Importing TV from Germany - Any issues

yop

Guys,

Would there be an issue in bringing in a TV (LCD) from Germany. I am looking at Katronics as they are much cheaper than anything here but am unsure on whether the warranty would carry, so that if I had an issue here with the TV that I would be covered.

Thanks

Maxwell

HI Yop.

I brought in my plasma and had no problems whatsoever.

As for the warranty, I was informed by Katronic's that its the same as if I purchased in Ireland, some would say different- but I know that they will organize any problem with the TV. If all goes ****s up, I will just jump on a cheap ryanair flight and present myself at their shop in Dresden and arrange it face to face.

Think of if you both a TV in Dublin (as you are from Mayo) and it went wrong and the company wouldn't help on the phone - sure you would head to Dublin and if you went by train it would cost you nearly €50

Sure it would cost near the same to get to Dresden

Thats the way I thought about it - others wouldn't think like that though.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do, but I would thoroughly recommend katronics - they speak English on the phone

yop

Maxwell, gentleman.

Thanks for that, puts me mind at ease a bit anyway. Looking at the Samsung 40" LCD Panel which they have. Not sure if I will go for the LE-40R71B at 1700 euro on that site!

phoenix2181

I bought from Katronics myself about 2.5 months ago, got myself a nice Samsung 42" HD plasma, found them to be extremely effcient 7 a lot cheaper than Ireland, go for it man!!

Maxwell

yop wrote:

Maxwell, gentleman.

Thanks for that, puts me mind at ease a bit anyway. Looking at the Samsung 40" LCD Panel which they have. Not sure if I will go for the LE-40R71B at 1700 euro on that site!

No probs at all.

My advice was to see if you could see the TV in action (in your case the Samsung) in a shop here in Ireland so that you can see if the size, look and picture meets you needs. (check out a review online or in a magazine aswell)

Then buy at the cheapest you can get it for online, thats what I did with Katronics

Again, best of luck!

Maxwell

Hi There again,

I was just checking the katronics website again for other equipment and saw the following Panasonic 42" Plasma HD Ready for ONLY €1,747 - that's an amazing price for a Panasonic HD Ready TV - just giving people like you food for thought.

http://www.katronics.de/index.php?Artikel_ID=1957&Kat=148&oberkat=45&Tiefe=3&show=1&details=1957&click_count=1&amax=2000#_details

whosdaman

phoenix2181 wrote:

I bought from Katronics myself about 2.5 months ago, got myself a nice Samsung 42" HD plasma, found them to be extremely effcient 7 a lot cheaper than Ireland, go for it man!!

what was your over all savings my friend im thinking of upgrading myself.

Maxwell

whosdaman wrote:

what was your over all savings my friend im thinking of upgrading myself.

I know you didn't ask me directly, but I think I have to post as the saving was amazing

At the start of last year, I was looking to buy the latest Hitachi HD Ready 7200 Plasma and Harvey norman was selling it for €4,500, a week later I have bought it for €2,700 shipped to my front room from Katronics

I saved €1800!!:D

yop

Ya, the savings are there alright.

I was over on AVForums ( l know shame on me ) but there are varying reports on them. But I think that most people have been happy.

What is the story with paying them though. I believe that CC's are not common in Germany so that they prefer a transfer? How does this work?

YoYOPowder

yop wrote:

Ya, the savings are there alright.

I was over on AVForums ( l know shame on me ) but there are varying reports on them. But I think that most people have been happy.

What is the story with paying them though. I believe that CC's are not common in Germany so that they prefer a transfer? How does this work?

Just signed up to buy the 40" R7 and was expecting a CC field, it just said thanks and you'll get an email. That was at 9:30am. Hhmm.

Transfer!! Not used to that.:eek:

sleur

YoYOPowder wrote:

Just signed up to buy the 40" R7 and was expecting a CC field, it just said thanks and you'll get an email. That was at 9:30am. Hhmm.

Transfer!! Not used to that.:eek:

I thought CC would be common enough practice in Germany at this day in age. They might wanna call you to confirm identity, etc & then ask you for the details. or even get you to fax in a copy of the card & ID.

Haven't AIB introduced no fee bank transfers now? I remember reading something a couple of months ago how they were gonna introduce this on their online banking system.

yop

Keep us up to date anyway YoYoPoweder to see how u get on.
You dog, a savage screen that. Did you see them in the flesh anywhere in Ireland?

YoYOPowder

yop wrote:

Keep us up to date anyway YoYoPoweder to see how u get on.
You dog, a savage screen that. Did you see them in the flesh anywhere in Ireland?

Both Curry's and Harvey's in Blanch have them, think Curry's had it only in a 37". But the screen itself is fab looking and the picture was excellent, although they wouldn't dolly with any of the settings for me. Will let you know if Katronics come back to me.:)

YoYOPowder

YoYOPowder wrote:

Both Curry's and Harvey's in Blanch have them, think Curry's had it only in a 37". But the screen itself is fab looking and the picture was excellent, although they wouldn't dolly with any of the settings for me. Will let you know if Katronics come back to me.:)

BTW they were mad money, over 2.5K

Maxwell

They don't accept cc over a certain amount (I believe up to 1k) and the reason they want it through bank transfer is for security reasons.

YoYOPowder

Got the email just a short while ago with all their bank details and a ref number. No expected delivery date, I asked but no reply. I need an Irish VAT number, which they cant provide, so its back to Komplett for me. Just seen all the specs for the M7, cant see any difference bar 6000-1 contrast and 2 HDMI, is it worth an extra €500? Dont know really, another thing is on the M7 series you have a 'My Colour' option, which allows you change the green blue and red in the picture.

Maxwell

YoYOPowder wrote:

Got the email just a short while ago with all their bank details and a ref number. No expected delivery date, I asked but no reply. I need an Irish VAT number, which they cant provide, so its back to Komplett for me. Just seen all the specs for the M7, cant see any difference bar 6000-1 contrast and 2 HDMI, is it worth an extra €500? Dont know really, another thing is on the M7 series you have a 'My Colour' option, which allows you change the green blue and red in the picture.

Back to komplett then as you don't seem to have grasped what exactly you are supposed to do, have you. You get in touch with them by e-mail and they will confirm whether they have the item in stock, they then tell you it takes 5 working days from the time your bank transfer clears.

You have to make payment through the bank

If you don't have the money and have to use credit card, then they aren't the one for you. Savings are gone then

Captain Trips

sleur wrote:

I thought CC would be common enough practice in Germany at this day in age. They might wanna call you to confirm identity, etc & then ask you for the details. or even get you to fax in a copy of the card & ID.

Haven't AIB introduced no fee bank transfers now? I remember reading something a couple of months ago how they were gonna introduce this on their online banking system.

CC are a phenomenon of the Anglo Saxon countries. Swiss, Germans and Austrians are far less likely to use CCs than UK/Ireland/US/Australia.

Third_Echelon

Captain Trips wrote:

CC are a phenomenon of the Anglo Saxon countries. Swiss, Germans and Austrians are far less likely to use CCs than UK/Ireland/US/Australia.

Yeah definitely. I've spent quite a bit of time in Germany with work and they are definitely a cash nation. Its happened quite often that places that I've bought stuff didn't accept credit card.

BTW. Ryanair don't fly to Dresden. You could fly to Berlin and drive for about an hour and a half or fly via Frankfurt with lufthansa, so the price of the 'face to face' visit may rise somewhat.

I am currently thinking of buying an LCD TV, so an interesting thread anyway for me...

yop

YoYoPowerder- Is the reason you pulled out because you cannot claim the VAT back?

YoYOPowder

yop wrote:

YoYoPowerder- Is the reason you pulled out because you cannot claim the VAT back?

Yep, exactly YOP .
I didn't even entertain Maxwell's comment. They dont seem to be registered for VAT here, which is the reason why, hence I cant claim it back, as Im buying it via my Company. I think I could muster the intelligence on how to do a bank transfer, thanks for the tip Maxwell, but grasp it I did!!;)

Ripped Off

KATRONICS ARE FRAUDSTERS - KEEP AWAY FROM THEM

Maxwell,

Have you received the goods from Katronics yet?

If not I would get very worried. I ordered a €2500 plasma TV from them in June 2006 and have not received it yet or my money back, despite huge numbers of e-mails, phone calls, registered letters etc.

Do a Google Search for : Katronics fraud

and read some of the stuff if you do not believe me. It'd very scary. I am currently trying to get a German solicitor in order to try to retrieve my money

Maxwell

Yep - check my posts. Received the telly to my living room within a week.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but 6 months on from your order and money transferred and you haven't got on a flight to sort it out. I would have been over within 3 weeks if it was me.

Its sad that some people think that because the airplane doesn't land outside the front door of the company they are buying from, then its a waste of time. If you are spending over 2k on a TV and to spend €100 to get it back is too much of an issue, then go into your local dixons and get fleeced by them.

People just give advice trying to get you to save money, you don't have to take it. There are plenty of irish retailers ready to take your money instead.

best of luck

RRoger

for current and potential victims, on the very bottom of this page you will find a manual how to deal with them, German lawyers in Dresden etc.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3945665

gd luck

ps. they're not fraud, they're just sly mf's - there may be 95% of satisfied customers but if just few of that screwed 5% give up, someone gets a lots of €€€..
if they were scam, noone would have bought anything so far