p.1 #1 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
I live in Germany and ordered a Vagabond Mini Lithium from Paul C. Buff Europe, UK. I ordered mid march and got it yesterday. The battery itself is fine, but not the handling of this company.
Absolutely no comparison to the good reputation that Paul Buff USA has.
First, Paul Buff Europe promises to deliver a AU power cable with the VML, because they use AU sockets in the european 230 V version. Paul said because of space reasons.
But they did not deliver the VML with that unusual cable. So, I have a monolight and a VML, both are great, but cannot use them together because the folks in the UK forgot to put a cheap cable in the box.
Second, the charger is supplied with a US power cable. What should I do with that in Europe?
The second cable that I have to change/buy on my own.
And then, they sent the package adressed to my prename only. No last name on the package. Strange. But did arrive. Thanks, TNT!
Last one: No invoice. None as email, none in the package.
p.1 #2 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Mini Vagabond carry case US - $14.95
Mini Vagabond carry case UK - $60.50 (equivelent)
Daylight robbery unjustifiable by any means. Add to that no availability of spare batteries, no UK plugs on cables (no excuse for that whatsoever, why can't they source cables in the UK?) and customer service which has been so vague in the past that I'm not sending my B800 whose sync port just died into them because I don't begin to trust them and you have Paul C Buff Europe in a nutshell.
p.1 #3 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
I am thinking about ... Do I trust Paul C Buff Europe? Hmmm. No, I think, I don't.
Sending packages overseas without last name on it, sending US cables and forget to send the promised AU cables, earliest replies to emails after 2-3 days, no invoice and so on.
Again, this is NOT against Paul Buff (USA), his products or his company. The VML is GREAT and I am happy to be able to order it from germany.
But it's about the UK distributors and their weird definition or "service".
Paul should take better care of his distributors. They could destroy his good reputation he built in years in the US within weeks ...
p.1 #5 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Hi Paul is unable to reply however I will
Mario.
if you were to have purchased your VM from the US you would have to have purchased the power cable it separately, we have made a concious decision to supply our customers these cables free of charge. (is that a poor service)
As regards to the charging cable there are that many different socket types in not just Europe that we are unable to stock every type and people not have a problem buying the correct type for their country.
We try to give our customers the best service and unfortunately miss-takes are made and have made contact with you today to apologise.
The invoice was shipped with your package as it is a legal requirement that invoices are supplied with international shipments. I would suggest that your invoice has been removed by German Customs.
Beni.
We do not buy our products a cost and pay more or less the same price as some one in the US, we then have to get the products to Europe unfortunately this is not free and certainly not cheap and it doesn't matter if its a bag or a light. For example Vagabond Mini are classed a dangerous goods because of the the Lithium Batteries, they are costing us an extra $40 USD per unit to get them to the UK and that is the bulk price. We would like nothing more than to be able to supply the products cheaper.
You have chosen a VM bag which is 33 GBP lets not forget that the UK government takes one fifth of that (20%) that is not our fault and there is absolutely nothing you or I can do about that but suggest that you write to your local MP, and on top of that if you are a European Customer with out a VAT no I am still required to charge you VAT.
The products are still really good value compared with others available.
We are supplying the Vagabonds and batteries as quickly as we can get them from the US
We endeavour to give our customers a good service and will bend over backwards to help them, if the products are in stock we ship within 24 hrs and if anyone has any question then all they have to do is email us.
p.1 #6 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Colin Smith wrote:
Hi Paul is unable to reply however I will
Mario.
if you were to have purchased your VM from the US you would have to have purchased the power cable it separately, we have made a concious decision to supply our customers these cables free of charge. (is that a poor service)
For me, personnaly, it IS poor service to cannot use the two months awaited battery when delivered, because the seller forgot to put an unusual cable in the box. I cannot work without that cable. I mean WORK in the sense of earning money, taking pictures as a professional, not just playing around with a new toy.
I would likely pay for the cable if id had been delivered with the battery.
As regards to the charging cable there are that many different socket types in not just Europe that we are unable to stock every type and people not have a problem buying the correct type for their country.
Does it really makes sense to ship a product in Europe with a charging cable that is useless in the whole European Union? Guess no.
We try to give our customers the best service and unfortunately miss-takes are made and have made contact with you today to apologise.
Yes, Colin, mistakes are human. I apologise for the negative waves I sent out, too.
The invoice was shipped with your package as it is a legal requirement that invoices are supplied with international shipments. I would suggest that your invoice has been removed by German Customs.
Invoices can hardly be removed by authorities when sending packages between UK and Germany, because there are no authorities in between. There is no more customs inside the european union. And there was no plastic bag on the outside of the package left, which are typically used to store invoices.
To end this, I apologise for my negative feedback and would like to give you a second chance. I really like Buff stuff and perhaps, I will order an Einstein in the near future, too.
p.1 #7 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Colin or is it Paul writing under another name (again?)
The bag is $14.95 in the US.
It's £40 in the UK not £33. That is almost exactly 4 times the price. I'd love to see you try and begin to justify that with your math. Minus VAT and import and shipping and it's still a 200% profit over retail cost in the US, nevermind what is costs the manufacturer.
It's nonsense like trying to justify the above which has lost you both me and another FM customer here as customers. I don't like being ripped off and I don't like being treated like an idiot to try and justify switch and bait prices. £40 for a bag that would cost £15 anywhere else is not good value and don't you dare try and suggest it is.
p.1 #9 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Beni.
No it its not Paul, it's Colin. I am more than happy to discuss pricing with you over the telephone if you wish but I do not suppose you wish to do that you would rather make false accusations in public.
But I will respond in Public.
The Bag is $14.95 US
I Pay $12.95 US
I then have to pay shipping on it Which works out to about $18 US
Price with freight is $31 US rounded Up.
I then have to pay Duty and handling on it which is $5
so it is now $36US
I then pay VAT imposed by the Government which $7US rounded down.
I then have to mark it up to cover costs such as Wages, Bank Charges, Telephone, Internet, Storage, Packaging, Power, Rent, and the list goes on.
But would suggest that these are things that you have not taken into account in your posts. As I said I am more then happy to discuss this over the phone.
p.1 #10 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
You'll have to excuse me Colin, PCB once wrote a long rambling post here purporting to be from one of his employees that was so transparent that it would have been funny if it wasn't so sad. When I saw the reply from the UK dealer with the country 'Australia' underneath I came to the wrong conclusion.
$18 shipping for a tiny bag shipped in bulk? Heck sending them individually with USPS would be cheaper nevermind in bulk. Look, not my place but if a $15 bag needs to cost $60 to sell in the UK, it might be worth selling an equivelent (such as from Lowepro which is also imported from the US but is a fraction of the price) so that Alien Bees EU doesn't look like it's price gouging quite so much. In the general scheme of things both myself and another UK FM'er here, both of whom have a significant investment in AB lights are very turned off by the 'look' of the thing to the point that we look elsewhere now. I'm about to offload my last two AB lights. If we are easily discounted as just a tiny percentage of customers then good for you people, you're doing well and I wish you all the very best.
p.1 #11 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
@colin smith:
i have read from quite a few customers in europe and my collegue ordered as well. the feedback is quite consistent: they are not really happy
so why not do your business and your customers in europe a favour: close down this european outlet and let us buy from the mainquarter in the usa. the result would be, that we can order to a much more reasonable price and get good customer service.
now you pay way too much and get a bad service as well. unhappy customers everywhere. can't be in the interest of you.
I now many, many people who would order tomorrow, if this was changed. but I understand, if they don't do under these conditions now.
p.1 #13 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
philllie1
From what I can gather is that you have not ordered from us or intent to, we are a family business that prides ourself on providing service, we had someone comment the other day that it was the best service they had received from anyone, but unfortunately there are people like you that can only concentrate on the negative.
No we are not 100% and I challenge anyone to be 100% but what we will do is if someone is not happy then we try to put it right, but you are not interested in that, you only want to make accusations that may lead to the equipment being made available cheaper.
As you have involved yourself in your colleagues business please ask him to contact us so that we can talk about his concerns.
Or even better still be a man, email me your telephone number and we can talk through your issue's in real time, but again you are very unlikely to do that.
p.1 #15 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
Colin Smith wrote:
but you are not interested in that, you only want to make accusations that may lead to the equipment being made available cheaper.
Or even better still be a man, email me your telephone number and we can talk through your issue's in real time, but again you are very unlikely to do that.
p.1 #17 · Paul C. Buff Europe - lowered expectations
I was thinking about ordering some PCB PLM's for my Eli strobes. But I can't seem to find any info on shipping to the Netherlands. Besides that, these kind of replies: Or even better still be a man, email me your telephone number and we can talk through your issue's in real time, but again you are very unlikely to do that. won't get you very far over here. It's not how we like to do our business. So, no thank you to PCB. At least until they have got their act together. I think I'll just order the Eli paraboles.
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