viofo.com

[Portlanders]

Has anyone in the UK purchased a Viofo webcam direct from their website?
They have a sale at present, which makes the 2 dash cams i´m looking at considerably cheaper than Amazon.
However, whilst no problem waiting a week or 2 for delivery, I have 2 concerns.

1. Are there custom charges to add on? (device is showing as £85)
2. It states the customer is responsible for return charges if anything goes wrong and I need to return. Any idea what the cost of postage would be?

Hoping for a string of responses stating you have ordered direct with no problems

 

[Nigel]

Customs and VAT are only a worry above £135. Above that, you are responsible for paying them, but if shipped by slow mail then normally it is left to you to sort it out, or not!
It will not necessarily be shipped from China anyway.
Yes, lots of people here have ordered direct, and I don't remember any issues, comments are normally positive.

Not sure about what the return charges are, but people don't seem to complain, and quite often there is no need to send it back anyway.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Has anyone in the UK purchased a Viofo webcam direct from their website?
They have a sale at present, which makes the 2 dash cams i´m looking at considerably cheaper than Amazon.
However, whilst no problem waiting a week or 2 for delivery, I have 2 concerns.

1. Are there custom charges to add on? (device is showing as £85)
2. It states the customer is responsible for return charges if anything goes wrong and I need to return. Any idea what the cost of postage would be?

Hoping for a string of responses stating you have ordered direct with no problems

Amazon Return Policy: 30-Days FREE Return Shipping
Viofo Return Policy: 3-Days Customer pays return shipping back to Hong Kong

Warranty Policy

viofo.com

What is the price difference between ordering from Amazon vs. Viofo.com?

 

[Portlanders]

£50

 

[Panzer Platform]

£50

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

I have purchased both from viofouk.co.uk and viofo.com
Most recently from viofo.com with no issue. The price you see on the Web Site is what you pay. I ordered on a Saturday and it was delivered the following Saturday - and that's after me missing the first attempt at delivery the day before! So very fast considering it came from China.
However, had I realised they do not cover return postage on faulty goods I wouldn't have used them. Suprised I missed this as I do actually read T's & C's... Apparently not very well in this case!

 

[Karagandinez]

However, had I realised they do not cover return postage on faulty goods I wouldn't have used them.

Why are you so sure that you will have to send your purchase back?
Viofo rarely has problems with models.

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

Why are you so sure that you will have to send your purchase back?
Viofo rarely has problems with models.

I never said I would have to send it back.
However, the principle of a manufacturer not having enough confidence in their own product to be unwilling to cover return postage in the event of a faulty product worries me greatly.

 

[kamkar]

However, the principle of a manufacturer not having enough confidence in their own product to be unwilling to cover return postage in the event of a faulty product worries me greatly.

I think you like me would find it very hard to vote in elections if you was a Dane, i dont have much confidence in the product that is the Danish state.

Hell by the look of it / recent events, we might soon end up as the first country defeated by its own navy, and i dont even mean the men / women in the navy revolting,,,, Ooooo no not that simple.

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

However, the principle of a manufacturer not having enough confidence in their own product to be unwilling to cover return postage in the event of a faulty product worries me greatly.

I think you like me would find it very hard to vote in elections if you was a Dane, i dont have much confidence in the product that is the Danish state.

Hell by the look of it / recent events, we might soon end up as the first country defeated by its own navy, and i dont even mean the men / women in the navy revolting,,,, Ooooo no not that simple.

Of course it's that simple. Your analogy was terrible, by the way. If you don't have confidence in the state either way, don't vote... But that's another topic for another thread lol.
Back to the point at hand, I'm not sure why you've replied to me with my own comment but added your own emphasis? You've emphasised the actual point I was making? To me, an unwillingness to cover return postage on a faulty product is a MASSIVE red flag. Massive.
If you were buying a car and there were 2 of the exact same spec, but one manufacturer offered you a 7 year warranty and the other 6 months, which would you choose? Of course, we'd all go for the extended warranty. Same principle here. By the way, I need to make it clear that I really like Viofo cameras and recommend them to everyone. But the fact of the matter is, I wouldn't have bought direct when they clearly have so little faith in the reliability of their own product - it would have made more sense for me to use a British retailer and thus benefit from British consumer protection laws (i.e not needing to pay to return a faulty product).
To me, if their product was as long lived as I'd like to hope, covering return postage in the inevitable DOA unit wouldn't be much loss to them, because it would be such a rare occurrence. In my opinion, the only reason they'd charge to return faulty equipment is if there were lots of faulty items being returned. And THAT'S the point I'm making - this is the image they create by doing this. In many countries where this is the norm, it's no problem. But to most European countries where you don't normally have to pay to return a faulty item, it's a more bitter pill to swallow.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Why are you so sure that you will have to send your purchase back?
Viofo rarely has problems with models.

However, the principle

It’s not really about Viofo.
It’s about basic consumer protection.
Buying any product from outside your home country is risky compared to buying from a local retailer that is based domestically.
Buying from a company operating in your home country will always be safer because you have more consumer rights / protection.
Purchasing internationally there is almost no regulations the company can be help accountable to by the consumer’s home country.
British, German, American, etc. laws do not apply in China.
Buying from Amazon US, or local retailer so you have peace of mind of a full 30-day free return policy will always be safer.

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

It’s not really about Viofo.
It’s about basic consumer protection.
Buying any product from outside your home country is risky compared to buying from a local retailer that is based domestically.
Buying from a company operating in your home country will always be safer because you have more consumer rights / protection.
Purchasing internationally there is almost no regulations the company can be help accountable to by the consumer’s home country.
British, German, American, etc. laws do not apply in China.
Buying from Amazon US, or local retailer so you have peace of mind of a full 30-day free return policy will always be safer.

Very well put and I take that point fully on board. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. It's not exclusive to Viofo by any means.

 

[kamkar]

Sorry i some times get a bit side tracked, and i did the mistake of reading the news today.
But yeah i have not voted for many election periods / decades, but i am trying all i can to enable new parties which i would then vote on at least until they burn me too.

Shopping on the internet, and going outside your own country, that can indeed be a hornet nest of problems, also why i generally recommend people buy local.
As i recall in Denmark the law say you must give at least 2 years warranty on electric consumer products.

Many years ago, a couple of months before end of warranty i had to do RMA on a huge / heavy 22" CRT monitor, it had to go to Sweden for repair.
But the Danish seller handled everything, meaning i was sent a huge box to put the monitor inside, and a shipping label to Sweden to put on it.
I have to admit knowing the quality of Danish postal that handled the shipping that i expected to receive a broken monitor back from Sweden, but it arrived in tip top condition, and lasted about a decade in total.

I have also done a couple of RMA to EU bases Amazon warehouses ( no such thing in little Denmark ) that was also free, and Amazon almost had new memory cards in my hand before i got around to shipping the old broken one back to them.
Getting the 1x1x1 M large box with my CRT monitor to the post office was bit of a problem, even if i was much younger and fitter 20 years ago.

 

[Barneyb100]

Just be aware, if you buy from ViofoUK, you have to pay the postage to send back faulty items to them anyway. I had to send back my Mini2 as it wouldn't work when cold, never got the return postage refunded, so I might as well have returned straight to China.

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

Just be aware, if you buy from ViofoUK, you have to pay the postage to send back faulty items to them anyway. I had to send back my Mini2 as it wouldn't work when cold, never got the return postage refunded, so I might as well have returned straight to China.

I'm not sure what the circumstances were, but if it was within 6 months of purchase then return postage is their liability.

 

[Barneyb100]

It went back within 1 st week after purchase, they wouldn't entertain postage refund.

 

[Mtz]

I never said I would have to send it back.
However, the principle of a manufacturer not having enough confidence in their own product to be unwilling to cover return postage in the event of a faulty product worries me greatly.

Buy local to avoid problems. In some countries the seller is accepting to pay also the local shipping if the return was done in 14 days.
But if you will have a business, for example selling TV or refrigerators will you be happy to pay the shipping cost which is not small in such cases and to receive an unsealed product which you can not sell it as new?

Returning to viofo.com, why they to pay the shipping if you don't like the product?

 

[FatJoeLampshade]

Buy local to avoid problems. In some countries the seller is accepting to pay also the local shipping if the return was done in 14 days.
But if you will have a business, for example selling TV or refrigerators will you be happy to pay the shipping cost which is not small in such cases and to receive an unsealed product which you can not sell it as new?

Returning to viofo.com, why they to pay the shipping if you don't like the product?

You're misconstruing what I said. I'm specifically talking about returning a FAULTY product. I am NOT talking about "buyer's remorse", in which case yes the consumer does and should pay for return postage.

 

[Mtz]

2. It states the customer is responsible for return charges if anything goes wrong and I need to return. Any idea what the cost of postage would be?

All Viofo dashcams sent from viofo.com are verified before sending. The buyer (likely) never receive a DOA product.
So what can it be wrong with the purchase? This:

I am NOT talking about "buyer's remorse"

And can be another problem: user damaging the product during installation. After some time and after my reports too, Viofo started to include a card which is saying the dual cameras must be verified before install. This was the biggest reason to return a dual camera as DOA (if anything goes wrong and I need to return). Other reasons were fake cards used by the buyers which were affecting the camera functionality.

And what was the result? Sending back a product which was OK when arrived to the client. This is accepted by Amazon, buyer can return anything they want even they damaged the camera. The same can be if buying locally. So it is like Viofo is telling you to buy locally.

And for example a working camera sent back to viofo.com. The user say it is dead, the camera was OK when tested by Viofo and the shipping was paid by Viofo. How will they receive back the shipping money for a product returned because of user fault?

And this story is not about Viofo but about any quality electronic product. For example I want to buy a Samsung smartphone directly from Samsung Korea but I don't like the returning policy because they will not pay the shipping costs. Also with a Samsung smartphone or an iPhone can be ``if anything goes wrong and I need to return`` in the same way it can be with a Viofo dashcam.

I consider that Viofo are correct by writing they will not paying the shipping from a return. Don't like their strategy, buy from other manufacturer which is paying the shipping return to China or Hong Kong. Will be nice to discover that such seller exists and are paying such shipping to China or Hong Kong.

 

[LateralNW]

If the fault can be demonstrated and it is still under warranty then I expect the company to pay for the return shipping.
If you can't demonstrate the fault then your in the goodwill of the company they may to choose to pay return shipping.
IMO.