A problem with Calumet

Flashman

Flashman

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Keith
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I wonder if anyone has any practical advice for me...

I recently bought a new camera from Calumet that was supposed to have £100 worth of vouchers included with the deal. The vouchers never arrived and my attempts to resolve the situation have been completely ignored.

I rang customer services three times over several days, each time they promised to investigate and call me back but nobody has once called me back.
I've tried writing to customer services via their web contact form... no response.
I've tried writing to their head office by snail mail... no response!

I should stress that every single one of my communications has been impeccably polite and courteous, I can't think of any reason why they should not give me the courtesy of a response. Obviously I'm starting to get pretty annoyed at this total lack of customer care but am not sure whether or not it's worth trying to escalate it now.

What should I do, what might work... Try a CC chargeback for the missing £100? Try a call to Trading Standards? Anything else? Should I just put it down to a bad experience and forget it... is it worth the hassle? :(
 
I would definately pursue it, £100 isn't something to pass up, if it was a £5 voucher or so I'd suggest to just let it go, as it probably won't be worth the time or effort.

What are the chances you will go near any of their stores on your travels? It may be worth going in and speaking face to face to a manager, you suddenly become alot harder to ignore then.
 
Thanks both! Unfortunately I'm nowhere near a store Alex, good thought though... thanks. I've not seen that moneyclaim website before, kestral, looks worth a try.... thank you too, really appreciate it! :thumbs:
 
Who were the vouchers from and for what were they against ?

If they were from the camera manufacturer, is it worth a call to them ?

Should they have been included in the box or are they dispatched following purchase ?
 
That's really bad of them,to have not got back to you,hope they read this thread,and take some action.
 
Calumet's customer service is, at best, dismal. When I tried to get a refund from them they just couldn't care less. A few posts on Facebook and their Twitter feed and the UK MD phoned me personally to sort it though....;)
 
andyred said:
Who were the vouchers from and for what were they against ?

If they were from the camera manufacturer, is it worth a call to them ?

Should they have been included in the box or are they dispatched following purchase ?
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They were Calumet vouchers to be used against any products they sell... so sadly no recourse to the camera manufacturer.

They were apparently supposed to be in the packaging somewhere... I'm sure they weren't! In my initial call to someone called Martin in 'customer services' I suggested that if they had issued the vouchers but they had got lost somewhere in packing then presumably they would have a record of the serial numbers and there shouldn't be an issue with redeeming them. He told me that their records showed that I was issued with two vouchers numbers XXXX and YYYY. He said he would talk to his manager and call me back with details of how I could redeem them. He never called back and I have been unable to get anyone to speak to me about it ever since.

It's just so infuriating, not to mention rude, they just completely ignore all my attempts to communicate. :bang:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Calumet's customer service is, at best, dismal. When I tried to get a refund from them they just couldn't care less. A few posts on Facebook and their Twitter feed and the UK MD phoned me personally to sort it though....;)
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Now that sounds like a plan! :thumbs:
 
Flashman said:
They were Calumet vouchers

It's just so infuriating, not to mention rude, they just completely ignore all my attempts to communicate. :bang:
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absolutely rude and definitely frustrating. I presume this was an Internet order, hence why you've spoken to customer service.

Have you tried to speak to a manager in customer service or are you given the "sorry none available" when you ask ?

A long shot, but is it worth contacting a store and speaking to the manager there to see if they can assist / give you a contact number ?

Hope you get it sorted ...
 
I went to calumet to have a new focusing screen fitted and they had my camera 5 weeks before i got it back, to be fair they only charged me half price the thing that annoyed me most was that when i went to pick it up they just handed me the camera did'nt say sorry or nothing won't be going there again
 
Well I sent my first Tweet yesterday (thanks FITP!) and this morning someone has replied, with an email address, asking for details of the problem. I've emailed all the details (again!), still keeping it polite, and will see if they bother following it up this time... I'll not hold my breath quite yet but fingers crossed... I'll let you know.
 
Just had another message from them:

Hi Keith

Thank you for responding to my direct message on Twitter so quickly. First and foremost, may I apologise for the wait for vouchers and the difficulties you’ve experienced in trying to resolve the issue.

Following investigation, we will be sending replacement vouchers to you. This will be processed this week and will be with you shortly. My contact details are below, if you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

With kindest regards
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I'll believe it when I see it... but it sounds promising. :)
 
Flashman said:
Just had another message from them:

I'll believe it when I see it... but it sounds promising. :)
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Now, that's more like good customer service, as it should have been the first time round.

Hope they materialise and everything's okay
 
Flashman said:
Just had another message from them:

I'll believe it when I see it... but it sounds promising. :)
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That was an amazingly polite email from Calumet, having said that the message I received from the head office via Twitter was too, it was only when they passed it to branch level that the level dropped.

Calumet Twitter:

Hi, we have let them know your comments in Glasgow so hope they get back to you. apologies for the lack of communication from them.
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Calumet Glasgow Email:


confirmation that your refund has been done
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That was it from the manager at the Glasgow store, no apology, he didn't even sign the email.....
 
They're bending over backwards now, I've had a phone call from a very polite lady apologising for the trouble and telling me the vouchers are in the post by Recorded Delivery and should arrive tomorrow. It's just a shame it had to be such hard work to get to this point, they only seem to take any notice when you start to put it all in the public domain.


Flash In The Pan said:
That was it from the manager at the Glasgow store, no apology, he didn't even sign the email.....
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Hopeless... shame on him! :thumbsdown:
 
Flashman said:
They're bending over backwards now, I've had a phone call from a very polite lady apologising for the trouble and telling me the vouchers are in the post by Recorded Delivery and should arrive tomorrow. It's just a shame it had to be such hard work to get to this point, they only seem to take any notice when you start to put it all in the public domain.



Hopeless... shame on him! :thumbsdown:
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In the end the MD of Calumet UK phoned me to apologise, but it's shocking that a company that sells itself as "Where the pros go" has to be shamed into demonstrating even the most basic levels of customer service that we take for granted from everyone from the lower end of high street retailing upwards....
 
I went to Calumet on the advice of a pro photographer friend when I was looking to buy my D7000 when they were still very new. I'd only just discovered TP. Went into my local store and asked what the difference were between the D7000, D90 and D300s. The guy I asked replied that he was a Canon user and pulled up dpreview.com on his computer and pretty much read out their review. I made my excuses and left...

Spoke to my mate who was shocked and said I should tell them...so I got on their website and sent an e-mail explaining what had happened and made it quite plain I was soon this purely for feedback rather than trying to get a deal out of them. I got an e-mail from the MD of Calimet first thing the next morning who then rang and wanted more details and offered as much advice one on one time with a specialist as I could ever need. I was pretty impressed with the response.
 
Well the vouchers did arrive this morning (by FedEx!) so job done... thanks for all the help everyone (esp. FITP for the Twitter suggestion!). I'll still think twice before buying from Calumet again though, I shouldn't have had to jump through hoops to get there.

Unfortunately I've read the T&C's on the vouchers and they can only be redeemed in a store, no use to me in North Yorkshire... off to the Classifieds to try and flog them next then!
 
Obviously everyone's experience differ but the few times I've used Calumet I've never had a problem. When I lost some of the bolts from a Calumet tripod that I had bought second-hand I rang them and they posted some spares out to me FOC the very next day, great customer service for me.
 
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