CameraNu in the Netherlands - nul points

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On 28th November I ordered an F-Stop camera bag, not readily available in the UK. CameraNu told me it would be in stock in 2-3 working days. Yet I had to chase them several times before on 18th December (two weeks late) they handed it over to the Dutch Post Office to deliver.

Which the Dutch post office did not. Instead they sorted it. They sorted it on Wednesday Dec 18 2019; and on Thursday Dec 19 2019; and again, to be sure, on Friday Dec 20 2019. Then they took the weekend off, returning to sort the parcel again on Monday Dec 23 2019. And again on Tuesday Dec 24 2019. Then they went off for Christmas, returning to sort the parcel yet again on Monday Dec 30 2019. Despite my repeated chasers and complaints, I got no help at all from CameraNu. A succession of customer service reps just brushed me off.

On 2nd January, I told them to send a replacement, and sort their own problems out with their post office. “Oh, no” replied unhelpful Susan – “we must wait”. By which she meant I must wait – despite the fact that CameraNu had my money a month ago. Finally, on Friday 3rd January, the Dutch post office told CameraNu that they had lost the parcel – all 80 litres of it. I’m still trying to get the goods I have paid for. I would never touch these people again. Lesson – if you can’t get what you want from a reputable British retailer, do without.
 
Im surprised, I had the opposite experience. I brought my f-stop bag from them and got it very quickly. I actually bought two, as I wasnt sure which size I needed, and sent one back for a refund which all went smoothly. Later the bag I kept developed a fault and they were very helpful and replaced it pretty quickly.
 
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Sorry that you’re having problems. I’ve used camera.nl in the past but Alpine trek are now my go to place for F Stop. They are based in Europe too which sadly is the only place you can get f stop kit. Alpine trek do free postage over £50. Postage used to be a big add on with other European supplier (I seem to remember it would add something like £20-25 to every order).

Which bag have you gone for?
 
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Sorry that you’re having problems. I’ve used camera.nl in the past but Alpine trek are now my go to place for F Stop. They are based in Europe too which sadly is the only place you can get f stop kit. Alpine trek do free postage over £50. Postage used to be a big add on with other European supplier (I seem to remember it would add something like £20-25 to every order).

Which bag have you gone for?
The Ajna - big enough for my modest outfit and room to spare for my waterproofs. I didn't know about Alpine Trek. I found CameraNu by accident, gave their on line reputation the once over, and concluded, wrongly, that they would be o.k. This experience has rather disenchanted me.

Which bag did you go for?
 
The Ajna - big enough for my modest outfit and room to spare for my waterproofs. I didn't know about Alpine Trek. I found CameraNu by accident, gave their on line reputation the once over, and concluded, wrongly, that they would be o.k. This experience has rather disenchanted me.

Which bag did you go for?
Currently the Lotus and Guru UL.
 
Somehow I thought you might be a two bag man!
I never planned to be as I’d previously had different camera bags for this and that when having a big wildlife lens and landscape kit. The idea of moving to F Stop was to have just one bag with a couple of ICUs that cover every bed but I’ve found that doesn’t exactly work out as the bigger f stop bags stand out a bit in towns/cities, zoos and wildlife parks. I took the opportunity to pick up the guru instead of a normal backpack a while back because there wasn’t a huge difference in the cost at the time as it was on offer. The idea being it would be a work bag but had the potential to double as a small camera bag for those time where it would be useful.

It’s recently become my most used camera bag (actually bag for any need) as it does everything from camera bag to work bag to weekend away bag. It helps that I’ve also down sized my camera gear quite a bit in the last year too. I find the guru is a very versatile size, it can easily be altered to a camera bag when needed, and most importantly it doesn’t scream camera bag or look like your off hiking when walking around town.

The UL design differences are really starting to appeal to me. The side mesh pockets and hip belt pockets are much more useful than the mountain bags side zip pockets. I find I often choose the guru over the Lotus if going out with just one lens/camera.
 
Another week. CameraNu sent a replacement bag through the incompetent Dutch post office, even though I specifically asked them not to. And - imagine my surprise - it's stuck in the post office for the whole of the week. Not moving, no delivery date. Pointed this out to CameraNu, who regard this as normal.

Six weeks, and counting.
 
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Another week. CameraNu sent a replacement bag through the incompetent Dutch post office, even though I specifically asked them not to. And - imagine my surprise - it's stuck in the post office office for the whole of the week. Not moving, no delivery date. Pointed this out to CameraNu, who regard this as normal.

Six weeks, and counting.
I would send them another email and tell them that you will be contacting the police as it seems they have "stolen" your money with no refund in sight.
 
I would send them another email and tell them that you will be contacting the police as it seems they have "stolen" your money with no refund in sight.
I've sent them an email telling them I have opened a dispute with VISA - which I have. I wonder if the company is in trouble, and they just don't care.
 
Having lived in NL I didn't think TNT post were any worse than RM or Deutsche Post - this was over 10 years ago. And even before I left it was changing from an organisation that had offices in every community to fewer agencies spread around and dotted in shops etc... I was spoilt for choice in NL, Rabbit Mountain, CameraNu, HAFO and the one in Rotterdam.... if CameraNu was in trouble then you should have no problem with payment protection, they changed their rules about 15-16 years ago,,
 
Another two weeks. Post nl have lost the replacement bag. More futile communication with CameraNu's utterly inept, wholly unhelpful "customer service". Post nl have also lost a separate small packet containing a pair of straps. That's three out of three. It doesn't occur to CameraNu that they should find out what the underlying problem is (clearly there is one), but they have accepted that they should refund me. I wonder how long that will take them. I'll be out of pocket on the currency exchanges, but I shall just be grateful to put this frustrating experience behind me.
 
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