Desperately Seeking Sergy

[Björn Benckert]

Not much help for you guys that sent your money off to russia. But I just want to say that we bought a set of lenses from Darryl Wood, (www.spinningmirror.com).
The lenses we ordered where delivered in person as agreed and there was never any such things as poor communication or such. Simply we paid in advance and got what we ordered in the time frame that was agreed upon. So for any second hand lenses I recommend Darryl with his big contact grid in the India and Asian market. Thats my recommended alternative...

[Tony Covell]

Hi Bjorn
Darryl is a first class dealer and I recommend him as well.
He travels worldwide doing his deals and thats rare.

Thanks for the remarks, A great pity that others do not seem to think that looking after their clients properly is required, but hide behind excuses and silence and pure BS.
Some of us try hard to give good service and go the extra mile. For example; I dont advertise anything I dont physically have in my store. I recently discovered my pictures on another site with almost 50% added to the sale price. I dont do that either.
I think you guys need a code of practice that resellers and dealers sign up to. This will possibly stop these scams.
If thats impractical then as a buyer ask lots of Q's Find out His operating address Web adress Phone numbers [try them] ask others through the forum and fianally dont believe it will be alright becos' its on this or any forum. Finally; the strength of this problem is with the great feedback from you guys on the forum.

I will own up to having been caught out, which involved planes and local judiciary. It was not pleasent at all, but I did win thro'.

Just airing ideas and not being too pointy. I hope.

Sincerely
Tony Covell
Based London.

[Lori Carson]

I am so sorry to hear about all this.
Can I recommend Escrow.com for future purchases, especially out of the country purchases. The funds are placed in escrow and held, once the equipment is delivered
Escrow.com releases the funds to the seller. This way, you are assured of receiving your equipment, and if you do not receive the equipment, the funds are returned.
They do not charge a large amount for this service. I have had the same thing happen to me unfortunately with clients I have done business with for years.

I hope this helps

Lori Carson

[Derek Chingwell]

The problem with escrow is the seller needs to sign up to it! In terms of the buyer, funds are sent and all is the same, but the seller is both without payment, is down the postage fee and also without the goods themselves.

I'd hazard a guess that not many dealers would want to do this, as the focus is on the buyer, who can still reject goods when they're delivered. This doesn't seem to be the business model that is common at the moment in terms of lenses, at least!

I have a feeling whilst looking through these threads (as I am searching out some Anamorphic lenses myself) that a lot of dealers expect money first, before releasing the items. I could be wrong :)

[Lori Carson]

The Escrow protects both the buyer and the seller. It is a legal transaction. The buyer and seller agree on terms they set
You can go to their site Escrow.com and read up. Works well for me when doing business out of the country and is very simple
to do.

[Derek Chingwell]

Lori - I know how Escrow works - it's common practice in lots of business and tends to be the way many companies deal with things. When a business I worked for was sold, it's assets were in held in escrow until the buying company paid up.

Just saying that, looking at the way dealers seem to work here, that you won't get many to sign up to an escrow style deal.

Irrespective of the legalities, the buyer (in terms of something like second hand lenses) will have more control. For example, the terms of the escrow are that the lenses are 100% shoot ready. In the eyes of the seller they are, in the eyes of the buyer, they're not. Then does it drop to an arbitration where a 3rd party will have to inspect the goods? This 3rd party will have to be agreed by the seller and the buyer, in order not to introduce bias. Or, of course, the deal doesn't happen/conclude and the seller (and buyer, one presumes) would be out of pocket for the postage costs & returns plus the escrow fees themselves.

All this results in, IMO - just looking at the various replies and thoughts/reactions and comments on this thread and others related to it, in a situation where the seller will not want to enter into an escrow deal.

I've no doubt it works for you (and has for my Bosses in the past in terms of legal escrow), but I don't think the dealers would want to enter into it, as they all seem to be small one man bands and not businesses.

Maybe some of the Russian/non-EU/US dealers can chime in with thoughts on this, as I could be completed wrong! I don't want to seem like I'm speaking for them, just voicing an opinion and the way I see it.

[Martin Weiss]

If a seller has problems with Escrow, then I would have a problem with the seller.

[Dave Blackham]

Id be happy to vouch for Darryl Wood and Tony Covell if any ones buying kit.

[Lori Carson]

Well the way I feel, the lenses or any equipment should be in perfect working order as represented to the buyer.
If not, it should not be sold. I understand your point, but it is still a great way to protect your money.
And I totally agree with Martin, if someone has a problem with Escrow, then it is questionable whether or not
to do business with them.

Lori Carson

[Derek Chingwell]

I agree that escrow is the best way to go :)

My doubt is only in the fact that some (small) dealers won't want to do that and then you have to take the risk if you want an item they're selling. I suppose this is relevant to me, as I'm searching out some anamorphic lenses for a company I'm involved with at the moment, and it seems there are limited places to get them from (mainly Russia).

So, as witnessed by the seemingly large amount of people that have had issues in this thread, it seems like a game of chance.

Given the option, Escrow is the best protection all round, no arguments there!

DC