Ffordes Now Wont Honour Warranty

jockwav

jockwav

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James (Retired)
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I will never ever deal with these camera suppliers again,the worst service i have ever experienced.:bang::bonk::thumbsdown:
 
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I just missed out on buying from them - they had a Canon EF 100mm macro, I bought it then later got an email saying it had sold - fair enough but I missed out on another because they were too slow to respond, but I suppose at least they did.
 
I must say that I've found Ffordes generally good to deal with.

Sometimes a bit slow returning calls but otherwise fine.
 
Hmmm.. used them for the first time today and snagged a lovely used Billingham 335 Bag which will be arriving tomorrow. It dissapeard from their site as soon as I'd bought it so I guess with that Macro lens someone may have called up and bought over the phone perhaps?

Have generally heard plenty of good things about them though :)
 
Yeah, for me it was simply that they sold it over the counter but only update the website at the end of the day - so fair I guess but it does mean that if something is on the website its not necessarily available.
 
I've used them twice recently to buy Nikon lenses from: a 28-70mm f2.8 and a 35mm f1.8.

Found them helpful on the phone, spot on accurate in terms of their descriptions of items, quick to dispatch and excellent when it comes to packaging things safely.

Can the OP expand upon his gripe with them?
 
They have had my 5D for about 6 weeks now to fit a new focus screen on it,i bought the camera from them & only had it for a couple of weeks before i noticed it.
This is the slowest repair i have ever experienced with anything.:bang::thumbsdown:
 
jockwav said:
They have had my 5D for about 6 weeks now to fit a new focus screen on it,i bought the camera from them & only had it for a couple of weeks before i noticed it.
This is the slowest repair i have ever experienced with anything.:bang::thumbsdown:
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So you are. Slating them on here when you do not know what the situation is
:shrug: what was wrong with the0 screen?

They may be waiting for it as it is on backorder, or they have sent it off and the repair centre is waiting for the part.

Maybe worth phoning them to see what the problem is. Hope you get it sorted soon.
 
Or maybe they could drop him a line or an email with an update so he doesn't feel like he's just hanging.
 
Ffordes are one of the old guard - great service and great to deal with..

Nice location - though a bit "out of the way"!!
 
I am entitled to slate them its my hard earned money,if i dont e-mail them to ask what is happening i think they would just leave you sitting there waiting.
I told them it was the focus screen so they should have made sure they got one before asking me to send back the camera as i could still have used it in the mean time.:bang::thumbsdown::bonk:
 
Changing a focus screen on a 5d is a 30 second job so either there's supply issues which would be outwith Ffordes control or there's something else wrong with the camera.

Either way, hardly justification for slating them in two threads.

Cut your nose off to spite your face if you wish but you don't need to rip into Ffordes so much.
 
If you read the post again,i said they knew it was needing a focus screen,so they should have checked to see if there was one available before asking me to return the camera & sit here without it all this time.
There is nothing else wrong with it,i wish people would read before jumping in.
 
jockwav said:
If you read the post again,i said they knew it was needing a focus screen,so they should have checked to see if there was one available before asking me to return the camera & sit here without it all this time.
There is nothing else wrong with it,i wish people would read before jumping in.
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I read that you said it only needed a focus screen and what I said stands.
Focus screens are not a rare or uncommon requirement and take about 30 seconds to change.
They must either have had one in stock when they asked you to send the camera which got sold (possibly by another member of staff) before your camera arrived or have been sure that they could get one in promptly from their supplier.
If the former then I'd say yes their fault but easy mistake to make and while a call or email to let you know they were having to order a screen would have been nice they maybe thought that as you hadn't chased it up you weren't desperate to have the camera back.
If the latter then they have been waiting just as long as you.

Communication is only one part of customer service.
 
They know i want this back as soon as,do you work for them or something,jumping to defend them all the time.
If they had your camera for 6 weeks & still no sign of getting it back you would know how damn annoyed i am,so dont patronize me.:bang:
You dont have to tell me how long it takes to change a screen i do know.
 
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What did they say when you rang them to find out why your camera was still with them after 6 weeks?
 
Haha, no I don't work for them and when did I patronise you?

Nevermind 6 weeks, if they had my camera for 1 week to do a focus screen I'd have got them to return it, spent the tenner to buy a focus screen from any of the multitude of online retailers that stock them or gotten one locally and fitted it myself.
If there was justification I'd have sent them a bill or threatened taking the matter further if they did not reimburse me for said screen.

Perhaps if you could explain the problem with focus screen and how long you waited after sending them the camera to contact them and how long you waited after that before posting defamatory comments in multiple threads I'd be more sympathetic.

I believe the legally required withdrawal period for distance sellers is 7 days anyway so Ffordes might be giving you better than average customer service by doing anything.
 
jockwav said:
If they had your camera for 6 weeks & still no sign of getting it back you would know how damn annoyed i am,so dont patronize me.:bang:
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I would have contacted them after a few days to see what was happening, not waited 6 weeks and then chucked my teddy out of the pram on the forum...

EDIT: Always had first class service from ffords.
 
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As i have said i have been contacting them by e-mail all the time & they are still saying that the problem is they are still waiting for the new screen to arrive.
They were told it needed a new screen before the camera was sent back to them so there is no excuse.
So that is almost 2 months of my 6 months warranty used up with the camera laying around doing nothing,maybe thats the idea.
But there is no way i will ever buy from them again,so their loss.:bang:
So that is me finished with my rant on this supplier i am just winding myself up with these people,end of.:thumbsdown:
 
Bought a Nikon 300mm F4 AF-S from them 18 months back, paid one day, it arrived the next, spot on service IMO
 
Service isn't always about when things go right. It is about what the company do then things go wrong.

I'd be writing to them stating you want the camera returned repaired within 14 days or you'll be requiring a full refund of the purchase price and sending them any other bits of the camera back to them as you think you have been patient enough. Then buy another one from elsewhere.
 
jockwav said:
As i have said i have been contacting them by e-mail all the time & they are still saying that the problem is they are still waiting for the new screen to arrive.
They were told it needed a new screen before the camera was sent back to them so there is no excuse.
So that is almost 2 months of my 6 months warranty used up with the camera laying around doing nothing,maybe thats the idea.
But there is no way i will ever buy from them again,so their loss.:bang:
So that is me finished with my rant on this supplier i am just winding myself up with these people,end of.:thumbsdown:
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"...all the time..." suggests that you have been in regular contact with them and they have replied to your emails informing you why they still have your camera.
If you have been emailing say, once a week and getting the reply that the screen hasn't arrived yet do you expect them to contact you between times to update you? That'd be an update on the status of your repair every 3 or 4 days. I would be happy with weekly updates whether that came from them or in response to enquiries from me. For all you know, you emailed them the same day they were going to email you with an update.

I'd guess that the supplier/distributor for Canon in the UK is out of stock of the particular focus screen you need and the wait is for a shipment of parts to come from the manufacturer overseas. Yes it's a massive PITA that that's the case but it's really outwith Ffordes control.

What could they really do to keep you (or anyone in this situation) happy anyway? They either keep your camera until they have the part to repair it or return it to you in a non working condition and you have to pay the postage to return it to them again once they have the screen in stock.

Given that they offer a 6month warranty and the camera has been unusable and - more importantly - in their care for 6 weeks of that I'd definitely be asking that they extend the warranty to account for this.

What was the problem with the focus screen anyway?
 
The focus screen had some marks on it & as i have said a few times i told them it needed a new screen so they should have had that in place before asking me to return the camera,then at least i could still have used it in the mean time,it all seems very basic stuff to me.:shrug:
 
I've bought a few items from Ffordes as I live close to them and it's the only place to actually be able to try out high end equipment as the likes of Jessops and Dixons don't stock. Their staff are generally knowledgeable about the equipment they're selling, certainly far more than high street stores. When I was having trouble with an Olympus E-3 they were fine sorting out the repairs and while it took a month each time, that was down to Olympus as the camera was being shipped back and forth to Portugal.

My main issue with them is their prices as they're usually not far off RRP if below it at all which at times I'm ok with if I'm getting decent service for the extra money. I recently went to buy a D700 system from them (D700 + 24-70mm + 70-200mm + 50mm + SB-900) but they were wanting a silly amount of money for it due to upcoming Nikon increases or something so I ended up buying elsewhere. I find their website irritating in both its design which I find clumsy to navigate and it's also misleading, you can't tell if they have stock or not even when they have a prominent 'Lens XX just in!!" which means they've listed it on their site and have no idea when they're getting stock. It looks like you're falling foul of this aspect as well, I'd always phone them first before ordering or getting a repair organised to check if they actually have parts or not. Despite having seemingly good links to the manufacturers I've found them quite slow to get new lenses and accessories. I keep an eye for any good second hand equipment but I've been tending to buy new equipment elsewhere.

John
 
:bang:I will be buying elsewhere from now on.
 
James, why not do a little research and find a few places that have the focus screen in stock then contact Ffordes and tell them your situation and that tey can get the screen easily enough from the places you suggest.Defo go for the extended warranty as you havent had any use out of it so far.
 
Yep i will definately be looking for an extenced warranty,if i can be bothered talking to them again.:bang:
 
jockwav said:
I am entitled to slate them its my hard earned money,if i dont e-mail them to ask what is happening i think they would just leave you sitting there waiting.
I told them it was the focus screen so they should have made sure they got one before asking me to send back the camera as i could still have used it in the mean time.:bang::thumbsdown::bonk:
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I can sympathise with you on this one. I smashed the screen on my Nikon, specifically told the repair company that it was just the protective glass that had smashed and the LCD still worked. They told me 4 week repair so after I waited 4 weeks I called and was told that the part had only just been ordered. It was a further 4 weeks. The person who booked it in even agreed it was just replacement glass that needed ordering.

Surely a bit of forward thinking can help these companies reputations. I know it's not always going to be possible for a company to order parts for all repairs at booking stage but in many cases the replacement part is known and therefor should be ordered early.

For info though, it wasn't Ffords that I used.
 
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Well if you tell them what the problem is & you tell them you need a new focus screen or whatever they should get it in before asking for the camera to be sent back,how simple is that.
It,s not rocket science.so simple to work out,if they had told me there was a delay in the screens coming,no problem i could still have been using the camera,that,s what gets people angry when something so simple a five year old could work that one out.:bang::shrug::puke:
 
Still waiting patiently:(:puke::shrug:
 
If every company bought spare parts /stock because a customer told them so they would need a huge warehouse.

Personally I would ring them and speak to whoever, then if not satisfied would ask for the Manager and politely extact from him the reason for the delay.
Perhaps trying that instead of posting here might help?
 
:D:p:LOL:I am constantly chasing them & as for posting here i have the freedom to do so.
 
jockwav said:
:D:p:LOL:I am constantly chasing them & as for posting here i have the freedom to do so.
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i have had only good dealings with ffordes

but i defend your right to complain totaly
it is when things go wrong that you can judge a company
 
Well i mean how would others react after not having their camera for about 6weeks:shrug::bang::puke::wacky:
 
I can see where James is coming from if this is his only experience to go by.

I've always had good service from them apart from one occasion when a camera I bought was rattling around in the packaging more than I'd have liked, but that was a one -off.
 
James, do you know what the delay is? You could always ask for a refund due to the time delay.
 
This is what Ffordes are saying..........:bang::wacky:
cleardot.gif
Steve Byford

to me
show details 28 Oct (5 days ago)

James,​
Your annoyance should be directed to Canon, it is not just a screen that it required it is the holder for the screen which is a spare part not a user changeable item, Lehmanns the Canon repair agents did not have this in stock and we are waiting for them to supply it, when we have this your camera can be fixed relatively quickly and returned to us/you.​
Ultimately if it was just the screen that was damaged then the camera would have been back with you a while ago but it is not.​
 
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