Lowepro spare parts ... not available!

Alzibiff

Alzibiff

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Alan
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I've just come off the telephone after ringing the number on the Lowepro.co.uk website for customer service and am both amazed and very unhappy.

The purpose of the call was to obtain a replacement chest strap (right hand side) for my Lowepro Flipside 300. I was willing to pay of course as my bag is past its warranty date and the loss of the strap was probably the result of some tugging and pulling as I was leaving an aeroplane. (I use this bag as my hand luggage - well within limits).

I was told that Manfrotto have now taken over the distribution of Lowepro products and that spares for any of them are not available - full stop. Apparently the previous distribution company did not have a proper cataloguing system and that parts MAY be available in the future should Manfrotto be able to catalogue them. I thought that this was strange as in the past, when I have lost a Lowepro belt buckle, all I had to do was ring up and the replacement arrived a week or so later (from China, I think) and at no cost.

The receptionist on the phone said that some people had found replacement part suppliers online but could not tell me who they were - just suggested an internet search.

Anybody else come across this issue and found a spares supplier?

Alan
 
Hmmmm! not good? I a while back needed a replacement snap buckle part for that chest strap and as you say it came FoC very quickly.

I had no idea (but at this stage why would I) that Lowepro had Manfrotto had taken over the spares distro.

Was it this place they directed you to? https://www.manfrottospares.com/

If not not them but I do note their website does not show the Lowepro logo amongst the ones they 'service'. However cannot hurt to ask and get a clearer picture?

HTH :)
 
They didn't direct me anywhere - just suggested I did an internet search. I asked if they were still selling spares - and servicing - Manfrotto & Gitzo branded products and was told yes but that as they had only just taken over Lowepro, they were not offering any support other than via a warranty claim. I may well take a photograph of the missing part, (I have two of these bags - my wife carries the other one as her hand luggage - aren't I lucky :) ) and suggest that the missing one must have been faulty as it fell off and should be replaced under the 'fit for purpose' law. Not sure how successful this will be though for a bag which is probably 3 years old now and cost less than £100.

This situation would definitely steer me away from Lowepro now should I be looking for any sort of equipment.

Grrrrr!
 
Alzibiff said:
They didn't direct me anywhere - just suggested I did an internet search. I asked if they were still selling spares - and servicing - Manfrotto & Gitzo branded products and was told yes but that as they had only just taken over Lowepro, they were not offering any support other than via a warranty claim. I may well take a photograph of the missing part, (I have two of these bags - my wife carries the other one as her hand luggage - aren't I lucky :) ) and suggest that the missing one must have been faulty as it fell off and should be replaced under the 'fit for purpose' law. Not sure how successful this will be though for a bag which is probably 3 years old now and cost less than £100.

This situation would definitely steer me away from Lowepro now should I be looking for any sort of equipment.

Grrrrr!
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I have just looked at the Lowepro UK website and now see the Manfrotto connection :(

As I suggested above contact them and see what the "spares people" have to say..........................maybe not a 'now' answer but perhaps some indicator for 'when' they might be able to help???
 
THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
I would contact Manfrotto directly.
Click to expand...

I agree........................but can do no harm to make all lines of contact possible and if the actual UK spares guys do not know then when might be answered by Manfrotto HQ?
 
It must all be in a state of flux at present. I was looking for a new bag and went into local shop. Manfrotto guy was there on a promo day. He admitted that everything had happened so quickly and recently that he hadn't been brought up to speed with the Lowepro range. He resorted to googling the website to find out about specs of various options.

Think we will all have to be patient till the dust settles.
(Technically speaking Lowepro hasn't been bought out by Manfrotto; it's been bought by the conglomerate that owns Manfrotto, and just put in with them for convenience.)
 
When the dust settles and on the surmise it will be ManfrottoSpares (as I linked) will be the ones to talk to.......................I have found my old emails comms with them and it was a guy called Ian that I found most helpful, I also went to collect the item (Manfrotto monopod gaskets) I was in need of as they are local to me :)
 
Oh dear - response from going directly to Lowepro Customer services as suggested by Nikon Photographer took me back to where I started:

"As Lowepro was recently acquired by Manfrotto, all customer service is being handled by The customer services team in UK. Their details are below. Unfortunately we have no spare parts any longer" (The "details below" are those which I have already called)

It may well improve in the coming months but I'm not holding my breath and am totally disgusted by the way Manfrotto have taken on the Lowepro brand without regard to their existing customer base.
 
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