related? My point in this is that there are problems with any company you deal with. I know that I wouldn't use amvona for backdrops and ballheads and lightstands for they have many people complaining about how they handle these items.

As far as tripods are concerned, they are great for the pricepoint. Simply stating a blanket statement that the company has complaints means that they are a crap company. They are not the best but anyone should proceed cautiously when deciding what to purchase with a company.

As far as their ebay auctions for tripods, it was done swiftly and painlessly.

I know that the OP's question is any issues with Amvona. We are simply stating other point of views.

The question becomes "is the price low enough and the performance high enough that I would consider taking the risk on doing business with them?" The answer for some is "yes" on this. The answer for me is "no." YMMV.


Here are some other "points of view":
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=214590
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=328590
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=330330
http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=15050&forum=DCForumID15
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=43880&forum_id=73&page=2
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000486381&tstart=0&mod=1199284750237



J.

[namasste]

The question becomes "is the price low enough and the performance high enough that I would consider taking the risk on doing business with them?" The answer for some is "yes" on this. The answer for me is "no." YMMV.


Here are some other "points of view":
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=214590
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=328590
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=330330
http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=15050&forum=DCForumID15
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=43880&forum_id=73&page=2
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000486381&tstart=0&mod=1199284750237



J.

good point and I think it's clear that there are two sides to this issue. as I mentioned, buyer beware in any situation.

[JohnJ80]

good point and I think it's clear that there are two sides to this issue. as I mentioned, buyer beware in any situation.

Yep. Let the buyer beware is the guiding phrase.

J.

[nutsnbolts]

Yup. Be aware..

I am, of course, going to get myself a Manfrotto 055Bpro, in the event these die on me.

[Strayz]

I have bought a Tripod and head from the EBAY site and I would agree they really gouge you on the shipping. 20$ for 2 week shipping for the legs and 20$ for shipping for the head. If it was not for the fact I won the auctions. There would have been no reason to bid on the auctions. $70.00 usd for a decent tripod (TRIPOD BASE LEGS AT-L102T) and meh head(ACTION BALL HEAD ATH-A02), the head doesn't inspire confidence.

[nutsnbolts]

I have bought a Tripod and head from the EBAY site and I would agree they really gouge you on the shipping. 20$ for 2 week shipping for the legs and 20$ for shipping for the head. If it was not for the fact I won the auctions. There would have been no reason to bid on the auctions. $70.00 usd for a decent tripod (TRIPOD BASE LEGS AT-L102T) and meh head(ACTION BALL HEAD ATH-A02), the head doesn't inspire confidence.

Shipping on eBay is usually bad. Lucky for me, Amvona is located in Massachusetts and I'm in Jersey so it arrived to me literally next day. Well 2 days, after processing the payments and so forth.

I know that ground shipping from B&H is about 5-8 bucks (depending, of course, what you are buying) and it arrives next day for me. Anything arrives next day for me if I order from B&H/Adorama and I have never paid near 20$ for shipping.