A warning about Simply Electronics!

Yes, this invites ridicule but I thought it best to warn the unwary.

Simply Electronics are guilty of deception and theft. They have taken my money under false pretences and it seems unlikely at the moment that it will be returned.

I ordered a lens from them, which they said they had in stock, but it transpires this is totally false. Even after I cancelled the order they processed it and took the money. Contacting them is almost impossible. Phone calls are never answered and e-mails mostly come back automatically, or are full of false platitudes and promises.

I suspect this is a clever company that fulfils earlier orders to get you to lower your defences and then stings you on the higher value items.
I hope that this will prevent any other photographer from using their services.

There's a fair amount of adverse comments around on that company and here is one posted in another forum in May last year....

...'.Well I tried purchasing from this company and found they advertise products I was unable to find elsewhere, tell you they are available , take the money and then fail to deliver the goods, whilst offering various reason as to why the products are no longer available.... various bank transfer later and I am out of pocket

Then you get to deal with the muppets in the call centre, who all refuse to offer a surname (because that might mean responsibility) the manager is never available and he has no surname either ... Avoid Avoid Avoid.'

As always, BUY CHEAP, BUY DEAR.

In this case it was good but not particularly so. Primarily it was the assurance that they had stock, both on line and an e-mail enquiry.

They suckered me because I had bought an expensive flash a couple of weeks prior and had no problems.

Various options open to you.

Did you pay by credit card? If so, contact your c/card company now and ask them to pursue the retailer for the refund asap. This they should be willing to do for you. Be prepared to give them copies of any paperwork or emails they may need.

In the UK, the 'Distance Selling Regulations 2000' apply here (Google it). This is the relevant extract.

Refunds (Regulation 14)
When do I have to refund a consumer’s money if they cancel
an order?
3.46 As soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and in any case
within 30 days at the latest.

This is mandatory, the retailer has no choice in the matter. E/mail them the extract & ask for a written explanation as to why they are in breach of the regulations. Also tell them that if you do not receive a refund within say 7 days you will refer the matter to the Office Of Fair Trading and initiate court proceedings.

If neither of the above get a result (and one of them should) dont be afraid to take them to court using the small claims procedure. It is simpler to do than people think & you dont need a lawyer. If it gets to this stage , conatct your local CAB for advice on how to proceed.

Hope this helps, post back if you want anything clarified.

--
Shay son of Che
Send lawyers guns and money,................

I had a similar experience with Simply Electronics just before Xmas.

Order a Canon 135mm F2.0L from them which the indicated was in stock. Payed by credit card. Nothing happened for 3 or 4 days, so I emailed them to enquire about the delay. A couple of days later they replied that they were still acquiring the item. So I cancelled the order by email and asked for a refund quoting the UK distance celling regulations. Again, they didn't reply for a couple of days and then asked why I'd cancelled the order. I reply that I no longer needed the lens and asked for a refund. After a further couple of days they did actually cancelled the order and said they would refund to the credit card in the next few days. A week later and no refund, so I contacted the credit card company and started charge back proceeding. I informed Simply of this again by email, and they eventually refunded after another week or so.

So, it is possible to get a refund from Simply, but it does take some time.

Of course I tried to phone them on many occasions, and never succeeded in getting connected to anyone. They have a fancy phone queueing system that either eventually forwards your call to an unknown number or alternatively arbitrarily drops your call after 10 minutes.

I'll never used Simply Electronics again, but if you do, please use a credit card, and remember that they are a HK based company and import stock from other parts of the world. This stock probably won't be covered by the manufacturer's warrantee in your country, so you'll be relying on Simply Electronics' warrantee...

--nick