Purchased a Grey Market camera recently? Is it GENUINE?

[ricktas]

As a general point people should note that if you live in NSW and purchase an item from a retailer anywhere in Australia and the goods are supplied to you in NSW, then, if the goods are not as described eg, new or a genuine product form a particular manufacturer eg canon or nikon etc, you have recourse against the retailer direct. It makes no difference that it is described as "grey market". If the goods are sold as , say, a new Canon.......then, it must be new and a genuine Canon etc. If you live in other states, those states throughout Australia may have very similar consumer legislation but you should check with the equivalent of the Department of Fair Trading in your specific state to confirm this.

It seems better to avoid the problem if you can to begin with by buying from a reputable source, asking for the serial number of the goods you are about to buy (before you buy) and check with the manufacturer that it is one of theirs before you buy etc

Sure, but what if you buy from an overseas store, that has no office in Australia, and they ship you your new gear. This gear is not covered under Australian Law. The sale/contract for sale occurs in another country entirely and Fair Trading etc have zero jurisdiction over it.

[Kym]

Do these rights protect us against online purchases also???...Most important thing to know here ey..

ONLY if the online shop is Aussie, i.e. has an ABN !

[Papou]

Sussed out my 7D, i'm safe (hopefully lol)...And yes via Australian ourchase.

[mongo]

Sure, but what if you buy from an overseas store, that has no office in Australia, and they ship you your new gear. This gear is not covered under Australian Law. The sale/contract for sale occurs in another country entirely and Fair Trading etc have zero jurisdiction over it.

That is why Mongo prefaced his post with .......if you live in NSW and purchaser from a retailer anywhere in Australia....... Mongo's answer was not intended to cover OS retailers.

Also , Kym is right re online if it is an Australian online shop.

[Cattleprod]

Ok, have heard back from the supplier... This is what I got..
Hi there, the serial number for your item is 2952130####,please check it with canon, Canon body number is different to serial no. thank you, Responsed by Customer Care Team - Ada

Why on earth would they claim that the body number is different from the serial number???

[ricktas]

That is why Mongo prefaced his post with .......if you live in NSW and purchaser from a retailer anywhere in Australia....... Mongo's answer was not intended to cover OS retailers.

Also , Kym is right re online if it is an Australian online shop.

Yes, but having a .com.au online shop does not classify it as Australian, it could be anywhere in the world. It is something that those less experienced need to know. So I merely tried to clarify that all may not be what it seems.

[ricktas]

Ok, have heard back from the supplier... This is what I got..
Hi there, the serial number for your item is 2952130####,please check it with canon, Canon body number is different to serial no. thank you, Responsed by Customer Care Team - Ada

Why on earth would they claim that the body number is different from the serial number???

Call Canon on Monday and talk to them about it.

[Epoc]

To own a .com.au or .net.au domain name, you must be an Australian registered company or a business with a registered business number (ABN, BRN, BN). Doesn't matter where your business is located. Wouldn't that mean businesses using .com.au domains are governed by Aussie law?

[ricktas]

To own a .com.au or .net.au domain name, you must be an Australian registered company or a business with a registered business number (ABN, BRN, BN). Doesn't matter where your business is located. Wouldn't that mean businesses using .com.au domains are governed by Aussie law?

Try getting someone in Hong Kong who has set themselves up with an ABN and website, who has never set foot in Australia to comply with it.

[agb]

Ok, have heard back from the supplier... This is what I got..
Hi there, the serial number for your item is 2952130####,please check it with canon, Canon body number is different to serial no. thank you, Responsed by Customer Care Team - Ada

Why on earth would they claim that the body number is different from the serial number???

I think it is a misunderstanding of what the problem is or the question is. I would try again with a different explanation of what has occurred overseas and what has been done about it. If Rick knows who the HongKong reseller who has done the swapping of the serial number plate and numbers perhaps he could help you with this information which would allow you to give a better explanation of what you are asking.

[kleinpark]

I hope that Australian retailers are doing checks on their Canon stock before they sell them on to customers/consumers .
Thanks for the heads-up Rick as I'm looking to purchase a new 5D Mk III body in the near future....I'm told is bringing it

[Epoc]

Try getting someone in Hong Kong who has set themselves up with an ABN and website, who has never set foot in Australia to comply with it.

If they wanna play in our market, they should pay if the @rap hits the fan. They are happy to take our strong $. If this kind of stuff happens, they should play by our rules. Sure, I doubt they would. Bet all it would take is burnt 1 person to go long haul and employ a decent mouthpiece and maybe their attitude would change.

[rpps]

I recently bought a Nikon D600 from a store in Hong Kong that sells on E-Bay and is pretty popular in Australia for gey market cameras. The camera arrived packed in a nice new box and all looked legitimate but stupid me didn't check the serial number, I just checked to see the shutter count which was 0. A few weeks later when I was cleaning my camera I noticed the label on the back had a serial number written with a biro and when I rubbed this the number came off. I then checked the Efix Data and sure enough the serial number there was totally different to what was written on the camera base and the box the camera came in.
I immediately phoned Paypal and opened a dispute and from correspondence with them they have ruled in my favour and it looks like I will get my $2000 back, it's just lucky I payed with Paypal and not with a credit card because I have some sort of protection as long as it's not more than 40 days.
I just can't recommend enough to check your Efix Data when your new camera arrives and also to use Paypal and not direct debit.
Just posting a photo of the false label on the base of my D600
2311067 [1600x1200] [1024x768].jpg

[mongo]

Yes, but having a .com.au online shop does not classify it as Australian, it could be anywhere in the world. It is something that those less experienced need to know. So I merely tried to clarify that all may not be what it seems.

Mongo understands what you are saying Rick.

As Mongo said, you need to be very careful who you are dealing with. If you known them to be an Australian retailer on line or otherwise , you are protected. But again, make your enquiries beforehand so you do not put yourself in a position of having to even call on that protection. Contact the website before buying and satisfy yourself if it is in Australia irrespective of its “.com.au” address - talk to them and ask for details of where they are located, where the goods will be shipped from etc etc . You just don’t do business with a “.com” address without asking a lot of questions and getting acceptable answers beforehand !! Mongo finds it unfathomable how people do otherwise these days ! If anyone is not prepared to do these things then, they need to be prepared for sometimes unfixable problems. Mongo’s advice - take that time and thus have a realistic (but not perfect) chance of not being stung.


Mongo has had extensive experience with consumer law/transactions and can tell you that the bad guys do well because the good guys do nothing sensible about at least trying to protect their own interests.


Mongo never buys anything of significance on line. He may risk $80 to $100 at most with unknown sellers. He buys excellent used gear from Matsuiyastore but they have a reputation second to none. That is why they have a 100% rating after over 13,000 sales. That sort of retailer would have no questions about refunding your money if it came to it. Even so, Mongo only pays with Paypal for ALL on line purchases as further protection.

Mongo noticed from the post immediately before this that it seems now not to be a Canon problem only and may be affecting far more products than anyone was previously aware of. More caution than ever is strongly advised

[Sifor]

I immediately phoned Paypal and opened a dispute and from correspondence with them they have ruled in my favour and it looks like I will get my $2000 back, it's just lucky I payed with Paypal and not with a credit card because I have some sort of protection as long as it's not more than 40 days.

So how does that work? I assume you then have to send the camera back to the retailer?

[Cattleprod]

I called Canon today re the different numbers on my 5D iii. They said that in ALL cases, the EXIF number should match the printed serial number on the label. The bloke wasn't interested in knowing either of the numbers as he said he can't tell me anything over the phone. He did say I could bring the body in and they would check it out.

I re-emailed the supplier and informed them about this (they had told me it is legit and to check with Canon) and told them they would have to take some action. Will see what happens...

[William]

The plot is getting thicker and Thicker, Someones in the Poo !! I'm guessing , We just bought a 5D mkIII grey of a AP sponsor , All good , Exif matches the Serial No , I wonder how big this is ?

[Cattleprod]

Next instalment... I'm starting to get the poos with my supplier... This is the latest response :

pls get this in writing from canon for this item, not a general verbal indication of "this type of situation is not right". as we need to prove to our supplier something is wrong, not just a untrusting customer. Also I found this website about a similar issue, pls confirm how the exif data is accessed. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3106575 , Responsed by Customer Care Team - Ada

And my reply... :

No, I'm not going to get it in writing from Canon. Lets get this clear.... The ELECTRONICALLY EMBEDDED serial number in the camera does not match the serial number on the body. It's as simple as that. There is an anomaly. Your supplier should know that the numbers should match. To call me an untrusting customer is offensive. Both Photoshop and the supplied software Canon Digital Photo Professional are reporting the serial number as 07802400####, while the serial number on the camera is 02952130####.


Will see what happens next

[agb]

Next instalment... I'm starting to get the poos with my supplier... This is the latest response :

pls get this in writing from canon for this item, not a general verbal indication of "this type of situation is not right". as we need to prove to our supplier something is wrong, not just a untrusting customer. Also I found this website about a similar issue, pls confirm how the exif data is accessed. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3106575 , Responsed by Customer Care Team - Ada

And my reply... :

No, I'm not going to get it in writing from Canon. Lets get this clear.... The ELECTRONICALLY EMBEDDED serial number in the camera does not match the serial number on the body. It's as simple as that. There is an anomaly. Your supplier should know that the numbers should match. To call me an untrusting customer is offensive. Both Photoshop and the supplied software Canon Digital Photo Professional are reporting the serial number as 07802400####, while the serial number on the camera is 02952130####.


Will see what happens next

Sorry to hear that you are not getting a good positive response to your concerns. I guess you also have to remember that you are probably dealing with someone who does not have English as the first language, though untrusting customer is a bit over the top. I have not read all of the link they provided but it does suggest that there has been some question about the ability of software to at all times correctly read the serial number in the exif data. That link was however for the 5DII. Perhaps you should interrogate the data with more than one software so that you can advise them that it is not a problem with the software reading the wrong exif. I guess you did point them to the threads on POTN and here. I read on POTN that there is another camera just come to light which also looks like it came from DigitaRev,though through their ebay site.
I do hope that you can soon get this sorted.
Pity you cannot just pick up the phone and call them.

[Cattleprod]

I can call them, they actually have an office in Sydney and an ABN... But I'm trying to keep an audit trail of communications. Will see what they come up with. (I'm not all that worried, I do have other options, and even if they all fail, the camera is still working fine.)
I've purposely not mentioned the company yet, I've bought stuff from them before, including a 7D body, and not had any problems.