Anyone ordered from simplyelectronics.net

filbertchick

I ordered an iPhone 4 from simplyelectronics.net yesterday (16/05) and now I'm in a bit of a panic as I've just read some ghastly reviews of this company. I could kick myself for not checking them out before I ordered, but their website seems so legit etc.

If you've ordered with them before, could you tell me your experiences? I'm petrified I've just been dwindled out of £470!!

free4440273

never used or heard tbh/ is there an available contact no . ?

JJ_Egan

Got the product in the end but it was a long end .
Now on my list of to much trouble to deal with suppliers .

jje

free4440273

...sound as bad as Dabs! Oops .. !

asbokid

free4440273 wrote: »

never used or heard tbh/ is there an available contact no . ?

Of course(!)...

SimplyElectronics Limited
1501-1508, Millennium City 5,
418 Kwun Tong Road,
Kwun Tong, Kowloon,
HongKong

The company has no point of presence in Europe, so UK or EU consumer protection legislation will not apply.

The company website also reads...

ALL TRANSACTIONS CONCLUDED THROUGH THE SITE, INCLUDING PURCHASES OF PRODUCTS ON THE SITE, SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE CONDUCTED UNDER AND GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION.

The whois record for the company has been registered under one of those privacy registrars who lists its own name, rather than the company's name in the whois database entry:

Registrant:
Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0115244278
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA

Domain name: SIMPLYELECTRONICS.NET

Most of these Hong Kong electronic goods retailers exploit the large price differentials that exist on consumer products bought in the Far East compared to European and US prices.

However, those differentials are often the result of import tariffs that are imposed by the European Community.

You are completely on your own if HM Revenues and Customs decides to charge you the duty for importing electronic goods from Hong Kong.

EDIT:

According to HMRC Tariff Guide, cellular phones (code 8517) - if that is how the iphone4 is categorised - are free of import duty.

See: http://online.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/tariffFilter?export=false&key.commodityCode=8517110000&r.s=a&simulationDate=17/5/11

However, you could still have to pay 20% Import VAT which is levied on the cost of not only the item but on the cost of shipping as well.

When the Royal Mail or other courier collects that import tax, it adds its own Clearance Fee for doing so (around £15 per parcel).

Once you've factored in these extra charges, the initial saving through buying from the Far East can be much reduced or lost altogether.

pedrothefish

i ordered a samsung camera at a really good price it was sent from newbury berkshire in a couple of days no problems.
hope yours turns out ok.

asbokid

pedrothefish wrote: »

i ordered a samsung camera at a really good price it was sent from newbury berkshire in a couple of days no problems. hope yours turns out ok.

Was that just a franking mark for Newbury, or does the company have an official address in the town?

What happens with warranty issues? Is the Samsung warranty valid worldwide, or just in Hong Kong?

And where do you ship the camera if it should fail and need repair or replacement?

Were you given an address in Newbury Berks, or must you send it back to Kowloon, HK, and hope for the best?

filbertchick

I didn't realise they were registered in Hong Kong, really worried now. It seems very hit and miss with them depending on what you've ordered.

I found them thru topcashback.co.uk which have currently got some money-off coupons going with them so I just presumed they were a good company. Argh.

Fingers crossed it all works out... should have just paid the extra £30 and ordered my Phone thru a legit UK company...been saving up for months to get this phone as well. Grrr.

asbokid

Fingers crossed that it will arrive. You should be all right. Unless there's something really dodgy about the provenance of the iphone, an Apple warranty is normally valid worldwide.

Maybe not true for products from other brands. According to posters on AVForum, who quote Simply Electronics.. "All products from SimplyElectronics come with a 12 month in-house warranty from receipt of the purchase."

Is that a sly way of admitting that you don't get a manufacturer's guarantee in the UK, and that you will have to return the product to Simply Electronics for it to be repaired in Hong Kong?

spud17

A quick search of this forum would have thrown up enough to put me off. Sorry for the potentially bad news.
If it's the same company, then they appear to have had more than one incarnation.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=104052964

asbokid

Your link doesn't work, spud..

The more you examine SimplyElectronics, the more curious it becomes..

SimplyElectronics has given UK addresses in the past..

One address given by SimpleElectronics is for a maildrop company in Ayr...

SimplyElectronics.net
Fullarton House
4 Fullarton Street
KA7 1UB Ayr
South Ayrshire
Great Britain

See: http://www.mbe.co.uk/ayr

Another address for SimpleElectronics is a somewhat neglected residential bungalow in Nottingham..

SimplyElectronics.net
Unit 32
26 St Michaels Ave
NG4 3NN Gedling, Nottingham
Great Britain

Note that SimplyElectronics has added the words "Unit 32" to what is obviously a residential address. This creates the false impression that the property is a business premises on a retail park or industrial estate. From the Google Streetview of the Nottingham property, that is evidently not the case:

http://www.idealo.co.uk/shop/31449/simplyelectronics-net.html
http://goo.gl/maps/iQvV

And the third address, the one in Newbury that pedrothefish mentions, is actually for a web fulfilment company which processes payments and orders on behalf of Amazon and Ebay sellers.

Simply Electronics Limited
Horizon West
Canal View Road
Newbury
BERKSHIRE
RG14 5XF
UNITED KINGDOM

http://www.intermail.co.uk/contactus.shtml
http://goo.gl/maps/7wss