Ffordes Photographic secondhand dealer website terrible

[devinephotographic]

Hi all, I was wondering if any of you have dealt with ffordes in scotland, their online ordering system is strange, normally when you place an order from anywhere else the item is removed from the website, and the item is yours, however ffordes on the weekend, an unlimited number can order the same item giving their credit card details!! thinking they have bought the same item!!

Has anyone in the forum dealt with these guys, any info will be appreciated.

[Paul Mitchell]

I've always ordered over the phone during the week and have never had a problem. Have always found them courteous and efficient...

[AbsolutelyN]

I've bought online at FFordes many time, no problems. The item is usually removed immediately though. On a couple of occasions I've bought onlineto be told it was sold offline and is no longer available which is a little annoying but all round they are excellent, highly recommended in my view.

[Acheron Photography]

The website is a little 1990s, it is true, but they are courteous and efficient in my experience. I would suggest that it is probably unreasonable to look for a cutting edge e-commerce experience from a dealer that size.

David.

[dave_whatever]

Ffordes are ok to deal with and will sort out problems, although they aren't infallible by any means.

If you recon their site is bad then you aught to look at the Mr Cad site.....

[IanG]

If you recon their site is bad then you aught to look at the Mr Cad site.....

And so is the quality of some of their items, I bought a good condition Tele Arton 270mm from them only to find it was badly scratched and the shutter poor at slow speeds, it went back for a refund. Only buy off them by physically going in and inspecting the goods.

Ian

[acs]

I've bought online at FFordes many time, no problems. The item is usually removed immediately though.

Same here -- always had great service from them.

[devinephotographic]

mr cad has the same camera on his website, i bought this over 5 months ago, 5x7 metal toyo field camera

[Dave Tolcher]

Another vote for Ffordes. In my experience the item has always disappeared when bought online otherwise you havent bought it...... Website is clunky but it works and they are a great bunch of guys to deal with.

[hmvmanuk]

I can only agree with the other replies here. My experience of Ffordes has always been excellent. I can't comment on the updating of the website problem but their service has been exemplary and they always reply to queries and sort out problems speedily.

[Charles Twist]

I've bought a couple items from Ffordes. While the service was good, the items weren't - both times, the lenses looked perfect but weren't sharp. They happily took them back and gave me refund once they were clear the fault was theirs. I doubt there'll be a third attempt from me. Especially as I know how picky they were on the aspect of items I was selling when they were not concerned about their performance.
Charles

[dave_whatever]

My most annoying episode with Ffordes was when I bought a mamiya 645 back that turned up and had a fault. I sent it back and they sent me another - but this one was in rubbish condition compared to the first one, had a crack in it etc. They said "ok then send it back and we'll send you another replacement". Which I did, and they sent me a back which lo and behold was in fact the original back I'd bought, and whats more it still had the same fault! At this point I just got a refund.

But I've bought other stuff from them that was fine, but it has made me a bit wary.

[Andrew Plume]

I haven't bought any second hand gear from Ffordes for quite a few years - my experience then was that the items described were pretty well understated and I never had any problems - the passage of time can of course make a difference, say, staff changes etc etc

with Mr Cad - as Ian rightly stated the general 'line' has for sometime has been - visit the store and inspect rather than buy from the website (which is often far from up to date) - whatever critics may say of Alex (Mr Cad) and he has had a fair few in the past, his store is a veritable goldmine of odd LF gear and I've found in the past that he has equipment there which other dealers don't carry - a plug for him/them, - how many warehouse style camera outlets are there left in the UK which can compete with him on the size of the stock....?? none.....I'm always going to visit them just to keep an eye on the stock if nothing else - they're also very comfortable if you want to spend a few hours in there just shooting the breeze - after all in West Croydon there's little else to do - if anybody fancies a pilgrimage to this warehouse shrine and needs refreshment, there's a Fuller's pub next door that does a decent pint

I suspect that we all regret the demise of MXV - very reliable and they always had good quality stock at understated quality.....a great loss

whatever anyone may be considering, do not contemplate or even consider a visit to a certain dealer in Camden High Street - I'm not going to comment here on a public forum but if anyone needs any comment on this, better send me a pm

with the rate of exchange having recently moved in favour of those with UK bank accounts, there are some dealers in the US, who I readily endorse and few of these are:-

1)midwest - Columbus Ohio - great people - they have more stock than their website suggests - Jim Andracki there is the LF guy - much respected;

2)Badger Graphics WI - Jeff there also has a very good reputation;

3) KEH - a vast stock and have a reputation for being understated with their ratings; and

4) the View Camera Store in AZ - Fred Newman who owns the business, similarly has a good reputation - Fred never has that much second hand equipment but what he has is good

midwest are the store that I've bought from more often, you can't go wrong with them


fwiw my take on buying second hand is that it's often better to buy from the States and swallow the shipping and import costs, as the quality of the gear will be as good if not better than stated - also there's a larger market over there

hope that this may help


andrew

[jennym]

I have bought a couple of items from Ffordes, and have not had a problem, but they were low tech items. I would second the recommendation for Midwest Photo Exchange in the US. I have bought a significant proportion of my LF kit from them and Jim Andracki is extremely helpful, responds quickly to email, is a thoroughly decent bloke, and gives excellent service. All the equipment I have bought has been in great condition, shipping is prompt, and there has been no problem paying with a credit card.

[Andrew Plume]

I have bought a couple of items from Ffordes, and have not had a problem, but they were low tech items. I would second the recommendation for Midwest Photo Exchange in the US. I have bought a significant proportion of my LF kit from them and Jim Andracki is extremely helpful, responds quickly to email, is a thoroughly decent bloke, and gives excellent service. All the equipment I have bought has been in great condition, shipping is prompt, and there has been no problem paying with a credit card.

that's great Jenny - particularly your similarly strong endorsement for Jim Andracki @ MidWest - you're entirely spot on with what you said

regards

andrew