Topic: Problems with The Camera Hunter

[FrankB]

On Oct 13 I ordered a Rollei 35 lens cap and hood and a Mamiya TLR hood from The Camera Hunter (the owner, David Wombacher, also sells on ebay under the same company name). I received an automated email confirming the order. On Oct 17 my credit card was charged the correct amount.

Since then, nothing.

I've emailed him (politely) three times with no response and phoned the number on the site repeatedly (it's never answered) leaving messages in the voicemail service each time.

Apparently I'm not alone - http://www.resellerratings.com/seller8861.html & http://www.photo.net/neighbor/view-one-about?id=2&about=Camera+Hunter

Mastercard have been most helpful. They say I'll need to fill out a form but they assure me that I will receive a full refund. (I wonder how many people have reached this point with this vendor and given up...?)

Needless to say, I won't be ordering from this vendor again.

[derevaun]

I BINed a cable relase adapter from him a couple weeks ago. There were lots of automated emails about payment received and item shipped, and it arrived after at least a week. I had planned to order some more quasi-useful widgets from him, so thanks for the HU.

[lauraburlton]

You can also launch a dispute with ebay, that way he will get a mark against him for not shipping.

[cpierce]

Not sure how you folks pay on Ebay but I would suggest using PayPal.  I know some are not keen this, but they give buyer protection in addition to your credit card.  I have had things resolved quickly and the vendor will be shut down if there are several issues.  PayPal is owned by Ebay so they can act swiftly.

cp

[FrankB]

This order was placed via the vendor's own website using MasterCard rather than on eBay.

An update -

When I started this thread I quickly reached the conclusion that I was not going to get anywhere with this vendor and started a dispute process with Mastercard to recover my funds. I also emailed the vendor to let him know that I was doing this.

I wasn't completely surprised to receive an email from him (my first, except for the autoconfirm of the order) that same day. It was a reply to one of my previous queries sent about ten days previously. He claims not to have received the one detailing my actions with Mastercard.

His version of events is as follows -

He is running a bit behind as he has been in a car accident and currently has a broken hand.
There was a problem with my order; one of the items has had to be backordered from a new supplier (Note - his website showed all the items I ordered as being in stock at that time)
He sent me a previous email informing me of this (Note - I received no such email)

Upon receiving this I sent him a very strongly-worded email demanding a refund and stating that I would proceed with my action via MasterCard if this was not immediately forthcoming. I have now received a full refund from the vendor.

Whether or not you believe the vendor's version of events is up to you, but I've recorded it here out of fairness, along with the fact that he refunded me. However, I certainly won't be dealing with him again.

[outofcontxt]

I'm saddened to hear this since I did business with him earlier in the year. He was very communicative and I got my stuff in a reasonable amount of time.