Beware pixmania.com

Bacchus

Hi,

Hope this isn't against any of the rules to post this kind of thing here but I feel I should warn anyone thinking about using pixmania.com to buy cameras or lenses etc.

I ordered a Nikon 35mm lens recently along with a UV filter. It arrived in good time but I found that the box it was "packaged" in was

a) at least twice the size of the 2 items (you could have fit a medium to large sized cat in there beside the lens and filter)
b) had ZERO padding in it (not even a bit of bubble wrap... or a cat)
c) was held closed by one strip of FedEx tape (I was able to pull the lid open in one move)

I was quite shocked. These are quite delicate and expensive items that should be handled with care. Not simply thrown into a big box with one bit of tape holding it togeter where they will spend the next 3 days in transit bouncing around off each other.

Fortunately, the only damage was to the case for the UV filter which was cracked. The filter itself was fine. The lens was well packed in the Nikon box so it too survived. So, while I was lucky and no damage was done, I'd seriously worry about ordering from them again and risk damage to something I bought.

I did contact them afterwards and ask for some sort of explanation or assurance that this is not the norm but I heard absolutely nothing back from them so I will no longer be using them and decided to post this up here as a warning to others.


The 35mm lens is lovely btw. Fantastic lens.

jpb1974

Do a search and you'll find that many people have had bad experiences with them. You'll find a good few horror stories in the 'Consumer Issues' board.

pullandbang

I suspect if it was taped with FedEx tape, it had been opened and examined by FedEx and then resealed - obviously without the original packaging replaced. :mad:
Mail order companies tend to use a few standard size outer cartons for shipping so if you order one small item it gets put into the nearest size box which may be too big. (They may also have been out of stock of a smaller box and had to use the next one up). Viking Direct is a classic example, order a pack of pens and they'll come in a huge box with more empty space than pens!

I've never dealt with Pixmania but they seem to be fairly reputable. Have you reported it to them? Have you sent them photos of the damage? Interesting to hear their response to your complaints.

smash

I've never had an issue with pixmania, and I've spent the guts of 7k with them over the last few years.

DaireQuinlan

pullandbang wrote: »

I've never dealt with Pixmania but they seem to be fairly reputable. Have you reported it to them? Have you sent them photos of the damage? Interesting to hear their response to your complaints.

They're typical modern online sellers. If everything goes well, which it mostly does, then all is grand. If anything screws up then you're up the creek. They have such huge volumes going through that they can afford just to disregard the (I'm just pulling this figure out of thin air) 1% of screwups and do nothing to resolve them. It seems to be a fairly common business model nowadays.

jpb1974

I used them 4 times.

First 2 times were fine.

3rd time they sent me a telly when I ordered a home cinema system. Hardship.

4th time my order went into limbo. When I contacted them I found their customer service to be pizz poor. I eventually got the item but it was weeks after I placed the order.

Bacchus

pullandbang wrote: »

I've never dealt with Pixmania but they seem to be fairly reputable. Have you reported it to them? Have you sent them photos of the damage? Interesting to hear their response to your complaints.

Bacchus wrote:

I did contact them afterwards and ask for some sort of explanation or assurance that this is not the norm but I heard absolutely nothing back from them so I will no longer be using them and decided to post this up here as a warning to others.

This is actually what I'm annoyed about most and is why I decided to post this. They completely ignored my email. God help me if any damage did happen to the lens if this the level of customer service they provide.

I would agree with DaireQuinlan, that they are a company which you could use for years without a problem but if something does happen, you'll have problems.

pullandbang wrote:

Mail order companies tend to use a few standard size outer cartons for shipping so if you order one small item it gets put into the nearest size box which may be too big.

Just on that.
1. I find it ridiculous that they don't have correctly sized boxes to ship the products they stock
2. A little bit of bubble wrap would have gone a long way

Anyway, at the end of the the lens is fine. I just won't be using pixmania again.

pullandbang

Bacchus wrote: »

Just on that.
1. I find it ridiculous that they don't have correctly sized boxes to ship the products they stock
2. A little bit of bubble wrap would have gone a long way.

Wouldn't make sense to have a custom made box for every single item you stock and another to suit every multi-item order you have to ship.
I'd imagine they did pack it in bubble or loosefill or whatever packing they use, but the box appears to have been opened by Fedex (hence the FedEx tape), so it would appear they are the culprits.
Still not good enough though for Pixmania to ignore your complaint, after all it's their carrier that f#*ked up.

Paulw

pullandbang wrote: »

Wouldn't make sense to have a custom made box for every single item you stock and another to suit every multi-item order you have to ship.
I'd imagine they did pack it in bubble or loosefill or whatever packing they use, but the box appears to have been opened by Fedex (hence the FedEx tape), so it would appear they are the culprits.
Still not good enough though for Pixmania to ignore your complaint, after all it's their carrier that f#*ked up.

I'd have to agree there.

I've used pixmania a number of times, for many different items. All came in standard sized boxes, and always had filling. Last time was a Fuji P&S camera, came is a very large box (for the size of the fuji box), but was well packed. I would assume yours was similarly packed.

Pixmania do seem to have poor enough response to customer queries, which is not good enough.

Thecageyone

It would take mass complaints in one go, and a massive drop in sales, before a company like that takes notice. unfortunately, so long as the orders keep flooding in, they'll not be too concerned about the odd complaint.

never used them personally, but I have heard the odd horror story.

magicbastarder

out of curiosity, how much was the lens and filter, including shipping?

Bacchus

pullandbang wrote: »

Wouldn't make sense to have a custom made box for every single item you stock and another to suit every multi-item order you have to ship.

Obviously, but this box was way too big for it. A box half the size would have done the job.

pullandbang wrote:

I'd imagine they did pack it in bubble or loosefill or whatever packing they use, but the box appears to have been opened by Fedex (hence the FedEx tape), so it would appear they are the culprits.
Still not good enough though for Pixmania to ignore your complaint, after all it's their carrier that f#*ked up.

They may have packed it correctly and the carrier removed it, true. Either way, when it arrived at my door it had nothing to protect the contents.


magicbastarder : It was €230 for the lens, the filter and P&....

magicbastarder

is that the AF-S 35mm f1.8G DX?
i paid €210 for the lens and €16.50 for a UV filter in dublin.

Bacchus

Yup, that's the one.

What shop you get it in in Dublin? I priced around a few places I could find in Cork but the only one I could find was €260 for the lens :eek:

Actually, does anyone know of a reasonably priced camera shop in Cork? I'll be looking to get a new camera strap soon and a flash a little bit further down the road. Would be nice to be able to get em locally.

magicbastarder

that was in gunns.

Bacchus

Just did a quick google search for gunn's. Very positive stuff. I'm up in Dublin in October, I'll be sure to drop in there.

Heebie

I tried using Pixmania once. I ordered a couple of lenses.
They rang me and told me that I had to submit a copy of some form of ID and a credit card bill to prove my residency, and that I was the person getting the bill.
I faxed those to the right department, rang them and asked them to check that they'd received the fax.. they said they had.. A week later I rang them & asked them why I hadn't received a notice of shipment and they told me that I had never sent in the items they had requested.
I faxed them in again, and again double-checked with them to make sure they had got them.
Another week later, I ended up on the phone with them and was told they never received the items they asked for, and told me that I would have to re-submit them.
I said, "No, I don't have to do that. Instead I'm going to tell you to cancel the order, and to then (*$&£*$ off"

At least I received the confirmation of the cancellation quickly. They had already charged my credit card (the day I placed the order.. I don't think they do this anymore.) and I got a refund after another few days.

They're apparently better at giving money back then they are at taking care of their customers.

This was about 4 years ago now.

eas

pixmania sent me a free HD camcorder by accident about 4 years ago and I still wouldn't recommend them.

faceman

WHen things go bad with pixmania.com, they go nuclear

pullandbang

Bacchus wrote: »

They may have packed it correctly and the carrier removed it, true. Either way, when it arrived at my door it had nothing to protect the contents.

The other thing that crossed my mind was, if the package was damaged when it arrived at your door, did you sign for it as being damaged? FedEx would require a signature. If so, then you definitely are due compensation or a replacement or whatever you want. However, if the package was just signed for with no reference to the damage, then you may be on shaky ground.
Either way, hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction.

Bacchus

pullandbang wrote: »

The other thing that crossed my mind was, if the package was damaged when it arrived at your door, did you sign for it as being damaged? FedEx would require a signature. If so, then you definitely are due compensation or a replacement or whatever you want. However, if the package was just signed for with no reference to the damage, then you may be on shaky ground.
Either way, hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction.

Cheers for the tip. I had it delivered to work though so it was signed for at reception. I'm not going to pursue pixmania any further anyway. I was lucky there was no damage to the lens and I'm done dealing with them.

Still no reply to my customer complaint either.

jpb1974

Still no reply to my customer complaint either.

Don't hold your breath on that one... when it comes to communication they're chronic. Been down that road with them in the past.

Also -

I can recall they used to post on their website "If you find it cheaper anywhere else on the internet we'll match their price"... so I did find something cheaper and I contacted them... and I'm still waiting on a reply... and that was about 4 years ago.