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Photospecialist.co.uk
Reviews:

763 reviews in the last 12 months1,593 total reviews  

4.28
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Top positive review

21 Aug 2023
 Verified review
The order I made was despatched quickly and collected by the couriers you use and it arrived in the UK alright but everything has gone wrong from there. UPS the UK side of the delivery are totally useless. They have not delivered the package yet and it has been in their hands since 08/08/2023. They are blaming a Customs hold up in the release of my delivery. They have so far sent me 14 stupid messages telling me that the package will be delivered the next day but nothing happens. It appears that the UPS staff in the UK and their computer system are totally useless. Do not use UPS UK for anything. I have made 2 phone calls to them and the staff in the UPS office just keep telling me that the package needs Customs clearance for a £14 lens hood!

Top negative review

10 Aug 2023
 Verified review
Absolutely disgraceful customer service. Firstly our first order with the company does not show in our account, having been assured it would be fixed straight away, it still does not show. The items arrived and so far seem ok, so we made another purchase giving them the benefit of the doubt. BIG MISTAKE. Having identified our email address had been added incorrectly and not being able to update it via the website, we were told they would fix it straight away, we are now locked out of our account. The second order we made got stuck in customs, it was very clear from the UPS tracker this had happened, having contacted Photospecialist the first day it did not arrive we were told they would fix it straight away. The next day the same thing happened, it was clear the item was still stuck in customs. We contacted their support again and after around half an hour wasted time found out not only had the previous support agent not even bothered to contact UPS, they were refusing to speak to us and refusing to give UPS a telephone call. The person responsible was hiding behind one of the girls who was speaking to me (Who we thank for trying her best) they were literally refusing to speak to us and sending messages to and from via this poor girl who was landed in the middle of all this. Our emails regarding this subject were all ignored and we received no written response regarding the issue. We were told we would be called back in two hours with a solution, when that call happened we were told they still had not contacted UPS. We went back and forth for over an hour trying to get the person dealing with this speak to us, who continued to refuse, and trying to get them to agree to pick up the phone and contact UPS. We were continually told it was impossible for them to call UPS, a straight out lie. I informed them multiple times all they need to do is pick up the phone and call them, they continued to refuse to do that, and the person responsible continued to refuse to speak to me. Bearing in mind this is how they treat customers that have spent nearly 1000 GBP with them in the last 3 weeks. We contacted UPS ourselves, and within 5 minutes had found out the item was indeed stuck at customs, and that it should be arriving tomorrow. Instead of Photospecialist picking up the phone to try and resolve this, it took two days of being messed around before we finally got the answer ourselves. Photospecialist gained and lost a customer within the space of 3 weeks due to their pathetic customer service (Aside from the girl we spoke to). Do not buy with this company, their company, website and customer support is an absolute joke.
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Reviews for Photospecialist.co.uk

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5 Jun 2023
 Verified review

Where is my order

I ordered a camera more than 1 month ago and it hasn't arrived yet, I put my address correctly and they sent it through UPS so that it would arrive 10 days later than expected, and it's June 5th and I still don't have the camera I ordered , plus I have to go to the UPS wherehouse 11 miles away to try to claim the order that didn't even ship to the correct address and someone random ended up rejecting it. Worst birthday gift ever
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
7 Jun 2023
Hello David, Thank you for your review. I have already send you an email with all the information about your order. If you could please get back to me by email, we can try to solve this asap for you.
22 Aug 2023
 Verified review

Would not recommend

My order has been stuck at the point of import into the UK for two weeks. Photospecialist has been assuring me they’re working hard on solving the problem, but there has been zero progress + they stopped responding to my emails. I have had good experiences with Kamera Express in the Netherlands when I lived there, but they’re clearly not ready to run a webshop in the UK while their warehouse is in the Netherlands.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
23 Aug 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am so sorry to hear you haven't recieved it yet. UPS is having difficulties with customs. Of course we are doing our best to get this solved ASAP. I will contact you via email about this issue
2 Jun 2023
 Verified review

Arrived late

I'm rating the service as poor. I paid £9.99 shipping cost (the highest ever!) for the item (digital camera) to be delivered within 2-4 working days. The item arrived on the fifth working day (ordered 19.5.2023 - arrived 26.5.2023). Nothing major, if I didn't need the camera. However, I urgently needed it and had to cancel my work commitments as a result, suffering further financial loss. Camera is good
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
3 Jun 2023
Hello Suzie, Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am sorry to hear that the shipping took longer then expected and that this caused business issues. I will contact you via email.
5 May 2023
 Verified review

Very poor customer service

Photospecialist sent wrong item. Refused to replace it. Stopped replying to emails. * UPDATE: The company responded to this bad review, saying they would replace the item. They have not replaced the item, and are still refusing to reply to emails. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. * UPDATE #2: After reading this bad review the company replied to my emails. They then sent the wrong camera AGAIN.
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2 Jun 2023
 Verified review
The web site failed card payment processing at time of placing the order which I then retried successfully via paypal. But then you seemed to continue retrying the 1st order in the background to a point where I was charged again having believed the first had been cancelled. Two bags shipped - lots of inconvenience to get it sorted. Next time I will use Amazon
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
2 Jun 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am sorry to read that the website failed. I have pulled up all your info and I can see that everything has been sorted out. I will send you an email to make sure this issue will be solved.
4 Aug 2023
 Verified review
A very poor returns process. It took around 4 weeks from refusing the delivery to receiving the refund, it's just not good enough. Although they use a co.uk. Web address and have a UK phone number, don't be fooled as this is a Dutch company. It is often hard to get through to customer service as the call will often drop without any explanation.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
4 Aug 2023
We're sorry you feel that way. We would like to get in touch with you to find out what went wrong in this process. Can you please email us at reviews@kamera-express.nl? We are indeed a Dutch company, but we have an English-speaking customer service. Occasionally during this season our telephone accessibility may not be as good as what you are used to. This is due to understaffing during the busy summer season, for which we apologize.
15 Jun 2023
 Verified review

No delivery, no refund, no replies

Website said "in stock, delivery within 2 to 4 days" and they say it is out of stock, will take months to re-order, and are not refunding. I have sent more than 10 emails to www.photospecialist.co.uk, most unanswered, phone calls to the number on their website were not picked up either.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
16 Jun 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am so sorry this is taking so long to resolve. Your request for refund was send to another department and something went wrong in our system. I have requested this again with urgency and I will keep you informed via email.
7 Aug 2023
 Verified review
Excessive return postage - over 50% of the value of the goods. Offer of help from company but nothing forthcoming. An item costing £68 cost me and additional £30 in loss (sold) and postage.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
9 Aug 2023
We're sorry you feel that way. We see that you have already contacted our customer service department. You have been offered a return label, with us covering the cost. Somehow there was a miscommunication about this and you chose not to return the bag. You can still contact us so we can resolve this issue for you. You can email us at reviews@kamera-express.nl
4 Jun 2023
 Verified review

Awful customer service.

Was sent a faulty item. Seems impossible to get customer services to sort it out. Next step is a letter of complaint, and then I’ll get the ombudsman on to it.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
5 Jun 2023
Thank you for taking the time to write this review. My apologies you were send an faulty item. You have recieved the retun lable today. Due to low of staff we try to help every one, however our reply responses are longer then what you are used to from us. I am so sorry about this. I will keep in touch with you via email, to get this sorted out asap.
14 Jul 2023
 Verified review

Item not delivered.

Item not delivered and none of the contact details work. Very very poor customer service. I would avoid this company.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
15 Jul 2023
How frustrating to read! I'd love to get in touch with you so we can work out a solution!
31 Oct 2023
 Verified review
Item didn't arrive and still no refund or replacement Had to open a caes with PayPal Buyers beware
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
1 Nov 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I see that your package has gone lost and we start an investigation, where we handled a refund for you. I am so sorry that this has taken so long.
7 Jun 2023
 Verified review

Think twice before purchasing - company is not UK based (even with co.uk), customer services are not what they should be

Product I bought - brilliant. But the experience was not what I paid for and have to say it already caused me few sleepless nights. Started well with receiving estimated delivery email within few hours of purchase. But then the actual date of delivery came and nothing changed, parcel was not even despatched at that point (5 days since my order), and that made me read all the reviews on Trustpilot - I wish I read them before purchasing. As that's the point I realised the fact that the company has co.uk at the end of their website link doesn't actually mean they are based in UK as I originally thought. And for something so potentially 'delicate' such as big printer it got me worried. Their customer services are useless, and it looks they actually spend more time responding to their trustpilot reviews than actually doing what they should do at first place - be proactive, not responsive. Phonelines keep getting cutoff even during office hours, if you do eventually manage to speak to someone, and they promise they look into the issue and send you email (no calling back as requested), they never bother responding. I cannot even imagine having bigger issues and losing thousands of pound as some others seem to due to delivery issues, as noone seems to be taking responsibility for their actions - company and it's customer services nor the delivery company. So my advice after this eyeopening experience - actually spend few extra quid and buy the product within UK if uk based - you're morelikely to sleep better. And if you do want to still purchase with photospecialist, at least cover yourself and pay via credit card as there's a chance things will go wrong and you want some security. So to sum up - I'll think twice before purchasing from them again as customer services don't care, so if there's an actual issue, they will be a pain to deal with.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
9 Jun 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. This is a bad situation that has happened and I truely want to offer my apologies. We are a a company based in the Netherlands and this is mentioned on the website. Kamera Express has taken over Photospecialist and not to confuse the customer we have kept the name as well the website. I have pulled up your order and I see that my colleague did respond to you, however something went in the system that you did not recieve the email with the information about UPS. Due to low of staff on the customer service it takes longer to get in touch with us, but we try to help everyone. The customer service and the reviews are done by different departments. But I will take your feedback to management to imporve this. I will send also send you an email.
25 Aug 2023
 Verified review

Unprofessional, uncaring and unknowledgable customer services + poor checkout design

Honestly, one of the poorest online shopping experiences I've had in a long time. Firstly, their website checkout wouldn't accept the delivery address I wanted. I selected it *from their own address database* (which you *have* to do), but the address has a house name, not house number. Their checkout is set so you *have* to include a house number, so it wouldn't accept the address I selected, but also wouldn't allow me to edit the address (if I could have just put the house name into the house number field, there'd have been no problem). So I ordered anyway (it was the only place I could find that had the product I wanted in stock), and got a message saying if I didn't receive a confirmation email in an hour to email customer services. No email arrived, so I emailed, requesting my confirmation email and asking to amend the delivery address. Too late, they'd already created the UPS label, so it couldn't be amended. Also, their system, apparently, isn't sending out confirmation emails, so Eduardo confirming my order is all I'm going to get (which isn't isn't really going to be much use for uploading a purchase receipt to my business accounting software ...). Eduardo told me I'd be able to amend my address directly with UPS. He was wrong - UPS wouldn't allow me to change any details until at least one delivery attempt had been made. Even then, after they did attempt delivery, I couldn't amend the delivery address because they'd left it at a collection point a mile or so down the road! (I was away at the time, hence needing to use a different delivery address.) I had some back-and-forths, saying I wasn't happy with the service and trying to let them know where the problems were with their website. Apologies were cursory and insincere and just felt like they were trying to excuse themselves instead of actually making things right. One of the people in the email conversation actually tried to blame the 'UK market' on their poor website checkout design. At no point did anyone say 'Sorry, things have gone a bit wrong, how can we make this right?' - everything was always someone else's fault, and my problem to sort out - never theirs. And at no point did they even acknowledge the things I said about the problems I'd had with the checkout. Seriously unprofessional attitude coming from customer services. Will *not* be returning at any point.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
25 Aug 2023
Thank you for leaving this detailed review. I am very sorry to write how this had gone and I can imagine this left a bad feeling with you. However my colleague explained we are a company based in The Netherlands and we are trying to change the website to suit the UK market better. So this would also mean the address you have to fill in on the website. In Holland we use numbers and not house names. That is why my colleague meant and I am sorry that didn't come across correctly. I can imagine that the service you got as it is, isn't up to the level of service you need at that time and I want to offer you my apologies for this. I will contact you via email to make sure you got your item.
16 Oct 2023
 Verified review

Poor communication

Once my order was placed the dispatch time and customer service contact was not good. I was advised the dispatch timeframe would be 1-4 business days when it actually took 7 business days. Once the dispatch day went out of the 1-4 days I contacted the company to ask for the delivery address to be changed. This was required because no one would be at the delivery address anymore. Someone in CS responded without acknowledging my request to change the address. I wrote back again immediately asking to change the address (the order hadn't been dispatched yet), and yet again the response didn't acknowledge my request. So again I asked for the address to be changed, they responded to ask for the new address which I immediately confirmed. The following day my order was dispatched but to the original address!! No one changed the address even though I had asked for this to happen 3 days before (ample time for the change to happen). I now have to pay to get the order collected from the original address to another. With such high priced items you would think more care would be taken to ensure good attentive customer service.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
16 Oct 2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review. I am so sorry that this has gone this way, that was no suppose go this way. And I will contact you about the extra costs.
9 Dec 2023
 Verified review

Order arrived late, charged £25 for return.

Made an order that was dispatched quickly but then due to inadequacies with the sellers courier of choice, was delayed for multiple days, missing the delivery window quoted at the time of purchase. As a result of the courier delaying the item and also giving incorrect information on when it would be delivered, I had to find the product elsewhere. I returned the late running order to Photospecialist but I am now being charged a £25 return fee as the item is not at fault, even though the reason for the return is their courier errors, not mine. Questioned why I was being charged for a return in this circumstance but yet to receive a response
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
11 Dec 2023
I am sorry to read that the courier took so long, we are not going to charge the £25. I will send you a message so we can resolve this nicely. Sorry for this inconvenience.
7 Aug 2023
 Verified review
My printer was delayed (which isn't their fault) but after it was bought I found out that this was a European version requiring a special plug adapter and when it did finally arrive,all the instructions were in Dutch or aanother language that I don't understand. If this was made clear at point of sale, I would have looked elsewhere. When an Internet company has a "co.uk" domain name it is reasonable to expect them to be in the UK. I have suffered a stroke in the last 2 years and needed this to be a simple transaction and set up ect ....it hasn't been.I still haven't set this up - a giant waste of money Jonathan
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
8 Aug 2023
I am so sorry to read that the item arrived a little late. It is indeed true that our warehouse is in the Netherlands, we have also mentioned this on the website. Annoying that it does not succeed in setting it up, I would like to get in touch with you so that I can help you further.
17 Aug 2023
 Verified review
Wrong item sent. I'm sorry but I still feel I was sent the wrong item. The lens I was sent was too large even though I tried it with the FTZ adapter which it needed. Looking on the web, the shape was wrong and, instead of tapering at the ends, it was the same width for the full length. I have been living in America and they would rectify this issue immediately but I was told to return it at my own expense which was £38. I feel a bit resentful about this and will be looking elsewhere for the item providing I am given the refund - I'm waiting.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
18 Aug 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am so sorry to read that it has gone wrong and I will contact you via email to see for a fitted solution for this.
13 Sept 2023
 Verified review

Disappointed customer

We were pleased with the delivery and binoculars, but noticed the the side of the eye covers had been damaged. We reported this straight away and sent a photo. A couple of days later we received an e mail saying that they would need to check with the supplier to see if they could just replace the part or needed the whole boxed item returned. Since then, 2 weeks ago, other than an automated e mail responding to my progress e mail, we have not heard anything. I am extremely disappointed and annoyed.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
16 Sept 2023
Thank you for leaving this review. I am so sorry about this, due to staff, we weren't able to send it yet. But I have send you an email this morning that it will be on it's way today.
18 Dec 2023
 Verified review
Its been 3 weeks since my order and they haven't sent the item. Further more, they haven't got back to any emails regarding this and the phone number doesn't seem to ring? This telescope was supposed to be a Christmas present for my son and therefore I have had to make a second order elsewhere. I'm currently trying to contact them to cancel this order but they aren't replying to my emails and again, the phone option seems pointless. If I could give them 0 stars I would. Absolute joke company.
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
19 Dec 2023
Sorry to read that it went the way it did. I see that we did request the delivery time, but with the mail to you it didn't go quite right which meant you never got a message from us, Sorry about this!!! I see the order has been cancelled. You will get a refund soon.
17 Sept 2023
 Verified review

Order not delivered without telling me any reason for delay

I had ordered a tripod head from the store, however it got stuck with the courier (UPS). I have spoken to Photospecialist every other after it was stuck in same status. They were good and responsive however they did not tell me why the order is stuck neither gave me any ETA, this went on for a week but no resolution. To my understanding the order is stuck in customs but they are not saying so, finally I asked for refund and there is no concrete answer from them yet. Not sure what to do
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Answer by Photospecialist.co.uk
18 Sept 2023
How frustrating to read that your package is so delayed, at the moment there is pretty little we can do as it is fixed. I will look into this further and contact you to resolve this.