Simply electronics

Phall82

Phall82

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Colin
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Hi

I am looking at buying a new compact camera and I've noticed simplyelectronics.net offers them cheaper than most other places.

Has anybody had any experience with using them, and were they happy with the service/product etc?

Things that seem too good to be true usually are :-)

Thanks
 
When I was looking for a flash they were cheaper but it was a grey import, I also seem to remember someone posting that their camera came with a euro plug on the charger and a photocopied manual.
 
I'd steer clear of them for the following reasons:



  • They take your money even though "in stock" items aren't actually in stock.

  • They are almost impossible to get hold of.

  • You will have to get your bank involved to get your money back from them.

  • They are grey importers residing in HK masquerading as a UK company.

Granted, some people will have had success, otherwise they would have been shut down years ago but as always you get what you pay for.
 
Have used them a number of times.

They are imports but do come with a full 1 year warranty.

Can sometimes take a while to get through on the pohone but they do have quite a good system.
They do take your pennies straight away and I would expect to wait upto 2 weeks for delivery.
They are quite slow to reply to emails(allow 24-48 hrs).
They are however a genuine companyNot as easy as buying from WEX etc but haven't had any real problems with them.

Just received my new Canon 70-200 MK2 from them today.Over £225 cheaper than WEX so didn't really mind waiting the extra week or so.

Cheers
Gary
 
Thanks, in think I will steer clear then. Always suspicious when things are too cheap.
 
I brought a lens from them about 2 years ago and had no issues whatsoever but I have read loads of posts with unhappy customers since. That maybe down to the happy customers not saying so! But I'd happily buy again!
 
I'm not an expert on this so sorry if it's stupid... Does it matter if it's an import? They're all technically imports anyway.
 
Can impact on warranty as camera body's will not be covered by canon and nikon uk (not sure about lenses) but I know tamron will definitely not honour a grey import warranty. So maybe a pain in the ass to send back to hong kong etc unless there is a uk office.
 
Is 'grey' just a term used for imports like the 'black' market is for illegal goods?
 
like many i heard bad things, but took the chance to buy a nx100 plus two lenses and flash, saved a fortune and waited just under two weeks for delivery, but so far i have had no issues what so ever. I have used them in the past and will prob do so again in the future.
 
The warranty issue depends on the manufacturer.

For example a Canon lens has international warranty so you can get your grey import lens serviced by Canon UK. Camera bodies, however, do not. So if there is an issue you have to deal with the seller. This is much the same with many other manufacturers - the warranty is only valid in the country the item was intended for. So most grey import stuff needs to go to HK for warranty work.

Would you really want a seller that are very hard to get hold of and have a history of some terrible customer service dealing with the warranty on your camera? I wouldn't...
 
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Wife bought my 7D from them and it was UK stock:) I did expect it to be grey import but as it was over £200 less than the rest of the imports so my wife did the deal. All good but took 2-3weeks ro arrive.

Paid on the credit card to be covered but all good in the end.

You will get hundreds of bad reports and also good reports. Set you expectations at taking about a month and you should be happy.

A lot of the complaints are due to length of time and being imports but if you know that before buying then those people should not be complaining as its well documented to be the case.
 
I have bought twice them. Both times arrived quickly and were UK stock.
I paid via Paypal so any problems would be covered by them.
 
I have used them and did not have any problems and they offer a 12 month warranty but never had to use it yet :suspect:
 
Is there an issue with quality on 'grey' products?

I now going to order a Canon 15-85 lens from simply electronics as it is a great price. Are the lens the exact same quality and compatibility as UK versions?

Theyre all made in the same place aren't they?

Thanks

Colin
 
Phall82 said:
Is there an issue with quality on 'grey' products?

I now going to order a Canon 15-85 lens from simply electronics as it is a great price. Are the lens the exact same quality and compatibility as UK versions?

Theyre all made in the same place aren't they?

Thanks

Colin
Click to expand...

?
 
PatrickO said:
I have bought twice them. Both times arrived quickly and were UK stock.
I paid via Paypal so any problems would be covered by them.
Click to expand...
Doubt it, Paypal are sly and have useless customer service, I've lost £30 before when it was a straight forward I-should-get-my-money-back situation. Still angers me:bang:
 
Phall82 said:
Is there an issue with quality on 'grey' products?

I now going to order a Canon 15-85 lens from simply electronics as it is a great price. Are the lens the exact same quality and compatibility as UK versions?

Theyre all made in the same place aren't they?

Thanks

Colin
Click to expand...

Canon lenses come with an international warranty so as long as you have proof of purchase preferably showing uk tax paid you shouldn't have any problem getting it fixed if it should ever go wrong.

SE are a company with many complaints about them, onestop-digital.com also HK based have the same lens for £510 and they are a known good company to deal with, imo worth the ten quid difference.
 
Has anyone bought from Simply Electronics on Ebay? they have a lens that I want to buy, it says "stock is available in London" and Warehouse location: United Kingdom.

I know it would be a grey import, but for £390 vs £460 for a UK one, it seems like a good saving.

Thanks
 
TheCrewDesigns said:
I have used them and did not have any problems and they offer a 12 month warranty but never had to use it yet :suspect:
Click to expand...

Just an update on this, one of the members on here bought my lens off me after I had plenty of good use from it. I sold it in perfect working order but unfortunately it broke on her. She is now in the middle (with my help) of returning it but it seems so far to be a right mess on to return.

I will keep you updated what happens or she might post on here herself at some point
 
TheCrewDesigns said:
Just an update on this, one of the members on here bought my lens off me after I had plenty of good use from it. I sold it in perfect working order but unfortunately it broke on her. She is now in the middle (with my help) of returning it but it seems so far to be a right mess on to return.

I will keep you updated what happens or she might post on here herself at some point
Click to expand...

Yeah, please keep us updated. Thanks
 
I have bought a couple of lenses from them. Delivered direct air courier from Hong Kong and both in excellent order. I bought a third lens which had an excessive wobble in the image stabiliser. Sent it back using their returns service and they got it back to me, fixed within 10 days. :thumbs:
 
I recently bought a new Canon 400mm f5.6L off them via eBay, it was described as being in the UK and it did indeed arrive from a UK address, it arrived in 48 hours brand new and I'm chuffed with it :thumbs: HTH.
 
Ah yes I have just found this, their returns policy is a pain in the arse and their customer service was useless, at least the person I spoke to was, I will post up once they have the lens in their hands to let you know if they return/repair/refund etc
 
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