Hdew

Gary Kinghorn

Gary Kinghorn

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These guys OK to buy from?

They seem to be doing a very attractive price on the 5d mk111 at the moment and I fancy giving one a go.

I don't mind too much where it comes from as long as they are OK to deal with.
 
yeah they are fine as it goes (I've had various things from them) - it is grey import of course (with all the warranty and potential repair aggravation that entails), but if you don't mind buying grey hdew aren't a bad choice, they're a bricks and mortar shop in HK, and they handle the import and supply from a uk base , so your order won't get hung up in customs checks etc. - They can also provide a VAT invoice on request if you need/want one
 
Yes agree with Pete they are grey importers with a base in the UK
I've bought a bit from them recently and they are very good, the gear came well packed and quick delivery
I bought a Canon lens recently so were covered by the Canon worldwide warranty and a 7D 6 months ago which I understand was covered by Canon UK as I had a UK receipt
Maybe this has changed recently though:)
 
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I bought my D7000 from them, no problems and they were around 15% cheaper than UK at the time
 
I suggest doing a search of the forum and then asking nicely if this thread can be closed by an Admin - because any discussion on HDEW inevitably gets a bit heated or goes into an endless loop about their VAT and duty practices.

There are a lot of posts about HDEW in this section. Personally, I think their business model is as much a grey area as the items they sell are grey imports.
 
I agree totally with Alastair. As soon as we start taking about HDEW's business practices, one of the mods will stamp on us and refer you to this very useful thread.
 
heres an idea - lets just answer the question and not discuss the 'other aspects' of the general grey import question - that way we won't get stamped on and everything will be cocapetic
 
big soft moose said:
heres an idea - lets just answer the question and not discuss the 'other aspects' of the general grey import question - that way we won't get stamped on and everything will be cocapetic
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Good idea. However the question is this:
Gary Kinghorn said:
These guys OK to buy from?
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And that makes it difficult. I mean, it's not very helpful to say "Not necessarily" without explaining why...
 
StewartR said:
Good idea. However the question is this:

And that makes it difficult. I mean, it's not very helpful to say "Not necessarily" without explaining why...
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He asked if they were ok to deal with which should be interpreted as asking about their customer service, not their business practices so shall we move on?
 
StewartR said:
And that makes it difficult. I mean, it's not very helpful to say "Not necessarily" without explaining why...
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true , but you can say - well they are a grey importer (with everything that goes with that) however if your happy to buy grey then ... - personally speaking ive never had a problem buying stuff from hdew, its always arived on time, been competitively priced (by comparrison with other grey importers as well as uk market), and because they supply from a uk base i've not experienced the hold ups that can occur if the product is dispatched direct from overseas.... nothing ive bought from them has needed a warranty repair so I can't comment on what their customer service is like if/when that happens... which is something to consider if buying from overseas
 
From memory, there are almost as many threads about their customer service (specifically warranty arrangements and what happens when things go wrong) as there are about their business practice. But in general respects, HDEW seems no better or worse than the other grey importers - the only significant difference being that they specifically have more issues around transparency of their business practices than, say, OSD. And unlike DR they don't pay to sponsor the forum.

The grey imports sticky has been a holding page since it was (somewhat pointlessly) opened, I suspect flagging it as a useful post is someone being ironic. Which would sum up the difficulties of developing an official forum policy on such matters whilst the forum continues to accept funding from one of the retailers in question. And this will continue to be a divisive topic until someone pulls their finger out and gets around to writing the official policy.
 
I think you can probably stop replying at this point.

I have bought from the likes of Digital Rev in the past and things went well. In a round about way I was asking if Hdew are a known company and people have purchased from them in the past. It looks as if this is indeed the case.

I've been happy with the knowledge that things can get a little tricky if a warranty claim needs to be put in in the past and if the saving is good enough will be happy again now. My risk.

I did look down this section and couldn't see anything immediately so I started this thread.

My questions have been answered thank you.
 
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That's absolutely fine chap and being as though your story regards you purchasing the item I'm after it works for me.

As for mods / admin locking threads that are repeats. Without discussion forums don't exist. Look back far enough and everything is a repeat. Just my two pennith on that subject.
 
Gary Kinghorn said:
That's absolutely fine chap and being as though your story regards you purchasing the item I'm after it works for me.

As for mods / admin locking threads that are repeats. Without discussion forums don't exist. Look back far enough and everything is a repeat. Just my two pennith on that subject.
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we don't lock threads that are repeats. The only repeats we don't like are the ones posted by a very small minority who harass members who choose to purchase from anyone other than uk resellers, however that is a different subject for a different thread at another time.
 
A note about their 3 year warranty which I recently had to use. The warranty card has an email contact ONLY and its a hotmail one that appears to NEVER get answered. However contacting HDEW themselves they said send the camera to AJ Johnstone with a covering letter stating its covered by HDEW and a copy of the receipt. It too about 3 weeks for the repair but it was all done no problem.
 
mikeleslie said:
A note about their 3 year warranty which I recently had to use. The warranty card has an email contact ONLY and its a hotmail one that appears to NEVER get answered. However contacting HDEW themselves they said send the camera to AJ Johnstone with a covering letter stating its covered by HDEW and a copy of the receipt. It too about 3 weeks for the repair but it was all done no problem.
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Nice to know. I hope their regular 1st year warranty with Canon is as normal, I wouldn't mind to readjust the focus screen points alignment on my 5d.
 
they won't have a waranty with canon, its grey import - the waranty is with the importer (which is usually fine with reputable ones like Hdew so long as they don't go bust)
 
big soft moose said:
they won't have a waranty with canon, its grey import - the waranty is with the importer (which is usually fine with reputable ones like Hdew so long as they don't go bust)
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All products come with a standard 1-year manufacturers warranty based on the sales invoice you receive with the product. All you need is to keep the invoice.
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So is VAT invoice no good then?
 
daugirdas said:
So is VAT invoice no good then?
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I think it varies , and probably depends on how rigorous canon are feeling - if they just want a uk sales receipt you'll be fine, however if its not a UK zone camera, you won't have registered the waranty because it won't come with a uk warranty card, and there have also been reports of manufacturers checking serial numbers and refusing to warrant grey imports except in the zone for which they were intended.

you could certainly try, as you havent lost anything if they say no - but you might be just as well off claiming on the importer warranty - good ones like Hdew will send stuff to a uk repairer - less good ones (no names mentioned) will insist on shipping it back to HL or singapore or where ever it came from
 
Took the plunge and ordered the 5d mk3 this morning. Price was good at just under £1900 delivered.

3 years warranty and any issues they direct me to my local canon repair centre who carry out the work at their cost. Hopefully this won't be something I need to use.

Delivery is 3 to 5 days, so hopefully before Christmas.
 
I'll add my experience - I've bought three high-end L lenses from them - I picked two up in person and the other I had shipped - delighted with all three transactions.
 
Gary Kinghorn said:
Took the plunge and ordered the 5d mk3 this morning. Price was good at just under £1900 delivered.

3 years warranty and any issues they direct me to my local canon repair centre who carry out the work at their cost. Hopefully this won't be something I need to use.

Delivery is 3 to 5 days, so hopefully before Christmas.
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Nice one. How is it going?
 
Hdew camera's are reliable, honest and highly recommended. The actually delivered my Canon 5D3 early!
 
That's good to hear. I shall shortly be ordering my 5D or 6D from them in the New Year.
 
Very tempted by the E-M5 at £505.
 
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