Simply electronics

thatsnotmyname

hi guys ,
just wondering have any of you ever bought from this company i see a good deal on a canon lense with free delivery to Ireland
http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainproduct.php?pid=1838&cartid=7093&cartaction=add&sd=exd
and theres also a demo version available for 135 pounds just wondering did anyone deal with them and what your experience's were ?

also demo model good or bad idea ?

any advice would be greatly welcomed

cheers.

Tallon

Dont seem to good acording to Google...

and the Waterford Camera Club

http://www.waterfordcameraclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1238181257/3

artyeva

i know there's a thread somewhere with lots of info on these guys - i was planning to buy my camera off them too till i did some further research - then i decided to stay well away!!!

they are based on HK and as far as I can remember reading at the time you may not get a product with a EU warranty, be stung for customs depending on the value of the order, and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. i would advise doing some googling before you decide anything.

CabanSail

There is a loooong discussion about them here. I have just skimmed some of the 48 pages, but it seems that a lot of people have had bad experiences.

AnCatDubh

Given the posts above and others I am aware of I don't think the advice from the forum would be to buy from them at the present time.

Just a point of moderation for posters - please ensure any experience that you convey is based on personal experience that you have had. Avoid generalisations. Accusations or summations of any kind in relation to this or any company should be left off the thread. If you choose to direct a PM to the OP it wouldn't cause a problem. This note is in the context of boards wide slander/libel directives to the moderators. Thank you.

thatsnotmyname

Thanks for the feedback guy's
i am glad i did'nt jump in now the price was tempting though !

sineadw

Ah feck.. and they have the 70-200 L IS for 1395 euro - figured it was too good to be true!

Actually, just looked at kea and it's down to 1326 there including shipping - thank god they're linked to the dollar @OP - kea have the lens you were looking at including courier shipping (1-4 days) for 221 euro. According to xe.com that's only 20 quid more than the other crowd were asking. And an ever so slightly better name

nilhg

sineadw wrote: »

Actually, just looked at kea and it's down to 1326 there including shipping - thank god they're linked to the dollar @OP - kea have the lens you were looking at including courier shipping (1-4 days) for 221 euro. According to xe.com that's only 20 quid more than the other crowd were asking. And an ever so slightly better name

I think there's a good chance you'd have to make a contribution to saving the banks country when it arrives though, or is stuff still slipping through?

sineadw

Not if you have rellies in northern ireland AFAIR Kea guarantees VAT free to the UK.

Same would go for the Simply Electronics orders too though.

cazze

Having read this thread a few weeks back i decided to avoid simply electronics at all costs !
I recently i bought a sigma 10-20mm from amazon.co.uk
no problems delivered on time, perfect condition etc.

so today i decided to return to them to make another purchase a canon 55-250 mm
went ahead and ordered it only to find after i had entered all my details etc and made the purchase that the seller is in fact simply electronics !
i am raging:mad:
so much bad stuff on google about them only did it about an hour ago does anyone know if its possible to cancel within 24 hours ?

Very surprised Amazon would do business with this lot

AnCatDubh

Oh oh, Not looking good.

from; http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=502536/ref=hp_ln_ord_cao

Cancelling Orders from Third-Party Sellers

We cannot assist you in cancelling any orders you have placed from Amazon Marketplace sellers (unless the order was Fulfilled by Amazon). Instead, please contact the seller directly and take note of the following:
Some Marketplace sellers begin processing orders almost as soon as they are placed, so it's not possible to cancel or change a Marketplace order via our website.
However, sellers can process refunds and may be able to make changes if they haven't yet dispatched your order, so please contact your seller if you want to change or cancel your order.
Remember that Amazon.co.uk cannot cancel or change a Marketplace order on your behalf and we can't refund you for Marketplace purchases. If you e-mail us for these reasons, we'll ask you to contact your seller, by which time they may have already dispatched the item to you.

Maybe if you called them straight away before they get into the processing order phase?

smash

I actually bought my 16-35 from them and then learned of their reputation afterwards. the reason I went looking on google about them was because their currency rate is different when you pay and then it took about 6 weeks for delivery... I kicked up a fuss and I got the lens in the end at a massive saving but it was painful!

cazze

so it looks like i am tied in eh !

funny but when i bought the last lense my credit card company rang me to double check it was me making the purchase
as result the original order was cancelled

Did that happen tonight not likely :rolleyes:

Hopefully it works out okay ! a bit worried tbh

o yeah there defo is a difference in their currency converter alright
the funny thing is if i bought from them direct i would have got it for over 60 euro cheaper :mad:

highchap

Hi,

just wondering if anyone have used simplyelectronics.net to buy camera equipment. They seem to be able to sell at half the price of other places but it seems too good to be true. Before I spend good money on a website I've never really heard of, I was looking for advice on it.

Thanks.

troy1

They are surprisingly cheap and I was unsure about them last year when I saw a Canon lens for 100 euro cheaper than the shop. Having used them I can tell you all was well.

leche solara

agree with troy1. Can be slower than promised, but worth the wait

Gumbo

Have bought the following in the last 4 months from them :

Canon 550d
Canon 50mm f1.8 lens
Nikon D5100

All arrived safe and sound. We got the Nikon a week later than the website advised but within 2 weeks of ordering so no biggie.

Bottom line is, would I buy from them again..... Yes I would.

BlastedGlute

I was thinking about getting a 35mm 1.4 L from them. Any risk in it?

SinisterDexter

Your posting in the wrong area.
Yes Photography but not in events.

Also post on this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055334539 as it covers Scam websites.

zt-OctaviaN

A work colleague had ordered a Kindle before Christmas in Novemeber, 2nd week into December he had to cancel and call his credit card supplier he did not have a very good experience.

however... I too was also cautious when looking for a Canon 10-22mm lens for my 550D I spotted Panamoz.com same idea a site that sources from Hong Kong and ships out of UK.
Strange thing is the item wasnt in stock in the UK warehouse it was posted out from Hong Kong and got to me in 4 days even over a weekend.
Apparently they get billed for customs!
The lens retails at €899 here in Ireland and amazon.de is €670 + shipping panamoz.com was €590! thats what i paid!
By the way in your looking dont go near Dontons its known for fraud apparently.

N

MiskyBoyy

I read somewhere else on this site that when purchasing something from simplyelectonics.net you end up paying custom taxes after you receive the item but I have not used the site myself so cannot verify this. Can someone confirm if this is true or not so I will know myself if I choose to purchase something from there in future.

Gumbo

DaLad wrote: »

I read somewhere else on this site that when purchasing something from simplyelectonics.net you end up paying custom taxes after you receive the item but I have not used the site myself so cannot verify this. Can someone confirm if this is true or not so I will know myself if I choose to purchase something from there in future.

nope, ive never paid any customs charges on my 3 purchases from Simplyelectronics. All since september 2011.

Kenny Logins

DaLad wrote: »

I read somewhere else on this site that when purchasing something from simplyelectonics.net you end up paying custom taxes after you receive the item but I have not used the site myself so cannot verify this. Can someone confirm if this is true or not so I will know myself if I choose to purchase something from there in future.

It is true that Fedex can contact you up to 6 weeks after delivery with a customs bill, plus their own fee, but with SE the shipments appear to be cleared through one of their intermediaries in the UK before reaching you.

zt-OctaviaN

Just to let you know I haven't recieved any bill after 2 weeks and it came Hong Kong France, Dublin, panamoz.com said if you do get one send it through they will refund you the duty!

floody2010

Dont touch these with a barge pole.Ordered a camera on 27th of december which they said was in stock.Had to wait until 4th of january until my order was verified.After numerous attempts to contact them through their customer helpline (dublin number but transfers you to a hong kong call center)and via email i discovered they did not have my camera in stock (their website still showed 6 items in stock) and they could not give me a delivery date.Hence i cancelled my order on 16 of january only to be told i would have to wait 5 business days to recieve my refund.Eventually after getting pay pal involved i got my money back.definitely after years of shopping online the worst company i have ever experienced

Kenny Logins

floody2010 wrote: »

Dont touch these with a barge pole.Ordered a camera on 27th of december which they said was in stock.Had to wait until 4th of january until my order was verified.After numerous attempts to contact them through their customer helpline (dublin number but transfers you to a hong kong call center)and via email i discovered they did not have my camera in stock (their website still showed 6 items in stock) and they could not give me a delivery date.Hence i cancelled my order on 16 of january only to be told i would have to wait 5 business days to recieve my refund.Eventually after getting pay pal involved i got my money back.definitely after years of shopping online the worst company i have ever experienced

Did you do any reading up on them before ordering?

rickyjb

I recently tried to buy a phone from them, ordered it on Christmas day and was subjected to a long and awkward "verification" process that involved me sending them picture id, something I wasn't too happy about but did anyway as the phone was so cheap. 3 weeks pass and still no word of the item being dispatched so after several emails I find out that not only is the item not in stock they had no idea when it would be in stock. Nice of them to charge my credit card anyway:rolleyes:

So I requested my money back and in fairness to them got an email from paypal saying the money had been refunded within 2 days. I still haven't gotten the money back onto my credit card though, is this normal? My Paypal balance is zero.

Gumbo

Kenny Logins wrote: »

It is true that Fedex can contact you up to 6 weeks after delivery with a customs bill, plus their own fee, but with SE the shipments appear to be cleared through one of their intermediaries in the UK before reaching you.

Also, SE dont use FedEx, they use DHL. The shipment will come from the UK, so theres no custom charges applicable to the purchase.

Gumbo

rickyjb wrote: »

I recently tried to buy a phone from them, ordered it on Christmas day and was subjected to a long and awkward "verification" process that involved me sending them picture id, something I wasn't too happy about but did anyway as the phone was so cheap. 3 weeks pass and still no word of the item being dispatched so after several emails I find out that not only is the item not in stock they had no idea when it would be in stock. Nice of them to charge my credit card anyway:rolleyes:

The photo ID is pretty common online. i had to do it for ASOS, Karen Millen, and FCUK when ordering for my mam over the years. I wouldnt be too worried about a company asking for those details.

rickyjb wrote: »

So I requested my money back and in fairness to them got an email from paypal saying the money had been refunded within 2 days. I still haven't gotten the money back onto my credit card though, is this normal? My Paypal balance is zero.

Anytime i got refunds to my paypal, i had to manually transfer the funds to my bank account. can you still transfer to a credit card? although, whatever account you try to transfer to, it can take around 3-4 days.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Anytime i got refunds to my paypal, i had to manually transfer the funds to my bank account. can you still transfer to a credit card? although, whatever account you try to transfer to, it can take around 3-4 days.

Last time I paid with a credit card through paypal and got a refund, the money went back to the card, and not to paypal.


SimplyElectronics have amazing prices on a lot of gear. I've only used them once, though, and everything went smoothly for me. Bought a 24-105 lens, it was dispatched from the UK, and it arrived with me about a week after ordering.

Absolutely pristine condition, nothing dodgy about it. I'd recommend them based on my own experience, and I'd personally have no issue dealing with them again.

That said, according to online reports; I do believe that they get their stuff cheaper because they don't have warranties. For example, if you buy from Amazon, you get a Canon warranty. If you buy from SE, you get an SE warranty.

The difference being (according to what I've read online, anyway) is that if you send your lens back to Canon, chances are they'll fix whatever issue you're having, and send you back your lens. This is usually free if within a certain time frame.

With SE, you send your lens back to SE, and (apparently) they insist you damaged it yourself, give you the run-around, and eventually offer you SE credit to partial value of the lens, or offer to return it to you.

When you get it back you can send it to Canon, who you don't have a warranty with, and they'll charge you for the joy of fixing your lens.


Now that said, that's all I've heard online. I have no personal experience of this. I'd use them again if the price was right, no doubt about it.

I just bought a 70-200 f/4 L IS USM off Amazon.de. It worked out at about €90 more than SE, but that's not a massive amount and I'd trust Amazon more than SE if i run into problems.

jimmynokia

Its simple- steer clear of simply electronics.

im...LOST

I've used One Stop Digital twice in the past and they are very, very cheap for photo gear.

They let you claim your vat back if you get caught at customs. One of my lenses were then the other one wasn't so it's a bit of pot luck there...

Maybe worth a look if you are looking for cheap gear?

Kenny Logins

jimmynokia wrote: »

Its simple- steer clear of simply electronics.

It's not that simple. I've bought from them at an unbeatable prices with no complaints. Delivery delays can be a bit frustrating, but if that doesn't suit you, you should pay more to shop somewhere else.

Personally I prefer Onestop-digital and Amazon, because I don't mind paying that little bit extra to kill my impatience. ....before I have a hissyfit on the internet.

Gumbo

jimmynokia wrote: »

Its simple- steer clear of simply electronics.

Even more simple to go into the purchase with knowledge. Never assume any company will deliver within the specified timeframe etc etc

If i wanted an item in my hand in one day, i'd buy in a shop, if im prepared to wait a week or two and save a 100e give or take, i'll buy with SE, Amazon etc

I saved 75e by buying my 50mm lens and filter from SE, and had it with 8 working days, which by all acounts is not long at all.

bottom line, advice i would give to anybody is go with your own personal opinion, if you have a paranoia about online shops etc, buy in store. to some people, they dont mind spending an extra 50e to buy in store and have something that day, which is fine, but then you have some people that say, "feck that", that 50e will get me out for a few beers next week so we buy online.

floody2010

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Did you do any reading up on them before ordering?

NO,I didn't do any research on them before ordering.Only started when they started messing me around!

pullandbang

As I've already posted in the previous SE threads (this one is a complete zombie thread from 2009) I've bought and a friend has bought expensive L lenses from SE without any great difficulty - apart from them being a bit slower than they promise.

If you're going to buy from them, be prepared for a bit of a wait.....

McVitae

floody2010 wrote: »

Dont touch these with a barge pole.Ordered a camera on 27th of december which they said was in stock.Had to wait until 4th of january until my order was verified.After numerous attempts to contact them through their customer helpline (dublin number but transfers you to a hong kong call center)and via email i discovered they did not have my camera in stock (their website still showed 6 items in stock) and they could not give me a delivery date.Hence i cancelled my order on 16 of january only to be told i would have to wait 5 business days to recieve my refund.Eventually after getting pay pal involved i got my money back.definitely after years of shopping online the worst company i have ever experienced

the exact same thing happened me. Only difference is I ordered 4 days earlier than floody2010. Got my money refunded easy enough but had to demand the order be cancelled.

whyulittle

Ordered an in stock phone off them on Jan 9th. Left them for a while before following up to see had it even shipped.

Then the rubbish started, 'oh we're just snowed under with orders thanks to all our great offers'. Couldn't give me a date for when it would ship despite looking into my order and making it a priority blah blah blah.

Twice asked for a refund with no reply. Escalated it to Paypal, had my money back in my account 10 minutes later.

rickyjb

whyulittle wrote: »

Ordered an in stock phone off them on Jan 9th. Left them for a while before following up to see had it even shipped.

Then the rubbish started, 'oh we're just snowed under with orders thanks to all our great offers'. Couldn't give me a date for when it would ship despite looking into my order and making it a priority blah blah blah.

Twice asked for a refund with no reply. Escalated it to Paypal, had my money back in my account 10 minutes later.

As I said in my previous post I started getting nervous when not alone had they not shipped within 3 weeks of me ordering but they didn't even know when they would have the item in stock! Needless to say the phone at this point in time is still advertised as being delivered in "1-2 business days" on the front page of their website. I had already sent them a few emails so as soon as I heard this I requested a refund which they did within 48 hours so can't fault them there. I did mention that I'd be reporting my experience of them on various online discussion boards etc, seemed to speed them up a bit:pac: The money went straight back onto my credit card through paypal which was fine.

gloobag

Just out of curiosity, what's the story with the warranty on cameras and lenses bought from Simply Electronics? I've seen a lot of these places shipping from out of HK don't offer a manufacturers warranty, just some 3rd party thing.

Gumbo

gloobag wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, what's the story with the warranty on cameras and lenses bought from Simply Electronics? I've seen a lot of these places shipping from out of HK don't offer a manufacturers warranty, just some 3rd party thing.

Warranty is 1 year with SE themselves.

jimmynokia

ProofOfQuality wrote: »

Simply Electronics is, a leading online electronic goods retailer based in Hong Kong. They acknowledge they have had service issues, and have put resources in place to resolve them. They have made a commitment to a monitored Proof of Quality initiative to verify their standards and to add new levels of reassurance to consumers.

This has resulted in the swift resolution of cases that have to date utilised the new resources. The cases reported thus far have been an extremely small percentage of the overall customer number and any customer with concerns about the company is urged to use the resources now available.

Please go to the Simply Electronics website - http://www.simplyelectronics.net/ and click on the Proof of Quality seal in Security section for more details.

jimmynokia

kceire wrote: »

Even more simple to go into the purchase with knowledge. Never assume any company will deliver within the specified timeframe etc etc

If i wanted an item in my hand in one day, i'd buy in a shop, if im prepared to wait a week or two and save a 100e give or take, i'll buy with SE, Amazon etc

I saved 75e by buying my 50mm lens and filter from SE, and had it with 8 working days, which by all acounts is not long at all.

bottom line, advice i would give to anybody is go with your own personal opinion, if you have a paranoia about online shops etc, buy in store. to some people, they dont mind spending an extra 50e to buy in store and have something that day, which is fine, but then you have some people that say, "feck that", that 50e will get me out for a few beers next week so we buy online.

7

You must be lucky and one of the handful of lucky people thats out there.
Have you googled (is simply electronics safe)..??

Gav689908

This is for anyone who is considering buying anything from simply electronics, They are a disgrace, Ordered a sony ericsson phone off them on the 21 Dec 2011 and as of now they still have not even dispatched my item, after numerous phone calls and e mails, still no phone. 4 weeks later and still not dispatched. Iv just ordered them to refund my paypal account so my advice stay away from these GANGSTERS.

Gumbo

jimmynokia wrote: »

You must be lucky and one of the handful of lucky people thats out there.
Have you googled (is simply electronics safe)..??

No, theres a good few lucky ones on here too. I wouldnt mind if it was a sole case, but 3 separate orders for me went smoothly.

I googled SE before i bought, but figured it was all hype, and keyboard moan bags moaning because the website said 5-7 days, so when it was 37 seconds passed the 7th day, they were up in arms.

I just figured i was paying by paypal, so i covered at 2 ends, through paypal, and my CC company (MBNA).

im a savvy shopper, and i understand others are not fully clued up to the net and public reviews and would be hesitant to use them but for me, i have a canon 550d, canon 18-135 lens and canon 50mm lens on my sofa for less than the cost to buy the camera with kit lens here in Dublin. For that alone, it was worth it for me.

whyulittle

Gav689908 wrote: »

This is for anyone who is considering buying anything from simply electronics, They are a disgrace, Ordered a sony ericsson phone off them on the 21 Dec 2011 and as of now they still have not even dispatched my item, after numerous phone calls and e mails, still no phone. 4 weeks later and still not dispatched. Iv just ordered them to refund my paypal account so my advice stay away from these GANGSTERS.

Find the transaction in your PayPal account, and open a dispute through them directly.

Ordered my phone through Amazon yesterday, despatched today. How about that.

bigjohn66

kceire wrote: »

No, theres a good few lucky ones on here too. I wouldnt mind if it was a sole case, but 3 separate orders for me went smoothly.

I googled SE before i bought, but figured it was all hype, and keyboard moan bags moaning because the website said 5-7 days, so when it was 37 seconds passed the 7th day, they were up in arms.

I just figured i was paying by paypal, so i covered at 2 ends, through paypal, and my CC company (MBNA).

im a savvy shopper, and i understand others are not fully clued up to the net and public reviews and would be hesitant to use them but for me, i have a canon 550d, canon 18-135 lens and canon 50mm lens on my sofa for less than the cost to buy the camera with kit lens here in Dublin. For that alone, it was worth it for me.

That is all fine but I hope you don’t have any problems with any product you bought. You do not have a manufactures warrantee so you are relying on them to repair it which dose not always happen. They could not repair a lens belonging to a friend of mine and offered him a 50% refund.

If all goes well with them then fine but they have two major flaws. Delivery times and warrantee. I can live with delivery times if I know about it or can cancel my order if it goes too long but I would not like to spend hundred or even thousands of Euro with them and find I have at best a shoddy warrantee if something goes wrong with it.

Ratsathome

Did the same as Gav.Ordered a phone on 6 Jan.Not shiped up to this morning.Sent email for cancelation and refund.

Fidelis

My experience with SimplyElectronics was similar to many other people here: I ordered an item which was in stock, and advertised as "Usually Ships in 1-2 Business Days". The website stated that "The delivery process is normally completed within 2-7 working days".

However, I had read some threads around the forums and was prepared to wait up to 3 weeks for delivery. After 2 weeks, and no dispatch email, I contacted them. They said they were very busy and would upgrade my shipping to Express Delivery. I contacted them again after another week, and they said they were "still unable to give an estimated dispatch date", so I cancelled my order.

The fact that they couldn't even supply an estimated dispatch date 3 weeks after taking my money is quite absurd.

jimmynokia

kceire wrote: »

No, theres a good few lucky ones on here too. I wouldnt mind if it was a sole case, but 3 separate orders for me went smoothly.

I googled SE before i bought, but figured it was all hype, and keyboard moan bags moaning because the website said 5-7 days, so when it was 37 seconds passed the 7th day, they were up in arms.

I just figured i was paying by paypal, so i covered at 2 ends, through paypal, and my CC company (MBNA).

im a savvy shopper, and i understand others are not fully clued up to the net and public reviews and would be hesitant to use them but for me, i have a canon 550d, canon 18-135 lens and canon 50mm lens on my sofa for less than the cost to buy the camera with kit lens here in Dublin. For that alone, it was worth it for me.

point taken but it seems to be the camera stuff they actually can deliver within estimated guidelines,after that its a no no..

Gumbo

jimmynokia wrote: »

point taken but it seems to be the camera stuff they actually can deliver within estimated guidelines,after that its a no no..

yeah ive been getting that vibe too.
Ive never ordered anything else other than camera gear so cant comment on it. Strange one in fairness

Its amazing that one company can be so good in one transaction, and so bad in another