SIMPLY ELECTRONICS - BEWARE

I ordered a Panasonic X-900M from Simply electronics, then found same camera cheaper on Amazon (pukka UK model too). Ordered from Amazon, cancelled at Simply Elecronics.

Two days later received notification from Simply Electronics that they had despatched my camera. I re-emailed that I had cancelled the order, but camera arrived on the same day as the one from Amazon.

After a couple of email arguments about who should pay for the return postage (I maintained that since they despatched after I canceled, they should pay), I returned the camera, following their returns procedure to the letter. That was on june 1st. I then went on the holiday for which I wanted the camera in the first place.

Now 9 July and still haven't received my refund. When I chased a week ago they claimed that the hadnt received the camera back (although, after I sent proof of delivery from Royal Mail, they now acknowledge that they have got it).

I am about to claim the refund direct from my credit card company.

 

Warning to others:-

be wary of Simply Electronics

pay by credit card (not debit)

if returning goods use trackable courier service.

 

MattB

Hi Matthew

 

Good advice

 

You can still use chargeback with a debit card, VISA for sure anyway

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/your-rights-when-paying-by-credit-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-debit-cards/

 

The Consumer Credit Act, Sect 1975 is also a strong piece of legislation as this makes the card company equally liable in disputes

 

Also worth logging disputes with Consumer protection through your local trading standards for added weight, also if they see many complaints against a company nationally. this may raise alarm bells to protect others.

After having entered my comments  about this company I would  have thought that sufficient  notice would have been taken of my words . . .

 

It is a very clever, cunning company which uses a fairly large amount of intended customers cash to help run its business and any search of the internet will reveal the  extent of  its cheating  methods. The responses from its 'Customer Service' people remain constantly polite and consistent in recognition of the prevailing circumstances with promises to look into the matter  -  even after six weeks!

 

On one site it can be seen that an originally intended customer who cancelled an order was left stranded without his refund for over six weeks  -  and the amount was £1429.

 

Do that to a number of customers and you could easily run a business on the retained cash !

 

Remember, the clever part is, quite a number of people have little or no cause for complaint and it is those very people who are assisting this fraudulent company to continue in business.

Ron

 

.... If only your wise words were written on 25 May, when I needed them.

 

Let this thread be a continued warning to all.

 

mattB

 

 

John  -

 

Use of credit cards is okay for those who are prepared to wait for maybe a couple of months, in some cases far longer, before they are refunded their cash; and that is not the only issue.   Goods for the American market, not EU, and Chinese written  matter accompanying many bought cameras and video cameras for use within the EU have been discovered only after acceptance,  and also  months of dissatisfaction when guarantee handling was needed are constantly being paraded in the various  complaint columns on the internet regarding this company.

 

The Consumer Protection Act action takes much time, and the Trading Standards system in this country serves no protection.   This is a Hong Kong based company with little or no regard for UK laws and any enquiry of the Trading Standards Office will confirm its inability to act for UK residents.   It allegedly has an office on the Isle of Wight.   Try dealing through it  -  it is a front for fobbing off dissatisfied customers with fully apologetic comment and useless promises to refund.

 

There are people who have either refused the goods on arrival because they have become aware of the complaints, or have been instantly aware of a problem with the stuff they've received, only to find that for months afterwards they haven't received their refund  -  and the first  move  by the company has been to initially deny reception back of the goods which usually takes up about a month.   That type of miss-dealing is applied when any repair under guarantee  is required as well.

 

As I have previously reported, this is a very clever, cunning company which supplies legitimate goods on many occasions which of course serves to help provide opinion from those who have been satisfied with it.   As well, it is firmly believed that it provides its own favourable  input in some of the review columns to further cheatingly bolster its alleged authenticity  -  but all the time it is failing to satisfy a very large amount of intended customers and the list of complaints is the only part about it which one could say is impressive.  

 

Studying its advertising, it can be seen that it quotes a number of any particular item as not only being in stock but as being the cheapest.   Once ordered, however, the intended buyer is told of some problem which will cause a slight delay.   'Slight' is not the operative word and the unlucky individual concerned commences to tread a well known path for some . . .  

 

Some have gone as far as communicating with the Hong Kong Police with only minor success.    There is also the Hong Kong equivalent of our Trading Standards which some have been in touch with but it has not  been highly successful.   Yes, very cunningly clever!

 

 

 

For anyone interested, below is a copy of a response received by one of the British complainants from the Hong Kong Trading Standards Office  . . . so it can be seen that mediation is its action, not enforcement:

 

 

We received your complaint which referred by Hong Kong Police, in relations to Simply Electronics.

We regret very much with the experience you have had. Should you need any assistance from this Council to mediate the case on your behalf, please send forth a copy of the case related documents such as contract, payment bill and others to us. Upon receipt of the same, this Council will communicate with the trader to mediate your case.

For your information, you may send the documents to us by fax at (852) 2102-4582 or by e-mail at cc@consumer.org.hk. Please quote your case under reference CC 301/ 117701 /2012. Please also grant us your consent of sending the case materials, including your personal information where necessary, to the trader concerned.

In the meantime, information supplied by you is kept in our records for reference.

With regards,

Ada WONG

 

I'd not realised the complaints about this company related to them being in Hong Kong. As such, the only real protection you have is the credit card. Buying from abroad, and I'd probably even include Europe in 'foreign' is always going to be a gamble. I buy a lot from China and Hong Kong, and never place orders for sums of money I cannot afford to lose because you have few rights, and have no idea if the company is hue and reputable or run from a desk in a hired office on a monthly rental. Turnover and website appearance mean very little. I've discovered many have no assets at all, and simply source the product when you order and add the few days country to country delivery into their time estimate to the UK. Anybody you cannot drive to, to knock on their door is higher risk. Is the money saved worth it? For me, the big difference is warranty. Do you even have one? Quite a few big Japanese brands have country based warranties. As I may have mentioned, I bought a large format Yamaha mixer a few years back from Germany because Yamaha UK did not sell this unit here in the UK. I was warned any service would require it going back to Germany and Yamaha UK would not honour any warranty problems.

 

From abroad, it's got to be credit card as this is the only protection you have. 

Gents, a quiet word of warning  ...

 

Beware of posting anything which might appear to be libelous. Make absolutely sure you can justify what you say with hard evidence. It seems this thread is ok, but occasionally people wade in with comments which can get perilously close to libel.

Don't worry Alan  -  I have a particular experience.   If they wish they can try a prosecution.  All my words are unquestionable in law.

Good, just trying to keep us balanced.

Update.

 

I have had my cash returned by Barclaycard for the £799.95 that Simply Electronics owed me. I have supplied them with all the documents relating to my transaction and they have taken over the case.

Excellent News Matthew

 

The only minor snag is that the firm can dispute your refund within 45 days  unlikely methinks

 

Some more about the Consumer Protection Act, section 75 here:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

They could dispute it - but as the goods are not with purchaser - I doubt that's going to happen.

 

I agree, I was just highlighting a possible snag re: credit card refunds and investigations

 

Paying through PayPal could provide a further problem.   Whilst the level of security and secrecy is allegedly maintained through PayPal any dispute is more prolonged and certainly not absolute because a bank can claim that it was not dealing directly with the vendor although I haven't known of such a move.   Further, with the added security that banks have recently introduced into their systems, I would guess that it is safer to go through that way than through PayPal !

I am aware that SE could dispute in theory (perhaps in an effort to protract the issue), but I do have all the Customer Service (?) emails confirming my entitlement to a refund, so I am hopeful that there will be no hiccups.

 

Just to reiterate some of Ron's points though:-

 

The camera that I ordered (Panasonic HC-X900M), once delivered turned out to be a 'grey' import. I didnt open the box, because I had, in theory, already canceled the order, but if I had I'm sure I would have discovered a camera that would only shoot in 60Hz (NTSC) flavours of HD, not the 50Hz I need here. As a grey import Panasonic would not have supported it in any way and the warrantee would have been invalid.

 

Simply Electronics DID try and claim that they had not received the camera back - a full four weeks after it was sent. Fortunately I was able to prove that they had received it and was able to send the a digitised copy of the signature. Thank God I choose to send Royal Mail Special Delivery, the return address is actually only about 5 miles from where I live and I was tempted to return the camera in person, otherwise it could have been my word against theirs. This was my one good-call in this whole debacle.

Things are now developing with an obvious help set-up mentioned below.   You will note that the Daily Mail is becoming involved . . .

 

 

The below list is offered as support and information if you are having problems with customer service at Simply Electronics Net based in Hong Kong.
When making a complaint please give all the information you can so it can be followed up in the correct way.

If you've had a dreadful experience as a customer, please contact me on - d.hyde@dailymail.co.uk "

 

I have corrected the email address above (A known forum problem) and removed Ron's duplicate post

 

johnpr98 12:30 01/08/2012

I just ran a google search on the Daily Mail and SE which brought up this long link of reviews at Amazon

(Showing 501-525 of 627 posts in this discussion)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reviews-of-Simply-Electronics/forum/Fx2L8YAWZTSCQUK/Tx2JDL36I8HDYBS/21?asin=B00065GZL2

 

I myself have no issue with personal issue SE as I have never used them.

 

I have agreed and raised awareness of chargeback and the Consumer Credit Act 1975 where the law states that the credit card company is jointly liable, albeit with a 45 day period where the firm can challenge a refund.

 

The Daily Mail may be involved (Since May?) and that is a personal matter for customers involved if they wish to contact them.

 

I wish all customers who are in dispute a good resolution of their issues, whether they are in dispute with SE or similar firms.

 

I'm not contributing any more to this thread, as I think enough has been said to warn anyone + supplied more information about consumer protection, which can help with refunds.

 

Thanks for the address correction and duplicate post deletion which I didn't manage to accomplish, John.   That string of gobbledegook beat me!

 

I think that the 45 day period you mentioned for dispute registration is a PayPal item . . . ?   One of the reasons for relying on the bank concerned.

 

 

 

I went though a dispute recently and T*sc* Credit mentioned the 45 day challenge period, nowt to do with paypal. I had my refund without a whimper

 

 

I know that some organisations such as eBay and PayPal rely on the 45 day dispute period but I'm not aware of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 being applicable and would not want to put off anyone desperately trying to regain their cash from cheating companies such as Simply Electronics.   Indeed, the record shows that some intended purchasers have regained their cash after some months.   However, after what period they applied for their recompense I'm not aware.

Hi Ron

 

My dispute was taken up quoting the Consumer Protection Act

 

The credit card company rang me to say I was having the refund that day but to be aware of a possible challenge from the retailer within 45 days of the investigation.

 

I can't find any online reference to it otherwise, only recent personal experience by myself and another customer I was in contact with who had the same time limit for the investigation to take place with his credit card company.

 

The postive end to this tale is that we both kept our refunds

I can see what almost certainly applied there, John.   As with some companies, when an agreement to accept the conditions is ticked, hidden in the small print would be an acceptance of the 45 day rule to be applied in the event of a dispute.   Companies like eBay and PayPal draw particular attention to it whereas others may well not.   I have to say that, having had a couple of experiences with PayPal, I prefer the bank Chargeback system which is quicker and aloof from prevarication.

I wish to file a complaint against the company Simply Electronics with whom I have dealt with over the past seven weeks.  After having purchased an item from their website which I had not received eleven days after buying, I cancelled my order due to the shady behavior of the company with regards to my order.  Forty days later, I am still waiting for my refund which the company says on their website, will be provided immediately.
“If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is cancelled, SimplyElectronics.net will immediately issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of the charge.” Extract from the Terms and conditions of Simply Electronics
Since the cancellation of my order I have had to put up with numerous excuses from the company as to why I have not received my refund.  The past seven weeks that I have spent dealing with this company, have left me with little doubt that this is a company who walks the line between legal and illegal business practices –tricking customers into buying their products through the advertisement of false promises that become evident as soon as the payment transaction has gone through.  Simply Electronics is a company who plays with customers’ patience and time, in the hopes, I believe, that the dissatisfied customers will eventually give up on their demand for a refund.
I will provide you as attachted, with a chronological outline of my dealings with Simply Electronics. 
 
June 9th, 2012.  I ordered 1 x Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera Body (Order Number 528206-806645) on the website SimplyElectronics.net without receiving any formal receipt (I have only received an e-mail confirmation and an automatic message after paying the order online, please see the attachment).
June 21st, 2012 I decided to cancel my order and demanded a full refund.
The reasons that I decided to cancel my order include:
• The fact that I did not receive my order during the time frame promised (The item being in stock on the website, the trader guaranteed the item to be shipped within 1-2 working days and delivered within 2-7 working days )
• The shady behavior of the customer service representatives:
 The inability or unwillingness of the representatives to give me any clear and concrete information concerning my order. 
 Their refusal to provide me with a written date at which time my order would be shipped.  They only gave me a date for the shipment by phone which was inexact.
Details concerning the cancellation of my order:
• The Customer Service representative accepted the request by phone and asks me to confirm it by e-mail. But, while I was writing my e-mail cancellation a few minutes after my phone call, the online status of my order changed from “new” (I had the misfortune of seeing this for 10 days after my payment) to “packing”.
 I have a hard time believing that it was just a coincidence that this changing operation happened just right after my call requesting the cancellation of my order, while one of their online Customer Services Agent kept saying to me that the item that I purchased was not present in their stock.
• I nevertheless sent a cancellation email that same day demanding a cancellation of my order.  To my surprise, the status of my order the following day was listed as “shipping”, please see the attachment).. At the same time I received a reply to my cancellation request, from the customer representative stating that I had not given the company enough time to cancel my order and that the product was now being handled by the shipping department and they were therefore no longer able to ‘help’ me.  
• I therefore asked for the tracking number of my order which Simply Electronics refused to give to me.  I had to contact DHL (delivery company) myself in order to obtain information concerning my product.  In speaking with a DHL employee I discovered that the time delays that Simply Electronics had given me were in fact false.  (I had been told by Simply Electronics that I would receive my refund as soon as the package was returned to them.  I found out from UPS that Simply Electronics received that package on June 30th; however several days after this date, I still had no news from them.  I thus informed them that I was aware of the fact that they had received the package and I once again demanded my refund).
• Despite my unrelenting pressure to receive my refund, Simply Electronics has put off providing me with my refund both through taking a lot more time to reply to my emails than was previously the case, and by giving me weak excuses as to why the refund has not taken place.
 The most recent excuse has been that there is a problem with their credit card processor. 

My sole request is to be reimbursed the 819,95 euros that I paid for an item that I cancelled over a month ago.

 

I'm sorry to know of  your problem  APouyet and, if you read through the various comments above, you'll note that I'm just the same as you when it comes to dealing with S.E.   You may need to note the different ways of getting to grips with this firm, possibly using the addresses that have been referred to, such as the HongKong police and other departments.   If you read thoroughly through what has been published above you'll get some idea of how to act in the matter.

 

Your tale of woe is yet another one added to the very many that can be read on the internet.   There's little I can add to what has now been written and it's up to each individual who happens to have been caught out by these people to vigourously pursue their claim as well as for others to beware and not deal with them.

Hi APouyet

 

I see you have posted the same text at

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/simplyelectronics-li/cameras-video/simplyelectronics-limited-mal-33E70.htm

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/simply-electronics-unethical-business-c622688.html

 

From what I can glean from your posts you are based in France

 

Please check with your Credit card company and research the consumer rights of your country or Europe, I think chargeback may apply in your case?

 

This chargeback info is from 2000 and may be supeceded now?

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finservices-retail/docs/onlineservices/chargeback_en.pdf

 

Chargebacks are accepted systems in electronic banking - and all banks do it constantly. In fact, the system is so good that many sellers get their customers to use it as the simplest refund system for them!

 

Orange charged me for changing a contract phone early - £67. I had to pay this by telephone when I ordered it, yet it also appeared on the next statement. I called Orange, they agreed it was a mistake and told me to contact my card company because it would be quicker to get my money back that way!

Hi Paul

 

This is UK advice re: chargeback from Which

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/your-rights-when-paying-by-credit-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-debit-cards/

 

 

It highlights that some UK staff may be unaware of it, I don't know what the position in France is.

 

The point is not to be fobbed off if a local banks customer advisor is unhelpful, obviously s75 won't apply in France as mentioned in my example from Which, maybe there is something similar in European law?

 

Over to you APouyet31

 

There's further help here . . .

 

 

 

P'raps you'll unscramble that HongKong Consumer Council one again, John  . . . !

 

Tis Done, All I did was hit return after the email address to make the link active, then backspace

John'llfixit

 

Thanks.

 

I left out the EU  address which of course can be of great  help to some:

 

http://www.ukecc.net/

 

 

 

 

I must confess, I'm surprised that SE are still going!...I've been reading threads like this, on various forums, for at least 4 years now. Some of those threads have had hundreds of posts!

 

I think the most common comment is: 'I ordered item 'x' from Simply Electronics, and then did a Google search, which concerned me, so I tried to cancel.'

 

Although we can all get caught out from time to time, I would tend to think that a Google search would normally come before any decision to purchase, rather than after?

 

And their prices are cheap... sometimes a warning sign?.....

They do at least say on their website that they are based in Hong Kong... which might raise alarm bells about warranties etc....

 

Anyway -- it's always easy to be wise after the event!

 

I have read that contacting these people can speed up refunds from SE...

 

http://www.kwikchex.com/

 

I've not had any personal experience with them, but might be worth a look?.....

 

 

Interesting article in todays Mail about these people! It also gives a phone no. for kwickchex.

It's obviously the same RJ Smith who seems to be running the column  in the Amazon pages, Barry.

 

Here's his latest:

 

"R. J. Smith says:

On twitter? go to account called @avoid_se
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/ - Hong Kong consumer council - cc@consumer.org.hk
If you have problems getting money/refunds back please contact http://www.moneybookers.com
or - http://www.kwikchex.com/contact-us/company-complaint/
criminal behaviour? - https://secure1.info.gov.hk/ssl-cgi/police/epol-forms/reportCyberCrime.cgi
For UK online Police contact - http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud-including-online-crime
If you've had a dreadful experience as a customer, please contact me on - d.hyde@dailymail.co.uk
UK European Consumer Centre (UK ECC) - http://www.ukecc.net/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reviews-of-Simply-Electronics/forum/Fx2L8YAWZTSCQUK/Tx2JDL36I8HDYBS/25/ref=cm_cd_et_up_redir?_encoding=UTF... "

 

or should it be PANASONIC X900M buyers beware!

 

Have you experienced the loss of video and more importantly audio when continuously recording more than say 45 minutes? The camcorder quite rightly splits the files into 4gig chunks BUT there are gaps between them with seriously missing frames.  Panasonic refuse to acknowledge the problem even on a replacement X900M.  Just wondered.