Where not to buy your camera

[JudeT]

Since we live in the sticks in France we purchase a lot of things online and normally have no problems. Recently however we purchased my new Canon 500D from Simply Electronics in the UK. It was a good price and they stated that it would be sent out within 2 working days. That was on August 22nd. Many emails and further promises later and today (September 8th) we still have no camera. Oh well, you live and you learn and we will certainly never purchase from this company again. In the meantime we wait in forlorn hope for a DHL van to arrive. I'm returning to the UK for a short visit this week and had hoped to try out my wonderful new camera at Blenheim Horse Trials and try some action shots, but hope of that is diminishing daily.

I'm now wishing I had purchased from a company I know to be reliable.

Jude

[400dabuser]

I got my 400d from a retail shop, as I needed the camera quite quick, though I mainly shop on Amazon, which I see they have their own shop, but with others joining in, though I haven't seen simply being there

[sunnydacat]

Have a look on AV forums, simply electronics are infamous for the business practice outlined above. Avoid at all costs!

[Mike]

Since we live in the sticks in France we purchase a lot of things online and normally have no problems. Recently however we purchased my new Canon 500D from Simply Electronics in the UK. It was a good price and they stated that it would be sent out within 2 working days. That was on August 22nd. Many emails and further promises later and today (September 8th) we still have no camera. Oh well, you live and you learn and we will certainly never purchase from this company again. In the meantime we wait in forlorn hope for a DHL van to arrive. I'm returning to the UK for a short visit this week and had hoped to try out my wonderful new camera at Blenheim Horse Trials and try some action shots, but hope of that is diminishing daily.

I'm now wishing I had purchased from a company I know to be reliable.

Jude

That's a shame. Couldn't you cancel your order and try elsewhere?

Is there not anywhere in France that sells camera gear? Shipping costs would surely be lower. http://www.acecam.com/france.html#France%20-%20Camera%20Stores

If you manage to cancel, also have a look at this: http://www.camerapricebuster.com/Canon_EOS_500D_pc.html

[JudeT]

Thanks for your replies and support. Boy do I wish I had asked about this company on the forum before we ordered. Just read some of the comments on AV forums (thanks Sunny) and kicked myself. I should have purchased from Amazon who have consistently given us great service. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try and save that extra twenty or thirty quid! I'm amazed to see that Amazon do use Simply.
We could have purchased online in France but it was quite a bit more expensive. Local shops were also considerably more.
All is not totally lost however. I eventually contacted DHL in Bordeaux this morning and apparently they will deliver tomorrow!! Maybe I'll even get time to charge the batteries before catching my flight to the UK on Thursday.

Jude

[greenmatter]

http://www.photosnag.com/img/4210/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gifThanks for your replies and support. Boy do I wish I had asked about this company on the forum before we ordered. Just read some of the comments on AV forums (thanks Sunny) and kicked myself. I should have purchased from Amazon who have consistently given us great service. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try and save that extra twenty or thirty quid! I'm amazed to see that Amazon do use Simply.
We could have purchased online in France but it was quite a bit more expensive. Local shops were also considerably more.
All is not totally lost however. I eventually contacted DHL in Bordeaux this morning and apparently they will deliver tomorrow!! Maybe I'll even get time to charge the batteries before catching my flight to the UK on Thursday.

Jude

yea, amazon is our prime goto. hope you get them soon

[Persephone]

I always check ResellerRatings.com (http://resellerratings.com) before looking at an Internet shop. It's essential to proving my dad wrong. He insists that they can be better deals, I go to RR and say, "SEE?? This shop has a 1.0/10 rating! *reads a review out loud*"

[yogestee]

Out of the back of a truck or at the pub ;)

[fly my pretties]

I was looking for a lens the other day, and that website came up with ti going for £300 less.

In a move I would never normally do, I typed "simply electronics review" into google and realised it was too good to be true.

Thank God I didn't order.

Hope you get your camera, from what I was able to gather from reading people complain, a threat of legal action seems to do wonders.

[JudeT]

Well after the abysmal service of Simply Electronics and the snail-like delivery of DHL my wait was finally rewarded at five o'clock this evening! Even then the delivery driver couldn't find us and we had to meet him in the village. Never mind, the three-week wait was worth it. What a gorgeous piece of equipment!

Thanks everyone for your support and advice,
Jude

[yogestee]

Well after the abysmal service of Simply Electronics and the snail-like delivery of DHL my wait was finally rewarded at five o'clock this evening! Even then the delivery driver couldn't find us and we had to meet him in the village. Never mind, the three-week wait was worth it. What a gorgeous piece of equipment!

Thanks everyone for your support and advice,
Jude

I can't understand an item taking 3 weeks delivery from the UK to France..

Did someone hand deliver it but walked from the UK to France??

I can get stuff out of Hong Kong to Laos (which has a terrible postal service) in a week..

[phy2sll]

I can't understand an item taking 3 weeks delivery from the UK to France..

Did someone hand deliver it but walked from the UK to France??

I can get stuff out of Hong Kong to Laos (which has a terrible postal service) in a week..

In France, I can imagine you'd invite the delivery man in for a glass of cognac. In Laos, it's the Lao-Lao I suppose?

[yogestee]

In France, I can imagine you'd invite the delivery man in for a glass of cognac. In Laos, it's the Lao-Lao I suppose?

Funny Stuart..

In Laos there is no postal delivery to private houses or businesses..Everthing goes to a post box at the post office.. My stuff goes to my employer's post box and someone picks it up for me..

Lao lao,,I've had a big night or two on the stuff.. Horrible stuff!! But BeerLao is exceptional..

[phy2sll]

Yup, I wish they'd export that. :)

[yogestee]

Yup, I wish they'd export that. :)

Where are you from Stuart?? I used to be able to get BeerLao in Australia 20 minutes from home and quite cheaply too.. It's also available in the western suburbs of Sydney..

Or drop over to my house here in Vientiane,,I have a fridge full..

[phy2sll]

Where are you from Stuart?? I used to be able to get BeerLao in Australia 20 minutes from home and quite cheaply too.. It's also available in the western suburbs of Sydney..

Or drop over to my house here in Vientiane,,I have a fridge full..

We're going slightly OT here and that might be my fault!

All I can say is: you're a lucky man. I'm in Melbourne at the mo (South Yarra), but returning to the UK in a few months.

I have the obligatory BeerLao t-shirt, of course, which puts me in good stead with the 1/3 of users of my local gym who wear them for their work-outs.

What is it that you do in Vientiane, then?

[yogestee]

We're going slightly OT here and that might be my fault!

All I can say is: you're a lucky man. I'm in Melbourne at the mo (South Yarra), but returning to the UK in a few months.

I have the obligatory BeerLao t-shirt, of course, which puts me in good stead with the 1/3 of users of my local gym who wear them for their work-outs.

What is it that you do in Vientiane, then?

I'm teaching ESL.. I come from a photojournalism background.. My wife has had a long association with Laos, managing an education project for AusAid..

We were tired of being separated for very long periods so we decided to come back together for work.. I went back to my studies and attained my Diploma of TESOL in 2007.. We were both offered jobs in Laos in November '07 and couldn't be happier..