Robert Horwell
Well-known member
As many of you may have gathered sergey has surfaced again. I wanted to say a big thank you to all those people who have been in touch over the past weeks and months. For those of you who are not completely familiar tis was the original thread selling a set of lomos that i purchased from sergey kravchenko. http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...undfront-F-35-50-75-100-NEW-PL-mout-ARRI-gear
I feel a little update is in order for all those people who so kindly emailed me, through either concern or to offer advice or your own stories on dealing with sergey kravchenko. Also for those people who may be considering doing business with sergey in the future. As he has now upped sticks and is trading on dvxuser.
My lenses did arrive. Over 10 weeks after i paid for them in full. many of you followed the drama as it unfolded on this and other threads. Assimilating and piecing together all the information i received from both Russia and the rest of the world has been enlightening to say the least. It is now clear sergey lied to me on several occasions. Even concerning the alleged shipping date, the paperwork from the shipping company revealed all. As a result of all the deceit and lack of communication i lost all 5 of the jobs that the lenses had been earmarked for. One of which was a 15 week feature. I can't even begin to communicate the amount of stress this has caused, compounded even more by sergeys attitude towards me when the lenses did finally arrive. Like i was lucky, he had done me a favour.! Imagine my disappointment when i opened the packaging to find the condition of the lenses to be nothing like they were described "all lenses in set absolutely NEW , not used earlier for shooting .Multicoating fine , not damaged , glasses clean and clear , has no fungus or dirty inside . Mechanism of movement smooth " . what i found was the following: Oil coating the internal optics, iris ring stuck, focus gear hanging off, incorrect focus gear on the 100mm, it was a 75mm gear that had a blob of black paint over the 75mm engraving and the markings were a different color to the rest of he set, 10mm of backlash either way on the focus of the 50mm, lots of oil on iris blades on the 35, 50, 75. The 75mm had lots of dust and debris internally. White marks on the internal lens barrel walls, PL caps that don't fit, and i mean not fit at all, just sit on top of the mount, i ordered 6 more caps from Asher Cohen, that fit like a glove. In short they were nothing like what they should have been for the money i paid for them. I was expecting a set of glass ready to work. Also i did not receive any form of lens supports as advertised in the sale "Set include Universal supports for heavy lenses." The whole deal hasbeen a nightmare from beginning to end, and it still hasn't stopped. Sergey is no longer replying to my emails even though he is posting daily on dvxuser trying to sell more lenses.
One of the things that surprised me most was the number of people who contacted me to tell me they had trouble with sergey in the past, some still had ongoing debates concerning lenses that had been purchased and had not arrived in a suitable condition. I think many of them would not like to go public for various reasons including the worry that they stand even less chance of getting anything resolved with sergey if they do. As for me, sergey made it clear in his last communication with me that he does not intend to resolve any of my problems. Including refusal to send the lens supports and a correct focus gear for the 100mm, he also refused to cover any costs for repair of the lenses that was needed to get them into a suitable condition for work. They were repaired here in the UK by a very reputable lens engineer who concurred with all my findings. This is a highly condensed version of events as the whole story would take many pages. Total monetary cost to me including the work lost repair work on the optics $65400. Total cost emotional, physical, spiritual, that's another matter altogether.
As an outcome of this, i am wondering how we can protect each other from dealers such as sergey, who without doubt do damage to genuine dealers and just normal folk selling kit. i could have done more to protect myself including escrow, however i know this was not an option in the case. I've just got to wipe my mouth and move on.
Once again many thanks,
Bob x
I feel a little update is in order for all those people who so kindly emailed me, through either concern or to offer advice or your own stories on dealing with sergey kravchenko. Also for those people who may be considering doing business with sergey in the future. As he has now upped sticks and is trading on dvxuser.
My lenses did arrive. Over 10 weeks after i paid for them in full. many of you followed the drama as it unfolded on this and other threads. Assimilating and piecing together all the information i received from both Russia and the rest of the world has been enlightening to say the least. It is now clear sergey lied to me on several occasions. Even concerning the alleged shipping date, the paperwork from the shipping company revealed all. As a result of all the deceit and lack of communication i lost all 5 of the jobs that the lenses had been earmarked for. One of which was a 15 week feature. I can't even begin to communicate the amount of stress this has caused, compounded even more by sergeys attitude towards me when the lenses did finally arrive. Like i was lucky, he had done me a favour.! Imagine my disappointment when i opened the packaging to find the condition of the lenses to be nothing like they were described "all lenses in set absolutely NEW , not used earlier for shooting .Multicoating fine , not damaged , glasses clean and clear , has no fungus or dirty inside . Mechanism of movement smooth " . what i found was the following: Oil coating the internal optics, iris ring stuck, focus gear hanging off, incorrect focus gear on the 100mm, it was a 75mm gear that had a blob of black paint over the 75mm engraving and the markings were a different color to the rest of he set, 10mm of backlash either way on the focus of the 50mm, lots of oil on iris blades on the 35, 50, 75. The 75mm had lots of dust and debris internally. White marks on the internal lens barrel walls, PL caps that don't fit, and i mean not fit at all, just sit on top of the mount, i ordered 6 more caps from Asher Cohen, that fit like a glove. In short they were nothing like what they should have been for the money i paid for them. I was expecting a set of glass ready to work. Also i did not receive any form of lens supports as advertised in the sale "Set include Universal supports for heavy lenses." The whole deal hasbeen a nightmare from beginning to end, and it still hasn't stopped. Sergey is no longer replying to my emails even though he is posting daily on dvxuser trying to sell more lenses.
One of the things that surprised me most was the number of people who contacted me to tell me they had trouble with sergey in the past, some still had ongoing debates concerning lenses that had been purchased and had not arrived in a suitable condition. I think many of them would not like to go public for various reasons including the worry that they stand even less chance of getting anything resolved with sergey if they do. As for me, sergey made it clear in his last communication with me that he does not intend to resolve any of my problems. Including refusal to send the lens supports and a correct focus gear for the 100mm, he also refused to cover any costs for repair of the lenses that was needed to get them into a suitable condition for work. They were repaired here in the UK by a very reputable lens engineer who concurred with all my findings. This is a highly condensed version of events as the whole story would take many pages. Total monetary cost to me including the work lost repair work on the optics $65400. Total cost emotional, physical, spiritual, that's another matter altogether.
As an outcome of this, i am wondering how we can protect each other from dealers such as sergey, who without doubt do damage to genuine dealers and just normal folk selling kit. i could have done more to protect myself including escrow, however i know this was not an option in the case. I've just got to wipe my mouth and move on.
Once again many thanks,
Bob x
