Cotswold and Panamoz

I ordered a lens Tuesday and had dispatch confirmation this morning. Better than last time I used them, when I had no communication at all from them after ordering quite a few expensive items. All arrived on time though.
 
My delivery is now sitting in a delivery office 2 miles from my house, not bad concidering it was only shipped late thursday/early friday.... delivery still says end of day 3rd though... the agony!!!
 
jamesev said:
I find that it goes into "Processing" then the next thing you get a courier tracking number directly
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They have 2 ways of doing things.

Shipped direct from China to your door will mean getting a tracking number straight away within a day or two. That’s how my first order with them went.

Shipped direct to them then sent to you. This way they won’t send a tracking number until it’s left their U.K address which can take 7-10 working days. This is how my second order with them went. II suspect they wait until they have a few orders waiting before bringing them in all in in one delivery to save on shipping costs.

They should really explain this when you order. Communication with them is very poor. I suspect that the “U.K Team” work other jobs and that this is a part time endeavor. Waiting 2-3 days for an email response really isn’t good in this day and age. They have also removed the option to contact them by phone although that was only a third party call handling service anyway.

Level of service from Panamoz is so much better. I would hate to have to deal with Cotswold around any warranty issues.
 
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Paramoz order for the Nikon Zf placed late Wednesday night. Currently with Fedex and expected delivery is 4 February. Fingers crossed!

They couldn't price match Cotswold but got within £80 and I just felt they are a more professional offering than Cotswold so they got my order. YMMV.
 
For those of us that look at our orders with Cotswold Cameras and wonder why it's still shown as 'processing' after so many days...
I ordered a Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB lens from Cotswold Cameras during the morning of 27th January.
I have been disappointed to see it sit shown as 'processing' ever since.
BUT - it has just been delivered to me by Royal Mail shown as being from Wonic Source Ltd.
So much for order tracking information..... (But I'm pleased to have it reasonably quickly.)
 
moggi1964 said:
Paramoz order for the Nikon Zf placed late Wednesday night. Currently with Fedex and expected delivery is 4 February. Fingers crossed!

They couldn't price match Cotswold but got within £80 and I just felt they are a more professional offering than Cotswold so they got my order. YMMV.
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Arrived on time. Well packaged. Couldn't ask for more.
 
moggi1964 said:
Arrived on time. Well packaged. Couldn't ask for more.
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moggi1964 said:
Paramoz order for the Nikon Zf placed late Wednesday night. Currently with Fedex and expected delivery is 4 February. Fingers crossed!

They couldn't price match Cotswold but got within £80 and I just felt they are a more professional offering than Cotswold so they got my order. YMMV.
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I agree but some of the price differences to Cotswold are huge - too big to ignore.
My next purchase is likely to be a Nikkor 135mm f/1.8 Plena - I will ask Panamoz how close they can get to Cotswold.
 
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I think that isn’t just about tax - you are driving a nail into local camera shops coffin. Are you happy with that?

Some of the savings are huge, more than the tax and duty so why/how is that?

Are you happy with the idea of grey market warranty in your really expensive kit that you have little control over?

I used Cotswold Cameras for the first time fairly recently and so far have had zero problems. They were responsive and the price difference was huge. My last dealings with UK vendors much less.

I will have misgivings when local shops close but still occasionally buy from Amazon. In my eyes the decision is similar. Mr Bezos / Amazon have some very different trading practices that some would find much more unsavoury than Grey.
 
Tulipone said:
I think that isn’t just about tax - you are driving a nail into local camera shops coffin. Are you happy with that?

Some of the savings are huge, more than the tax and duty so why/how is that?

Are you happy with the idea of grey market warranty in your really expensive kit that you have little control over?

I used Cotswold Cameras for the first time fairly recently and so far have had zero problems. They were responsive and the price difference was huge. My last dealings with UK vendors much less.

I will have misgivings when local shops close but still occasionally buy from Amazon. In my eyes the decision is similar. Mr Bezos / Amazon have some very different trading practices that some would find much more unsavoury than Grey.
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We haven't had a local camera shop or even a bricks and mortar camera shop since Jesus was a wee lad other then W.E.X. I believe there is 1 independent camera shop in Northern Ireland but it's on the other side of the country from me and the guy that runs in seems to be a complete weapon and anytime I have tried them they never had stock of what I was looking for and lead times were much longer than just ordering from China.

While I like some of the staff in our local W.E.X, they rarely if ever have anything in stock that I would want to buy. They only ever have stock of what I would call prosumer cameras and lenses and accessories to suit. Pretty much everything else has to be ordered, which I can do myself via their website or elsewhere. I can remember way back when we had a Jessops they went the same way, before disappearing and I expect W.E.X retail shops will go the same way. They have also gone the the route of being a similar shopping experience to Argos, go in get what you want and leave as quickly as possible. Way back they used to ask how business was going, where we were shooting next and spend time having a conversation and learning about our business. That helped them find us equipment to suit, much more of a solution based experience. I see no reason to support them, I can get the "Argos" type experience online elsewhere. I once spent over 40k in W.E.X in under a year, this financial year I have spent about £60. They have probably lost about 8-10k of business from me this year to Amazon just because of lack of stock.

Just as one example I wanted to buy a monitor at £1200. Went into my local WE.X. as they were showing stock online. As it turned out it was a mistake and they didn't have it fair enough it happens, asked could they order it for me, they said they could but would be maybe 2 weeks but I could order online for delivery myself from their website and have it delivered to my own address. Went home and was able to order from Amazon next day delivery and for £150 cheaper.

When it comes to dealing with warranty issues personally I have found Panamoz to be much better than any other retailer I have dealt with in the U.K.
 
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I mentioned in the Nikon Z thread - I ordered a body and lens from Cotswold on the evening of Wednesday 28th, on Monday 2nd had email confirming despatch (with tracking number), it was delivered on Tuesday Feb 3rd!
I've always had great service from Cotswold.
 
Tulipone said:
I think that isn’t just about tax - you are driving a nail into local camera shops coffin. Are you happy with that?

Some of the savings are huge, more than the tax and duty so why/how is that?

Are you happy with the idea of grey market warranty in your really expensive kit that you have little control over?

I used Cotswold Cameras for the first time fairly recently and so far have had zero problems. They were responsive and the price difference was huge. My last dealings with UK vendors much less.

I will have misgivings when local shops close but still occasionally buy from Amazon. In my eyes the decision is similar. Mr Bezos / Amazon have some very different trading practices that some would find much more unsavoury than Grey.
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No loyalty to UK retailers. Why would you?
 
Kieran_89 said:
No loyalty to UK retailers. Why would you?
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Tbh i have been treated very well by LCE for being a loyal customer. I still mostly shop at LCE even now but mostly buying used gear.

Tulipone said:
I think that isn’t just about tax - you are driving a nail into local camera shops coffin. Are you happy with that?

Some of the savings are huge, more than the tax and duty so why/how is that?

Are you happy with the idea of grey market warranty in your really expensive kit that you have little control over?

I used Cotswold Cameras for the first time fairly recently and so far have had zero problems. They were responsive and the price difference was huge. My last dealings with UK vendors much less.

I will have misgivings when local shops close but still occasionally buy from Amazon. In my eyes the decision is similar. Mr Bezos / Amazon have some very different trading practices that some would find much more unsavoury than Grey.
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Normally I'm all for paying our fair share of the taxes. Most of my current gear is sourced through UK shops and mostly all used too (bar one lens).

I don't want to turn this into a political debate but more recently I'm getting fed up with the tax laws and constant fiscal drag. The frozen tax bands is giving me a pay cut year by year, now they have gone after NI contributions I was getting into my pension contributions.
The grey stuff is looking more and more attractive at this point :(
 
Just another grey provider to throw into the mix

https://camerasdori.com/

I ordered the Olympus OM SYSTEM M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO Lens and Panasonic 9mm f/1.7 LUMIX G LEICA DG SUMMILUX ASPH Lens, total just over £5,300.

I placed the order on 11th February and it was delivered this morning before 10am. Shipped from Hong Kong, via Germany and into the East Midlands and onward from there by DHL.

I've also got an order arriving today from Cotswold Cameras, just over £3,500, couple of OM1 Mark IIs and 2 lenses, that was also ordered on 11th February.

So very good service from both. Also, both offer loyalty points, 1 point for every pound spent.
 
And there is me, wondering if I should buy a pocket 3 now or wait for the pocket 4 to come out and save myself maybe £50 lol.

I am hopefully going to order a z6iii and 24-70 F2.8 or tamron equiv as I want to do more video
 
Hanley said:
Just another grey provider to throw into the mix

https://camerasdori.com/

I ordered the Olympus OM SYSTEM M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO Lens and Panasonic 9mm f/1.7 LUMIX G LEICA DG SUMMILUX ASPH Lens, total just over £5,300.

I placed the order on 11th February and it was delivered this morning before 10am. Shipped from Hong Kong, via Germany and into the East Midlands and onward from there by DHL.

I've also got an order arriving today from Cotswold Cameras, just over £3,500, couple of OM1 Mark IIs and 2 lenses, that was also ordered on 11th February.

So very good service from both. Also, both offer loyalty points, 1 point for every pound spent.
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They’re the same company as Cotswold Cameras. :)
 
Cameras Dori only seem to offer an 18 month warranty even though its the same company.
 
Has anyone had any luck getting an email reply from Cotswold recently? I used to get quick replies but now I haven't had any response to the last 2 queries I sent.
 
I have contacted them twice in the last couple of days. I had a same day response on both occasions.
 
Thought hard about using. Cotswold but when it came to it always went Panamoz (they might not price match but they've always come close enough for me not to tempt fate by switching to Cotswold, e-Infinity, etc)
 
alans220 said:
Used Cotswold a few times always been good, mainly use Einfinity.
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e-infinity are definately competitive here in the UK but I haven't tried them yet; have had good experiences on the whole from HDEW and Cotsworld so far. I like these as they offer 3 years warranty/cover where as I think its just 1 year with e-infinity.
 
cedge said:
e-infinity are definately competitive here in the UK but I haven't tried them yet; have had good experiences on the whole from HDEW and Cotsworld so far. I like these as they offer 3 years warranty/cover where as I think its just 1 year with e-infinity.
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My Fuji 35/1.4 came from e-infinity. From memory, they were the only one of the grey importers who actually had it listed (and the price was cheaper than some of the used ones I'd seen online).
 
Another for Cotswold. Ordered new body (camera!) 23 March, rec'd today, 31 March.
 
Another panamoz order for me.
Cotswold was nearly 200 cheaper on the body, but was abit apprehensive ordering a body from them, having never deltwith them and from seeing repairs have to be returned to them.
So as normal msged panamoz to price match, but expected a slightly higher price.
Panamoz matched exactly so I ordered wed evening. Camera arrived the wed after
 
Another ive used quite a few times is Cameriz, super quick delivery and always been well protected. Cheaper than most of the grey market competitors.
 
Kieran_89 said:
Another ive used quite a few times is Cameriz, super quick delivery and always been well protected. Cheaper than most of the grey market competitors.
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A friend of mine ordered from them recently good to know they are okay he is still waiting on receiving his camera body.
 
pmac said:
Another panamoz order for me.
Cotswold was nearly 200 cheaper on the body, but was abit apprehensive ordering a body from them, having never deltwith them and from seeing repairs have to be returned to them.
So as normal msged panamoz to price match, but expected a slightly higher price.
Panamoz matched exactly so I ordered wed evening. Camera arrived the wed after
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Sorry…just spotted this…you found the best price with Cotswold, then went to Panamoz and they matched it? Sounds pretty good.
I’m fighting the urge to buy some kit (@£8k) and always reading that Cotswold is the better price but people have more confidence or better experience with Panamoz.
 
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