MPB Photographic
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RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
I don't like moaning about companies, but they've really done a number on me.

I ordered a UWA lens from them as I need it for a job urgently. I had ordered a flash gun from them and despite a few small scuffs it was good and reasonably priced.

They delivered the lens but it was a Nikon fit rather than Canon as I had ordered. Not great, but these things happen. I call them up and they apologise and look in to it. I tell them I need it by 9am tomorrow for a job. They get back to me and say not only can they not get it to me by 9, they can't get it to me at all as they don't have a Canon one in stock any more and that I should try Amazon. Not only were Amazon £30 more expensive, but it was too late for them to get the lens to me for the next day guaranteed by 9am as well.

So they have now cost me £30 extra for the lens (I had no choice but to order it) and I lost 2 full days worth of work as my client used someone else who had a UWA lens. MPB have apologised but not so much as a small good will gesture to rectify their mistake which cost me considerable amounts of money and made me look rather unprofessional to a new client, as I said to him I was able to get the lens in time.

Sorry for the rant, it's just a word of warning to people who need something urgently and a cathartic outlet for me!

outnumbered

4,870 posts

263 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all

Guess you were a bit unlucky there, conversely I have to say my experience with MPB was excellent. I bought a Canon 100-400L from them, price was right, it was just as described, arrived next day etc.

RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
outnumbered said:
Guess you were a bit unlucky there, conversely I have to say my experience with MPB was excellent. I bought a Canon 100-400L from them, price was right, it was just as described, arrived next day etc.
Yeah definitely, like I said - I understand this sort of thing happens. But considering how much damage it did I thought they might do better than a weak apology. I'd spent hundreds of pounds with them this month alone!

Gad-Westy

16,559 posts

242 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
RobbieKB said:
I don't like moaning about companies, but they've really done a number on me.

I ordered a UWA lens from them as I need it for a job urgently. I had ordered a flash gun from them and despite a few small scuffs it was good and reasonably priced.

They delivered the lens but it was a Nikon fit rather than Canon as I had ordered. Not great, but these things happen. I call them up and they apologise and look in to it. I tell them I need it by 9am tomorrow for a job. They get back to me and say not only can they not get it to me by 9, they can't get it to me at all as they don't have a Canon one in stock any more and that I should try Amazon. Not only were Amazon £30 more expensive, but it was too late for them to get the lens to me for the next day guaranteed by 9am as well.

So they have now cost me £30 extra for the lens (I had no choice but to order it) and I lost 2 full days worth of work as my client used someone else who had a UWA lens. MPB have apologised but not so much as a small good will gesture to rectify their mistake which cost me considerable amounts of money and made me look rather unprofessional to a new client, as I said to him I was able to get the lens in time.

Sorry for the rant, it's just a word of warning to people who need something urgently and a cathartic outlet for me!
You've been very unlucky but in fairness to MPB, they made an error, these things happen but they can't really be held responsible for you not having a lens for the job as it was obviously pretty last minute. I can't really see what else they could do in trying to rectify the situation other than a full refund which it sounds like you have received.

RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Gad-Westy said:
You've been very unlucky but in fairness to MPB, they made an error, these things happen but they can't really be held responsible for you not having a lens for the job as it was obviously pretty last minute. I can't really see what else they could do in trying to rectify the situation other than a full refund which it sounds like you have received.
I don't know, maybe I'm old fashioned. I swear there was a time when companies did their best to retain their client base. Even a voucher for the difference (£30) would have been enough of a good will gesture for me to continue using them.

AndWhyNot

2,359 posts

228 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Sorry to hear about your woes. Try LensesForHire next time you need something in a hurry. Not ideal but their customer svc is usually great and I've heard many stories about them going out their way to help people in a hole.

Back to MPB, I've had great experiences with them in the past but my last order (2wks ago) they slightly misdescribed the lens online so it turned up and wasn't the one I wanted. They had others in stock so we agreed a straight exchange but were a day late sending the second one out to me.

Might just be a holiday glitch, although I did notice that having always dealt with Matt in the past, he didn't feature in the emails and phonecalls I made trying to sort it. Maybe he's moved on?

Gad-Westy

16,559 posts

242 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
RobbieKB said:
Gad-Westy said:
You've been very unlucky but in fairness to MPB, they made an error, these things happen but they can't really be held responsible for you not having a lens for the job as it was obviously pretty last minute. I can't really see what else they could do in trying to rectify the situation other than a full refund which it sounds like you have received.
I don't know, maybe I'm old fashioned. I swear there was a time when companies did their best to retain their client base. Even a voucher for the difference (£30) would have been enough of a good will gesture for me to continue using them.
I understand but your loss was out of their control, they didn't directly force you spend £30 extra. If you'd had to cancel the job and lost £500, you probably wouldn't expect them to cover that cost. I've never known it any different.

A little unrelated to your story but thought I'd shoehorn this tale in anyway. I sold my manky old macbook on ebay a couple of months back. It was in a poor state but I thought I'd described it honestly. The guy who won the auction sent me an email the day it arrived to say that one of the enter keys wasn't working, so I apologised, asked him to return it and said I'd refund his postage. 5 minutes later, I got an email saying that I would also need to refund his fuel and parking charges that he incurred when he picked the laptop up from the post office. He also tried to suggest that as it was a gift for his son's birthday which was the next day, I'd also have to offer some sort of compensation. Couldn't believe it!



Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 23 August 15:38

Deluded

4,968 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
So you take on a job you haven't got the equipment for, attempt to get said equipment on short notice, supplier lets you down and have given a refund and an appology, you buy elsewhere at a more expensive price by choice and then come on an internet forum to moan that the original supplier wont offer you compensation on the lost job or having to pay more for the equipment elsewhere?

Think you need to get a grip tbh. Original supplier have done nother wrong except supply the wrong thing but have done everything they are legally required to and refunded you the money. They even appologised which is beyond what they need to do.

Maybe plan further ahead next time?

RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Deluded said:
So you take on a job you haven't got the equipment for, attempt to get said equipment on short notice, supplier lets you down and have given a refund and an appology, you buy elsewhere at a more expensive price by choice and then come on an internet forum to moan that the original supplier wont offer you compensation on the lost job or having to pay more for the equipment elsewhere?

Think you need to get a grip tbh. Original supplier have done nother wrong except supply the wrong thing but have done everything they are legally required to and refunded you the money. They even appologised which is beyond what they need to do.

Maybe plan further ahead next time?
I'll try and keep my tone civil here.

I take on a job when I was asked by a client if I could get a UWA lens by a certain date. I go on MPB Photographic and they can GUARANTEE delivery BEFORE I need it. I tell my client I can get hold of the lens and order it as soon as possible.

Supplier lets me down and as not to lose the client entirely, I am FORCED, as in not a choice (in the lenient sense of the word) to buy it at a more expensive price because of their mistake.

So in case you still didn't get that, I didn't have time to plan further ahead and I wasn't asking for compensation for the lost work as it would be most of the price of the lens, just a good will gesture or at least better than "oh sorry, go to Amazon". Not exactly a tall request.

RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
AndWhyNot said:
Sorry to hear about your woes. Try LensesForHire next time you need something in a hurry. Not ideal but their customer svc is usually great and I've heard many stories about them going out their way to help people in a hole.

Back to MPB, I've had great experiences with them in the past but my last order (2wks ago) they slightly misdescribed the lens online so it turned up and wasn't the one I wanted. They had others in stock so we agreed a straight exchange but were a day late sending the second one out to me.

Might just be a holiday glitch, although I did notice that having always dealt with Matt in the past, he didn't feature in the emails and phonecalls I made trying to sort it. Maybe he's moved on?
Cheers Andy, I guess that is an option. The reason I didn't do that was merely the amount of work I was offered if I had the lens would cover the purchase and then make me some money rather than not have the job at all.

Like I said, they weren't bad the first time around so I used them again and intended to use them as my go-to shop. Shame.

Podie

46,649 posts

304 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Has the "no name and shame" rule been dropped...?

RobbieKB

Original Poster:

7,715 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Podie said:
Has the "no name and shame" rule been dropped...?
I wasn't aware there was one. If this thread is breaching something, delete away.

Deluded

4,968 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
RobbieKB said:
I'll try and keep my tone civil here.

I take on a job when I was asked by a client if I could get a UWA lens by a certain date. I go on MPB Photographic and they can GUARANTEE delivery BEFORE I need it. I tell my client I can get hold of the lens and order it as soon as possible.

Supplier lets me down and as not to lose the client entirely, I am FORCED, as in not a choice (in the lenient sense of the word) to buy it at a more expensive price because of their mistake.

So in case you still didn't get that, I didn't have time to plan further ahead and I wasn't asking for compensation for the lost work as it would be most of the price of the lens, just a good will gesture or at least better than "oh sorry, go to Amazon". Not exactly a tall request.
Still not the original suppliers fault that the next cheapest competitor was £30 more expensive.

Regardless. Agree to disagree.

MonkeyHanger

9,267 posts

271 months

Thursday 23rd August 2012
quotequote all
Podie said:
Has the "no name and shame" rule been dropped...?
Quite.

I've spent several thousand pounds with MPB and will continue to do so in the future. Nobody is perfect.

JDRoest

1,126 posts

179 months

Thursday 30th August 2012
quotequote all
RobbieKB said:
I don't know, maybe I'm old fashioned. I swear there was a time when companies did their best to retain their client base. Even a voucher for the difference (£30) would have been enough of a good will gesture for me to continue using them.
You are buying on price, why are they going to offer you a voucher? No one has any margin to offer such a thing any more.

Hate to say this, but it's all rather last minute, and a UWA should be in your bag already.