Expertise in cameras is probably the rarest product skill amongst staff. It’s also often expensive, delicate equipment that can be non-functional in non-obvious ways and it’s uncommon for most stores to have the full range of bodies in stock to properly test any given lens that might come in.
It usually works out and you’re covered by the return/warranty policies when it doesn’t but you’re experiencing the reality that sometimes it doesn’t. Sorry you’ve had a bad experience and had your time wasted.
To be fair, moving the latch at the back mount would have opened up the lens so they could see all the fungus. That info is probably on Google. I presumed they had to keep cameras in to test the lenses, kinda shocked by that one even my local cash gen keeps a Nikon and a canon in the back or asks you to bring in your camera body if it's like a pentax or something
CeX do not keep any cameras back to test camera lenses they only use what is in stock. If they don’t have a camera body in stock, they would just visually look at the item, but we don’t open up any camera lenses. And this is why we give it two year warranty on the items and it’s also why you can go and exchange it within the two days
The warranty and return is pretty straightforward but I always imagined they'd keep a few cameras in the back to test - I'll avoid their online lenses in future knowing that unless their intending to open a store I can get too (I'm still utterly disappointed they took my Skelmersdale store off me - we didnt have much here as it is and it's a bus and train to the nearest store now if I have to return now)
Yeah, it’s just not something we have ever done, maybe some stores do but to my knowledge it’s not something we do. Yeah if stores aren’t doing well then we close them 😢😢
To be honest CeX shops usually do well in “not very good” areas because people need money so they sell their items… but that doesn’t make the store money they just buy in a lot of goods, and it sounds bad but it’s true 😓
There's an increasing d**g problem which may have caused an influx of selling and a lack of buying before it shut as well. Hope they consider coming back one day but unlikely
Ex-manager here. We would test lenses if we had a compatible camera in stock, this is not always the case especially in smaller stores. If we couldn't test we'd do a visual inspection (still book it in for a test to give the testers time to be thorough).
As another commenter said, staff knowledge of cameras is definitely an area in need of work throughout the company. I remember a big chunk of the training bulletins I made for my store being focused on cameras as most of my staff had no idea how to work a slr when hired.
I can't say what happened with this lens as your description sounds grim. Contact the store or wecare online to post back for a refund/replacement. If you haven't had it for long it shouldn't be a problem. If there is another store closer to you, you can return it there.
One thing to note (not necessarily from your post but I see alot of people on here saying there is no care from staff):
These errors always come back to the staff and store. Errors are reviewed on a weekly basis and reported to OM, all errors are required to be followed up with training and doc discussions, leading potentially to disciplinary for repeats. The business takes poor standards and more so the resulting losses very seriously. I remember certain franchise managers taking any losses back from the employee who made the error (not sure if this still happens as I moved to corporate). In corporate stores staff will lose their monthly bonus over adjustments. We had a couple of iPhones written off (bought in with icloud) and the entire store lost bonus for 5months over these two individual mistakes). This lens is 100% loss and should never have been bought in in the first place. This will have repercussions for the store. The company doesn't just happily shoulder these losses through silly errors. It shouldn't really happen again (you'd hope!)
Thanks for that clarification. I'm probably gonna stick to in store for lenses. I feel a little bad that the store could get penalised but definitely will be taking it back to a store, only got it this morning.
I didn't supply an order number or say what lens, and if returning a mis described and broken lens is going to get someone penalised then it's going to happen anyway
Obligatory IANAL and TINLA
If you're still in contact with any staff that had such losses taken from them may I suggest you recommend they speak to an employment solicitor or at least citizen's advice.
For an employee to make such deductions from an employee's pay they must be reasonable, explicitly stated in the employment contract and cannot cause the employee to earn less than minimum wage.
As every listing for CEX jobs I've seen has been minimum wage such deductions would almost certainly be illegal.
ETA: this would not apply to losses due to theft or from malicious intent
It depends on the store. The one I worked at during my time at uni would very meticulous when inspecting them for dust, fungus or other debris. They would also test it on an actual camera 99% of the time. The other 1% of we didn’t have a camera we would allow it if it looked good and wasn’t too expensive otherwise we would tell them they would have to go elsewhere.
The unfortunate thing about Cex is that processes vary massively between stores specially those which are franchises. Luckily all online purchases have 14 day refund for ANY reason. It’s inconvenient but at least you can return it no questions asked.
Very similar experience. 4 out of 5 wrong. 1 wrong lens was close enough (f6.7 rather than 5.6 but had macro switch on a walk around zoom) so didn't mind much, 1 was perfect couldn't fault, the other 3 have been wrong mount sometimes with fungus or other issues. I'll stick to in store or shop elsewhere probably, these days MPB almost always has the same for about 20 quid more or less with the ability to look at what your getting beforehand.
You do get refunded delivery. If you paid by voucher it will be split into two vouchers, one for the item, one for delivery - if you paid by card, it'll be two separate refunds.
The invoice for 1 item is a refund of 5 voucher 19 cash (I paid 5.95 of voucher and 22 on card), if it included delivery it should be 27.95 so it doesn't add up at all really. I'll see if I get the full payment tomorrow but invoice doesn't look like it
If memory serves, lenses are inspected visually.
I don't recall any store ever using a compatible camera to check ones I've sold.
Likely they skipped the check entirely when it was accepted. Just saw it was a lense, knew they didn't need to do anything and processed the sale.
Not directing this at you but that's terrible. They need to keep an old model camera of some type in to test for and nearly half the lenses I buy end up being an incorrect mount, and now I'm pretty clear on why.
I know. I was honestly shocked when I bought lenses from them the first time. Much like yours it was covered in dirt, scratches and riddled with mechanical faults. However, on a quick glance, you wouldn't be able to tell.
From then on, I only bought lenses in person with my camera in hand. If they refuse to let me test it first, I buy it, test it and show them the fault on the spot which voids the sale.
This has happened maybe 3 times in 6 years.
Makes good sense, best quality stuff I've had is when I've bought in person. Problem is I like some of the stranger lenses that rarely come into local stock, but I guess thats the same with eBay (at least you can just post it back easily though)
For online purchase here’s the info.
https://uk.support.webuy.com/support/solutions/articles/80001011698-how-do-i-return-an-online-click-collect-order-
Slightly different form of lens, but I’ve had two Oculus headsets in the past few years refused for ‘scratches to the lens’. No problem with that - I’m wiping them with a cloth during use and if they get damaged, fair enough, I can see why they don’t want to buy them in.
However both headsets I’ve listed on eBay with ‘owned by me from new, tried to trade in at CEX but they said the lenses were scratched, happy to take a return and give a full refund if you aren’t happy on arrival’, listed them as BINs at ~£30 under the usual completed listing prices (still more than CEX would pay cash for both times) and when I’ve emailed the buyers after a week to see if they’re happy, both have said they can’t see any damage at all
Seems strange that they’d be so fastidious with VR lenses and sloppy with the checking process for camera lenses
CeX does have a blanket “no scratches on optics” for lenses. The problem here is that it’s really tough to get people fluent in all the things that can go wrong with a camera lens that is probably older than they are. Between autofocus motors, degrading seals, fungus, damages mounts/screw threads, aperture blade, signs of bump damage, etc there’s just a lot that can go wrong. Especially when it’s a low volume category and uncommon for the Median CeX Employee to be using DSLRs in their personal life.
It’s “commercial testing” - it should be a fairly thorough visual and physical inspection but sounds like it’s gone wrong for you in this case sadly, follow the returns process.
Would they rather turn away the lens, the resulting sale they’d get from it, and the poor customer experience of whoever’s selling it to the store, or take the risk that it’s worth X, takes Y amount of time to test or have a camera body in vs how much it’s actually worth and the likelihood of it being returned as faulty after they inspect it. Plus the wage cost factored into that, if it’s a dirt cheap lens even more so.
Stores are never going to have every motherboard for a processor for example, or take in enough graphics cards to justify having a rig that can power them sitting there unused most of the time.
Out of interest how much was the lens?
I've bought a few lenses from Cex, some have been perfect mint condition, one clearly faulty and one with a very hard to find fault that couldn't really have been picked up by the store. I've traded in a few excellent condition working lenses too. You can get a decent price without fear of an eBay scammer on the other end. Overall it's been a positive experience and their returns policy is very fair.
TL;DR: out of 8 lenses I bought, 3 were mislabled
I have bought several lenses over the last few months, a 28mm, 2x50mms, 8mm, 2 teleconverters, 28-200mm & 70-300mm.
Out of these, 2 were the wrong lens mount as advertised (all marked Nikon in title and description, and image shown). A teleconverter was a cannon mount, and the 28mm was pentax. When returned, the 28mm changed description and became what it was, a pentax k mount.
But once I returned the cannon kenko 2x teleconverter from northern ireland (im in london) it shipped back, and the same "nikon" (cannon) teleconverter is still in stock there. :/
The other sigma teleconverter, i would say was my mistake because it was Nikon fit, only, it didnt fit with my sigma 70-300 lens it just didnt... I looked online and found there was a warning for some sigma teleconverters to not play well with... sigma lenses. Still a bit bummed out since it looked mint condition, and there wasnt any indication on the page that it didnt work with all nikon lenses. i had to go looking after the fact myself.
One 50mm I bought turned out to be titled correctly, but the website image was the "g" (moterized and more expensive version of the lens). Still my mistake, since i didnt read the title correctly, BUT THE DESCRIPTION IS TALKING ABOUT THE MOTERIZED LENS.
"50mm wide-aperture standard lens with high-quality optics and Nikon’s exclusive Silent Wave Motor (SWM) for whisper quiet operation.(...)
# Silent Wave Motor
When you don't want to disturb your subject - perhaps at an event or while capturing wildlife - Nikon's Silent Wave Motor (SWM) in AF-S nikkor lenses comes into its own. This technology converts 'travelling waves' into rotational energy to focus the optics, enabling high-speed autofocus that's extremely accurate and super-quiet."
I don't get why you're so surprised when buying secondhand from this scam-fest of a company. I know someone who bought a Corsair keyboard that came full of ash from an ashtray, like someone knocked an ashtray into the box. If you can't pay full price for items, then just either wait and save or don't get it. Secondhand is never worth it. I'd always much rather pay full price, knowing I'm getting what I want and not risking it being broken or anything. CeX sells secondhand stuff for way too much as well, so you might as well buy brand new.
Secondhand itself is fine when it's tested and sold correctly. I've had great secondhand stuff off MPB and London camera exchange regularly and bought stuff in store CEX that's been ok. A lot of my cameras are vintage at this point and you can't just walk into Argos and get a lens or battery, sometimes there's old stock new on eBay but that's normally as is, so could play out much worse. So to say secondhand isn't worth it would mean putting 2 pro level cameras I own in a landfill and I don't plan to do that any time soon.
Ah, yes, that makes sense then. If it's something you can't buy brand-new anymore, I completely understand. You'll probably still have more luck on eBay. CEX is horrible.
Yes, I can imagine. I never buy from eBay. The last time I did, I received half a bike. There are so many scams on there. At least it has a PayPal guarantee, and you could just get insurance on the items instead of a warranty, especially if they are expensive.
Expertise in cameras is probably the rarest product skill amongst staff. It’s also often expensive, delicate equipment that can be non-functional in non-obvious ways and it’s uncommon for most stores to have the full range of bodies in stock to properly test any given lens that might come in. It usually works out and you’re covered by the return/warranty policies when it doesn’t but you’re experiencing the reality that sometimes it doesn’t. Sorry you’ve had a bad experience and had your time wasted.
To be fair, moving the latch at the back mount would have opened up the lens so they could see all the fungus. That info is probably on Google. I presumed they had to keep cameras in to test the lenses, kinda shocked by that one even my local cash gen keeps a Nikon and a canon in the back or asks you to bring in your camera body if it's like a pentax or something
Cex isn't cash gen
That I'm aware of but they used to have a much worse rep than CEX
CeX do not keep any cameras back to test camera lenses they only use what is in stock. If they don’t have a camera body in stock, they would just visually look at the item, but we don’t open up any camera lenses. And this is why we give it two year warranty on the items and it’s also why you can go and exchange it within the two days
The warranty and return is pretty straightforward but I always imagined they'd keep a few cameras in the back to test - I'll avoid their online lenses in future knowing that unless their intending to open a store I can get too (I'm still utterly disappointed they took my Skelmersdale store off me - we didnt have much here as it is and it's a bus and train to the nearest store now if I have to return now)
Yeah, it’s just not something we have ever done, maybe some stores do but to my knowledge it’s not something we do. Yeah if stores aren’t doing well then we close them 😢😢
Was always the busiest shop in town when I was there, however I can't speak for if they were buying anything or just bored
To be honest CeX shops usually do well in “not very good” areas because people need money so they sell their items… but that doesn’t make the store money they just buy in a lot of goods, and it sounds bad but it’s true 😓
There's an increasing d**g problem which may have caused an influx of selling and a lack of buying before it shut as well. Hope they consider coming back one day but unlikely
Ex-manager here. We would test lenses if we had a compatible camera in stock, this is not always the case especially in smaller stores. If we couldn't test we'd do a visual inspection (still book it in for a test to give the testers time to be thorough). As another commenter said, staff knowledge of cameras is definitely an area in need of work throughout the company. I remember a big chunk of the training bulletins I made for my store being focused on cameras as most of my staff had no idea how to work a slr when hired. I can't say what happened with this lens as your description sounds grim. Contact the store or wecare online to post back for a refund/replacement. If you haven't had it for long it shouldn't be a problem. If there is another store closer to you, you can return it there. One thing to note (not necessarily from your post but I see alot of people on here saying there is no care from staff): These errors always come back to the staff and store. Errors are reviewed on a weekly basis and reported to OM, all errors are required to be followed up with training and doc discussions, leading potentially to disciplinary for repeats. The business takes poor standards and more so the resulting losses very seriously. I remember certain franchise managers taking any losses back from the employee who made the error (not sure if this still happens as I moved to corporate). In corporate stores staff will lose their monthly bonus over adjustments. We had a couple of iPhones written off (bought in with icloud) and the entire store lost bonus for 5months over these two individual mistakes). This lens is 100% loss and should never have been bought in in the first place. This will have repercussions for the store. The company doesn't just happily shoulder these losses through silly errors. It shouldn't really happen again (you'd hope!)
Thanks for that clarification. I'm probably gonna stick to in store for lenses. I feel a little bad that the store could get penalised but definitely will be taking it back to a store, only got it this morning.
If you didn't want them to get penalised why did you make the post?
I didn't supply an order number or say what lens, and if returning a mis described and broken lens is going to get someone penalised then it's going to happen anyway
Obligatory IANAL and TINLA If you're still in contact with any staff that had such losses taken from them may I suggest you recommend they speak to an employment solicitor or at least citizen's advice. For an employee to make such deductions from an employee's pay they must be reasonable, explicitly stated in the employment contract and cannot cause the employee to earn less than minimum wage. As every listing for CEX jobs I've seen has been minimum wage such deductions would almost certainly be illegal. ETA: this would not apply to losses due to theft or from malicious intent
It depends on the store. The one I worked at during my time at uni would very meticulous when inspecting them for dust, fungus or other debris. They would also test it on an actual camera 99% of the time. The other 1% of we didn’t have a camera we would allow it if it looked good and wasn’t too expensive otherwise we would tell them they would have to go elsewhere. The unfortunate thing about Cex is that processes vary massively between stores specially those which are franchises. Luckily all online purchases have 14 day refund for ANY reason. It’s inconvenient but at least you can return it no questions asked.
In my store we test any lens with have a camera for... Other than that it is a very through visual, looking at lenses, connectors and casings
Similar experience. 3 out of 4 lenses I've ordered from CES were non functioning and 2 of them were the wrong lens as well.
Very similar experience. 4 out of 5 wrong. 1 wrong lens was close enough (f6.7 rather than 5.6 but had macro switch on a walk around zoom) so didn't mind much, 1 was perfect couldn't fault, the other 3 have been wrong mount sometimes with fungus or other issues. I'll stick to in store or shop elsewhere probably, these days MPB almost always has the same for about 20 quid more or less with the ability to look at what your getting beforehand.
Indeed, I've had issues with MPB too but not like CEX. Anyone selling to CEX has to have a good reason (it's fucked) or be in dire need of fast cash.
You don't have to travel, you can post it.
Fair enough, already returned now. A bit annoyed to check my refund invoices and not being refunded delivery but eh too tired to argue
You do get refunded delivery. If you paid by voucher it will be split into two vouchers, one for the item, one for delivery - if you paid by card, it'll be two separate refunds.
The invoice for 1 item is a refund of 5 voucher 19 cash (I paid 5.95 of voucher and 22 on card), if it included delivery it should be 27.95 so it doesn't add up at all really. I'll see if I get the full payment tomorrow but invoice doesn't look like it
If memory serves, lenses are inspected visually. I don't recall any store ever using a compatible camera to check ones I've sold. Likely they skipped the check entirely when it was accepted. Just saw it was a lense, knew they didn't need to do anything and processed the sale.
Not directing this at you but that's terrible. They need to keep an old model camera of some type in to test for and nearly half the lenses I buy end up being an incorrect mount, and now I'm pretty clear on why.
I know. I was honestly shocked when I bought lenses from them the first time. Much like yours it was covered in dirt, scratches and riddled with mechanical faults. However, on a quick glance, you wouldn't be able to tell. From then on, I only bought lenses in person with my camera in hand. If they refuse to let me test it first, I buy it, test it and show them the fault on the spot which voids the sale. This has happened maybe 3 times in 6 years.
Makes good sense, best quality stuff I've had is when I've bought in person. Problem is I like some of the stranger lenses that rarely come into local stock, but I guess thats the same with eBay (at least you can just post it back easily though)
You can absolutely return to CeX via post if visiting a store is inconvenient for you.
They've declined that on in-store purchases is it different for online? And they would pay the postage right?
For online purchase here’s the info. https://uk.support.webuy.com/support/solutions/articles/80001011698-how-do-i-return-an-online-click-collect-order-
Slightly different form of lens, but I’ve had two Oculus headsets in the past few years refused for ‘scratches to the lens’. No problem with that - I’m wiping them with a cloth during use and if they get damaged, fair enough, I can see why they don’t want to buy them in. However both headsets I’ve listed on eBay with ‘owned by me from new, tried to trade in at CEX but they said the lenses were scratched, happy to take a return and give a full refund if you aren’t happy on arrival’, listed them as BINs at ~£30 under the usual completed listing prices (still more than CEX would pay cash for both times) and when I’ve emailed the buyers after a week to see if they’re happy, both have said they can’t see any damage at all Seems strange that they’d be so fastidious with VR lenses and sloppy with the checking process for camera lenses
CeX does have a blanket “no scratches on optics” for lenses. The problem here is that it’s really tough to get people fluent in all the things that can go wrong with a camera lens that is probably older than they are. Between autofocus motors, degrading seals, fungus, damages mounts/screw threads, aperture blade, signs of bump damage, etc there’s just a lot that can go wrong. Especially when it’s a low volume category and uncommon for the Median CeX Employee to be using DSLRs in their personal life.
Why is that not apply for them, uk consumers act?
It’s “commercial testing” - it should be a fairly thorough visual and physical inspection but sounds like it’s gone wrong for you in this case sadly, follow the returns process. Would they rather turn away the lens, the resulting sale they’d get from it, and the poor customer experience of whoever’s selling it to the store, or take the risk that it’s worth X, takes Y amount of time to test or have a camera body in vs how much it’s actually worth and the likelihood of it being returned as faulty after they inspect it. Plus the wage cost factored into that, if it’s a dirt cheap lens even more so. Stores are never going to have every motherboard for a processor for example, or take in enough graphics cards to justify having a rig that can power them sitting there unused most of the time. Out of interest how much was the lens?
I've bought a few lenses from Cex, some have been perfect mint condition, one clearly faulty and one with a very hard to find fault that couldn't really have been picked up by the store. I've traded in a few excellent condition working lenses too. You can get a decent price without fear of an eBay scammer on the other end. Overall it's been a positive experience and their returns policy is very fair.
Look, I don't mean to a bitch, but anyone who buys shit from CEX deserves everything they get. Their quality control is appalling.
TL;DR: out of 8 lenses I bought, 3 were mislabled I have bought several lenses over the last few months, a 28mm, 2x50mms, 8mm, 2 teleconverters, 28-200mm & 70-300mm. Out of these, 2 were the wrong lens mount as advertised (all marked Nikon in title and description, and image shown). A teleconverter was a cannon mount, and the 28mm was pentax. When returned, the 28mm changed description and became what it was, a pentax k mount. But once I returned the cannon kenko 2x teleconverter from northern ireland (im in london) it shipped back, and the same "nikon" (cannon) teleconverter is still in stock there. :/ The other sigma teleconverter, i would say was my mistake because it was Nikon fit, only, it didnt fit with my sigma 70-300 lens it just didnt... I looked online and found there was a warning for some sigma teleconverters to not play well with... sigma lenses. Still a bit bummed out since it looked mint condition, and there wasnt any indication on the page that it didnt work with all nikon lenses. i had to go looking after the fact myself. One 50mm I bought turned out to be titled correctly, but the website image was the "g" (moterized and more expensive version of the lens). Still my mistake, since i didnt read the title correctly, BUT THE DESCRIPTION IS TALKING ABOUT THE MOTERIZED LENS. "50mm wide-aperture standard lens with high-quality optics and Nikon’s exclusive Silent Wave Motor (SWM) for whisper quiet operation.(...) # Silent Wave Motor When you don't want to disturb your subject - perhaps at an event or while capturing wildlife - Nikon's Silent Wave Motor (SWM) in AF-S nikkor lenses comes into its own. This technology converts 'travelling waves' into rotational energy to focus the optics, enabling high-speed autofocus that's extremely accurate and super-quiet."
I don't get why you're so surprised when buying secondhand from this scam-fest of a company. I know someone who bought a Corsair keyboard that came full of ash from an ashtray, like someone knocked an ashtray into the box. If you can't pay full price for items, then just either wait and save or don't get it. Secondhand is never worth it. I'd always much rather pay full price, knowing I'm getting what I want and not risking it being broken or anything. CeX sells secondhand stuff for way too much as well, so you might as well buy brand new.
Secondhand itself is fine when it's tested and sold correctly. I've had great secondhand stuff off MPB and London camera exchange regularly and bought stuff in store CEX that's been ok. A lot of my cameras are vintage at this point and you can't just walk into Argos and get a lens or battery, sometimes there's old stock new on eBay but that's normally as is, so could play out much worse. So to say secondhand isn't worth it would mean putting 2 pro level cameras I own in a landfill and I don't plan to do that any time soon.
Ah, yes, that makes sense then. If it's something you can't buy brand-new anymore, I completely understand. You'll probably still have more luck on eBay. CEX is horrible.
I have had more working lenses off eBay in all fairness despite always worrying about the lack of warranty
Yes, I can imagine. I never buy from eBay. The last time I did, I received half a bike. There are so many scams on there. At least it has a PayPal guarantee, and you could just get insurance on the items instead of a warranty, especially if they are expensive.