Rob-P wrote in post #18420460
Grey imports are a worry if things go wrong. Heard some horror stories.
Yes, grey imports can be problematic if you are buying from abroad. Buy from a supplier in China or Japan and you have no UK warranty, any problems and it has to go back to where you got it from for warranty work. There are also potential issues with it getting stopped at customs and slapped with a large tax demand that you need to pay to take delivery.
Even in the UK, some grey imports are sold by small operations with minimal paperwork. Often the "UK address" is a mail drop and the items are actually sent from abroad.
However, not all grey import dealers are risky propositions. I use HDEW for most of my stuff, a pukka bricks and mortar UK store which provides full UK VAT receipts. Unlike some smaller operations, you know you are getting an item with all duties paid on it. As for warranty, the VAT receipt is generally sufficient for Canon to provide direct warranty service, although technically they could refuse they normally cover any UK sold item with a full receipt. If you should have any issues with that, HDEW will cover it and provide service themselves through Canon authorised repair centres in the UK. With camera bodies it is even better, as they provide a 3 year warranty (Canon only provides 1 year). The first year is covered by Canon as usual, the next 2 by HDEW as above.
Like you, I was wary about grey imports, so I checked out HDEW carefully before buying from them. I found many, many recommendations across several photo forums (including POTN) and any problems / servicing issues had been quickly and promptly dealt with to the buyers satisfaction. I couldn't find one story where somebody had been left dissatisfied by the service or warranty. I can't testify personally about the warranty as I have never had an issue with anything from them, so never needed to use it, but I am happy from my research that I would have had no problems had I needed it.
They currently list that lens at £899 which gets it back in the ball park you were originally looking at. Of course, you should do your own "due diligence" and check them out, but I am so happy with them so far that I am about to buy another few grands worth of kit from them in the next few weeks.
Incidentally, my first grey import was a 100-400L back in about 2002, it cost me £840 (if memory serves, they were around £1250 normally). I had that lens until 2014, when I sold it on ebay for £780. Not bad depreciation for 12 years usage.
