[Viv49]

Dear vanessa@simplyelectronics.net

After reading the 'sticky' in AVFORUMS from your CEO (oddly no mention of his name), I thought I'd direct this open 'letter' to you.

I was in the UK on business, so I wished to purchase some electronics. I purchased an external hard drive Wednesday 1pm (standard delivery), it arrived Friday 11am. I order a graphics card on Friday and ask for Saturday delivery, it arrived on Saturday at 10am. Misco and Pixmania did a great job!

I don't know where to begin with SE, but contrary to your CEO's claims of industrial espionage, my opinion of SE was not swayed by other posters, but rather your company.

Advertising: Your products advertise their FREE delivery in red and bold. Below that highlighted in blue their 'usual 1-2 days shipping'. Only by clicking on the shipping terms (not an obvious) hyperlink, does the 3-10 day delivery come into play. Actually this is again displayed (light grey, small font) when making your eventual purchase (i.e. after deciding to make the purchase), but well hidden among the TOTAL PRICE and COUPON advertisements. Ironic, I don't think I've come across a single online poster where this 'usually 1-2' days shipping has actually taken place. Weird as it seems the main reason for folk cancelling orders is that it takes closer to two weeks to process. For me this experience was painful. This is the only trip I would have taken to the UK for close to three months and the reason I chose your store was because you looked professional, had very high rankings at Amazon and claimed to ship items 1-2 days after the order was placed.

Sales Price: The item I tried to purchase has changed price twice in the last two days... surely that is not right?

Sales Order Processing: Considering you are apparently unable to track your stock levels and that a couple of days after placing my purchase the item's status suddenly changed to 'out of stock', I think I know why after six business days, you still had not processed my order! You claimed an order policy of FIFO (First in, First Out) and this took six days? You must be the only eCommerce site I've come across who make promised (not on their delivery date) but time taken to process an order! Having a quick look at Misco, I can get a laptop DELIVERED 1-3 working days for £4.99, next working day £9.99, yet it takes you six days to process a order that is IN STOCK?

As I actually develop eCommerce applications, it is beyond me why cancelling and refunding an order takes 1-2 business days. Credit cards are verified (not charged) at the web front end PRIOR to purchase. This ensures authenticity. By charging for an item when the order is placed, an item that is cancelled two hours later or OUT OF STOCK will require a monetary refund. As it stands just like your advertised 1-2 business days shipping claims, your refund policy is also sadly a fraction of the actual period.


Customer Support: I've communicated with 'Mike', 'Elyce', 'Chantelle' and 'Alice' via email. And no, your phone number did not work.

Amazon Ranking: Yes this one had me fooled unfortunately. For a .com with so many unhappy customers, your Amazon ranking in almost too good to be true, particularly when you take into consideration a quick google search will yield a thread dedicated to how upset your customers really are, same story over and over.

So in conclusion 'Vanessa', is it not 'odd' for some people to dedicate entire web sites to how royally they've been **** by your company? For a simple google search to yield close to 30% web sites discussing how months after their purchase they've yet to receive a refund, well that's not just poor management or corporate espionage, it's simplyajoke.

[DAN fm KENT]

Originally Posted by A n d r e w

I obviously missed the post that raised the possibility of Senu's commerical interests in Simply Electronics, then. Perhaps you should go back to not posting. At the very least it would give the <shift-1> combination a rest.

Hey, whats this ....... bash DAN fm KENT week?

All I did was ask SENU a legitimate question <shift-1>

If you really think I have said something I should not have said .... i will leave the forum and never return ...... which seems to be your wish.

[senu]

You asked I answered

Andrew perhaps felt your scrutiny of my typo was not nessesary

That said. Its time to move on .

Some one has said my posts and this are " diluting" the thread....

Nobody is threatening your right to stay and post but maybe. pause for thought.. then post... it is really so much less s hassle ..

Seriously , I would just forget it and have a nice evening...

[Jove]

Originally Posted by A n d r e w

Really? This thread's the seventh hit on google.fi when searching "simply electronics."

Yes, really. I searched in Finnish only: simplyelectronics - Google-haku.

[Vanessa SE]

Originally Posted by Viv49

Dear vanessa@simplyelectronics.net

After reading the 'sticky' in AVFORUMS from your CEO (oddly no mention of his name), I thought I'd direct this open 'letter' to you.

I was in the UK on business, so I wished to purchase some electronics. I purchased an external hard drive Wednesday 1pm (standard delivery), it arrived Friday 11am. I order a graphics card on Friday and ask for Saturday delivery, it arrived on Saturday at 10am. Misco and Pixmania did a great job!

I don't know where to begin with SE, but contrary to your CEO's claims of industrial espionage, my opinion of SE was not swayed by other posters, but rather your company.

Advertising: Your products advertise their FREE delivery in red and bold. Below that highlighted in blue their 'usual 1-2 days shipping'. Only by clicking on the shipping terms (not an obvious) hyperlink, does the 3-10 day delivery come into play. Actually this is again displayed (light grey, small font) when making your eventual purchase (i.e. after deciding to make the purchase), but well hidden among the TOTAL PRICE and COUPON advertisements. Ironic, I don't think I've come across a single online poster where this 'usually 1-2' days shipping has actually taken place. Weird as it seems the main reason for folk cancelling orders is that it takes closer to two weeks to process. For me this experience was painful. This is the only trip I would have taken to the UK for close to three months and the reason I chose your store was because you looked professional, had very high rankings at Amazon and claimed to ship items 1-2 days after the order was placed.

Sales Price: The item I tried to purchase has changed price twice in the last two days... surely that is not right?

Sales Order Processing: Considering you are apparently unable to track your stock levels and that a couple of days after placing my purchase the item's status suddenly changed to 'out of stock', I think I know why after six business days, you still had not processed my order! You claimed an order policy of FIFO (First in, First Out) and this took six days? You must be the only eCommerce site I've come across who make promised (not on their delivery date) but time taken to process an order! Having a quick look at Misco, I can get a laptop DELIVERED 1-3 working days for £4.99, next working day £9.99, yet it takes you six days to process a order that is IN STOCK?

As I actually develop eCommerce applications, it is beyond me why cancelling and refunding an order takes 1-2 business days. Credit cards are verified (not charged) at the web front end PRIOR to purchase. This ensures authenticity. By charging for an item when the order is placed, an item that is cancelled two hours later or OUT OF STOCK will require a monetary refund. As it stands just like your advertised 1-2 business days shipping claims, your refund policy is also sadly a fraction of the actual period.


Customer Support: I've communicated with 'Mike', 'Elyce', 'Chantelle' and 'Alice' via email. And no, your phone number did not work.

Amazon Ranking: Yes this one had me fooled unfortunately. For a .com with so many unhappy customers, your Amazon ranking in almost too good to be true, particularly when you take into consideration a quick google search will yield a thread dedicated to how upset your customers really are, same story over and over.

So in conclusion 'Vanessa', is it not 'odd' for some people to dedicate entire web sites to how royally they've been **** by your company? For a simple google search to yield close to 30% web sites discussing how months after their purchase they've yet to receive a refund, well that's not just poor management or corporate espionage, it's simplyajoke.

Hi Viv49,

Thanks for your post.

Based on the feedback here, yes it could be said that our dispatch process is outside our 1-2 working days. It should be mentioned that we offer express delivery on selected products which are readily available for delivery, and whilst dispatch inside 1-2 working days may not be seen or posted publicly online we can confirm that we do manage to achieve this on majority of our orders, which at present is over a thousand orders daily.

Delays as we know can be caused by various reasons (courier delays, possible lost parcels in transit, etc), without taking away from other experiences shared online, the notion that delivery can take up to 3-10 working days, we hope keeps our customers further advised that this could be the case.

In reference to our prices, this can obviously vary depending on stock availability, market price at the time, etc. It is hence imperative that we take these factors into consideration and if need be amend our prices where necessary. I cannot comment on whether the item you were interested in dropped or increased in price, but if the latter would have happened we do not advise customers to pay extra.

In note of our customer service helpline, I can confirm that we are experiencing high volume of calls as of late; however the lines are accessible and perhaps in your case an extended wait time was experienced. I can confirm that necessary delegation of staff to ensure improved service levels are in place.

I personally do not find it odd that people dedicate their time to share their experiences online, and more so appreciate the fact they do so as it further emphasises areas within the business that are good or not so good, in which case we can act on them and make further improvements.

In terms of your own order experience, could you share with me your order number by private message or email? This would allow me to further address your concerns pertaining to our 'sales order processing".

Thank you.


Best Regards,

Vanessa Carroll
Customer Service Manager

Originally Posted by Vanessa SE

Hi DAN fm KENT,

I can confirm that most our stock is sourced within the UK directly. We do have a European presence and hence also source a small majority of our goods from around the world. The goods are however of UK specifications (with CE marks), and come with UK style plugs and English user manuals.

It was certainly not my intention to withhold such information by not answering the last part of your post, but merely an oversight in this case.

I appreciate the origin of goods play a great deal in ones decision making before passing judgment to place an order, and I hope this post adequately answers to this specific question.


Best Regards,

Vanessa Carroll
Customer Service Manager

Vanessa my advice to you would be to be upfront, you may not have all the answers to the above but i would say don't continue to pull the wool over people's eyes.

[UrbanT]

Ken, your last post was edited for very good reason. If you are who you claim, then you would realise revealing a security breach is one thing, but to publish the information from that breach is a separate matter entirely, and logically you cannot believe it would ever be allowed.

I don't intend to edit your post, but will lock the thread and ask for this thread/matter to be discussed amongst the mods and site admin.

Could I ask that you PM me any information you purport to have so I may include this in any discussion.

[senu]

UT
Thanks . I will actually edit the post , for now.

I am happy to put the published allegations back on but dont think they should be there without substantiation, or if SE remain happily silent about it after this


Ken
I would take up the above offer to PM the info to Urban T

I have no problem with anyone who feels so disenchanted with SE that they need to put facts like these in the public domain ( if they are true) but that is not the purpose of this thread and I have kept it going this long in a camcorders forum because some people have been helped by it and SE has ( via Vanessa) had to come online to speak for itself
I do not work for SE or have any allegiance to them but opening oneself to libel acusations is not sensible if the published allegations cannot be proven

OTOH if the allegations you state are true ( even only in part ), there would be no reason not to avoid SE

The good and bad experience posts were left unedited for folk to make informed decisions,.It is not AVFs role to advice anyone to buy or not buy from SE.

Similarly It would have been irresponsible to leave the details you put on on your other post .

If anyone feels there is a good reason to unlock this Pls PM or Email me but it is not in anyone's interest to allow the thread to go in this direction unchecked.

Thanks to all who have taken time to post thier experiences so far

[Stuart Wright]

Originally Posted by DAN fm KENT

Hey, whats this ....... bash DAN fm KENT week?

All I did was ask SENU a legitimate question <shift-1>

If you really think I have said something I should not have said .... i will leave the forum and never return ...... which seems to be your wish.

I have infracted Andrew for posting that.

[senu]

Message from Dan

Originally Posted by DAN fm KENT

Hi

Thought you'd like to know ...... SE refunded my cc the same day Vanessa siad they would !

I hope all the other people get things resolved.

All the best
Derek

[senu]

And Viv

Originally Posted by Viv49

Hi Senu,

I think it is imperative that people know about SE and are able to post about their experiences. Had it not been for your site, I would not have known about Google Checkout and known that I could request them to contact SE for a refund.

I believe it is shared knowledge that empowers people to not 'sit in the dark' for months on end falling victim to this company. I would also like to update my experiences once/if I receive my refund.

Thanks.

That said it may be time to call this particular thread a day unless anyone else has a really pressing reason

[senu]

Another post (PM)

Originally Posted by robhutchinson

Speaking as someone who has just placed an order on the Simply Electronics website, I'd have liked to see any feedback from other users who may have ordered recently. There were a few who said they were going to update the thread when their products arrived. For my part, I'm optimistic. A bloke I work with had an Olympus SP590 delivered for about £220, although he says that it did take a fortnight.

[Mike007C]

Having been caught out ordering a Flip mino HD by a scam web site www.EasyToBuyThem.com, that robbed two of my credit card accounts (their system said that there was a problem with one of my cards) I was very suspicious of Simply Electronics once I ordered my Flip mino HD and after I read the reports on this forum site. I was so worried that I rang my credit card company to try and stop the order from being processed. However, the customer relations department at Simply Electronics responded with speed and efficiency to reassure me that my order was being despatch there and then. I can now report that I have this morning received my Flip mino HD via Royal Mail Special Delivery and I therefore award Simply Electronics with a Five Star Rating!

[senu]

The Simply Thread
Simply Electronics
Is currently locked down pending a summary post because of

1) Several unsolicited first posts with barely believable fulsome praise ( 5* ) after one solitary purchase like yours
and
2) Lots of quite serious believable ( if as yet unproven) allegations on the other posts

You do SE no favours by this post and Im not convinced of the merits of allowing this thread to continue ( If anyone feels different, pls PM me)

If you want to state your experince with the other site you quote ,that is fine as long as the accusations are true but only to warn folk off not to use this medium as means to " attack" them

Anyone who wants to rate SE can do so after reading the 80 ( or so) pages and over a one thousand posts on the SE thread, and then decide for themselves

I will merge it with that thread now..

[ZedZed4]

Hi All,

I have only one other post and one purchase to discuss, so, sorry Senu but I wanted to be heard. I'm recently into DSLR's so am new to buying from websites supplying such stuff. My warning about Camerabox (first experience)appears to have not made it to the forum (probably me being stupid).

I read most of the 80 odd pages on the SE thread and took from that my own view. i.e. Danger Alert. However, the Amazon rating was great, as noted in these pages. So, combined with the knowledge that Amazon were offering some A to Z assurance/refund policy, puposefully paying on credit card and with standard consummer protection as a last resort, I went ahead with Amazon and bought a new Canon Lens. Goods arrived as described on 5th working day, in line with the Amazon A to Z policy.

So that's my story. I would not recommend anything to anyone though. Make your own mind up. Weigh up the risks. Pay yer money and all that Jazz.

I have made the effort to write this post so my only post was not just slating Camerabox, (but I lost that one anyway!!)

[senu]

Thanks.. I will add this Post to the SE thread and then delete the thread

[senu]

Thanks Rob:
for the record

Originally Posted by robhutchinson

Further to my Simply Electronics order, I ordered the camera around 1pm on Tuesday 29th of September after seeing the 1-2 day delivery on the main page and received a confirmation email stating up to 10 business days which upset me a lot. I had an email exchange with S E to try and confirm dispatch date, but all they'd do was confirm that they had stock and wouldn't commit to dates.

My order status finally changed from 'new order' to 'processing' on Monday 5th of October, 'packing' by the time I woke up on Tuesday morning, then I received an email at 7pm on Tuesdsay 6th to say that it had been dispatched by DHL.

The package arrived at home at around 11am on Wednesday 7th, 6 businsess days after I ordered it, so well within one of their claims, but well outside the main page delivery estimate. I wasn't particularly happy with the misleading claim regarding delivery on the main page, but after inspecting the camera I'm content that it is exactly what I ordered and a better price than I could find anywhere else.

Moral of the story - be patient and hope for the best. Hard to say if I'd use them again. The savings on high cost items look tempting, but the horror stories of others still worry me. Savings on low cost items probably mean that it wouldn't be worth the wait to me.

The SX20 is a nice bit of kit though, image stabilisation is excellent and makes the 20x optical zoom very usable.

[senu]

Dear Senu,

Herewith my experience with Simply Electronics.

Regards

Simon DENHAM

I ordered a Nikon fit camera lens from Simply Electronics on 14th September 2009.
The item was advertised on Google.
At the time of ordering I was given the choice of buying using Google Checkout or dealing direct with Simply Electronics.
I nearly opted for the direct checkout as I have previously made two perfectly satisfactory purchases from them, each item being over £300.
I used the Google Checkout.
By 18th September it had been explained to me that the item I had ordered had, on inspection, a damaged box. It had to be returned to the supplier and for that reason the order could not be fulfilled.
I was asked to choose something else. As I didn’t want anything else I asked for a refund.
On 21st September I was told that I would be refunded my money because “I had cancelled my order”
There followed a series of civil exchanges, two or three a week. I asked for my refund and Simply Electronics explained that it was being dealt with as quickly as possible.
I told them I had commenced proceeding with my Credit card company because I suspected fraud (but the postal strike means I am still waiting for the paperwork to arrive). It did not seem to hurry the promised refund.
29th October – Today I have received my refund. It has taken over 5 weeks.

[senu]

Hi,
I got an email saying there was a new post on simply electronics.

My order had to be cancelled , for, suprise suprise a damaged box.

------

As promised, I am contacting you with an update on your order status.

I can confirm that your order has been sent for packing yesterday, however it was noted that the parcel was confirmed as being partially damaged by our QC team.

We are in the process of returning these goods and have requested for new shipment to come in. This however is not expected anytime soon.

I thought it be best to inform you of this information right away in order to allow you to make an educated decision moving forward.

Do let me know if you would like to continue with the order as such.


Kind Regards,

Vanessa Carroll
Customer Service Manager

from Gel

[xding]

Good job Vanessa!

Dear all,

I just want to share my experiences of SimplyElectronics and Vanessa with you all. Nov. 8 2009 is the date that I ordered from SimplyElectronics and the date I got to know many of you on AVForums.

I ordered 2 lenses and 1 filter from SimplyElectronics and I DO need them urgently. After reading almost the entire SimplyElectronics post I got really worried. So, I followed the advices of many of you and contacted Vanessa directly.

I had prepared that it might take two week + just to cancel the order and to get my money back. However, to my very surprise, I've got my money back yesterday on my bank account! Nov. 11 2009, in only 3 days and 2 working days!!!!

Not only is Vanessa being very kind and understanding, she is also very quick in replying email and handling the refund.

I just want to say Thank you to Vanessa, Thanks a lot for your great work. Even thought this time unfortunately that I have to cancel the order, I have had a great experience.

I just want to share my experiences with all of you. Not saying that 2 working days should be the reference to everybody else, it's just my experience. And I believe Vanessa wants to help every customer sincerely!! Great Job Vanessa!

[A n d r e w]

Have you ever heard of damning with faint praise? You asked for your money back. They gave you your money back. You must be thrilled. Next.

[Ad2706]

Hi All

I'm aware that the 80 something page long thread on Simply Electronics is now closed so by all means moderators pull this from the forum if you wish but please read on anyway.

Last Saturday after a lot of research on which compact digital camera I wanted, I shortlisted the Sony DSC TX1. Looking around I came across the likes of Camerabox, Simply Electronics etc etc.

The best deal for me including memory stick was with Simply Electronics.
My wife placed the order and that was that.
I continued to google reviews of the camera etc etc and whilst doing so I stumbled across the above mentioned 80 something page long discussion thread regarding Simply Electronics.
This grew concerns regarding our recent order. I read all the posts with interest and decided to give the benefit if the doubt to Simply Electronics seeing as we'd payed on credit card as its a common thing for people to post complaints more than posting positive things.

I have now received the camera in less than a week. Everything is excellent. The packaging was first rate, the box was sealed and have also registered the product on the Sony website.

Reason i've joined and posted this is because i'm pretty sure im not the only one whos read the thread and uneasy at the comments.

My experience with Simply Electronics was first rate and I would recommend them.

Thanks

[senu]

A new Post

Originally Posted by carol_s

Hi Senu,

I wonder if you would mind posting my own recent experiences with Simply Electronics.

I ordered a Panasonic HDC-SD200 from them on Sunday 10th January 2010 as they were the cheapest I could find on the internet and also offered free courier delivery.

I discovered this thread about the company the day after I ordered and felt sick. Nonetheless, there were several folk who had posted that they had received good service from them - but quite a few were suspected of being 'plants' sent here by Simply Electronics to counter all the criticism. So firstly, I will point out that I have been here for over 2 years now, with a good number of posts with thanks from quite a few folk and also an exemplary trader rating. I am a self employed photographer (semi retired now) and have absolutely no connections with Simply Electronics - none whatsoever (except I have just bought from them).

Well, I kept a keen eye on my order staus on their web pages and I must admit I was becoming a trifle worried when the status remained at 'Processing' all day Monday and all day Tuesday. However, on Wednesday morning the status had changed to 'Packing' and I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Emma Gowan of Simply Electronics advising me that the item would be despatched that day and I should receive it on the Thursday (14th January 2010).

Well, indeed it did arrive safely and I would also like to confirm that it was had stickers confirming it as a UK product (the name HDC-SD200EBK suggested it was, but there was also a label stating it was a UK model) and all the peripherals which need power leads were fitted with standard UK plugs.

Although I sympathise with what some people have had to endure, they have posted umpteen messages about their problem (justifiably and understandably so), but those people who have posted that they have had no problems have generally posted just the one message - which invariably leads to a serious imbalance.

I just hope that you find it possible to rectify this imbalance in a small way.

Many thanks,
.

[senu]

A new experience

Originally Posted by PMW

Hi Senu,

Would appreciate it if you could add this to the SE thread

Just thought I would post on this topic and share my recent experience with Simply Electronics

After much deliberation I decided to go ahead and order a Samsung ST500 camera from SE. The price was £150 with free delivery, so much cheaper than everywhere else. After reading numerous posts of peoples past experiences with SE I opted to pay through PayPal.

I placed the order on Tuesday afternoon (19th Jan). This was straightforward enough. At the end of the order process I was prompted to take advantage of a special offer that would give me a £10 discount on my next purchase. I clicked on this to have a look but it wanted me to enter my address and credit/debit card details. Using some common sense I quickly closed this page and checked the status of order instead. It had a status of processing. I've seen these offers before on other sites that promise money off on your next purchase. Personally I ignore them.

I received email confirmation of my order with an expected delivery time of 2-5 working days. Longer than the "usual ships within 1-2 days" specified on the product listing page but still, nothing too out of the ordinary.

I also received confirmation of my PayPal transaction, both from PayPal and SE.

The status of my order remained at Processing until Monday 25th Jan when it changed to Packing. It was still Packing late on Tuesday 26th but I checked my email and I had received an email informing me that I my order had been shipped for next day delivery and a link to courier DPD so I could track my order.

I tracked my order the next morning (Wednesday 27th Jan) and the DPD website said it would be delivered between 13:40 - 14:40 that day.

The camera was delivered about 14:00 on Wednesday 27th Jan. 1 week and 1 day after I placed the order.

The box contained everything it was supposed to. The camera is great.

In Summary
It took a bit longer to arrive than I had hoped for but in the end I've got a nice new camera at a great price.

Would I buy from SE again?
Yes, through PayPal.

Would I recommend SE to others?
Yes, but advise them to pay through PayPal.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Roderick Smith

Hi senu

I am very concerned that you forum wants to stop posting threads/comments about this Hong Kong company when they are clearly still delivering at times very poor service according to customers like me. This company has not stopped taking peoples money and failing to deliver goods or holding onto the money for 30 or more days before refunding. I went through trading standards to get my £2185 back after 30 days many emails and a lot of frustration. Potential customers have a right to know what is happening on the net so they can make an informed choice. Please do not think readers on your forum are stupid and can not see through 'false' positive posts. Let readers see for themselves. We all know companies do it and they show up so obviously. Anyone posting can just use allegedly or in my opinion and there can be no litigation. I have started a web site dedicated to helping simplyelectronics improve their customer service. Please visit it at simplyelectronicsnot.webs.com or check out simplyelectronicsNOT on Utube. I am determined to help others with education and support. I went through a personal hell for 30 days and do not want others to go through the same, but know they still are. PLEASE be pro-active rather than hesitant, companies like simplyelectronics are bad for the industry and the internet. Public/people power is the only way to get them to change. Trading standards are in touch with the company on a weekly basis after the officers email was listed, I have it listed on my site so others can be helped. PLEASE PLEASE post this and then all who need to can make there way to our web site and Utube site, where they can find real information and support. Many many thanks. Roderick.j.Smith

I am not sure if you have received the first message as have no reply from you and cannot find it on any of the threads. Have you seen this? Have you replied ? Have you posted it somewhere on a forum? Still the bad reports go on about this company. IT is very important that new people are made aware that the problems still continue and that many people are suffering due to the poor customer care service they receive. When a new post with a current date goes up people take notice. Surely as moderator of this site you want your members to be well informed and supported? Yours Sincerely Roderick Smith

Sorry Did not see it.
Closing the thread was not because we don't think it is useful, just that it had gone on a bit was losing its way and was attracting wrong attention
The thread itself was a sticky for a long time.
Partly my fault as I did not do a summarising statement but it should be clear to all to pause before flashing the plastic, if it seems too good to be true, maybe it is.

[senu]

Posted by
@meggerman today

I have tried recently on two separate occasions to order equipment from this company; they are a joke. They have been unable to provide this equipment on both occasions and their excuse is that their " logistics department is overwhelmed with orders and we are unable to complete your order at this time".
Well I'm sorry, but after 32 days of waiting and still no closer to getting the item, I decided that enough was enough and cancelled.
On a subsequent occasion I telephoned first, confirmed the item was in stock and had their assurances that the item would be delivered within 2-5 working days: 18 days on, still no delivery and the same excuse, so I've cancelled again.
Don't go anywhere near them!

[senu]

Posted by @ DedInnit

Saw online the camera I wanted (Sony Handycam HDR-XR350VE) was by far the cheapest price on Simply Electronics @ £599.95. I read pretty much every post in the SE thread so I was very apprehensive when it came to ordering off the site. I emailed them to enquire if the item was actually in stock and they replied that it was (as there was only 1 item left according to the site). In the end I used my credit card and paid through Paypal as it offers a bit of protection. Completed my order on the night of Wednesday 15th Sep 2011. They took the money straight away and by Friday I noticed that the price of the exact same item on their site had shot up to £899 which made me a little suspect. I sent them the first email asking why the status of the order was still in "Packing". They responded with what seemed like a general response about high number of orders to process etc. By Monday, it was still in the same status so I sent them another email again with a response similar but along
the lines of "Be Patient" (obviously put nicer than that).
Received an email on Tuesday night explaining that my order had been despatched by DPD and had a tracking number included in the email. I received the item by 10am the Wednesday morning.
I must admit, through other people's posts on this forum it made me act harder on them e.g. I never send emails to companies whilst waitng for it to be delivered unless it has taken an extraordinary amount of time to reach me. But at the end of the day, I didn't experience any problems with them.
I ordered and paid for my item and it only took a week to get delivered. Absolutley thrilled about the purchase considering it was the cheapest I had found anywhere.
I guess some people have had some negative experiences with this site but I am sure if you look for it, you can find negativity about any online company. But either way, it seems that ordering from this site is a bit hit and miss and just down to whether you are lucky with them or not.
I reiterate the advice to use paypal when ordering from SE and I will defo use again if I find a product cheaper than anywhere else that I require!

Happy Hunting,

Ded