cameraleather.com is on my s*** list

[JoeFriday]

I placed an order with them through their online ordering process and paid via paypal on October 14.. to this date I haven't heard a single word from them acknowledging my order, much less received the $66 kit

I've emailed them twice for assurance that my item will be sent, and I've gotten no response.. I'm on the verge of filing a claim with my credit card company to file a claim against them.. I wouldn't care about the timeframe, but I'm not going to be ignored entirely

I'm curious if anyone else has had any sort of problem with them or had unusually slow delivery

 

[JoeFriday]

geez.. what crappy service.. honestly, I don't care if it takes 2-3 months.. altho any other industry would go out of business providing service like that.. but it's just the lack of any response by them that burns me

 

[vrgard]

Hang in there, I finally got my order

Hang in there, I finally got my order

I placed an order about a week or two before you, JoeFriday. Hadn't seen anything as of two weeks ago so I sent them an email merely inquiring as to status. That led to an email exchange of "what order? can you provide order details?" so I provided all the order information including Paypal payment info. and order confirmation number, etc. During that process, in the email exchanges, we discussed changing the order (merely a change in color of the ordered leather, nothing more) and was assured that would be no problem. Finally received the order on Saturday. Guess what, it was the original order color and not the newly requested color. That's the bad news. The good news is the original order color is beautiful (a very deep burgundy red lizard skin to go on a Canonet QL17 - I'm gonna be so stylin!). I don't know the cameraleather.com guy personally and this is the only time I've dealt with him but my impression is that he is a good guy who may just be spread a bit thin (possibly this is a side venture for him?). We even traded emails late one evening (I'm on the West Coast and he's on the East Coast so it must have been very late for him). Hang in there, politely follow up, and you'll likely get your order filled and receive goods to your satisfaction. I know, I know, that's hard to do when watching for the Postman everyday! (smile)

 

[JoeFriday]

thanks for the info, vrgard.. honestly, I haven't been watching for the postman at all.. in fact, it's been so long that I actually forgot I ever placed the order, except something else online reminded me.. at which point I got pissed because I feel like I've been getting shafted

all the guy would need to do is send me an email saying "oh yeah.. your order will be handled in a week.. here's the day I'll be sending it out".. I'm in no hurry at all to rip the vulcanite off my M3.. it actually looks very good since Don at DAG fixed it all up.. but it's mostly the principal, ya know? if a company is willing to take my money, they ought to be willing to follow up in a reasonable manner

oh well.. I'll hang in there

 

[JoeFriday]

yeah, I just saw that.. sent him an email at both addresses.. I expect I'll get a reply tomorrow saying "huh?".. but any response would be an improvement

 

[aizan]

try aki asahi. he's fast.

 

[ZeissFan]

I've bought from him several times. The last order was for two 9x12 sheets of leather with adhesive. It seemed to be taking a long time, so I dropped him an e-mail. He said that they waiting to receive adhesive to apply to the material. This probably affects other orders as well.

About three or four days later, my order arrived.

I've also dealt with this supplier, and although he is located in Japan, service was reasonably quick -- roughly one week from ordering date. His prices also are quite reasonable, although he doesn't offer nearly as many varieties as cameraleather.com.

 

[JoeFriday]

I might.. but I've already paid $66 for a really sweet looking black lizardskin covering with cameraleather.. if that order gets messed up, I'll try aki asahi.. but does he do any exotic wraps for M3s?

 

[Mike Kovacs]

I've dealt with cameraleather and it was slow for me too. Aki Asahi is first rate with very fast (and reasonable) shipping from Japan. He also has things like shutter curtain material and shutter ribbons.

 

[ray_g]

Sorry to hear about your experience, Brett. I didn't order, but sent Aki an email inquiry once, and got a reply within 24 hours.

 

[dcsang]

I bet it's something like this:
one guy running a part time business out of his home.
gets home after work checks emails
gets orders and begins to process them
then other things like dinner, laundry, if he has kids then the kids, then the wife etc. etc. take priority.

I've heard of this happening before with guys like Gary Fong and his lightsphere thingee for flashes. Just one man running a business and instead of just responding and saying "Hey, I got your email but man I'm swamped because of (insert reason here) and I'll get to you asap" he just never responds.

sad but true 🙁
Hope you get the stuff soon Brett

Dave

 

[aizan]

no, he's only got several types of black.

http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

 

[Trius]

Brett: My order from cameraleather was delayed this summer and when I didn't hear anything, I wrote and got a reply back in a few days. Morgan Sparks had been on vacation, and the person handling things at the time had not informed me that I had paid too little (I thought the leather for a 35SP qualified as small, but it was large), but they would ship the order anyway. I thanked him and sent him the balance for the actual amount, as I didn't want to feel cheap or "cheat" him.

I got my order in another week or so (IIRC), but I got no "thank you" from Morgan regarding my making good on the total. I would have expected some courtesy.

While I like the variety he has, I'm not inclined to order again unless he's got something I can't get elsewhere.

Trius

 

[Mike Kovacs]

no, he's only got several types of black.

http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

That may be true - I recover my cameras (mostly Zeiss) only when necessary and with the closest match to the original possible. He certainly does carry some of the (IMO!) gaudier covering for prewar Contax or Kiev cameras.

 

[ZeissFan]

Aki-Asahi.com's eBay store shows three different types of lizard and a couple of types of basic black. Not as many as cameraleather.com, but prices are much lower.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

You're not the only one Joe/Brett. I ordered mine...oh, back in April? Kind of pointless to think that it should arrive any time soon. He said he would give me a refund. That was...oh, back in May?

On my Never-Deal-With-Again list.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Brett... similar story. I purchased my kit (the cheapest, must admit, I was very broke) to recover my M3, and then, I waited, and waited and waited... Until a week afterwards (I know now I was lucky) I got an e-mail from Morgan, informing me he had had some problem with a supplier/cutter and that he'd ship my order as soon as he had his own filled. A week after I got not one, but two covers for the M3, and a note from him saying that it was to compensate for the wait... and in case I purchased another camera.

So... send him an e-mail to the same address you got a Paypal receipt from. That's the one he apparently uses the most. Just contact him with an inquiry. I have the feeling he's simply stretched himself too thin...

 

[Stu W]

I ordered 4 times from aki-asahi-The record was 4 days from Japan to NY. I never waited more than a week.

 

[Film dino]

Akihiro Asahi responds to email extremely quickly- once I got a reply within 5 minutes (time zones allowing of course).

 

[lkgroup]

I have dealt with Aki Asahi several times.

http://www.aki-asahi.com/store/

I recommend him very highly. I have gotten several orders from him. Usually 7-10 days, fast from japan.

Leo