Complaints about SLRHut? SLR Hut Reviews
We've been asked for reviews about a retailer called SLR Hut and if they are a scam. There are very few reviews of the SLRhut website and it is hard to find information to check if they are genuine or not although the complaints appear to be that their prices are not genuine and increase when you place the order. There are many reviews on Trustpilot website that appear to be fake and possibly created by SLRhut themselves.SLR Hut are not a UK company. They are not registered with Companies House so although they show a UK address they operate and send goods from the USA. Electronic goods sent from the USA would not have a European warranty, are likely to be grey imports and possibly may also be used.
The company have a website www.slrhut.co.uk and claim to have been operating in the USA for 10 years although strangely the SLRhut website address was only registered to a STEVEN ASSOULIN in March 2011; indeed both the .co.uk and .com addresses were registered at the same time. Maybe slrhut were trading in the USA under a different name for 10 years but their website makes no mention of what that name was which is strange when companies normally are proud of their history.
Even more curiously the USA version of the website and UK version are identical with the slrhut.com site immediately redirecting to the UK version. This seems very odd for a company trading in the USA having the same site showing UK prices in pounds as the USA version, rather than showing dollar prices which would cause complaints from US customers.
A review of prices on the SLRhut website shows they do not include tax and duties so when you get to the checkout the price with duty is much higher that the apparent site prices. If you order then you are likely to be billed for UK tax and customs duty when the goods arrive from outside the EU.
SLRhut.co.uk show a UK address on their website, however this is not a showroom or office, purely a mail box as can be seen from the photo on Google Maps, between Lucky Fishbar and Cartridge World. Rather misleading to call this "a physical presence now in London"
Despite the London address it appears that the phones for SLRhut are directed to the USA and the phone number given is not in UK format as 203 514-9372 . All the times for their customer service line appear to be based on USA office hours and they are also shut on Saturdays. eg: Monday: 2.30pm to 11.30pm BST
It has been suggested that SLRhut are associated with bait and switch companies in the USA. This is a tactic where when you order from them at the low price, the cheap goods are out of stock or you have to buy expensive accessories in order to place the order. The goods sent from the States are likely to be grey imports that do not have UK/European warranties.
If you are considering using SLRhut then we would advise you to be very cautious and make sure you know exactly what you are buying before you proceed and check with HMRC if you will be charged additional customs taxes on delivery. If you are phoned back to verify your order make sure that you do not end up paying large amounts for insurance or accessories that would negate your saving on the initial price.
Check the price of the cameras on Jessops or Ebay with trusted retailers such as Digital Rev where you can compare realistic prices knowing they are a genuine trader where you can return goods if they are faulty. Customers are likely to complain that returns are subject to a 7.5% deduction plus £31.
Examples of prices - Canon 7D on SLRhut.co.uk is £739.68 (not including import duty and taxes) yet the best price showing on Camera Price Buster is £1049
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1170.html
This kind of price difference is in the realms of "too good to be true". The person who registered SLRHut also registered another website called fumfie.com, again the same sort of complaints were made about them.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=30842724
SLRHut UK Offices
If you have any concerns whether SLR hut is a scam and want to read some reviews of SLR hut then check this link
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1018&message=39197106&changemode=1
The poor quality posting by the Business Development Director of SLR hut should be sufficient to make up your mind about how good they are!
The main site that appears to have reviews of slr hut is Trustpilot.co.uk however a quick scan of the reviews reveals that they may not be all they appear at first glance and that at least a few seem to be fake such as female posting photos with a male name and reviews with only a review of slrhut.co.uk
One complaint in a review of slr hut states:
Ordered a Nikkor 55-300mm lens that was advertised at a ridiculously low price. Recieved a phone call to inform me this was a website error,
Not exactly a great sign that their website advertises camera prices lower than they will deliver at - beware if this is a standard tactic from SLRhut.co.uk
Beware of another scam we have been alerted to by Wells Camera .com
23 comments:
Possibly the same kind of deal as wells-cameras.com have you come across this site?
seems to be similar to wells-cameras.com have you seen that site?
Wells Cameras seems to be a scam using the business address of a genuine company in Tunbridge Wells called Red Box cameras.
On
http://www.redboxcameras.com/action/contactus/
they say:
It has been brought to our attention that the web site named above claim to trade at the same address as Redboxcameras and are also in some way connected. This is NOT the case. Redbox Cameras has no connection or involvment in any way with Wells-Cameras.com
They have ISIS accreditation From imrg which for a while made me consider buying from them. However credit card processing I believe is not immediate/automated and done by slrhut reps next day. This implies all credit card info is stored in their slrhut systems which to me spells security risk.
They indeed are a scam! Also, just checked their website now, and it seems to be off the air which is a good sign.
I am just starting out in team management/marketing promotion and trying to comprehend how to do it well - alternatives like this publish are really useful. As our company is in the US, it?s all a bit new to us. The example above is something that I worry about as well, how to show your own genuine enthusiasm and existing the truth of the concern that your items or remedies is useful in that scenario.
Thanks for this - glad to hear that someone has investigated SLRHut and found them wanting in the integrity stakes. I shall source my 5DMKII elsewhere!
WARNING - can only confirm all suspicion and facts mentioned in the article! Prices are slightly better on their website. The address is bogus indeed. I looked at a camcorder, called their number (0203 numbers are genuine London number, allocated for new numbers after 0207/0208 by the way), which takes you direct to a US phone.
The "Sales Team" confirmed the camcorder is sent from the US and it's NTSC, not the European PAL system! I asked why this is not emntioned on their site they advised not their problem, I can send an email to Customer Service.
AVOID at all cost!
Do your research, you can get it cheaper in Europe. Also consider Amazon.de, the German site! They often offer silimar prices but you always get a 2-year warranty!
They are not a scam company, I ordered an Ipad about a month ago, I forgot that I order it, It however came this week! They advertised the UK version but I received the US version with the seal slightly teared! I'd still avoid, I don't think they are organised if I'm honest.
I'm not sure I would call them scammers but I wouldn't use them again.
I ordered a camcorder with a lens (almost £3000) and paid extra for delivery within 3-5 working days. The only reason I ordered from them was because they were so much cheaper than everyone else - even with VAT added on at checkout. Within a couple of hours of ordering I had a phone call from a 'customer service' representative trying to sell me an extended warranty and a long life battery, neither of which I actually wanted. I explained that I had spent my entire budget on the camera and after a few minutes the salesman reluctantly gave up.
I didn't do any research before ordering (foolish I know) so didn't realise they were based in the US. Had I known, I probably wouldn't have ordered from them. As the camera was shipped from a US company it's probably not covered by the Sales of Goods Act which would have given me up to 6 years warranty for free (which was the main reason I didn't buy the extended warranty). I'm not sure what kind of warranty, if any I have with it now.
Oh, and delivery took 13 days meaning it arrived about a week too late to use it on the job I bought it for. It will still get a lot of use, but it would have been nice to have had it on time. Volume 2 of the instructions was also missing but it's on the CDROM so not an issue.
In summary, use caution when ordering anything expensive or where there are different UK and US models. You may get the wrong model and have no warranty if it develops a fault. Even if my camera is covered, imagine the inconvenience of trying to ship it back to the US for repair.
Thanks folks. I thought their prices were too good to be true and it seems they are.
Tim
How can a US company add VAT - there is every possibility that you could get billed for it in this country as well - their VAT is just a 20% price increase
It is entirely possible that they charge for VAT and you still need to pay duty when the goods arrive. Might be worth checking with HMRC if they have an arrangement with SLRHut to pass on the VAT & duty they are charging
Just to let you all know that I read this blog, called the company, had a chat with them and placed a small order for a Canon 600ex-rt. They upgraded the order so I would get the flash for my shoot on Sat. I ordered it on Sunday and it arrived on the Sat Morning just in time for the shoot. If I bought that in this country I would have paid around £650 but I only paid £480. I've registered the products warrantee in the UK with no problems (online). Product works brilliantly and is brand new. I have to say I will be using them again as they save you a small fortune. Just my view. So worst case scenario, if the product fails now and SLRHut don’t want to know then I’m covered by the Canon warrantee. I have to say, I found it easy to contact them and found they delivered on their promises. I spoke to a friend in finance and he said that the best thing to do is use your credit card to pay for the order to insure yourself if anything goes south. I didn’t on this occasion but I will do if the order was of high value. That’s my pennies worth anyway.
hey guys,
Just found this website on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/A3OAXS5YT74IB1/ref=aag_d_sh
their company description is word for word with SLRHuts and people are having the same import Tax issues.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aag/details/ref=aag_m_fb?ie=UTF8&isAmazonFulfilled=&marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&isCBA=&asin=&seller=A3OAXS5YT74IB1
Bestbuyphoto are of course not registered on Companies house either and their phone number also begins in 0203 and go live from 1pm every day. Seems fishy
Thanks for this - I had a basket worth 2000 quid and was about to place the order when I had a last minute hunch about researching them. Staying clear of these guys.
Thanks for this - I had a basket worth 2000 quid and was about to place the order when I had a last minute hunch about researching them. Staying clear of these guys.
Thanks for doing this, my thoughts are that if the company was genuine then you would have thought a representative would have come on to address the points made. This post is pretty high on google now so you would have expected them to notice! I am leaving my basket at the checkout and running!
thank you for the advice was on the verge of spending a good £5000 with them.
paulboothphotography.co.uk
Thanks a lot! I was very tempted to order an iPad from them, since they sell it for 330 while the standard price in the UK is about 400. Did some googling and found this. Staying clear!
Thanks guys. Really article. Like a lot of folks I was just about to place an order and thought I would do a last minute check on the company. Glad I did because it was a gift!
Was about to buy a 5D and thought the SLR Hut price may be too good to be true, did a quick check and got Trust Pilots page first which gave them glowing recommendations. Nearly left it at that, thank god i checked the next google hit - you guys. It seems that SLR Hut and Trust Pilot are both not to be trusted! Thanks very much for taking the time to write your review and back it up so thoroughly.
Looks like their people posting fake reviews on Trustpilot are slipping up. Middlesborough and Hartlepool are now in the USA according to the people placing their 1 review each of SLRHut!
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