HDEW CAMERAS anyone used them?

Sharky said:
Unfortunately HDEW lost my sale because of their policy to only ship to the card holder address :(. To take time off work to wait in for a delivery or the hassle of locating the depot of a missed delivery makes the cost saving with HDEW vs other retailers negligible for me.
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thats common practice with many reputable online etailors as it cuts down on possible card fraud.
you would soon be complaning even more if you got a bill from HDEW for an item you never ordered that was shipped to some address you have never heard of before
 
dean messenger said:
thats common practice with many reputable online etailors..
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Erm no its not, it used to be common however i find it rare to find a supplier to not offer an alternative shipping address option. In fact i can't remember the last time i encountered it.
 
err yes it is.. having worked in e tailing for 8 years as IT manager and dealt with 100's of companies there are only a handful that on first orders will deliver to alternative address and i wouldnt trust those that are happy to ship to an address which doesnt match and cannot be verified to the card holder
 
dean messenger said:
err yes it is.. having worked in e tailing for 8 years as IT manager and dealt with 100's of companies there are only a handful that on first orders will deliver to alternative address and i wouldnt trust those that are happy to ship to an address which doesnt match and cannot be verified to the card holder
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Then your experience differs wildly than mine.

And you really wouldn't trust Lencarta, Panamoz, DigitalRev, Amazon, Castle Hill Crafts, CPC and TNP Broadcast to name but a few people who i've ordered from and on a first order they shipped to a different address?
 
Well I can confirm that my D610 arrived with the three year warranty. I ordered it on the Friday just after lunch and it arrived on the Tuesday morning before 9am. First class service and communication from Hdew.
 
I've bought two Canon bodies from them and both arrived exactly as promised and with the three year warranty paperwork. Great company to deal with



Sent from my iPad using Talk Photography Forums
 
I must admit to being a bit confused about HDEW......on their FAQ page it states :

'INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. Please note that by making a purchase on this website you will be acting as the importer of the product for all purposes including all customs regulations, copyright and trademark laws. You accept that the role of HDEW Cameras is limited to sourcing products and making them available for you to import directly from the country of origin. By purchasing a product through this website you authorise us to make arrangements for clearance of customs on your behalf for the products you have ordered.'

Notwithstanding the fact that the section is (confusingly) entitled 'INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.' this reads as if the purchaser is responsible for the payment of import duty and VAT on top of HDEWs purchase price..... However, in an email reproduced in an earlier post by Natalieking8, Melissa of HDEW states 'The price you see on our website will be the price you pay with UK VAT included, so there are no hidden costs.'

So the question is, can anyone who has received items from HDEW confirm whether they received a valid UK VAT Invoice (which MUST by law be provided where VAT has been charged)? If they do issue a VAT invoice, can anyone provide HDEWs VAT number (by PM if you don't want to post it publicly).

If I understand correctly, it is a legal requirement that a VAT registered business displays their VAT number on their website. It may be there, but I could not find a VAT number on HDEWs website.....

Also in that email, Melissa states that the warranty on a Nikon D610 body provided by them is a Nikon International Warranty - there is no such warranty on digital camera bodies - Nikon UK's website states 'Nikon digital products sold outside Europe also have localised warranties and are not supported in Europe.' The Nikon International Warranty 'applies to conventional equipment (lenses, film based cameras, Speedlights)'.
 
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I have. I am awaiting their response. However it would be good to know if a VAT receipt was received by a customer....
 
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bigbigblue said:
I have. I am awaiting their response. However it would be good to know if a VAT receipt was received by a customer....
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I have, and I posted a copy of it on the forum a year or two ago, but I can't find it now. The VAT Number was included and checked out at the time. The only odd thing I've found its that if you want a VAT Receipt you are advised to ask for one. It really should be provided automatically. Maybe that's changed since I made my purchase. Regardless of all that, I would use them without hesitation in the future.
 
Sharky said:
Unfortunately HDEW lost my sale because of their policy to only ship to the card holder address :(. To take time off work to wait in for a delivery or the hassle of locating the depot of a missed delivery makes the cost saving with HDEW vs other retailers negligible for me.
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I had to do a bank transfer as I live outside the UK. I then got the order delivered to work. I'm sure you could have done the same.
 
I have ordered a lens as it has international warranty. Requested a VAT receipt which HDEW have said they will provide. Decided to buy camera bodies from a UK dealer though as I prefer the 2 year Nikon UK warranty. You pays your money and takes your choice :)
 
SuperSync said:
I had to do a bank transfer as I live outside the UK. I then got the order delivered to work. I'm sure you could have done the same.
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Yeah possibly for a BT, but for a card payment no changing address. I ordered through portusdigital in the end and my lens arrived 4 days after ordering and was cheaper as well.
 
bigbigblue said:
So the question is, can anyone who has received items from HDEW confirm whether they received a valid UK VAT Invoice (which MUST by law be provided where VAT has been charged)? If they do issue a VAT invoice, can anyone provide HDEWs VAT number (by PM if you don't want to post it publicly).

If I understand correctly, it is a legal requirement that a VAT registered business displays their VAT number on their website. It may be there, but I could not find a VAT number on HDEWs website.....
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Actually a more interesting question would be whether anyone has purchased from HDEW and not received a VAT invoice. But obviously nobody's going to admit to that.

Have you heard back from HDEW? What did they say?
 
tdodd said:
I have, and I posted a copy of it on the forum a year or two ago, but I can't find it now. The VAT Number was included and checked out at the time. The only odd thing I've found its that if you want a VAT Receipt you are advised to ask for one. It really should be provided automatically. Maybe that's changed since I made my purchase..
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It's very common to issue one, but it's not a legal requirement to provide a VAT receipt unless the customer is VAT registered and/or the customer asks for one.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ /http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/records-valid-invoice.htm#3

HMRC said:
To whom a VAT invoice must be issued

If you are a seller registered for VAT you must give a buyer who is registered for VAT a VAT invoice for any standard-rated or reduced-rated items sold. If you are a retailer, you do not need to issue a VAT invoice or receipt unless asked to do so by the buyer. A VAT registered supplier may be fined if they do not issue a VAT invoice when asked to do so by a VAT registered buyer.
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Still a litte unclear whether the retailer can be fined if the customer is not registered for VAT, but as far as I can recall, the above has been the position for many years.
 
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I actually ordered a lens from HDEW on saturday and it was delivered today. I specifically asked for a VAT receipt when placing my order, but none was provided. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and call them tomorrow to ask for them to provide the required receipt.

Musicman - thanks for the link re VAT receipts. Makes sense.

There IS another issue though ... the Nikon International lens warranty cannot be used (at least in my case). It may not be an issue as HDEW give their own 1 year warranty on lenses, but I would have much preferred the Nikon warranty. The reason the Nikon warranty cannot be used is that the 'Nikon Worldwide Service Warranty Card' was missing from my package. According to the terms of the Nikon Worldwide Service Warranty :

'.... repairs or adjustments will be made free of charge only upon presentation of the Nikon Worldwide Service Warranty Card (Copy "C", customer's portion) together with the sales slip.....'

I don't know if the warranty card being absent was an error or whether they remove it from all the lenses they sell - perhaps others could say whether they got their warranty card too.

Nikon UK's system allowed me to register the lens though....
 
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I believe the warranty cards are removed from grey sellers item's so they have a record of the product they have sold.
 
Swanseajack said:
I believe the warranty cards are removed from grey sellers item's so they have a record of the product they have sold.
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OldCarlos said:
& also so that any warranty claims are via the seller, rather than the manufacturer direct.
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Simon, the seller can keep a record of what they have sold simply by recording the serial number somewhere, they don't need to keep the warranty card.
Carl - Certainly with Nikon lenses, you get an international warranty from Nikon - it matters not where in the world you purchased the lens, Nikon will deal with warranty claims for 1 year. In fact Nikon will 'make adjustments' (e.g AF calibration) under their warranty, whereas HDEW cover only manufacturer defects, therefore they are providing less of a warranty.

I just don't understand why they remove the warranty cards from lenses......

The explanation from HDEW was :

'For the warranty on the lens it does not come with a Nikon warranty card as they are country specific. We import the stock from outside of the UK so the Nikon card would be invalid. For the 1 year warranty on the lens you just need to keep hold of your invoice which is your proof of UK purchase.'

This is patently wrong - Nikon lens warranties are international - the warranty is NOT invalid......

The following is from the Nikon UK website :

International Warranty

This applies to conventional equipment (lenses, film based cameras, Speedlights)

• Your Nikon equipment is guaranteed against any manufacturing defects for one year from the date of purchase.
• The warranty card is issued only at the time of original purchase; it is non-transferable.
• The warranty card must be presented to the Nikon Service Facility before any repair can be made under warranty.
• Establishing the original purchase date should be made by the original consumer purchase via the sales slips, or other evidence.

Here is a link to the page : http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/service_support/Support_2_Warranty.page?lang=
This is very different to what they say about the Warranty on 'Digital Imaging Products' - which is a local warranty and ONLY valid in the listed countries.
 
bigbigblue said:
Simon, the seller can keep a record of what they have sold simply by recording the serial number somewhere, they don't need to keep the warranty card.
Carl - Certainly with Nikon lenses, you get an international warranty from Nikon - it matters not where in the world you purchased the lens, Nikon will deal with warranty claims for 1 year. In fact Nikon will 'make adjustments' (e.g AF calibration) under their warranty, whereas HDEW cover only manufacturer defects, therefore they are providing less of a warranty.

I just don't understand why they remove the warranty cards from lenses......

The explanation from HDEW was :

'For the warranty on the lens it does not come with a Nikon warranty card as they are country specific. We import the stock from outside of the UK so the Nikon card would be invalid. For the 1 year warranty on the lens you just need to keep hold of your invoice which is your proof of UK purchase.'

This is patently wrong - Nikon lens warranties are international - the warranty is NOT invalid......

The following is from the Nikon UK website :

International Warranty

This applies to conventional equipment (lenses, film based cameras, Speedlights)

• Your Nikon equipment is guaranteed against any manufacturing defects for one year from the date of purchase.
• The warranty card is issued only at the time of original purchase; it is non-transferable.
• The warranty card must be presented to the Nikon Service Facility before any repair can be made under warranty.
• Establishing the original purchase date should be made by the original consumer purchase via the sales slips, or other evidence.

Here is a link to the page : http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/service_support/Support_2_Warranty.page?lang=
This is very different to what they say about the Warranty on 'Digital Imaging Products' - which is a local warranty and ONLY valid in the listed countries.
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Hi Peter,

I know they dont need to keep the card, but the reason I stated above, along with Carl's, was the one of the reasons they do. Also, it's less likely for human error and discrepancies (when you have a physical record of the serial number), which can be easily done when their pumping numbers into a computer all day. It doesn't seem right the way they work things, but I suppose it works for them.

If you did need to make a claim, I believe they are sent to Johnsons, Fixation etc........who are authorised repairers.

It may sound harsh, but what you need to remember is the savings you have, against buying from high street shops in the uk. If your not happy send it back and buy from Wex, etc............. I have bought two camera bodies from HDEW in the past and I knew what I was letting myself in for, regarding warranties etc............. against the cost of buying from the high street.

Edit: I'm considering buying a Nikon D750 from a grey seller, if I do and against UK prices I can have a 300mm f4 prime lens for the saving. Myself, I believe it's worth going grey and having a piece of paper missing from the box.
 
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Lenses might have the international warranty, but bodies apparently don't, so the reasons behind removing all warranty cards does seem conflicting.

As posted above from Nikon's site; • The warranty card must be presented to the Nikon Service Facility before any repair can be made under warranty.
So how does it work even with lenses if you don't have the warranty card?
 
As long as there is a warranty - and I haven't found anyone having problems claiming - who cares about the intricacies?

AL
 
OldCarlos said:
Lenses might have the international warranty, but bodies apparently don't, so the reasons behind removing all warranty cards does seem conflicting.

As posted above from Nikon's site; • The warranty card must be presented to the Nikon Service Facility before any repair can be made under warranty.
So how does it work even with lenses if you don't have the warranty card?
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In short, with regard to lenses it doesnt work, as per your link from Nikon site. You are at the hands of HDEW for warranty claims or Extend (insurance company) providing they still use this company, they were 12 months ago when I last bought from HDEW.
 
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bigbigblue said:
I must admit to being a bit confused about HDEW......on their FAQ page it states :

'INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. Please note that by making a purchase on this website you will be acting as the importer of the product for all purposes including all customs regulations, copyright and trademark laws. You accept that the role of HDEW Cameras is limited to sourcing products and making them available for you to import directly from the country of origin. By purchasing a product through this website you authorise us to make arrangements for clearance of customs on your behalf for the products you have ordered.'

Notwithstanding the fact that the section is (confusingly) entitled 'INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.' this reads as if the purchaser is responsible for the payment of import duty and VAT on top of HDEWs purchase price..... However, in an email reproduced in an earlier post by Natalieking8, Melissa of HDEW states 'The price you see on our website will be the price you pay with UK VAT included, so there are no hidden costs.'

So the question is, can anyone who has received items from HDEW confirm whether they received a valid UK VAT Invoice (which MUST by law be provided where VAT has been charged)? If they do issue a VAT invoice, can anyone provide HDEWs VAT number (by PM if you don't want to post it publicly).

If I understand correctly, it is a legal requirement that a VAT registered business displays their VAT number on their website. It may be there, but I could not find a VAT number on HDEWs website.....

Also in that email, Melissa states that the warranty on a Nikon D610 body provided by them is a Nikon International Warranty - there is no such warranty on digital camera bodies - Nikon UK's website states 'Nikon digital products sold outside Europe also have localised warranties and are not supported in Europe.' The Nikon International Warranty 'applies to conventional equipment (lenses, film based cameras, Speedlights)'.
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You don't get all that grief with Panamoz, Gear arrived in 4 days, they pay all taxes etc and you get 3 years UK warranty.
 
Sharky said:
Then your experience differs wildly than mine.

And you really wouldn't trust Lencarta, Panamoz, DigitalRev, Amazon, Castle Hill Crafts, CPC and TNP Broadcast to name but a few people who i've ordered from and on a first order they shipped to a different address?
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I've bought a few things from HDEW. Initially, I got shipment to my home address. After a couple, I wanted them sent to work. At first they said that they could only send to registered address but when I queried it, they saw that I'd bought a few things and now they send directly to my work.
 
OldCarlos said:
Lenses might have the international warranty, but bodies apparently don't, so the reasons behind removing all warranty cards does seem conflicting.

As posted above from Nikon's site; • The warranty card must be presented to the Nikon Service Facility before any repair can be made under warranty.
So how does it work even with lenses if you don't have the warranty card?
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Carl,
It doesn't work with lenses without the warranty card and that is exactly my point.... No card, no Nikon warranty and as far as I can see the card is removed for no good reason. I have no problem with the fact that I have made a saving and there is a 'price' to pay for that - it just seems part of the 'price' is incurred unnecessarily.

When I pointed out to HDEW that their statement re the warranty on lenses was incorrect, they offered a full refund if I was unhappy - which I'm not, so I won't be taking them up on their offer :cool:
 
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Peter, why is everything so complicated!?!? :rolleyes:

So, ..... UK/EU bought bodies are covered (& many for 2 years) by manufacturers warranty. Grey imported bodies are not. Lenses are covered by a worldwide warranty....unless you don't have the warranty card because they're grey imports, they then aren't covered by the worldwide warranty? (it's a bit like getting to grips with the rules of cricket :LOL: )
 
OldCarlos said:
Peter, why is everything so complicated!?!? :rolleyes:

So, ..... UK/EU bought bodies are covered (& many for 2 years) by manufacturers warranty. Grey imported bodies are not. Lenses are covered by a worldwide warranty....unless you don't have the warranty card because they're grey imports, they then aren't covered by the worldwide warranty? (it's a bit like getting to grips with the rules of cricket :LOL: )
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Cricket has rules? :)

HDEW have good prices on Bodies. I don't see the same value in OEM lenses. I'm springing for about £4k in lenses that are only going to be £200 dearer from Grays Westminster and I'll get 3 years no hassle warranty being an Nikon Owner subscriber. To me it's worth it to save on the body which will probably be "upgraded" in a couple of years anyway.

A question though - HDEW offer 3 years warranty on the D810 for example. It is as straightforward as that or no?
 
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Sharky said:
Yeah possibly for a BT, but for a card payment no changing address. I ordered through portusdigital in the end and my lens arrived 4 days after ordering and was cheaper as well.
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My original comment to you was that if you had paid by bank transfer they might have been more flexible re: change of address....

Glad it worked out for you. There's so many choices out there that I hadn't known about before I joined this site. Thanks.
 
I've bought a Nikon D7100 body and a Tamron 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD from HDEW more than a week ago and nothing ever since! Called the HDEW several times. Here is my mail that I've sent for HDEW! I just wanted to share my experience with HDEW here is my last mail that I've sent for them:
Hi,
My order hasn't arrived yet! My order number is: ....
Despite I've called in 4 times and I wrote an email as well my stuff still nowhere!
I've called in first on Saturday and the gentleman from costumer service said that he can't give me any information about my order despite the delivery date is passed already on Saturday. He said that to call in on Monday around noon. I've done it as it was told for me. I spoked a lady from costumer service who said that she hasn't got information about my order as she waiting for update and as soon as she got it she was gonna write an email about it. Phoned the company again as no email for four hours after our conversation about the problem. She told me my Nikon D7100 gonna delivered today and she still hasn't got information about the lens that I ordered and she told me she gonna let me know about the lens via email! No email, no camera.
Please let me know what's happening ASAP!
Thank you,
Marton
Please just understand my frustration as I've paid a lot of money and I haven't got any information about my stuff!
 
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