Rocky Cameras again :(

RaglanSurf

RaglanSurf

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Some of you may remember that back in Novemeber Rocky had a Fuji GS645 Professional for sale, I've wanted one for quite a while so had a quick check and it was described as 'Excellent' so I thought it was worth a punt.

Well surprise surprise, when it arrived a quick check over, shining a torch through the bellows and running my test roll through it showed that not only was the bellows full of holes the film advance was completely shagged. I dropped a line to Miles to enquire of the rough estimate of repair and he suggested just returning it.

So, I emailed Rocky explained and asked for a refund + return postage, he responded the same day suggesting I try a new battery. I emailed him straight back and he agrees to a refund + my return postage.

I even managed, for the first time ever, to speak to him on the phone, once again he agreed to a full refund but despite the courier showing the camera had been delivered no refund appeared in my account.

Anyway the upshot was that once again I had to resort to the Paypal resolution centre to get my money from Rocky and once again I'm worse off because Paypal won't recover the return postage.

In my experience the man is dishonest, his descriptions are meaningless and he should be avoided at all costs.
 
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Whoops !

Nick i you are interested soon I will be putting up for sale my GS645 Wide 60mm, it is mint and excellent :-)

Hope to have it in the Classifieds @ weekend
 
Mr Bump said:
Whoops !

Nick i you are interested soon I will be putting up for sale my GS645 Wide 60mm, it is mint and excellent :)

Hope to have it in the Classifieds @ weekend
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I would have been Paul but I already have the Wide, it was the appeal of the folding MF that really had me flexing the credit card, never mind I'm in no rush.
 
Bloomin heck. I have in the past thought maybe he'd be worth a punt but actually its not really.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Bloomin heck. I have in the past thought maybe he'd be worth a punt but actually its not really.
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I think you just have to be aware of the dangers, I posted this in a previous thread about them

So, if you are tempted to buy from Keith Rock here are a few recommendations:-

1) Ignore his descriptions, they are meaningless.
2) Always take a screenshot of the webpage of the item before you buy it, as it will disappear once you've bought it.
3) Always pay by Paypal, any other method is asking for trouble.
4) If you have a problem with an item, send him one email to register your dissatisfaction and then raise a Paypal dispute as soon as you can after that.
5) Check whatever you buy from him quickly and very very thoroughly, It wouldn't surprise me if he buys his stock by the kilo and there appears to be no quality control at all.
6) Be prepared to be disappointed, frustrated, angry and thoroughly tinkleed off if you have to try and deal with him.
7) Be aware that although it may appear to be a bargain it might turn out to be a complete lemon.
8) Be aware that although it may appear to be a bargain it might turn out to be a bargain.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that Rocky's Cameras only sell tat as other's experiences show that that is not always the case, but buy carefully and don't throw away the packaging until you're happy with what you've bought, at least then it will only cost you the return postage to get your money back.

Caveat emptor :thumbs:
 
I have heard more bad reports about this guy than any other person out there. I wouldn't buy anything off him even if it was new in the box and 90% off.
 
Never heard of them before. The whole pitch of the site and the photos suggest tat to be honest. Cameras marked as 'nice' look rough as hell! A couple of them I looked at were visibly dirty and dusty.
 
... and the numbers 666
 
Against my better judgement I gave him a second chance when he ran his January sale. I can only echo the comments above. I don't like to call him dishonest, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say utterly incompetent instead...
 
What a shambles for you to have to deal with Nick ...nobody needs folk like him to deal with!
 
mothdust said:
Aw Nick, why do you keep doing this to yourself :(
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Asha said:
What a shambles for you to have to deal with Nick ...nobody needs folk like him to deal with!
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I have finally learnt my lesson, in my defence it was because some folk had had a positive experience buying stuff from him so I thought I'd give him one more try, no more though I don't care if he is having a 40% discount weekend. 40% off a load of old tat is still a s*** deal.
 
Well Nick I thought dealing with Rocky cameras was sorted out ages back on different forums in that:- expect the worse, or buy a camera for spares, or gear that can't be broken...but I suppose someone has had a good deal as he has been selling for years under different names and originally on ebay where he was pushed off or left that site because of bad feedback.
 
Poor Service will always be rewarded with lack of buyers :-)
 
Mr Bump said:
Poor Service will always be rewarded with lack of buyers :)
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Unfortunately we are looking for bargains and as shop prices are mostly too high, look elsewhere.....on the link for the Pentax 645n they wanted £199 for a ETRS 40mm lens in "just good condition"......which is ridiculous.
 
pingu666 said:
oi :p
he sent me wrong stuff, never got a responce :-(
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Hmmm, he sent me the wrong stuff too. He replied to my email and suggested I return them and then he'd investigate. I suggested he investigate first... no more contact from him, no replies to emails etc. Does he still do the fairs? Might be worth going along to one to have a word...
 
Bumped into him today at Wolverhampton Race Course fair. Not knowing him but hearing about him I soon WALKED ? passed his stall.


Trevor
 
My experiences are as follows, being as unbiased as I can be. I've bought a few things before, because he's cheap and it's more or less my job to find cheap camera gear.

Ages ago I got some 4x5 film holders, old wooden ones. They fell apart a few weeks after receiving them. Possibly my fault, possibly dodgy gear. Wasn't too pleased but I still got a few shots out of them I suppose.
Bought a Mamiya 645 80mm lens from photographica camera fair, in person. Checked it over, haggled as it needed a aperture clean as it had gone all oily, but apart from that fine. Sold it with a camera, everyone happy.

Back when he had the 50% off sale I got a Hassy A12 back and Nikon 35mm f/2 AI lens for DIRT cheap. I'm talking like I could have made £150... except the package never arrived. I actually managed to get through to him on the phone once, he promised a tracking number but never got back to me, and never returned my other answerphone messages. Had to go the paypal resolution route. I reckon he never sent it, as he realised how cheap I got the gear.

Almost bought a big bunch of Polaroid packfilm cameras the other day to sell on in the shop, but my instinct told me it was going to be a nightmare so left it.

Literally just ordered a Voigtlander Avus 9x12 plate camera to use personally when I locate a nice 6x9 back. Needs a fungus clean but advertised as otherwise all working, so I guess I'll update as that happens.
 
Sounds about par for the course, it.s interesting to hear other's experiences, especially when you've bought in person. I think you're only the second person I know to have actually got through on the phone, if only he would follow through on his promises.
 
I think I've had the full range of experiences with him, from absolutely delighted at bargains to downright annoyed. I now view shopping from Rocky as akin to gambling - should only do it if you're fully prepared to lose the money you put in, and then get a nice surprise if the opposite happens!
 
Not really a propos of the subject of this thread, but a little warning tale of buying from shonky discount suppliers, particularly abroad. My wife had a nice ittle Mamiya U p&s that was failing, so on a business trip to New York I bought her the Olympus Stylus (second subject of the review I just put up) in 42nd St. I was a bit confused by the different branding, exchange rates, jet lag etc. When I got home I found:

a) it was equivalent to a mju 1, and I could have bought a mju 2 from Dixons for less
b) it didn't work
c) the documents inside the box had been stamped "sold as seen, no return"
d) Canon UK wouldn't honour the warranty!

In the end I had to pay someone another £40 to get it working. I'm very reluctant to buy cameras from overseas now!
 
ChrisR said:
... I bought her the Olympus Stylus (second subject of the review I just put up) in 42nd St. I was a bit confused by the different branding, exchange rates, jet lag etc. When I got home I found:

a) it was equivalent to a mju 1, and I could have bought a mju 2 from Dixons for less
b) it didn't work
c) the documents inside the box had been stamped "sold as seen, no return"
d) Canon UK wouldn't honour the warranty!
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Yeah, I think I might understand point 'd' ... goes to show how confusing the different branding really was! ;)
 
Strappy said:
Yeah, I think I might understand point 'd' ... goes to show how confusing the different branding really was! ;)
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D'oh! :eyeroll:
 
RaglanSurf said:
1) Ignore his descriptions, they are meaningless.
2) Always take a screenshot of the webpage of the item before you buy it, as it will disappear once you've bought it.
3) Always pay by Paypal, any other method is asking for trouble.
4) If you have a problem with an item, send him one email to register your dissatisfaction and then raise a Paypal dispute as soon as you can after that.
5) Check whatever you buy from him quickly and very very thoroughly, It wouldn't surprise me if he buys his stock by the kilo and there appears to be no quality control at all.
6) Be prepared to be disappointed, frustrated, angry and thoroughly tinkleed off if you have to try and deal with him.
7) Be aware that although it may appear to be a bargain it might turn out to be a complete lemon.
8) Be aware that although it may appear to be a bargain it might turn out to be a bargain.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that Rocky's Cameras only sell tat as other's experiences show that that is not always the case, but buy carefully and don't throw away the packaging until you're happy with what you've bought, at least then it will only cost you the return postage to get your money back.
Click to expand...

Basically treat his site like an eBay auction, same risks, though probably less communication.

Regarding point 5, i have sold cameras to Keith a few times as his base of operations isn't far from me, and spoken to him in person on those occasions. He basically buys everything, often massive lots from estate sales, auction lots, people clearing out and collectors, but obviously you get next to nothing to for the junk. He gives the better gear a good look over but ignores the cheap crap, so if you are buying anything sub £50 expect it to have not been checked at all for issues.

He makes most of his money outside of the website interestingly enough. He has a list of collectors and sells them all the good stuff first, everything else gets thrown on the website. He isn't poor for sure, lives in a big house, swimming pool, aston martin vanquish S on the driveway. I just get the feeling the website isn't his main priority which might be fine if he had some staff under him to take care of it.
 
Yeah, I read that he's not short of a few bob, tbh that doesn't bother me everyone's entitled to make a living it's just his lack if communication and the fact that he describes pretty much everything as excellent when it's actually a pike if poo, and I'm not talking about cheap stuff either. In fact with a little judicious customer service he'd probably make even more profit. But due to his offhand attitude I won't be using him again and will advise everyone I know to avoid him and his shoddy website as well.
 
Just came across this thread. Wanted to check people are aware of the distance selling regulations. This applies to anything bought from a business website, Argos, TV\phones shopping or a Buy It Now Auction on Ebay from someone clearly operating as a business. Basically the idea is that as you haven't actually seen the item in person before you pay for it, you're entitled to a full refund if you don't like it. You don't have to give a reason. You have to inform the seller you're returning the item for a full refund and return it within 7 days of RECEIVING the item, i.e. not 7 days from paying for it. There are very few exceptions, mostly dated items with no aesthetic or functional value like theatre or plane tickets.
I've used it a few times, sometimes having to quote the law to the person before they agreed, sometimes not.
The regs also cover some stuff about information the seller must provide about the item. There's a good summary here -

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations
 
thecornflake said:
Just came across this thread. Wanted to check people are aware of the distance selling regulations. This applies to anything bought from a business website, Argos, TV\phones shopping or a Buy It Now Auction on Ebay from someone clearly operating as a business. Basically the idea is that as you haven't actually seen the item in person before you pay for it, you're entitled to a full refund if you don't like it. You don't have to give a reason. You have to inform the seller you're returning the item for a full refund and return it within 7 days of RECEIVING the item, i.e. not 7 days from paying for it. There are very few exceptions, mostly dated items with no aesthetic or functional value like theatre or plane tickets.
I've used it a few times, sometimes having to quote the law to the person before they agreed, sometimes not.
The regs also cover some stuff about information the seller must provide about the item. There's a good summary here -

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations
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Assuming of course that the seller actually bothers to correspond with you... its quite frequent for Rocky Cameras to not even respond to any emails etc asking for a refund. The only way you can guarantee anything with him is to pay by PayPal and open a dispute which usually forces him to refund the money (even then he usually doesn't respond to the dispute).
 
Morinaka said:
Basically treat his site like an eBay auction, same risks, though probably less communication.
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I was going to add that it also lacked buyers' feedback which an eBay seller will have - but that's exactly what we are doing here.


Steve.
 
If the seller doesn't make you aware of your cancellation rights then you have 3 months and 7 days under the DSR.

Buying with a credit card when its over £100 is also wise as the credit card provider are jointly liable with the seller.

PayPal is ok for the first 45 days then you'll be stuck as I don't think they'll help after then.

Having looked at the site and the state of things that were for sale I can't see why anyone would by from him. Its junk. No effort is even made to clean things!
 
I wonder if he'd respond to a small claims court summons better than a PayPal email.
 
steveo_mcg said:
I wonder if he'd respond to a small claims court summons better than a PayPal email.
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At least there would be a chance of getting the return postage refunded.
 
thecornflake said:
Basically the idea is that as you haven't actually seen the item in person before you pay for it, you're entitled to a full refund if you don't like it. You don't have to give a reason. You have to inform the seller you're returning the item for a full refund and return it within 7 days of RECEIVING the item, i.e. not 7 days from paying for it.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations
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Bold part isn't right, you have 7 working days (starting the day after receipt) to inform the retailer you wish to return the item, there is no "return within 7 days" stipulation in the DSR.

From the which link

The Distance Selling Regulations state that your right to cancel an order starts the moment you place your order and doesn’t end until seven working days from the day after you receive your goods.
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retrogamer1990 said:
Literally just ordered a Voigtlander Avus 9x12 plate camera to use personally when I locate a nice 6x9 back. Needs a fungus clean but advertised as otherwise all working, so I guess I'll update as that happens.
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Update Just got my camera on Saturday. Delivery took longer than I expected but I can forgive that - it came with fungus (as it was described) which I have now cleaned. Everything working and relatively clean and tidy, shutter speeds a bit slow at 1s-1/5th but the camera is 80 years old so I can also forgive that. I might fiddle with it and see if I can sort them out but I can live with them for now. Am hopefully taking it out with the 6x9 Rollfilm back I nabbed for a song on eBay.

Overall I am happy with this purchase, so it's not all doom and gloom - I'll take another chance on something next time an interesting item crops up.
 
I won't defend him, i think his customer service is pathetic. I have had to return stuff to him (no real surprise) and yeah it was a joke and a serious run around that involved several emails that never got replied to and 4 phone calls as he is hardly ever there, 2 hours in the morning if you are lucky.
On the phone he said all the emails were caught in the spam filter or something, easy excuse which i didn't believe and poor form for a business.
The paypal dispute thing is the right way to go for sure as paypal take refunds for physical goods seriously.
Yeah, I read that he's not short of a few bob, tbh that doesn't bother me everyone's entitled to make a living it's just his lack if communication
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I only brought this up as it shows he could afford to hire some staff to take care of it, even if it is only handling returns and emails as you don't need specialist camera knowledge for that.
I understand why the descriptions are crap, if you got 10000+ items waiting to be catalogued then yeah you are only going to use cut and paste descriptions for most of it.

I'm glad it went fine for you retrogamer1990, i've had both good and bad from him.
Last thing i bought from him was a WW2 era anniversary speed graphic for £200. These are pretty rare to get here in the UK so i took the chance on Rocky and would just return if i hated it. The cosmetic condition matched the photos perfectly apart from the usual dust and light grime.

I knew the lens and lens shutter would be kaput as it's 70 years old, and it was, lens was a bit fungus, shutter seems stuck at one speed and the aperture blades were out of alignment, but i was able to fix that last one myself at least. Also lens for a 4x5" is easy replacement anyway. Ground glass needs replacing as well, works but is mouldy so it has to go. Other than that and the normal age related issues it was what i expected.

My opinion of it really is if you want to buy a camera to use then avoid him, or pay for one described as mint, or hit up ebay. Though i'd probably pay to have any camera i intended to use as a main camera serviced. What it is good for is decorative cameras if you study the pictures and know what you are getting. Also for buying accessories with no moving parts, bought loads of cheap Cokin P size filters from him, for a fraction of what i see them go for on eBay, Cokin P size circular polarisers for £5-10 on rocky that go for 3 times that or more on ebay, same with others.
 
I had to leave him a phone message saying that i was going to be leaving within half an hour to visit him and sort out my refund the 'old fashioned way' after a load of stress and being ignored. He phoned me back pretty quickly, quite hurt that I was unhappy with him " theres no need for that sort of talk" he said after my blast of tourets subsided...

His business is a monkeys tea party, I still have the item in question and one day I will go to a fair he is at and if he's smaller than me i might stick it up his bum.:cool:
 
Quick feedback from a recent buy - I bought a couple of hasselblad filters (priced very well, naturally) and two filters were advertised on one listing, if that makes sense. Anyway, I pay my money, package arrives - only one of the filters. I gave him a ring (got through on the first go) he answered, explained that the packer must have only put one of them in, and would enquire about it on the monday following (this was saturday) - lo and behold, on Monday I got an email letting me know that a mistake had been made and the second filter was on the way. Received it a day later, and I was pretty happy!

Was there a blue moon recently?
 
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