[Closed] Online retailers that look too cheap to be true

Never heard of them, but if it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

First review I found online for Froomoo:

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/ri/42946/Froomoo

Not exactly glowing. Also,

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1038782

So yeah. Avoid.

http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.simplyelectronics.net

"Avoid AT ALL COST. hong-kong based, no reply,"

"Simply Electronics indicated that they had 5 cameras in stock when they accepted my order, but they were unable to supply one.

After 6 weeks I haven't received my refund and have now referred this to my credit card company."

http://www.avforums.com/forums/gadgets-toys/1224798-simply-electronics-warning.html

"I actually think the original 80 page thread was serving a valuable purpose as it was a great way to track peoples progress in getting goods or refunds from a company with one of the worst reputations on the net. "

Etc, etc, etc.

Just google the [i]company name address[/i]

In these Terms of Use, we refer to SimplyElectronics Ltd. as "SE" and the website as the "Site". Our address is:

SimplyElectronics Limited
1501-1508, Millennium City 5,
418 Kwun Tong Road,
Kwun Tong, Kowloon,
HongKong

So they are fibbing about the provenance of their stuff.. makes sense, the prices look like the Far East prices.

Ta.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/SimplyElectronics

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Froomoo

Oh. Dear.

google Yorkshire Cameras if you want a laugh..

did he mean london? hah

This is an extract from the domain registry entry. Should be somewhere to report it and get it taken down but I don't know how I do that.

Administrative Contact:
Puniskis, Stasys gm_recruitment@ymail.com
473 High road
Leyton, Londonas e10 5el
GB
+44.7737981975
Technical Contact:
Hostmaster, IV hostmaster@iv.lt
J. Kubiliaus g. 6
Vilnius, 08234
LT
+370.52324444

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nottingham/discuss/72157626629671186/

[url= http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/olympusmarket/ ]Olympusmarket[/url] on ebay has been plugged by [url= http://www.43rumors.com/refurbished-stuff-in-europe/ ]43rumours.[/url] Might be worth a look.

Agh! £218 E-PL1 refurb, 4 mins left!

Jesus 5e, that ebay shop is frighteningly tempting..!

Olympus mju tough cameras going for around £100... Considering bidding on one.

Mol, I too had been wondering about them, another one is camerabox. Again, too good to be true.

"Do not buy from XXXX - you'd be insane to do so bla bla bla....I did and this is what I found..."

😆

473 High road
Leyton

That address they give is one of those ring your family abroad for a quid type places in a very grotty row of shops

Yup - SE have a deservedly shite rep over on ephotozine. Lots of tales of poor customer service, missing goods and three month waits, after which nothing is delivered, with the very occasional, "Well, my order arrived in three weeks and was fine". Avoid.

Olympusmarket are factory refurbs tho apparently, makes a bit more sense. The fact they are offering only a limited range of stuff seems to back that up. Good ebay feedback too.

@ molgrips

Get one of the shonky ones and it might help cure your online spending habit?

jetlagged i ordered a camera ("in stock") from simplyelectronics as on one feedback sight they had good reviews (presumably paid for) no stock / no delivery date available - 8 weeks to get a refund and copies of correspondence to Visa
lots of similar tales if you google them

if you do decide to buy from one of these websites and you intend to spend over £100 then make sure you use your credit card (not debit card) to ensure you are protected under section 75

buyer beware - if its sounding too good to be true, it usually is.

juanking - Member
Mol, I too had been wondering about them, another one is camerabox. Again, too good to be true.

Beware simplyelectronics, like others bad experience and a lot of hassle to get money back

PSA - Olympusmarket were indeed amazingly cheap and service was fantastic, but the camera came with no battery or memory card... although it DID come with a full complement of charging leads and whatnot.

SimplyElectronics Ltd T&C:

ALL TRANSACTIONS CONCLUDED THROUGH THE SITE, INCLUDING PURCHASES OF PRODUCTS ON THE SITE, SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE CONDUCTED UNDER AND GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION.

Screw that.

According to UK consumer law for online purchases, the trading law stated in the companies T&Cs applies to the purchase. So you are not protected by UK consumer law or trading standards.

I'm sure no-one's still interested but for the sake of fairness to all parties concerned I should clear something up. Olympusmarket said that a battery was included on their listing (but I didn't notice at the time), so I emailed them and they said they'd send me one. So they weren't ripping me off.

Now I'll have two.. oh well 🙂

And an update on camerabox. The camera arrived a few days ago, but it was without a peel off protective label on the touch screen which made me suspicious it was a refurbed model rather than new. I've tried it and it seems OK and the purchase price reflects what I would expect to pay for a refurbed model. Could have sent it back under the 7 day distance selling regs but decided I like the camera and can't get another one easily as they are being discontinued so will stick with it.

Won't use camerabox again though.

Mine was refurbed btw (all their cameras are) but you'd never tell, and at half price I don't care 🙂

Oh - Olympus E-450 DSLRs on there going for about 210 €

The most amazing value for money I have ever seen!