MPB - Awful service - patience required.

Messages
1,506
Name
Malcolm
Edit My Images
Yes
MPB have now had 2 of my items for 8 working days.
It's the first time I've used them and I believed the claims on their website about swift turnaround of purchase - and duly accepted 2 quotes, one for £450 and the other for £1125.
Immediately on receipt of the items they confirmed it would be 4/5 working days before the deal would be completed.
On Monday last, after 5 working days, I contacted them asking why I had received no further communication - they said they would immediately put me on a priority list.
Tuesday - same again, nothing from them so I telephoned and they confirmed they would put me on a priority list. I said, "I was put on that list yesterday" - "ah, well we'll chase it up, but you'll get a swift response".
Today - one offer confirmed by email - surprise, surprise, it's the lower priced one. I called them - "what is going on" - "Oh, we're very busy , but you are on a priority list!'

It is so frustrating - why cannot people be upfront with you, do you think we are idiots?

In the meantime I've lost a deal on a body and lens because I'm waiting for their funds - not happy!
 
Used to only ever get praise for MPB but recently they appear to have really gone downhill, so many issues being reported.
 
That’s really annoying op - I understand your frustration.

I just can’t imagine how busy they really are!? 8 days seems a long time.

Some of their ratings are really odd. The well used classification seems to have an incredibly broad tolerance!

I sent a few things in.... one was a lens with a loose plastic retainer ring - classed as excellent.... and another lens I’d only used once .... - well used ....
 
I can understand your frustration Malcolm and when i looked on their twitter account it states 5 days as a turnaround time. I also have ordered a couple of items before the cut off time today for delivery tomorrow but i havent received any despatch email and the order is still in picking so that wont be arriving tomorrow either so yes it is very frustrating.
 
still waiting for my checkup and offer conformation email. Today was the 5th working day :(
first time I have used them and could well be the last if I don't have my money by Friday
 
@mpb.com - any help you can offer us?

It being end of the month and all, there are a lot of commitments to fulfil. So it'd be nice to get some idea of where things are. I emailed your customer service yesterday and the person said they'll get it checked as a priority but this seems like something you say to everyone. So come clarity would be nice. Thank you.
 
I am going to be cynical and guess they are having a cash flow problem and currently getting more items in than selling. You can imagine a lot of people doing the same now with Nikon’s mirrorless tease and announcement tomorrow.

That or the same reason they have a LOT more bodies and lenses to check.

I am sure once the market settles down it’ll be back to normal.
 
Last edited:
I almost had to leave a lens I bought from there for a trip behind recently. I had bought over a week before, figured it was time enough for it to get to me at least by the Monday morn I was leaving. Considering they charge £10 delivery and use a courier service, it should take no more than 5 working days even to Ireland. It spent 2 days 'processing' so I contacted them asking if they could move it along as I was heading away and would really appreciate it. No luck, they said it was in a queue or whatever, and then it was down to the courier as to when it would reach me ... well, not really! not when it's sat there unprocessed for 2 days! Hardly the courier's fault.

Thankfully the courier [DPD] company were a lot more helpful. I spoke to a guy there who tracked it down, said it was due to reach me that Tuesday but he bumped it, it arrived here at 10am Monday morn, I was leaving after lunch. Couldn't thank the guy enough, proper customer support that. MPB on the other hand, are not so courteous, even when you plead with them.
 
Last edited:
There does seem to be a worrying negative trend here !!
Perhaps it’s time for @mpb.com to come clean
 
There does seem to be a worrying negative trend here !!
Perhaps it’s time for @mpb.com to come clean
Sadly, Ive seen companies do this before - strive hard to get it right, then become truly complacent as business builds and the original staff that led the buil dup have left.....
 
Sadly, Ive seen companies do this before - strive hard to get it right, then become truly complacent as business builds and the original staff that led the buil dup have left.....

As my old dad used to say - it takes years to build up a good reputation, and days to lose it!
 
they are oblivious to competition too, seems they have never heard of the likes of Hdew. They have lenses for sale used at higher prices than you can get new, bar some exceptions - like the lens I bought, which was in 'like new' condition and there was a nice saving. If you're buying Olympus or Canon though, the likes of Hdew are often the better bet.
 
only had one dealings with MPB and that was a couple of years ago buying a nikon lens which was collected and payed for at their office in Brighton
managed to get a £50 discount because of paying cash and collecting ( no postage fees ) but the curios thing was although payment was in cash they wanted to repay the discount into a bank account rather than just knocking £50 off the bill
the £50 discount took a few phone calls and 3 months to appear in the account

apart from that everything was as it should be just a little slow to give the discount
 
Posted this elsewhere, but my last 4 transactions with them:

10 working days (flagged priority after chased by email)
5 working days
4 working days
10 working days (flagged priority after chased here on TP)

I've flagged them up on their advertised turnaround time before but they're not interested.
 
I think all my transaction were completed in about 3 days. I never had to chase them. One time between offer, my counter offer and then payment after agreement on the same day.
 
Funny this thread should pop up I was just thinking today that perhaps mbp are struggling a bit financially as they seem desperate for business. They are constantly sending me emails I have had 4 from them today alone and pretty much get at least 2 a day and have done for the last few months. The increase in the amount of email marketing they are doing screams struggling to me but that's just my opinion.

If that is the case as others have said above that might hold up payments to people sending in equipment to them.
 
It saddens me when companies of any sort forget the basic need to set & meet customer expectations in this case even the folk they buy from are not the usual supplier in a business sense as more like a customer.

Having read various such threads they will not be on list of companies either to sell to or buy from, more so having "looked into them" and I fear their issues possibly are more than simply cashflow as @Raymond Lin posted.

Such problems can occur in any business........some grow too fast for their ability to manage that growth.
 
Funny this thread should pop up I was just thinking today that perhaps mbp are struggling a bit financially as they seem desperate for business. They are constantly sending me emails I have had 4 from them today alone and pretty much get at least 2 a day and have done for the last few months. The increase in the amount of email marketing they are doing screams struggling to me but that's just my opinion.

If that is the case as others have said above that might hold up payments to people sending in equipment to them.

Broadly speaking, if a business is overstocked i.e. insufficient sales it becomes highly selective in its goods purchasing......yes, it might likely buy stock that it has the greatest demand for but should never/rarely simply top-up slower moving products!
 
This thread is very useful, I've used them twice without issues but I will be more wary of them in future!

I first used them to buy around 4-5 years ago. Since then I have bought a few lenses & also sold a few. The most recent was the cheap FE28-70 back in January. Unfortunately it kept losing contact with the body & after a day or two of emails [I could only reply in the evening so they'd read next morning, reply & I couldn't read again until after closing time, etc......] they arranged collection & once they had the lens sent me another copy. I've never had an issue. Looks like plenty of others haven't been so lucky.
 
I actually have a collection scheduled next week and it's quite a big one, getting itchy feet now and may cancel.

Between this thread and the complete inaction displayed in another thread on here regarding a very simple tweak required in their T&Cs you do wonder what's going on.

They've grown massively in the past year or so and have recently moved to some fancy new workspace...that means nothing if customer service is dipping at an alarming rate.
 
I recently sent a lens to them. Yesterday (Wednesday) was 5 days and I didn’t hear from them. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and wait till Friday before I chase them up. I used them earlier this year and it was a quick process. But now I’m worried as there seem to be a few people complaining of their slowness.

Let’s hope it’s sorted soon. My son is on my back now to get him a lens for my old camera, I should have waited till I had the funds
 
I also recently had to remind them twice to cough up, got my cash after 8 working days.

For me I think the problem is lack of staff, so many companies these days want to operate on bare minimum workforce level for maximum profit.
That's ok until customer satisfaction plummets along with turnover, hard equation to get right and don't think they have
 
I recently sold a several Nikon lenses and cameras to them ,two large boxes full . It took around a week for the offer e.mail and payment followed a few days later , so in reality your looking at a two week pick up to payment period . . It’s often quicker to sell on here ? But in all honesty if your in a hurry or want a better price it’s often far easier to sell on the bay of E , especially if you list on the £1 or £3 final selling fees weekends
 
MPB have now had 2 of my items for 8 working days.
It's the first time I've used them and I believed the claims on their website about swift turnaround of purchase - and duly accepted 2 quotes, one for £450 and the other for £1125.
Immediately on receipt of the items they confirmed it would be 4/5 working days before the deal would be completed.
On Monday last, after 5 working days, I contacted them asking why I had received no further communication - they said they would immediately put me on a priority list.
Tuesday - same again, nothing from them so I telephoned and they confirmed they would put me on a priority list. I said, "I was put on that list yesterday" - "ah, well we'll chase it up, but you'll get a swift response".
Today - one offer confirmed by email - surprise, surprise, it's the lower priced one. I called them - "what is going on" - "Oh, we're very busy , but you are on a priority list!'

It is so frustrating - why cannot people be upfront with you, do you think we are idiots?

In the meantime I've lost a deal on a body and lens because I'm waiting for their funds - not happy!

Hi @Malfis - Apologies, we are facing a large backlog at the moment so there have been some delays with our services. I've just messaged you so please could you send over your transaction ID number and we will get this looked into for you.

Clare
 
@mpb.com - any help you can offer us?

It being end of the month and all, there are a lot of commitments to fulfil. So it'd be nice to get some idea of where things are. I emailed your customer service yesterday and the person said they'll get it checked as a priority but this seems like something you say to everyone. So come clarity would be nice. Thank you.

Hi @nandbytes - apologies, we are facing delays at the moment due to our backlog but I have just messaged you so please send over your transaction ID number and we can get this looked into for you.

Clare
 
I recently sent a lens to them. Yesterday (Wednesday) was 5 days and I didn’t hear from them. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and wait till Friday before I chase them up. I used them earlier this year and it was a quick process. But now I’m worried as there seem to be a few people complaining of their slowness.

Let’s hope it’s sorted soon. My son is on my back now to get him a lens for my old camera, I should have waited till I had the funds

Hi @Naka - please let us know if you would like this to be looked into sooner. Clare
 
Hi everyone, we are really sorry to hear about these issues you're facing with our services at the moment.

We are facing a backlog of items to be checked at the moment which is causing delays as you have mentioned. We are working really hard to get everything checked and to get back to normal so that we can continue to provide our promised checking period so please do bear with us.

I have messaged those of you on here who have said you're still waiting on your gear to be checked so that we can get this looked into and sorted out for you.

We really are sorry about this and totally understand how frustrating this has been for some of you. Your support with Talk Photography is really important to us so those of you I have asked for the transaction ID, please send over and we'll look into it right away.

Thanks,

Clare
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone, we are really sorry to hear about these issues you're facing with our services at the moment.

We are facing a backlog of items to be checked at the moment which is causing delays as you have mentioned. We are working really hard to get everything checked and to get back to normal so that we can continue to provide our promised checking period so please do bear with us.

I have messaged those of you on here who have said you're still waiting on your gear to be checked so that we can get this looked into and sorted out for you.

We really are sorry about this and totally understand how frustrating this has been for some of you. Your support with Talk Photography is really important with us so those of you I have asked for the transaction ID, please send over and we'll look into it right away.

Thanks,

Clare

Thanks for the response Clare :)
 
Hi everyone, we are really sorry to hear about these issues you're facing with our services at the moment.

We are facing a backlog of items to be checked at the moment which is causing delays as you have mentioned. We are working really hard to get everything checked and to get back to normal so that we can continue to provide our promised checking period so please do bear with us.

I have messaged those of you on here who have said you're still waiting on your gear to be checked so that we can get this looked into and sorted out for you.

We really are sorry about this and totally understand how frustrating this has been for some of you. Your support with Talk Photography is really important to us so those of you I have asked for the transaction ID, please send over and we'll look into it right away.

Thanks,

Clare

Thanks for getting back to me.
I have received the second and final acceptance this morning, so hopefully things will now proceed to payment ASAP.
 
I recently sold a several Nikon lenses and cameras to them ,two large boxes full . It took around a week for the offer e.mail and payment followed a few days later , so in reality your looking at a two week pick up to payment period . . It’s often quicker to sell on here ? But in all honesty if your in a hurry or want a better price it’s often far easier to sell on the bay of E , especially if you list on the £1 or £3 final selling fees weekends

CEX is a thing as well. Judging by a quote I had from MPB for a trade in their prices are roughly similar
 
Genuine question: is there a time when you're not facing a large backlog? I've used your services many times as I was there pretty much from the beginning (when you'd hear from the same person throughout the whole process, usually only one of two or three guys!), but looking back it's been two years now since you've actually met your quoted processing time.

If you quoted a more realistic time frame your customers are less likely to be dissatisfied.
 
a quick update on my order, i had to ring early afternoon as i hadnt a reply to my email from last night. MPB were very apologetic to me and rang me back when they said they would and refunded my delvery charge. New delivery date is tomorrow.
 
Hi @dinorock - have you already got in touch with our customer service team about this? Thanks
yep all sorted but even the strap was missing so you sent me one .....for a d4 couldn't be bothered to carry on with it think I'll just give you a miss. I will add they came highly recommended from this very forum seems some companies can't keep up with demand.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top