I purchased a Markins L-bracket from their website 10 days ago. The order went through but I never got a tracking number.
So, I tried contacting them using their website support form and also directly through email ([email protected] and [email protected])
I've send 4 emails and never got a response!
Two days ago, I started a dispute with PayPal and they never responded that dispute either! Did Markins closed and forgot to remove their website?
Fred Miranda wrote:
I purchased a Markins L-bracket from their website 10 days ago. The order went through but I never got a tracking number.
So, I tried contacting them using their website support form and also directly through email ([email protected] and [email protected])
I've send 4 emails and never got a response!
Two days ago, I started a dispute with PayPal and they never responded that dispute either! Did Markins closed and forgot to remove their website?
I am not sure about Markins US at this point. But Markins America was the Markins business some years ago and I am not sure they have been in operation for sometime. I believe they shut down when Markins US opened. I purchased my Markins ball heads from Markins America years ago before the opening of Markins US including my Emile Q3, Q10i (without clamp), Q20i with Bird BV Head. I had e-mail dealings with Markins US soon after they opened, but have not had any dealings with them in sometime.
Hope things are resolved for you and also hope that Markins is not a casualty of Covid-19. I like their heads very much and they make fine products.
scrappydog wrote:
Fred, South Korea had a second COVID wave and as a response, the government initiated another lock down. That may be why they are offline.
I'm not sure what's the reason for the lack of communication. All I know is that they accepted my order, took the money and didn't ship the item. It's being 12 days now.
If their business was closed, their website should not take orders from customers. It's not a big issue for me as I'm sure Paypal will eventually refund my payment but it's just a warning to others thinking about doing business with Markins.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I'm not sure what's the reason for the lack of communication. All I know is that they accepted my order, took the money and didn't ship the item. It's being 12 days now.
If their business was closed, their website should not take orders from customers. It's not a big issue for me as I'm sure Paypal will eventually refund my payment but it's just a warning to others thinking about doing business with Markins.
These are the US distributors, am I right? Or do you think Markins themselves have shut down?
I had trouble getting in touch with the US distributor when I had a question about placing an order for their travel tripod head last year (it was listed as not in stock and I wanted to try to find out how long the wait would be). So I contacted Markins in Korea through the manufacturer website and after explaining that the US distributor wasn't responding, they had me order direct from them. They were great to deal with and got the tripod head sent to me within a few days. I still haven't received a response from the US distributor after all this time (no, I'm not holding my breath).
greynolds wrote:
I had trouble getting in touch with the US distributor when I had a question about placing an order for their travel tripod head last year (it was listed as not in stock and I wanted to try to find out how long the wait would be). So I contacted Markins in Korea through the manufacturer website and after explaining that the US distributor wasn't responding, they had more order direct from them. They were great to deal with and got the tripod head sent to me within a few days. I still haven't received a response from the US distributor after all this time (no, I'm not holding my breath)....Show more →
Same here. I've sent an email to all Markins email addresses I could find and just received an email from Korea:
Here is what they wrote:
"Dear Fred Miranda,
We are very sorry for your inconvenience.
We will contact a North America distributor and assist you in resolving them as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Markins"
I searched online and and found many cases of people having issues with Markins' US distributor.
It seems Markins is still in business, but not through the site you used.
The confusion is in the fact that there are two Markins websites. The first is "markinsamerica" which sounds like the one you ordered from. That has been out of business for years. I have no idea why the website is still even operational.
Their current website is "Markins usa". That is the site that has things for sale. They are responsive and have some (but not all) Markins items in stock. I would try opening an account with them and then contacting them for what you want.
In fact, "Markins usa" just listed a Q20i with panning clamp on Amazon for a great price of $545 including shipping, which is a savings of almost $60.00 over what the Markins usa site had (they charge for shipping, Amazon was free). They started with four and are down to one left as of this morning. I ordered one yesterday, and its is arriving day after tomorrow!!!
They don't have anything else listed on Amazon right now, but the site has stuff.
It seems Markins is still in business, but not through the site you used.
The confusion is in the fact that there are two Markins websites. The first is "markinsamerica" which sounds like the one you ordered from. That has been out of business for years. I have no idea why the website is still even operational.
Their current website is "Markins usa". That is the site that has things for sale. They are responsive and have some (but not all) Markins items in stock. I would try opening an account with them and then contacting them for what you want.
In fact, "Markins usa" just listed a Q20i with panning clamp on Amazon for a great price of $545 including shipping, which is a savings of almost $60.00 over what the Markins usa site had (they charge for shipping, Amazon was free). They started with four and are down to one left as of this morning. I ordered one yesterday, and its is arriving day after tomorrow!!!
They don't have anything else listed on Amazon right now, but the site has stuff....Show more →
It's not exactly clear if Fred ordered from markinsamerica.com or markins.us. The site I attempted to contact last year was markins.us and they never responded, even after I contacted Markins in Korea. I got a response from Korea similar to what Fred received saying they would nudge markins.us to respond to me. In the end, I ordered direct and that worked out just fine.
The "Markins USA" seller on Amazon may or may not be related to either of the web sites (note that the name isn't an exact match to "markins.us"). But it's interesting to note that they have exactly 1 rating on Amazon from 2018, orders are fullfilled by Amazon, and they only have the 1 item for sale. Only having the 1 item for sale implies that they aren't supplying Amazon with new stock to fulfill orders with and Amazon is only listing it because they still have some left. They also didn't "just list" that Q20i - it was first listed in 2017. If a lever release is preferred or another Markins product is desired, Amazon obviously isn't an option. Interestingly, markins.us is still sold out of the traveler tripod head I purchased direct from Korea last year - I suspect that isn't a coincidence.
Before ordering anything from markins.us, I would strongly suggest contacting them and only place an order if they actually respond. Otherwise, there's a very good chance your credit card will be charged and the order will disappear into a black hole.
The English version of the main corporate site is here:
That is a very good point. Thank-you, for bringing it to our attention:
"Note: If you are from USA, please visit www.markins.us to place your order.
This is our subsidiary site for customers from USA."
--
Also I just noticed, that the www.markins.us website does not 'appear' to list a Physical Address for where they are located...
Or even a 'Contact' Telephone Number.
In my experience, this is usually not a good sign. Therefore, I usually try to avoid these types of Merchants (Where they can contact you...
But, you are not 'easily' able to contact them).
It seems Markins is still in business, but not through the site you used.
The confusion is in the fact that there are two Markins websites. The first is "markinsamerica" which sounds like the one you ordered from. That has been out of business for years. I have no idea why the website is still even operational.
Their current website is "Markins usa". That is the site that has things for sale. They are responsive and have some (but not all) Markins items in stock. I would try opening an account with them and then contacting them for what you want.
In fact, "Markins usa" just listed a Q20i with panning clamp on Amazon for a great price of $545 including shipping, which is a savings of almost $60.00 over what the Markins usa site had (they charge for shipping, Amazon was free). They started with four and are down to one left as of this morning. I ordered one yesterday, and its is arriving day after tomorrow!!!
They don't have anything else listed on Amazon right now, but the site has stuff....Show more →
I'm not sure if this is correct. They seem to be the same US distributor.
And the email confirmation was from "Markins America". After the automated email acknowledging that my order was placed, no further communication took place. It's been 14 days with no tracking number and without answering five of my emails.
Markins Korea wrote a couple days ago but so far no follow up email ore resolution either.
Fred
I always had the feeling there were like two people in a Langley, BC tiny office or house as the distributor. If Korea doesn't respond at all, then maybe they are done.
EB-1 wrote:
I always had the feeling there were like two people in a Langley, BC tiny office or house as the distributor. If Korea doesn't respond at all, then maybe they are done.
EBH
Just curious - but how does Langely, BC figure into all this? I ask b/c that town is close to where I live
And the email confirmation was from "Markins America". After the automated email acknowledging that my order was placed, no further communication took place. It's been 14 days with no tracking number and without answering five of my emails.
Markins Korea wrote a couple days ago but so far no follow up email ore resolution either.
Fred
Oh, OK, you contacted the correct site. I was flummoxed because I tried to order something through the "markinsamerica" site and it was totally non-responsive, before I discovered the "markinsus" site. I ended up not ordering because of the deal they were doing on Amazon which saved quite a few bucks. As another poster said, I am still not sure if the "Markins USA" seller on Amazon is the same, but in tracking the "in stock" items at the markinsus site, and the "available" at Amazon, they tracked, with the Amazon and markins numbers going down the same way (they started with 4 in stock and looks like I was not the only one taking advantage on Amazon).
But, looking at the Markins global site, that is where you want to go to buy specialty items. They have pretty much everything in stock. I am thinking about getting a Q3 traveler with panning claim from them, as that combo is not available anywhere in the US or even on the Markinsus site. You have to pay extra shipping, but you can get what you want.
I am hoping the Q2i is as good as its reputation. Looking to checking it out today!
. Another victim of the global pandemic maybe?