Fairkid Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 4 hours ago, Andrew Reid said: Is this why they sent you the box of chocolates? It was for being a 'good customer' might give you an indicator of how much of a tart I am when it comes to camera gear! Andrew Reid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I've had really good experiences with MPB here in the United States, with my most recent purchase being last month when I picked up one of the Lumix primes I was missing. I've pretty much given up on buying from Marketplace, eBay, etc. because of bad experiences, and MPB and KEH both at least offer warranties. I've also had the opposite experiences that some have had, where I'll send something in rated at one thing only for them to rate it higher and pay me more than quoted. Other than MurtlandPhoto, have these bad experiences been in Europe? I wonder if they are overstretched? Looking at their site, for example, they say they've added 4305 pieces of gear in the last week. I'm not even sure how you would look over and photograph 4000 pieces of gear in a week without an army of people. It might be a situation where they've grown too fast? They advertise a lot these days. Either way, it stinks that it has happened to you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurtlandPhoto Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 3 hours ago, newfoundmass said: I've also had the opposite experiences that some have had, where I'll send something in rated at one thing only for them to rate it higher and pay me more than quoted. Other than MurtlandPhoto, have these bad experiences been in Europe? I should clarify that I’ve mostly had very positive experiences with MPB and still use them on occasion. All the good experiences are why the bad ones were so surprising. I’ve had several instances of them paying more than initially quoted as well; that’s always a nice feeling. newfoundmass 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 9 hours ago, BTM_Pix said: Even DHL would struggle to misplace something during that route. Speaking as a former courier (DHL's B2B P2P subsidary being the only one I hadn't yet worked for in my city! I've worked for all other courier companies that have existed as B2B P2P courier companies with bike messengers) then I can say @BTM_Pix you're vastly underestimating the level of incompetence some couriers can reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Sewell Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 I've generally had good experiences with them, but it's always amused me that any parcel going either way between us goes from my house in Brighton, to Gatwick, then back to their original facility in... Brighton. They did once let me fulfill an exchange (I traded in a C100 Mk2 for 2 XT-3s) in person, but it was clearly well outside their comfort zone. That said, I did once end up drinking with a bunch of their employees at a pub in the city one Friday evening (this would be about 8 or so years ago) and they struck me as a great bunch of keen, intelligent and enthusiastic people (quite a few of them brandishing nice old film cameras). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Possibly the UK division is better than the EU brigade. Brits living in the UK like to complain about all kinds of things, but as a Brit living in France, I can state for the record that the UK is MILES (miles not km) ahead of certain parts of the EU for customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted February 28 Author Administrators Share Posted February 28 15 hours ago, Fairkid said: It was for being a 'good customer' might give you an indicator of how much of a tart I am when it comes to camera gear! I didn't get a box of choc after spending £20k with them over the years. I should ask for one. Some good shops in the UK but it is a pity West Yorkshire Camera closed down recently. Loved them. eatstoomuchjam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted February 28 Author Administrators Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, MrSMW said: Possibly the UK division is better than the EU brigade. Brits living in the UK like to complain about all kinds of things, but as a Brit living in France, I can state for the record that the UK is MILES (miles not km) ahead of certain parts of the EU for customer service. I can vouch for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatstoomuchjam Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said: the UK is MILES (miles not km) ahead of certain parts of the EU for customer service. I think this is a valid statement for more than just MPB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfun Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 My experience is that every time I’ve sold stuff they end up paying me more than their initial estimate. I’ve never purchased from them however. Living in a semi-remote region of Scotland without DPD etc., (real “man with a van” territory) I’m always amazed when my parcel does, indeed, reach them. I doubt I’ve had the sheer volume of transactions to have experienced one of the bad ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 One thing that I hate about living in a small rural state is that we don't have very many camera shops, and the ones that we do have don't really deal in used stuff. For someone like me MPB and KEH are godsends, because I've had bad experiences with Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and eBay. It's nice to be able to sell my stuff, get a pretty fair price, and be able to purchase used stuff that has a warranty. I do always get jealous though when I see you all talk about going to local shops and finding deals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 12 minutes ago, newfoundmass said: One thing that I hate about living in a small rural state is that we don't have very many camera shops Same here. I need to go into Paris which is pretty much a 5 hour round trip to actually handle anything that is not a kit camera. The locals call it Normandie but I call it Bumfuck Idaho because when it comes to stuff like this, pretty much the same place. Sometimes of an evening, I am sure I can hear someone strumming a banjo… And where I used to live, pretty much the same deal with a 5 hour round trip into Bordeaux to fondle a proper piece of kit. And as for rentals… Yes it exists, but with a few VERY specific pieces of kit, VERY expensive and unless you can pick up and drop off, even more ridiculously expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArashM Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 On 2/27/2025 at 3:46 PM, MrSMW said: Don’t get me started on DHL… This must be a regional thing, DHL is solid and I've had a great track record with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxJ4380 Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Not a fan of DHL it took two days for my camera to cross japan (which is pretty good i would think) a day to transit to here and for the last 13 days straight its been sitting somewhere in a warehouse, with a clearance event / on hold message every day. Technically they still have 5 days to deliver it. Considering its a 6 hour round trip. I presume there's 2 drivers busying themselves, playing rock, paper, scissors. 28 February 20256:52 pm (UTC +10:00) Clearance Event xxxx 1 Piece ID: jxxxxxxxxx Friday28 February 20256:52 pm (UTC +10:00) Shipment is on hold xxxxxxxxx 1 Piece ID: jxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 1 Author Administrators Share Posted March 1 22 hours ago, Snowfun said: My experience is that every time I’ve sold stuff they end up paying me more than their initial estimate. I’ve never purchased from them however. Living in a semi-remote region of Scotland without DPD etc., (real “man with a van” territory) I’m always amazed when my parcel does, indeed, reach them. I doubt I’ve had the sheer volume of transactions to have experienced one of the bad ones. Ah Scotland! Have you any experience with https://www.ffordes.com? They have been pretty good from a buying perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 1 Author Administrators Share Posted March 1 15 hours ago, ArashM said: This must be a regional thing, DHL is solid and I've had a great track record with them In Berlin at the moment they have had a number of damaging strikes as they don't treat their workers properly. The thing with MPB is that they should not make this the customer's problem, but intervene on their side and promptly refund if DHL loses a package. They have basically just tossed me to the wolves and said wait 1 month, maybe you'll get something, maybe you won't. It's fucking terrible customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfun Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 31 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said: 22 hours ago, Snowfun said: Ah Scotland! Have you any experience with https://www.ffordes.com? They have been pretty good from a buying perspective I’ve used Ffordes for photographic stuff and no complaints. They sell on commission rather than buying stuff (at least they used to - it’s been a while since I used them). A friendly small specialist shop service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArashM Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 8 hours ago, Andrew Reid said: The thing with MPB is that they should not make this the customer's problem, but intervene on their side and promptly refund if DHL loses a package. They have basically just tossed me to the wolves and said wait 1 month, maybe you'll get something, maybe you won't. It's fucking terrible customer service. Yes absolutely, that's terrible, THEY should sort it out, not you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhood Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Good to know about MPB! Was pretty close to buying something from them a few months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Sewell Posted yesterday at 07:04 PM Share Posted yesterday at 07:04 PM On 2/28/2025 at 8:28 AM, Tim Sewell said: That said, I did once end up drinking with a bunch of their employees at a pub in the city one Friday evening (this would be about 8 or so years ago) and they struck me as a great bunch of keen, intelligent and enthusiastic people (quite a few of them brandishing nice old film cameras). Funnily enough, just found some pics from that evening. Days of innocence (kinda). Emanuel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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