ARSPR
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Regular Member
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Posts: 385
A piece of advice: avoid German Foto Erhardt shop
Oct 7, 2015
1
It's been quite a long time since I posted anything here (busy life), but today I just want to share a horrible experience I've suffered (well, I'm currently suffering) with this shop.
You know, the quality of shops is shown when problems arise. Normally you buy something through Internet, you receive it and that's all. Everything has gone flawlessly so can you actually swear that that shop is a good one? Who knows...
Let's start my story (sorry but it's going to be long and detailed).
Because of whatever reason, Samsung photographic gear is getting really hard to obtain in Europe, but maybe in Germany. This has been discussed in several threads as example this one .
Because of it, I made my mind to buy the expensive Samsung S 50-150 lens once for all and because of this post in that thread I decided for Foto Erhardt. (I had already tried to buy it from another Dutch shop but funkandsoda was faster than me and bought the last one at an incredibly good price ).
Nevertheless Foto Erhardt seemed a serious shop and they are also attempting to build an international one in their web page (translating it to English in a queer and partial way, but hey!, we just want photographic gear, not English courses...).
- I received the lens without delay on August 29th. But when I attach it to my NX1, I detect it's defective. The package (and the lens) didn't suffer any kind of physical damage (there was no obvious hit on them), but whenever I mount the lens I get an "Error 00" message. (I attach a picture taken with my phone):
Defective lens - Error 00 message
- Of course, I quickly emailed Foto Erhardt... No answer, although I actually told them that on Monday (August 29th was Saturday) I was going to consult the Samsung Service here in Madrid (Yes, I'm the unluckiest person about Samsung NX1 gear, I've also suffered this strange trouble with my NX1 dials , so I sadly knew them beforehand...)
- On that Monday 31st, the Samsung Service technician directly advised to return the lens back...
- Therefore I emailed Foto Erhardt saying that I wanted to return my lens and get a new one. Although they suggested a warranty repair, I OBVIOUSLY didn't want it. I had bought a new lens, not a REPAIRED-who-knows-how lens.
- After several days and emails, Foto Erhardt doesn't provide me with any way to ship the lens back so I have to pay for it on my own. (More about this and the contract clauses later...).
- Ok, no problem. I can understand them. They just don't trust me as they have not seen the lens. Therefore I assume that I have to advance the return shipment costs.
- But the real trouble arises when they actually receive the lens back (because of unknown delays it was on September 15th). In that very same moment they can easily check that there were NO HITS OR ANY OTHER PHYSICAL DAMAGE IN THE LENS. (In fact the person who wrote me the reception email did ask me what I wanted. A refund? another item?. She didn't complain about a DAMAGED unit). But afterwards they say that they have to send the lens to their Technical Service for revision. And they neither tell me WHY this is needed nor how long it's going to take. (LOTS of times, I've asked them how I could be responsible for whichever internal damage, misaligned optical group, FUBAR motion sensor, defective chip or whatever trouble it suffers. And you can imagine how many answers, clever or stupid, it doesn't matter, I've received: NONE).
- Finally, on September 28th, they refund my money back. BUT ONLY OF THE LENS. NEITHER THE ORIGINAL SHIPMENT, NOR THE PAYMENT METHOD FEE, NOR THE RETURN SHIPMENT COSTS. I'm still reclaiming them (my only other option is going to the police, but it's "only" about 60 €). And maybe I'm stupid or I don't know enough English language (my mother tongue is Spanish) but I'm going to copy several clauses about these costs as I'm fully convinced Foto Erhardt must assume them. (Again I haven't received a SINGLE answer about why they haven't refund these costs).
From their web page about Contract Withdrawals (I mean even when there's not any kind of trouble, just a customer saying "I don't want it. Period"):
Effects of cancellation
If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
From the contract clauses you get when you fulfill the purchase (about returning shipment costs):
8.1 Cost coverage agreement Should the customer exercise his right of cancellation, he shall bear the normal cost of return, insofar as the delivered goods matched the goods ordered and the price for the returned items does not exceed 40 euros or, if the price is higher, the customer has not yet paid the consideration due or has only paid the instalment agreed in the contract at the time of cancellation. Otherwise all returns are free of charge to our customers.
And I suppose you agree that the delivered goods didn't match the ordered ones as I didn't obviously ordered a broken or defective product.
But this is not everything that has happened...
In fact I was, (and I am), extremely interested in this lens so my first emails to them asked for a replacement rather than a money refund.
But, curiously, a few days after my purchase this product disappeared from their web page. Coincidence? Or rather I bought the last unit? (I was actually confirmed through email that the lens was indeed out of stock...).
Ok no, problem here, let's suppose I bought the last one. Nothing unethical here.
But the problem in this case is that when I bought the lens there were TWO different S 50-150 lenses:
- A brand new one model. (The product I bought).
- A discounted one as it was a showroom or brick-and-mortar-store demonstration unit or whatever...
And both disappeared at the very same time. Coincidence? Again?
But it's even worse. Just after receiving it, and while it was supposedly on "technical" revision before they could refund my money, both lenses reappeared on their web page. In fact they are still there:
Coincidence? AGAIN?
Just in case, I'm going to post a picture of the bar code of the lens... If you still want to buy from this shop, I would double-check you are not going to get this unit...
Do not buy this unit. It's defective.
