Warranty query
Posted by: Bruce Woodhouse on 17 April 2008
Just bought an Olympus SLR through the Amazon marketplace-but supplied by a company called Simply Electronics.
The camera is clearly new but the box was not sealed. The box contains a card provided by Simply Electronics stating that they will deal directly with any warranty issues once it has been registered with them. I'm assuming the usual Olympus warranty card has been removed.
Does this matter? I've never heard of Simply Electronics so I've no idea if they'll be around for 12 months. If so would that leave me in the lurch? I've registered the camera with the Olympus website too-can I actually take it to any Olympus dealer within the 12 months if it gets a fault?
Bargains on the web eh!
Bruce
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Bob McC
Isn't your contract with the vendor not the manufacturer?
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Derek Wright
Olympus kit supplied by Olympus Europe to Olympus UK to dealers has a 2 year warranty.
Would be interested to know where Simply Electronics get their kit - looking at their web site some of the prices are not very competitive with mainstream UK dealers others look interesting
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by count.d
Bruce, is the camera a UK one? You will find some reference on the box. If it's not from the UK then Olympus UK will not deal with your warranty issue.
I wouldn't want a camera body that wasn't covered by a UK manufacturer's warranty and I wouldn't want it touched by the seller's service dept. I would take a risk with a lens, but not a body.
P.S. Many of the cheaper camera deals in the UK are sourced from the Far East, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by count.d
Bruce, I've just taken a look at the Simply Electronics site and it states
"All our products come with a 12 months in house warranty, where our in-house facilities are able to process all returns for a quick and efficient all round service".
"Simply Electronics.net is located in Hong Kong. By displaying products on the Simply Electronics.net website, Simply Electronics is making an offer to sell such products only to those who are legally capable of accepting, and do accept, such offer in Hong Kong"
Looks like you may have an Eastern camera and only have them to fix any problems. I would check your box for any sign of a UK body, just in case.
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Bruce Woodhouse
Thanks folks, all that you are suggesting makes sense, I'll have a look to see if I can work out if it is UK v Asian origin from the box.
I must confess to feeling a little mislead by Amazon/Simply. Perhaps I was just naive. Nowhere on the Amazon website (where the purchase is made from) does it state possible non-UK origin. The purchaser is not referred to the Simply website when ordering. On close examination I cannot find a reference to the warranty period at all on the Amazon page. Perhaps that should have made me suspicious.
I'm unsure what to do if it is not a UK body, not sure if that would be grounds to reject it.
Bruce
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by count.d
If you're not happy with the purchase, you have 7 days from receiving it to return it for a full refund.
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Bruce Woodhouse
I actually bought an extended warranty with the camera, an additional year of breakdown cover and 2 years accidental damage. Perhaps if it goes wrong this year I can say I dropped it!
Bruce
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Derek Wright
Interesting that if you follow thru from Amazon to buy the 510 from Simply It is very difficult to see any reference to be restricted to Hong Kong T&Cs. Yet from the Simply Electronics web site the HK limitation is in the T&Cs.
The Amazon based price is better than the SE web price.
How much did they charge for the additional years warranty.
Digital Depot appears to be the regular mail order dealer in this product area.
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Bruce Woodhouse
quote:
Originally posted by Derek Wright:
Interesting that if you follow thru from Amazon to buy the 510 from Simply It is very difficult to see any reference to be restricted to Hong Kong T&Cs. Yet from the Simply Electronics web site the HK limitation is in the T&Cs.
The Amazon based price is better than the SE web price.
How much did they charge for the additional years warranty.
Digital Depot appears to be the regular mail order dealer in this product area.
I bought the warranty as a seperate item, from Amazon for £19.99. I'm happy with that.
As you've said I think that the Amazon 'frontage' for this purchase has rather obscured the origin/terms and conditions etc. This is an issue I'll be more careful with in future.
Bruce
Posted on: 18 April 2008 by Derek Wright
I think it is worth a whinge to Amazon as one expects all their directly marketed stuff to come from the UK even if not from Amazon.
I got caught out buying a router that came from France with a two pin wall wart instead of a 3 pin one. Delivery was very slow and the helpline was very slow to answer and react and the replacement goods took a while to arrive
