Keh sold me a lemon

If you are considering buying any gear from keh (ebay login name:kehoutlet), read my story first.
If you have just placed your order from them, cross your finger.

I open my story for public interest so internet shoppers can shop smart before they handle their cash.

I bought a hasselblad 180mm CF lens from keh which was claimed as Like New, but when it arrived, it was defective.

The plastic rear ring which can be replaced by a quick focusing ring had already broken, and the black matt coating for anti-flare function round the rim of a lens had peared off. I sent keh an email to return it for a full refund, but they direct me to contact the shipper first to decide what had happen to the package.

I did contact the shipper and they told me that there is no damage to the parcel, so it is not their responsibility to the defected item, and they did call the person in charge in keh right away and leaved a voice message about their conclusion.

After 2........... days and after I sent an email to push keh to give me a reply, they told me that as there is no damage of the package, I could not start a damage claim! Wow! That is tricky! That is not a damage claim. They sold me a lemon which they claimed as Like New. The fact is, the lens coating is defected due to aging or rough lens cleaning procedure as a repairman had told me. In their email Keh sent to me, they never touch or mention , or ask for more details about the issue of the defective coating. They are really smart in returning email, I think! They are avoiding the issue!

As their response is pretty slow and they tried their best to avoid talking about the defective issue, their creditbility had been totally damaged by themselves.

Simply saying, I dont trust them any more. Even if they said I could return the lens to them, I wont do it, because of their attitude there is no guaranty that they will do anything good in this issue.

Well, I did learn a lesson from this. Please don't follow!

If you read a lot of positive feedbacks, please be notify that people will pay for positive feedbacks. It is too good to be true that some companies got very high reputation in the market.

Hopes my story can help.

If you need help, you can go to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection to file your case.
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq $.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

Yeung

I've bought a number of items from KEH and have been very satisfied.

Why didn't you return it? They have a 14 day return policy.

Jim Coffey said:

I've bought a number of items from KEH and have been very satisfied.

Why didn't you return it? They have a 14 day return policy.

Click to expand...

He did say "I sent keh an email to return it for a full refund, but they direct me to contact the shipper first to decide what had happen to the package."

OTOH I find it suspicious when a (brand new) user's first and second message in these forums is to complain about a vendor for whom we've seen no complaints in the past.

Olga

First, read my story again, you will know why.

If a company damaged their own creditbility, will you send the item back to them and still hope that they will do something?

If they really want to resolve the issue, they should ask for details, discuss with me and give me a direction. Not until they read my story in the internet, they offer me a condition just returning the item with no furthur guaranty.

Imagine you take your gear to a repair shop. The repairman will ask for details so that he knows how and where to fix. If he doesnt ask, what is that mean? Do you think he does care about that business?

Damage is done by keh themselves.

Shoppers should think before they handle their cash.

Good luck guys.

Firstly, there are complains inthe intenet about keh. Dont be misleaded guys.

Secondly, I felt suspicious that there are so many people defending keh.
Some are telling the truth from the bottom of their heart, I know.
The fact is some or many dont.

You think that I am doing this cause I got paid. I hope I did!

It is so nice that my story is discussed.

bayon said:

Firstly, there are complains inthe intenet about keh. Dont be
misleaded guys.

Secondly, I felt suspicious that there are so many people defending
keh.

Click to expand...

Who defended keh? I know that I did not.

bayon said:

Some are telling the truth from the bottom of their heart, I know.
The fact is some or many dont.

You think that I am doing this cause I got paid. I hope I did!

Click to expand...

Paid? That never crossed my mind!

bayon said:

It is so nice that my story is discussed.

Click to expand...

Your "story" is being challenged, not discussed.

You have no prior history with these forums, and your only reason for registering with an alias is to badmouth a business and yet expect the rest of us to take your word for it?

Did you think of ....calling them directly? They even provide a 1-800 number.

Olga

Olga,

Here are complains about keh. check the link.

No complains! Are you kidding me?

Is that saying suspicous?

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007EKG

I've bought and sold from Keh several times. They are in business to make money. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

But, if you send the item back within 14 days, they probably will give you your money back. That's what I think. That's what I would do.

If the lens is no good, you are better off getting your money back. You may be making too much of this. I got a bad camera from them. I sent it back. It wasn't the end of the world.

George Sears

bayon said:

If a company damaged their own creditbility, will you send the item
back to them and still hope that they will do something?

Click to expand...

Tthey offer a 14 day return so you should have done that - if you didn't then you can't expect them to help you. Plus, if you paid by PayPal you could always dispute the payment if they didn't fix it.

bayon said:

If they really want to resolve the issue, they should ask for
details, discuss with me and give me a direction. Not until they
read my story in the internet, they offer me a condition just
returning the item with no furthur guaranty.

Click to expand...

Why - they offer a return option so use it. What do you want them to do? They'll take it back and refund your money. If it arrived broken they probably want the shipper to examine the box to see if it was damaged in transit.

Personally, everything I've bought from KEH has been as described or better and their sales people are pretty knowledgeable about what they sell. No hard sell and the stuff arrives when they said it would in the condition advertised.

The thread you refer to has mostly people that ultimately were satisfied with KEH. Out of curiosity - what was the condition they advertised for the lens you bought?

Any time you have to go back over 2 years to find a complaint about a company, it should tell you something.

Did you read thru that thread you linked to? Here's part of the final message:

"The coda to this story (for those who care) is that my replacement lens came today. "

So even the 2-1/2 yr "complaint" you found on the internet was solved.

Pick up the phone and TALK to keh about your problem. You will get better results than arguing with me over the subject.

Olga

Thanks George,

I did sent them email to resolve the issue, but it seems that they didn't want to touch the problem.

As I had read stories in the internet, they treat people outside the state differently. My story proved that.

You are right, this is not the end of the world. I did want to reslove this in a win-win situation in my first email to them but keh just ignore it. That make me feel very unsafe.

I looked at your link and it looks like the only real complaints are from the person that originally posted and yourself. I have dealt with KEH myself, including returns, without issue. I have called them and spoken to very polite people when I have had any problem with merchandise and been treated promptly and fairly. Why don't you just return the lens, get your refund and never deal with them again. If you paid by credit card, send it back with delivery confirmation and if you don't receive a refund, contact your cc company and have the charge reversed. I don't think it would come to this however, and I don't understand your willingness to keep a defective lens, only to complain about a company that so many have been pleased with.

Regards, Paul

BTW, they haven't paid me either!
--
Lili's Dad

http://www.pbase.com/lilis_papa

George,

I wouldn't open my story to the public if they treat this issue properly.
That is the fact.

I agree that sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but it is them make this into a lose-lose situation.

By the way, some guys' feeling in this froum had been hurt.
I am really sorry about this.

Thanks again!

Hi,

I know they don't want you to send things back. That costs them money. So they may not encourage it. And they may not offer you any other option.

You are basically stuck with their rules. If you like the item, you keep it and, if not, you send it back.

It doesn't do any good to talk to them. Generally, if you don't get what you want, you have to send it back. The people you talk to or email don't have the authority to do much of anything.

Keh is more reliable than Ebay. That's what I would say, especially with older stuff.

Good luck.

George Sears

I've sold and bought with KEH quite a few times now, dozens of items. Everything has always been prompt, fair and accurate. The only time I had an issue was with a used camera, and the issue was very subjective; nonetheless, they took it back and sent me another camera. Totally painless. I suspect you started the whole conversation with them by saying it was damaged in shipping, rather than it didn't live up to its quality rating, so of course they're focused on it possibly being the shipper's fault. That seems like the only explanation for all the rest.

Hi there,

Thank you for your advice. I used the word "defected" other than damage

and even sent them photos right away, but they never ask or mention the issue when they return my emails.

It was until they read my story in the internet they gave a response. But it was too late as credibility had been damaged.

So the best deal to me is to pay for repairing the lens myself and open my story for public interest.

I did try to resolve this in a win-win situation but they seem to ignore it.

Thanks again!

From what I understand KEH is usually pretty good about their ratings... I guess no large business is perfect though. I bought a lens that was rated as ugly from them... it was about the same condition as something an Ebay seller would rate as like new. I think the reason there is a lot of supporters of KEH is that there is a lot of people that have had good experiences.
--



Technical Info: Roseart U.S.A. Gold #2 pencil, Pentel High Polymer eraser, Academie sketch pad drawing paper. Drawn clumsily under relatively poor light.

http://www.geocities.com/wild_tiger_1

http://flickr.com/photos/selrahcharles/

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your comment.

I dont want to keep a defective lens, but after considering the cost of shipping and there is no gurranty that I will get a refund, plus it can be repaired here in hk in a reasonable price, I made that decision.

By the way, what make me think that they will give me a full refund?
By other guys experience? I am afraid I dont think so.

I know I hurt keh supporters' feeling here, but it is a true story that did not start by me.

I open my story just for public interest.

NB : I wasn't paid to do so!

Hi there,

Thanks for your concern. Actually, I dont mean to argue with anyone here.

I did missed the ending of the story. Well, if I have a happy ending here, I will open it to the public too!

If you read the emails sending to me by keh, you will know why I have to open my story.

If they really want to resolve the issue, why not doing it at the very beginning?

If credibility is damged, it is just too hard to be fixed.

I am sorry I hurrt the feeling of keh supporters here.

NB : I wasn't paid to open my story.

You have to feel sorry for Bayon.....

He's a newbie who comes on here in good faith, and with no apparent malicious intent, and asks a perfectly legitimate question about a defective/misrepresented lens he bought online from KEH.

What then happens? He's attacked as though he's personally committed some foul crime against KEH and should be ashamed for even suggesting they're at fault in any way. As per usual, all the KEH fanboys come out of the woodwork, with their "Gee, I've bought dozens of lenses and cameras from them and never had anything less than excellent service every time!"

Yeah, well that's all fine and good for you satisfied customers, but does a guy who's having a genuine problem with KEH really need to hear story after story about how great they are? Obviously not, which then means most of the responses in this thread are of absolutely no help to Bayon.

One response in particular made me laugh. Poor old Olga Johnson with her conspiracy theory about Bayon's motives. No attempt to help the guy out at all — straight in there boots and all! Makes you wonder why some people are so defensive doesn't it? Might be time for a cup of coffee, a Prozac and a lie down Olga hehe.

Etagimbo gave Bayon such a polite, well-considered response too. It really warms my heart to see such a caring attitude from longer term members here towards new chums. Telling Bayon nobody was really interested in his problem with KEH must have made his day too. Thanks Etagimbo — maybe I can return your rudeness in kind one day.

Anyway Bayon, I'm sorry I can't offer you any suggestions with your problem, as I'm in Australia and usually buy my gear from bricks 'n' mortar stores. All I can do is wish you the best of luck getting it sorted out.

Oh, and I'd just like to apologise (as I've been around here a while) for the unacceptable netiquette of some of the other members of this forum, who should really know better how to treat a newbie.

Cheers from Downunder.