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
