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The
Trouble with the Internet and some camera vendors.
First off .. this is not a complaining session.
I also do not have any desire to destroy anyones lively hood either.
This is just a recounting of events that totally destroyed my faith in
Internet camera sellers especially those from the FSU.
Please just read it and take it as a warning to purchasers out there as
to some of the problems that can arise from this online form of
communication that we are so quickly embracing.
If a person is desiring a place to complain about things there are
plenty of online forums that would happily accommodate them in this
regard , but for me , here , it is just to relate my experiences.
In late September , early October 2004 I ordered a whole bunch of
lenses from a very well known and respected American Kiev seller ,
K*****amera.
In the past I have bought a number of camera bodies and lenses from
this person with absolutely no problems at all and overall I have been
very pleased with the product , delivery time and value for money.
So overall I was very surprised with the way things turned out and
greatly disappointed in the seller K*****amera.
K*****amera has been selling things both from their web site and
through the online auction site eBay for many years and from what I can
tell have developed a fine reputation in their field.
I felt that dealing with this firm , individual or whoever was secure
and would again be carried to completion in a professional and
satisfactory way.
The items that I bought were a 30mm Arsat , 150mm Hartblei , 250mm
Arsat lenses and 1 lens reversing ring.
When the box arrived at my home I found that the 150mm Hartblei was not
inside and that the 250mm lens was faulty.
These were all advertised as being new , unused and come with a full
warranty.
So first of all the 150mm lens was missing.
I hadn't received any notification as to why it wasn't boxed together
with my other things , in fact , NO RESPONSE at all.
I have found now that NO RESPONSE is the typical way that K*****amera
deals with even the smallest of problems.
The 250mm lens had a badly sticking aperture iris.
When opened up all the way either by rotating the aperture ring or when
placed on the camera the iris would open up and not close down for the
shot when required.
At times when it did close down it was slow to do so.
This makes a lens unusable and not fit for sale as a NEW lens.
Admittedly the quality control from the Kiev Arsenal factory is not the
best but surely if a seller wants to keep his good reputation he would
inspect all items before they are even offered for sale just to limit
or reduce the amount of returns.
This is simple business sense - another thing I found lacking from
K*****amera.
This stuck iris didn't bother me too much as that lens was sold with a
warranty , so although disappointed that I had to send it away to be
fixed when it was new I just took it as one of those things that happen
and that K*****amera would come to my rescue and give me a new one.
K*****amera instructed via email for me to send it to his repairer in
the Ukraine and while the postage was VERY high I decided that it still
was a good idea to get this fixed for free by proper camera people that
K*****amera recommends , that know the gear , rather than me do the
repair myself or arrange for a third party to fix it.
On this email he also lets me know that the 150mm lens would be sent
next Wednesday (but what year?)
According to my local post office the 250mm lens would arrive at the
repairers place in the Ukraine about the 3rd of December.
One thing that I requested K*****amera to do for me was to put a note
in the box when returning my lens saying that the 250mm lens was a
returned warranty replacement at no charge.
This was so that when the box was opened at the customs department in
my country for inspection (for applicable import duty) that they would
know that I had already payed tax on it once before.
Otherwise I would have to pay another approximately 30% on what they
think its value is.
Quite a simple request from me which the seller agreed to do.
I don't mind paying import tax , but only once !
13th of December I wrote to K*****amera and enquired about how the
250mm lens repair or replacement was going.
19th of December I wrote to K*****amera and enquired about how the
250mm lens repair or replacement was going.
On the 18th of December (his systems date) K*****amera informed me that
the 250mm lens was ¨ready to go¨ and that he wanted my address
again for return postage details.
He added that the 150mm Hartblei lens would not be ready until January
15th and that if I wished for a refund he would give it or a substitute
item.
Later that day (my 19th) I replied and gave my address and reminded him
to add that note for my customs people.
At this time I indicated that I was willing to wait until mid January
for the Hartblei lens.
7th of January went by with no response from K*****amera about the
lenses.
The next day on the 8th I got a short reply saying that both lenses
will be shipped between the 15th and 17th of January.
31st January and I still hadn't received the lenses . So I wrote
back to the seller ¨How are things going with these lenses?¨
No reply.
4th February I still hadn't received the lenses . So I wrote back to
the seller ¨ How are things going with these lenses? They are still
not here.¨
Hey .... this deja vu thingo is happening again.!!
Again No reply.
9th of February I got this reply ¨almost done will be ready by feb
18 100 %¨
At this time I really knew inside that the seller was not telling the
truth , stalling for time and that I would be lucky if I ever saw any
lenses.
On the 28th of February I sent the following email ,
¨Hi ,,
I am still waiting for these 2 lenses.
It has been over 4 months now.
Can you let me know of an exact arrival date ..or we will have to
arrange a refund for the two lenses and my extra shipping costs to get
the faulty one back to you.
regards¨
By the 3rd of March I hadn't had a reply to the above email.
This is when K*****amera goes into stealth mode with no email's hoping
that I will go away.
Going away was NOT an option for ME as I had $500 worth of lenses on
the line.
As these things were purchased through the online auction site eBay and
not privately , I felt that that I also had a level of protection from
problems with sellers.
Boy , was I wrong.
When I emailed eBay there reply was ;
¨Since this listing ended over 60 days ago, you will not be able to
file
an Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described dispute.¨
¨We are committed to working with you to protect your safety and
help
you
succeed on eBay. Input from members like you is invaluable and helps us
reach our goal to keep transactions on eBay free from fraudulent
activity.
Regards,
eBay SafeHarbor Department¨
BULL SHEEET !!
what there nice sounding words mean is that for whatever reason , even
with out right deception and lying if you don't file a dispute with the
60 days you have no leg to stand on !!
That is just NOT RITE eBay , You should be shamed of yourselves and
stop supporting the liars , thieves and cheats !
And they say they are committed to working with us , what a joke.
Pardon me while I pewk.
Because K*****amera was now ignoring any email's from my normal email
address I decided to do a little sneaky thing to get his attention.
On the 13th of March I used the eBay email forwarding system and a
DIFFERENT email address.
K*****amera did not recognise it was me so he replied to my email.
Now that I knew he was indeed alive and emailable I resent ALL of our
previous email's so he knew exactly what was going on.
His reply on the 18th was ;
¨Dear Gregg
I am back from Ukraine
4 am local time in Atlanta
the good news the 250 in my hands perfect new
the bad.... 150 mm lenses not ready¨
¨please let me know what can I do??¨
So that I could be sure of getting something I agreed to take a lesser
quality lens.
This 120mm lens I settled on was available when I payed for the 150mm
and it was a cheaper price but I wanted the higher quality one and
payed more.
Nevertheless I agreed to take the cheaper lens and I didn't ask for the
extra purchase money back.
¨Instead of supplying the 150mm then , I would take
the Hartblei 120 in place of it if possible.¨
On the 20th of March K*****amera agreed that this would be a good
solution.
Later that day K*****amera emailed me asking for my address , how
many times do I have to resend him that information ? (but never mind)
I got an email saying that both lens's were shipped on the 22nd of
March ,,WOO HOOO:-D
At last I was getting my 250mm lens back fully repaired and a portrait
lens too.
Even though it had taken many months to get even this far I was still
hopeful that everything would turn out OK.
But Ime soon in for another K*****amera disappointment.
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¨trouble with vendors¨ article