[Class A]

I believe the commerce commission is advising against dealing with this company.

Thanks, I found a respective article from consumer.org.nz.
It seems the commerce commission has received complaints since 2013, but that the "don't use" recommendation comes from consumer.org.nz, not from the commerce commission. I couldn't find a reference to Becextech on the commerce commission pages.

I don't understand how Becextech is allowed to run a .co.nz website if they don't comply with NZ law. The rating (8.7/10) on PriceSpy is not terrible at all and the first "one star" rating appearing seems to be from the same person the consumer.org.nz article is about. Becextech Australia had to refund people who received refurbished goods but we know that one can receive "pre-loved" goods from otherwise very reputable dealers as well, from time to time.

It is definitely very bad that Becextech hasn't honoured NZ law in some cases until they came under pressure but they aren't scammers. Not sure I'd trust them with my money, though.

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Last edited by Class A; 04-28-2018 at 06:58 PM.

[awa355]

It would have been consumer.org I should have been referring to.

[pixelsaurus]

Try this. Not sure if you can view without joining.
Facebook

It would appear not. Cheers.

[Kiwi645hauler]

I just stumbled across Becextech. They have some gear for us Pentaxians. Never used them personally, but someone claims they received "really good service" from them.

Yeah do not deal with this lot, here is the link to consumer about them Don?t deal with this electronics retailer - Consumer NZ

---------- Post added 04-29-18 at 03:14 PM ----------

Thanks, I found a respective article from consumer.org.nz.
It seems the commerce commission has received complaints since 2013, but that the "don't use" recommendation comes from consumer.org.nz, not from the commerce commission. I couldn't find a reference to Becextech on the commerce commission pages.

I don't understand how Becextech is allowed to run a .co.nz website if they don't comply with NZ law. The rating (8.7/10) on PriceSpy is not terrible at all and the first "one star" rating appearing seems to be from the same person the consumer.org.nz article is about. Becextech Australia had to refund people who received refurbished goods but we know that one can receive "pre-loved" goods from otherwise very reputable dealers as well, from time to time.

It is definitely very bad that Becextech hasn't honoured NZ law in some cases until they came under pressure but they aren't scammers. Not sure I'd trust them with my money, though.

They probably registered websites with any .co address which allows them to directly market to a country, so there is possibly a .co.uk. .com.au etc out there, i would be wary of pricespy ratings, it is not uncommon for traders to use staff to write reviews on products etc on there to say that they have had good service etc etc to try and attract clicks, especially the parallel import marks. And with Pentax gear, Littles wont touch parallel imported Pentax gear if issues arise, which means sending to Kennedy's in Melbourne at the least, or sending it back to Hong Kong which means who knows when it will return.
The big thing is they seem to market everything as NEW, and not advertise refurbs, so if an item is marketed as new and you receive a refurb or second hand item, you can go them with false advertising as you are not receiving a new unused item.
I know that years ago, the big C company had issues with parallel import stores selling EOS 350Ds that were refurbs as new, and in a few cases cameras that the serial numbers did not even exist. It started with 3 units appearing in the Auckland service center where serials on the bodies did not match the firmware, so they stripped the cameras completely and found as many as 4 different serial numbers internally, so they sent out several techs to these stores, and bought i think it was around 15-20 cameras, and 70% were not genuine new cameras, including 3 that did not exist according to the Japan manufacturing records.

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Last edited by Kiwi645hauler; 04-29-2018 at 03:18 PM.

[MarkJerling]

This is Becextech's "supposed" business address: Auckland, Newmarket Office Space Options - Rent Serviced Office in Auckland, Newmarket | Regus New Zealand

[Class A]

And with Pentax gear, Littles wont touch parallel imported Pentax gear if issues arise, which means sending to Kennedy's in Melbourne at the least, or sending it back to Hong Kong which means who knows when it will return.

I don't mean this to be confrontational, but it doesn't make sense to view the fact that Littles won't touch that gear as a negative.

Pentax users exist in New Zealand, despite Littles, not because of them. I have been actively discouraged from getting a Pentax camera in a store due to the bad distributor (Littles). In another store, they just laughed at me when I mentioned Littles. I will spare you further ramblings, but just point out that we've shared a number of bad repair stories regarding Littles in this thread, that include very long processing times and repeated attempts at getting the same issue fixed.

I'm convinced that sending your gear to Littles for anything beyond trivial won't mean that you'll get it back quicker compared to sending it to Australia or anywhere else. It just means you have another middle man causing delays, because they'll often have to at least involve Japan or send it elsewhere themselves.

I believe that Ricoh would have achieved wider market share, if they had sorted the Pentax distribution channels. Hoya obviously didn't care and made matters even worse. In my view Ricoh had a job to do, but chose not to act. There are a number of potential reasons why they remained passive on the matter, but I'm convinced it is holding the Pentax brand back.

Be that as it may, as long Ricoh is happy to chuck along with the current sales figures, I'm happy.

[Kiwi645hauler]

I don't mean this to be confrontational, but it doesn't make sense to view the fact that Littles won't touch that gear as a negative.

Pentax users exist in New Zealand, despite Littles, not because of them. I have been actively discouraged from getting a Pentax camera in a store due to the bad distributor (Littles). In another store, they just laughed at me when I mentioned Littles. I will spare you further ramblings, but just point out that we've shared a number of bad repair stories regarding Littles in this thread, that include very long processing times and repeated attempts at getting the same issue fixed.

I'm convinced that sending your gear to Littles for anything beyond trivial won't mean that you'll get it back quicker compared to sending it to Australia or anywhere else. It just means you have another middle man causing delays, because they'll often have to at least involve Japan or send it elsewhere themselves.

I believe that Ricoh would have achieved wider market share, if they had sorted the Pentax distribution channels. Hoya obviously didn't care and made matters even worse. In my view Ricoh had a job to do, but chose not to act. There are a number of potential reasons why they remained passive on the matter, but I'm convinced it is holding the Pentax brand back.

Be that as it may, as long Ricoh is happy to chuck along with the current sales figures, I'm happy.

Trust me, i know exactly where you are coming from, we have had the same issues as many, but then we have also had just as many cases where Little's have looked after us/our customers when they didn't have too like replacing a DSLR that was out of warranty by a couple of months, instead of it sitting awaiting replacement parts and charging him, they replaced it with a newer model for our customer as a warranty even though it failed outside of the warranty. It is really unfortunate that things have gotten the way they are, and a shake up is most definitely needed, and some things need to change to bring Pentax back to a decent position. A little retail quote i have always loved is that a happy customer tells one person, an unhappy customer tells many people. Which is a shame, sure tell people about unhappy experiences, but also we need to tell more people about our happy experiences too.
It's a shame retailers are doing that, i know that personally, i try my best to not discourage anyone from a particular brand. We have Pentax, Oly, Sony, Fuji and CaNikon here and if a particular brand is what the customer has been looking at or it suits them i will go with them as i would rather a person get the right tool for the job and use it lots, than push them in a direction they are not happy with and therefore wont use the gear.
I know that certain chains will depending on month promote particular brands for incentives. I have been into one here in Dunedin late in a month with a set of wants/needs, then went back a couple of days into a new month, got the SAME sales person who despite giving exactly the same things has gone for something totally different in a different brand.

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Last edited by Kiwi645hauler; 04-30-2018 at 04:29 PM.

[Class A]

Trust me, i know exactly where you are coming from, we have had the same issues as many, but then we have also had just as many cases where Little's have looked after us/our customers when they didn't have too like replacing a DSLR that was out of warranty by a couple of months, instead of it sitting awaiting replacement parts and charging him, they replaced it with a newer model for our customer as a warranty even though it failed outside of the warranty.

Thanks a lot for appreciating my perspective.

It is great to hear that IRL have been generous to customers and I'm convinced there are decent individuals working at IRL. It's just the overall lacking drive/commitment with respect to Pentax that pains me. I like Pentax's brand philosophy and find it disheartening that the great efforts of the engineers are not more widely appreciated.

It's a shame retailers are doing that, i know that personally, i try my best to not discourage anyone from a particular brand. We have Pentax, Oly, Sony, Fuji and CaNikon here and if a particular brand is what the customer has been looking at or it suits them i will go with them as i would rather a person get the right tool for the job and use it lots, than push them in a direction they are not happy with and therefore wont use the gear.

Your store sounds like a very good place to visit then!

It is sad that some sales people will prioritize their bonuses and that it is even legal to incentivise particular brand sales.

[NZ_Ross]

Your store sounds like a very good place to visit then!

It is sad that some sales people will prioritize their bonuses and that it is even legal to incentivise particular brand sales.

Having been there I can confirm it is a good place to visit

[Kiwi645hauler]

Your store sounds like a very good place to visit then!

It is sad that some sales people will prioritize their bonuses and that it is even legal to incentivise particular brand sales.

Unfortunately these big aussie based stores that come in, push sales staff hard each month to achieve targets, and each month it depends on the brands, so it may be Nikon sending the incentive program to the company for example, then the next month Canon send one, and so on, so because the sales staff get not only their sales commission from the store, but then get the incentive from the brand as well, and in their sales team meetings they keep getting pushed to push the incentivised brand.
Many companies do it, i receive such things many months, i tend to not really go with any one direction, I know that i have recommended cameras to people that have rewarded the customer, Like Olympus & Fuji who regularly do customer cashback promo's where via redemption you can save between one and three hundred dollars, but only if they would suit the customer.

[sqrrl]

Having spoken to IRL directly i personally think he is a.......

Apparently he has his good days, I didn't experience him on one of those days.

[Kiwi645hauler]

Having spoken to IRL directly i personally think he is a .......

Apparently he has his good days, I didn't experience him on one of those days.

IRL can be a bit direct and in your face, but if you get him on a good day he is actually pretty good.

[sqrrl]

I very much doubt I'll ever be in a position to verify that. :/

[richandfleur]

Rookie travel photographer mistake.

Took camera from cool air conditioned room out early, and it fogged up when outside in the humid heat.

Had to wait half an hour for it to warm up...



A solution by the way is to store your camera gear in the bathroom (not normally air conditioned) so it stays closer to the outside ambient temperature outside.

[MarkJerling]

A solution by the way is to store your camera gear in the bathroom (not normally air conditioned) so it stays closer to the outside ambient temperature outside.

I'd have thought bathroom is a high humidity environment - not good for potential mold growth.