Cotswold cameras

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samhawkes86

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Sam
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Hi all

Does anyone have any recent experience with Cotswold cameras?

I'm not having the best experience at the moment, although it may yet get resolved. To that end I'm not going to detail yet until I feel they've been given enough of a chance to do so but, just generally what is other people's experience with the company?

Can I count on them to resolve my issue or should I be worried?

Thanks all!
 
Lots of comments in threads if you use the Search function ... not being unhelpful, just the easiest way. :)
 
Hope it works out positively for you. :)
 
I’ve bought twice from them. No problems. I returned one item. Smooth transaction. Just ordered another lens. All positive experience.
 
I'm really annoyed with them. Who books a return courier to deliver/return item to them and not choose a service that lines up with a company's opening and closing times?

If you owned a company, and you arranged a courier to collect a customers item to ship back to you, would you not make sure that you didn't choose a service that might try and delivery said item when your closed?

Am I being thick? I work in operations so who knows maybe you need experience to know that.

I'm really annoyed. Didnt even bother to send me a quick email at the end of the day let me know that it hasn't turned up and that they'll be straight on it tomorrow. I have to use there tracking number to find out why I haven't had an update on my returned item today.

I'm really really annoyed.

The last email I got from them querying a few things, ever so politely told me 'if your not comfortable purchasing from us then I would advise going down to your local high street and spending a bit more'.

I'll leave it there. Maybe they'll be straight on it tomorrow.

I'm really annoyed.
 
I have used them once about 2 months ago and it was a easy and speedy transaction.
 
Marino said:
you must be really annoyed with them
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Oh I am, thats my anger wanting to fly off the handle each time and me reigning it in! If I could elaborate beyond the word 'annoyed' it would have been a much longer post!

I'll just have to chase them up tomorrow and hope they don't tell me to go shop somewhere else again without actually updating me on my return
 
I bought a camera (Fuji X-S10) from them at beginning of 2023. Quick response to an initial email enquiry about stock, and delivery within 2 weeks. All quick and efficient. I'd use them again.
 
I bought a lens from them last year without any problems.
 
Well I've slept on it and I'm still infuriated after being told to go elsewhere if I wasn't comfortable yesterday. So unprofessional.

Looks like they've processed my camera replacement even though they haven't recieved the old one back yet.

So, that's good. Maybe they just have crap unprofessional people manning the comms but that isn't reflective of how the company actually operate?

I'll be checking to make sure I get a genuine European sku this time and not another Asian one that's had its firmware hacked/altered to show a pal option.

I'll stick with them if they haven't lied to me.

Will see when I get the replacement in.

Crap comms but decent company? Will update on Thursday
 
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samhawkes86 said:
Well I've slept on it and I'm still infuriated after being told to go elsewhere if I wasn't comfortable yesterday. So unprofessional.

Looks like they've processed my camera replacement even though they haven't recieved the old one back yet.

So, that's good. Maybe they just have crap unprofessional people manning the comms but that isn't reflective of how the company actually operate?

I'll be checking to make sure I get a genuine European sku this time and not another Asian one that's had its firmware hacked/altered to show a pal option.

I'll stick with them if they haven't lied to me.

Will see when I get the replacement in.

Crap comms but decent company? Will update on Thursday
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The same bit of photograpic equipment is made in many different countries and "should" be to the same quality. I say should beause it depends on rhe quality control where it is made. looks as if you got a poor copy of one and correctly sent it back. However a shop cannot be expected to stay open all hours waiting for a courier to arrive, Here sometimes they don't turn up until nearly 8 PM in the evening. As to "crap" communications you do not know what the person who sent it had to deal with previously. I don't defend who ever sent he email but there might be a reason behind it.
 
realspeed said:
The same bit of photograpic equipment is made in many different countries and "should" be to the same quality. I say should beause it depends on rhe quality control where it is made. looks as if you got a poor copy of one and correctly sent it back. However a shop cannot be expected to stay open all hours waiting for a courier to arrive, Here sometimes they don't turn up until nearly 8 PM in the evening. As to "crap" communications you do not know what the person who sent it had to deal with previously. I don't defend who ever sent he email but there might be a reason behind it.
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What are you talking about.

What nonsense.

I competent company aligns the select courier service they pick with the company's opening and closing times


I work in operations and before that as a warehouse manager.

When you arrange for anything to be delivered and your the one choosing the courier, you choose one that will deliver before your closing time.

You don't just book any old service that could deliver up to 8om or 9pm and then just hope for the best that they deliver before you close.

As for coms, as I said I work in operations, a big part of my job revolves around communicating. You don't tell a customer they can shop elsewhere if there not comfortable, regardless how of bad of a day youve had.
 
samhawkes86 said:
You don't tell a customer they can shop elsewhere if there not comfortable, regardless how of bad of a day youve had.
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My time in retail taught me you do if they're a f*****g pain in the arse.

Life's too short to be nice to d******ds. :ROFLMAO:
 
samhawkes86 said:
Well I've slept on it and I'm still infuriated after being told to go elsewhere if I wasn't comfortable yesterday. So unprofessional.

Looks like they've processed my camera replacement even though they haven't recieved the old one back yet.

So, that's good. Maybe they just have crap unprofessional people manning the comms but that isn't reflective of how the company actually operate?

I'll be checking to make sure I get a genuine European sku this time and not another Asian one that's had its firmware hacked/altered to show a pal option.
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You sure they're not a grey importer?

www.talkphotography.co.uk

Cotswold Cameras

Anyone have any experience? I'm not in a position to buy just yet, but I keep checking prices of Canon's 80D. Normally, it's about between £950 and £1,000 (with a kit lens), but the above store has a body only for sale at £699. Am I missing something (probably)? Grey import? Second Hand...
www.talkphotography.co.uk www.talkphotography.co.uk



 
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It’s easy to find official UK Nikon dealers. They are listed on the Nikon UK website.
Cotswold Cameras are not on the list.
 
They very clearly state on their website that they sell grey hence the low price, anyone who wants to be stroked with a feather is free to wander into a local dealer but then don’t moan about the price being higher.
 
Ed Sutton said:
My time in retail taught me you do if they're a f*****g pain in the arse.
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I learned a valuable lesson of how to deal with that situation during my one and only foray into photographic retail...

My boss was dealing with a particularly awkward customer. He said to the customer: "you know sir, my colleague down the road has just what you want". A few days later our "colleague from just down the road" appeared with a big grin and a bottle of whiskey. He handed over the bottle and said: "I don't know why you sent him to us, he was a lamb. We sold him a Nikon FTN, 3 lenses and that Cowhide fitted bag we've had since the Christmas before last!"

The moral is: just because you don't get on with a customer doesn't mean you can't pick up some profit, by passing him on to someone who can...

Camera shop assistant Olympus OM1 1993 04-01.jpg
 
samhawkes86 said:
What are you talking about.

What nonsense.

I competent company aligns the select courier service they pick with the company's opening and closing times


I work in operations and before that as a warehouse manager.

When you arrange for anything to be delivered and your the one choosing the courier, you choose one that will deliver before your closing time.

You don't just book any old service that could deliver up to 8om or 9pm and then just hope for the best that they deliver before you close.

As for coms, as I said I work in operations, a big part of my job revolves around communicating. You don't tell a customer they can shop elsewhere if there not comfortable, regardless how of bad of a day youve had.
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Oh well that is your opinion, having been customer facing over nearly 50 years I know different. Including owning my own business for 25 years
 
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Can I ask what name they use on their invoice? There is a registered company called Cotswold UK Cameras Ltd, but that was only registered in Aug 2022 and the 31 Aug 2023 accounts show zero employees, one director and minimal net assets. The address is the same as that on the website.
 
I think any courier service is a bit of a lottery these days.
 
A bad experience for whatever reason can give rise to angst & annoyance. And as @samhawkes86 says he sees the level of service he expects through the prism of the way he handles his customer Comms.

Having said that, Cotswold are a Grey Importer who he erroneously 'reports' as supplying a 'hacked' camera.

As for a supplier advising(?) a customer that if they are dissatisfied with the service provided that perhaps another (high street) store might be beneficial......I as others have said above do not see that as harsh.

In my decades of b2b selling I had to refuse business because of "unsustainable high maintenance demands" on a handful of occasions and my MD backed me up every time.

Oh, as for the returns courier service.....Cotswold it seems run very lean in low margins business environment, so cost savings are inevitable and are a fact of life.

PS personally I have never used them and will not be doing so in future.
 
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Have bought form them a few times they are a grey importer, never had to return anything though and all was as expected.

Just noticed the comment about hacked firmware. I assumed that all camera bodies include the option of choosing NTSC or pal, don't think the firmware needs to be "hacked". I could be wrong though.
 
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I never heard of Cotswold Cameras. Sounds like a dealer to me. Something about dealers I've found. Once I find one I like I stick with them. Other's that I've tried and just don't go back to I think it's something in me that stops me. I think more people expect to much and are upset when they don't get it. Then again I have had a couple bad experiences and just filed them away and never went back. Deal is they are just like any other business. A business that works fine for one guy might not work for another. usually one that doesn't work is probably in your own mind, maybe nothing they did wrong. Why would any business want to drive off possible customer's and lose sales? Unless there's a real screw up on THEIR part, I'm normally ready to give it one more shot. I get all my photo paper from one company. Their price is right and I have never had a problem with them. But at the same time I'd bet there's other company's that sell just as good a product maybe even at an equal price! It's how they treat you as an individual, how they come across!
 
Don Fischer said:
I never heard of Cotswold Cameras. Sounds like a dealer to me. Something about dealers I've found. Once I find one I like I stick with them. Other's that I've tried and just don't go back to I think it's something in me that stops me. I think more people expect to much and are upset when they don't get it. Then again I have had a couple bad experiences and just filed them away and never went back. Deal is they are just like any other business. A business that works fine for one guy might not work for another. usually one that doesn't work is probably in your own mind, maybe nothing they did wrong. Why would any business want to drive off possible customer's and lose sales? Unless there's a real screw up on THEIR part, I'm normally ready to give it one more shot. I get all my photo paper from one company. Their price is right and I have never had a problem with them. But at the same time I'd bet there's other company's that sell just as good a product maybe even at an equal price! It's how they treat you as an individual, how they come across!
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That broadly sums up my approach.

Yonks ago I bought from Park and then had a couple of less than satisfying dealings with them.......since then I have not touched them with a bargepole!

The one mantra of both B2B & B2C is that people buy from people and any business that forgets that is going to have problems sooner or later!
 
"As for a supplier advising(?) a customer that if they are dissatisfied with the service provided that perhaps another (high street) store might be beneficial......I as others have said above do not see that as harsh."

Especially if the customer comes across as an annoyed Mr Angry.........................
 
Al1944 said:
"As for a supplier advising(?) a customer that if they are dissatisfied with the service provided that perhaps another (high street) store might be beneficial......I as others have said above do not see that as harsh."

Especially if the customer comes across as an annoyed Mr Angry.........................
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Yup, honey not vinegar;)
 
I can't recall if it was Cotswolds Cameras or Clifton Cameras ? that messed me about a bit when the 35GM was released for pre order.
 
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