Cotswold and Panamoz
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At a rough guess i have bought around 35 maybe 40 cameras over the last 15 years from all of the major brands. Sony, Fuji, Nikon, Canon and Olympus. That is not counting some odd ball cameras like Samsung and Sigma.
You seem very defensive of Cotswold, it is a bit odd.
I have never once bought a new camera that had anything but a shutter count of 1 after I had taken my first photo. I always check as Jessops way back in the day try to fob me of with a used camera that was being sold as new.
I know a lot of other photographers I have never heard of anyone receiving a new camera that already had a shutter count unless they have been ripped off.
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They did give him a full refund though
I'd probably turn that round and say @Hanley 's response is a measured and rational one, especially as its based on personal experience - but you seem intent on "bringing down" cotswold based on 1 persons report of a bad experience and a few negative online reviews which doesn't seem overly rational or balanced to me.
FWIW I've bought a number of things from cotswolds too and not had an issue with products being anything but new.
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I'm not connected to them in anyway and didn't think I was being overly defensive of them.
I was just trying to get across what my personal experience of buying gear from them was like, my first purchase from them was for £10K and I emailed them to try and satisfy my hesitation. Since then I've probably spent another £10K, and I had no issues, that's all i was trying to get across.
I think they do differ from E-Infinity and Panamoz, in the sense they're actually physically based in Hong Kong and handle your gear before shipping, whereas Cotswold seems to act as a middle man. that's my take anyway. There's plenty of choice for us as consumers so it's all good.
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im with Hanley on this ,as per another post in the thread its quite common for a lot of mirrorless bodies to have a factory checking shutter count before delivery ESPECIALLY if that model has had unknown to us problems .. I do know for a fact that on some Olympus /OMS bodies that can even go as high as 1000 actuations .. the cameras are still brand new ,still carry all applicable warranty but have been factory tested .. or would you rather buy one that works for a couple of days and then has to be sent back .. same as buying a new car do you want one out of the showroom with zero miles or one that's had a PDI .
there seems to be quiet a few members on here that think that one bad experience with a grey importer labels them all as pirates ,thieves and vagabonds and would much prefer to pay rip off Britain inflated prices due to a touch of snobbery and oneupmanship
there seems to be quiet a few members on here that think that one bad experience with a grey importer labels them all as pirates ,thieves and vagabonds and would much prefer to pay rip off Britain inflated prices due to a touch of snobbery and oneupmanship
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It looked like it had had a small drop, it was dented and scratched on one corner. Also, that wouldn't explain why the split rings and leather protectors were on.
I know Olympus can have quite a few on the shutter count from factory, but I don't beleive Fuji do. My Fuji from Wex came with 0 shutter count.
I read through the posts and I think the inference in this remark is a bit unfair.
I refrain from getting involved too far in some of the advice / recommendation / performance topics because of the way that discussion can become unintentionally twisted about itself.
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There are grey importers, and there are grey importers 
From my past experience as (long ago) a customs officer and my career in logistics which included imports from the Far East, I have to say my only red line with grey imporers is when they are solely based in the Far East.
Ive bought Cameras and lenses from HDEW. Ive never worried about them, they have a unit down in London wher you can collect from, and my last camera got delivered in 3 days with an £800 saving on high street prices. My use of them, even if they are slightly more expensive than others, is because I know the item I get will be duty paid, (although theres no duty on cameras from Hong Kong anyway, only VAT), and it will be genuinely new. I would also get 3 years insurance backed warranty by Canon approved repairers on a camera. The box was opened on my last camera, but that was because a UK charger cable was put in it.
Ordering from companies based in HK ... well, you have to feel comfortable that you can trust them to have attended to all the tax issues on arrival in the UK because if they havent them you'll most likely end up paying VAT and import agents charges when it arrives and also thats when you may struggle with a warranty.
As far as Cotswold Cameras are concerned, from what Ive seen the operate in the same way as HDEW. Three year warranty, VAT / duty paid. The box may well be opened by the time you get it, for the reasons I mentioned above, but the camera itself should of course be unused.
From my past experience as (long ago) a customs officer and my career in logistics which included imports from the Far East, I have to say my only red line with grey imporers is when they are solely based in the Far East.
Ive bought Cameras and lenses from HDEW. Ive never worried about them, they have a unit down in London wher you can collect from, and my last camera got delivered in 3 days with an £800 saving on high street prices. My use of them, even if they are slightly more expensive than others, is because I know the item I get will be duty paid, (although theres no duty on cameras from Hong Kong anyway, only VAT), and it will be genuinely new. I would also get 3 years insurance backed warranty by Canon approved repairers on a camera. The box was opened on my last camera, but that was because a UK charger cable was put in it.
Ordering from companies based in HK ... well, you have to feel comfortable that you can trust them to have attended to all the tax issues on arrival in the UK because if they havent them you'll most likely end up paying VAT and import agents charges when it arrives and also thats when you may struggle with a warranty.
As far as Cotswold Cameras are concerned, from what Ive seen the operate in the same way as HDEW. Three year warranty, VAT / duty paid. The box may well be opened by the time you get it, for the reasons I mentioned above, but the camera itself should of course be unused.
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Hence my post but we all have different experiences. Im sorry @snerkler hasn't had a great experience, but at the end of the day it was resolved and refunded so its not like the problem is ongoing and wasn't attended to.
I'm not sure they are though - there are a number of contradictions on the website. The terms and conditions state that you're dealing with a Hong Kong company, Chateaubriand Limited (and subject to HK law) with payments taken by the UK company, Cotswold UK Cameras Limited. The UK company is not VAT registered and has no employees so seemingly acts only as an agent of the trading co.
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Not to sure about that my receipt for a £1000 lens said duty was based on camera parts at £76
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Cotswold in itself does not exist it is just a website front end they also do the same thing with Norfolk cameras and I think there as a few others as well. It is funny actually because if you email Cotswold he replies as David yet with Norfolk he replies as Dave.
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A bit like Panamoz replying as TinaCotswold in itself does not exist it is just a website front end they also do the same thing with Norfolk cameras and I think there as a few others as well. It is funny actually because if you email Cotswold he replies as David yet with Norfolk he replies as Dave.
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Yeah, I've had good dealings with them in the past and have always praised them. I'm sure my latest experience is very rare, however as it's happened to me I would always question whether I'd received a new item.
I completely understand why others are happy to continue using them, I'd probably be the same if it'd happened to someone else
I bought a sold as new camera from my local Jessops when they were in every town.
Tried to fob me of that i was wrong when I wanted to return it and the 3k extra of lenses I also bought.
As I said before I looked at Cotswold but having felt with panamoz and their warranty years after. I wouldn’t like to take the chance Cotswold wouldn’t be as good.
I may use them for a cheaper lens as they are noticeably cheaper.
Tried to fob me of that i was wrong when I wanted to return it and the 3k extra of lenses I also bought.
As I said before I looked at Cotswold but having felt with panamoz and their warranty years after. I wouldn’t like to take the chance Cotswold wouldn’t be as good.
I may use them for a cheaper lens as they are noticeably cheaper.
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Interesting. They must have a very round about way of paying import VAT & duties then. Can only assume its paid immediately on import, normally the vat is deferred using a VAT account, but they would have to be VAT registered for that to happen
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I said there was no duty on digital cameras from Hong Kong. There IS duty on camera lenses from Hong Kong
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I'd also add that this is why I use a company I researched originally, even if they are slightly more expensive. HDEW is VAT registered and therefore registered with HMRC. It is also a Limited company, so files accounts
Good that you've researched it and yes, HDEW is a UK Co and legal jurisdiction is UK - as opposed to Cotswold which is HK. It's OK having rights but trying to enforce them in another jurisdiction is not always easy. I had a six month battle with TomTom once, having bought direct from them (Netherlands IIRC) before getting my money back. Nor will I ever buy a Sony product again having inadvertently accepted warranty terms which required me to ship the offending product to Germany at my own expense at which point they'd make an assessment of whether it was covered or not. So yes, I also do a good bit of research before buying high value items!
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What is HDEW's VAT number that you researched?
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As far as Cotswolds goes the lens I bought from them came from Hong Kong they provided itemised tracking from warehouse to my front door via DHL and that included in flight u.k customs clearance during the final part of the journey . The info was all provided by DHL themselves . Sorry but I can’t fault service like that 7 days from order to arrival .
So yes they provide good service ,there will always be hiccups or faulty goods but that also happens with u.k purchased items like the two Nikon D7100 cameras I bought brand new from LCE first one failed at approximately 3 k shutter count the second one did exactly the same ,got a refund did a expensive shift to canon bought a 1Dmkiv shutter failed after six months refunded again .go figure
So yes they provide good service ,there will always be hiccups or faulty goods but that also happens with u.k purchased items like the two Nikon D7100 cameras I bought brand new from LCE first one failed at approximately 3 k shutter count the second one did exactly the same ,got a refund did a expensive shift to canon bought a 1Dmkiv shutter failed after six months refunded again .go figure
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Which HDEW co are you referring to?