Simply Electronics Online Shop

Returned a camera lens well over $10K. They promised refund 45 days ago. Its scary what kind of brick wall I'm running into to actually get that promised refund. They keep telling me they are trying to expedite the refund and won't give me their Accounts Payable Dept. Now having to file Transaction Dispute with my credit card company. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!
- Angie

I would advise anybody thinking of using this company to think twice. I will never use them again. I'm still waiting for my order to be satisfied despite the fact that they have taken the money from my account. A reputable business would only take the money once the goods had been despatched. I find this kind of practice dishonest. The website stated and still does state that they have stock of the items I have ordered but they haven't sent them out to me. I can only assume they don't actually have stock and they are basically lying! If I had known they did not have stock I would have gone elsewhere. Telephone contact is almost impossible and when you do get through they try to fob you off with illogical reasons for not fulfilling the order and then they transfer you to so called customer services (that's a laugh!) and you have to wait on hold for goodness knows how long only to be cut off before you actually speak to somebody. The prices quoted are cheap and that would be fine if you actually got something for your money! But it turns out rather expensive if you don't get a decent service. My advice is DON'T USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!
- Bob Burnett

I placed an order with this company for a Canon EOS 7D and lens for just over £1500. I then cancelled the order within the same day as I had been offered a used alternative and decided on this instead. I acknowledge that this change of mind was my own fault and I should have thought more carefully before placing the order, hence my sincere apology when cancelling it. Simply Electronics' policy stated that orders may be cancelled before they are shipped and this order had not yet been shipped at this time. I received a response from Simply Electronics, stating that I was welcome to cancel the order but please could I not do so as it was ready to ship. I replied immediately, requesting that the order be cancelled and gave the reason why, with my apologies for any inconvenience caused. This request was ignored and the item was shipped anyway, confirmed by an email sent several hours after my request to cancel the order. The next day, I signed for the item as the courier did not advise I simply refuse it. After three days of requesting permission to return the item, I was eventually received acknowledgement from Simply Electronics. I returned the item via tracked and insured postage and waited. I spent the next two weeks attempting in vain to get a refund from Simply Electronics. I sent numerous emails and could not get through via the telephone number stated. A different person (first name only) replied to my emails, taking at least 24 hours in each case. I seemed to be getting nowhere and felt very upset and mistreated. Eventually, I had to request the services of Google Checkout to enable a refund to be issued and this proved to be far more successful than my own attempts. I got all of my money back within a week, including return postage, but the entire experience was extremely stressful and made me feel sick with worry over how much money I thought I had lost. In addition, I would also like to point out that the equipment I received was not an official Canon UK variant as I found out from researching the serial number shown on the box. Please be warned that this will affect the entire warranty system. In fact, Simply Electronics insist that defective items are returned to them directly for servicing, rather than the manufacturer. I would not like to imagine how long that process might take, based on my experience with the company. This very upsetting sequence of events has taught me once and for all that if something seems too good to be true, it most definitely is. This was certainly the case with Simply Electronics and I would urge anyone to pay that little bit extra (in my case £200) and buy their expensive electronic products from a genuine UK retailer, whether online or at the high street, that will provide the after sales support that is crucially needed for the life of the product. Thank you for reading my review and please benefit from my terrible experience.
- Tony Lateo

These people are not Uk based, they are in HK and trade through a loophole in the law, which means they are not covered by UK trading standards,they sell non UK product, which you may or may not receive and if you return goods to them you may never get your money,they are to be avoided at all costs I speak from grim experience,check out other reviews, I am not alone!
- N Green

I tried to purchase a EOS 1D from this Hong Kong company on 26th January 2010. They took £2200 from my account then never sent the goods. I contacted trading standards who helped me get my money back after 30 days! Very poor Customer service and almost impossible to contact by phone
- Roderick.j.smith

Camera arrived much later than stated in the ad. Seemed OK at first, but then it wouldn't download pics to computer (faulty). I eventually acquired a returns number and sent the whole package back - they are supposed to have a 28 day returns turnaround. They received it the next day (I had tracking on the delivery), but took 16 days to acknowledge receipt. When I still hadn't had it back after 31 days, I emailed asking where it was. On the 36th day after receipt, they then said the camera wasn't in the returned package. I'm claiming a refund from my credit card. DON'T EVER USE THIS COMPANY.
- ric

I would like to be able to leave feedback on this Hong Kong electronics company who have caused me and many other people a lot of stress in attempting to purchase goods from them after they have taken the money, in my case over £2000. I reported them to Trading standards and have finally got my money back after 30 days waiting. I have started a web site dedicated to helping this company improve its customer relations. Please visit us at http://simplyelectronicsnot.webs.com and put this link on your web site so many others can see the way these people do business. 
- Roderick.j.smith

On the 18th of December, I ordered a telephone from simplyelectronics.net, based on their guarantee that it would be delivered in time for Christmas. When it had not arrived on the 22nd of December and still appeared on the website as "processing" I e-mailed them expressing my concern that their guarantee would not be fulfilled. The following day, having received no response, I phoned the company, and after an hour or two of waiting managed to speak to a customer service agent who told me it didn't look like I would be getting my item on time but she would try to get it sent in the next batch. After some coaxing, she agreed to call me back within an hour. She did not do this so I called back and was told that in fact I wouldn't be getting the item on time. The agent was unable or unwilling to explain why this was the case, or what were the terms of the guarantee I had been given. She refused my request to send the item by overnight delivery despite the fact that this was the last chance to fulfill the guarantee. I asked for a supervisor but was told that none was available but one would ring me back within an hour. This never happened and by the time I called back their office had already closed. In the meantime I received an email response from the company, apologising for the "slight delay" in the order and was told thatI could probably expect to receive it "after the holidays". Again, I requested overnight delivery and again my request was ignored. The next response I received was on the 28th of December where I was told it would probably be despatched the following Wednesday and was offered a free cleaning kit if this would somehow help. Despite the appalling service I had received up to this point I agreed to accept delivery of the order if it was sent immediately by overnight delivery. This did not happen and I received no response so the following day I cancelled the order and requested a refund. The following day - as a direct response to my cancellation e-mail - I was told it was scheduled to be despatched that day and would be sent by overnight delivery. I reiterated that I no longer wanted it and had already cancelled the order. A day later (31st December if you're lost), I was told it had already been packed and they may not be able to get in touch with the courier company to prevent it being sent (yes, really!). I was told to refuse delivery and that when they received it back a refund would be processed. I requested an immediate refund as I had already been waiting almost two weeks and they had taken my money under the false pretences of having the item in stock and being able to deliver it in a timely manner. I continued to request an immediate refund while they continued to tell me that they had to wait until the item was returned. Later the same day I received a cheery email telling me my item had been sent. However, this was also a lie. By the 4th of January, I still had not received the item and demanded an immediate refund. The company continued to insist that they could only process a refund after receiving the item back from the courier. As they had taken my money before sending the item, I knew that this was not the case. Further, as the item sent by overnight delivery had not arrived after four days and the courier company (DHL) had no record of it, I realised that this went beyond simple incompetence. On the advice of many of the negative reviews of this company, I e-mailed their customer services manager requesting her to sort out the mess immediately. However, unlike some of the other reviewers, I received no better treatment from her. After three days I had received no response and phoned the company again. After waiting almost three hours to get through to a representative I was told that the matter was being dealt with. I asked for either an immediate refund or to speak to a supervisor. Both were denied. After almost an hour on the phone where I refused to end the call, I was eventually allowed to speak to a supervisor who told me that on the day the item was allegedly despatched there were problems with DHL tracking numbers. She then told me the matter was being dealt with by another department and I could expect to receive an email within an hour. This is the only time that someone from this company told me something that turned out to be true; I received an email (from the manager's email address but not from the manager) with another empty apology, and a request to allow a few more days for them to sort out the problem with DHL. I refused this as I had no contract with DHL and had in fact cancelled the order two full days before it was supposedly sent. I requested an immediate response to the effect that I would get a full refund. No response was forthcoming. Three days later, the manager finally deigned to respond to me. She explained that there was a technical issue with her email as if this somehow explained something, and then declared that I had now received the item and she hoped I was enjoying it -and that I had enjoyed my experience so far. After my response threatening immediate legal reprisals I finally got confirmation that a refund was being processed, and today, over a month since I made the order and a full three weeks since I cancelled it, I finally got my money back. I generally live by the maxim: "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence" but I find it hard to explain this mess away as mere incompetence. Certainly the guarantee of delivery by Christmas was made in bad faith, the company simply had no intention of fulfilling this obligation. The fact that my credit card was charged before the item was despatched was certainly immoral and probably illegal. The fake tracking number I was given is very difficult to explain as anything other than deliberate fraud. It does appear that on occasion this company does deliver items as ordered but this seems to be a rare occurrence. If what I experienced was at all unusual I would have received more than empty apologies and false promises but it seems to be par for the course with this company. As a result of my unfortunate dealings with this company my Christmas was very nearly ruined (fortunately the intended recipient was very understanding and I purchased a replacement from Amazon which arrived promptly) and I had to spend a considerable amount of time and money sorting out their mess. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with in over a decade of online shopping. Stay away from them! Pay a little extra for a reputable company that values its customers.
- Derek

I ordered a digital camera on DEC 11th £250. Delivery promised as in stock 2-5 days delivery. Money taken from my account days ago order still being processed. Phone lines no response after half hour wait. Reported to Police and Trading standards as scam. Do not lose YOUR money. AVOID. Wish I`d discovered this site sooner!!!!
- E. Fletcher

Totally dreadful. Not only did they mislead me about the availability of stock, but once I cancelled the transaction, it took them several weeks to provide a refund to my credit card account. Do not touch them with a barge pole.
- Alan Poole

This company is a joke - although not a funny one. Ordered an 'in stock' camera but 8 days later still hadn't arrived. Phoned 0844 number and told 20 minutes wait time to speak to respresentative, so emailed and cancelled order. Received email saying..."we'll email you when the order is dispatched". They're quick to take your money, dishonest with stock levels ,don't honour delivery times and ignore refunds requests until pressed hard.
- hewhosimplyis

Be very careful with this shop, items displayed as instock when they are not, delivery schedules are a joke and they never answer the phone or reply to emails sent Buy from these at your own risk, make sure you use a credit card not a debit card then you will be able to get your money back.
- Darren