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Problem with missing camera from Amazon
  • BrumbazzBrumbazz

    I just ordered a GH4 on Amazon.it. On arrival at the post office the box was empty, so I sent it back straight away.

    I looked up Amazon empty box on the internet. Apparently there is a box is empty scam, where the receiver claims that the box was empty to get a refund from Amazon.

    Mine was actually empty and returned straight away at the post office, however, I'm worried that this is going to cause a problem.

    The package looked like it had been tampered with, which would suggest that the camera had been removed during transportation.

    The real peculiar thing, which I think point in another direction is the fact the registered weight of the package is only 0.25kg. Which to me seem like and empty box left the warehouse. The camera body on its own weigh 560 g, and I think the whole box with accessories weigh 1.4 kg.

    It seemed to me, that the size of the empty wrapping box might also be a bit small, but I don't know the size of GH4 body only box. Can anyone help with that?

    Amazon said they would get back to me by the 4th of February, but my fingers are really itching to play with the camera. Waiting for 4 days for the next response is bad enough, on top of that I'm worried it will take a while to resolve, so again dimensions of the box would be nice :-)

  • 10 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Sad story, but you better just wait for Amazon response.

    Usually you open box inside post office, make special papers that parcel is empty make official photos and you do not need to send anything back, as it is post office business.

    If you just opened it by yourself and sent it back by yourself - result can be any.

    Also note that Amazon frequently is just marketplace and camera can be shipped by some other seller, including scammers.

  • spacewigspacewig

    Always, and I mean ALWAYS film yourself opening a package of goods you've just received that's been purchased from anyone other than a reliable/honorable retailer. I can tell you from personal experience that even with this proof you can have a hard time; without it you are in for an aggravating and time-wasting ordeal not to mention the probable loss of your money.

  • 3Kids3Kids

    I had a similar experience buying a 55mm Zeiss Otus from Ebay (Italy), and then receiving an empty package.

    The best reaction would have been to not have accepted it, but unfortunately the post office had already scanned it before I got it in my hands and realised it was too light, and therefore empty.

    The next thing as @spacewig suggested, was for me to film the opening of the package. This had worked before with cheaper items, but unfortunately it wasn't enough as a proof (for items>1000 euro).

    So I had to go to the Police and sue the seller (Ebay needs a declaration from a police station, but it wasn't available in my country), and after a couple of days Ebay returned the money. The whole process took about a month, mainly because of it being a "classic scam" practice as you noted, and Ebay trying to protect the seller as well.

    Good luck

  • BrumbazzBrumbazz

    It is send from Amazon EU, so it is not another seller.

    It was clearly empty, so it was sent straight back after I signed for it at the post office.

    So it should not pose a problem, the package track and trace states it as refused by recipient.

    I'm sure that it will all work out in the end, but just really worried it will happen later rather than sooner.

    I never really thought much about recieving empty packages.

  • peternappeternap

    Real sorry to hear about this and like the others I can only offer help for future reference. I had that happen to me once. I always and I mean always use American Express. I tried going to the seller who wouldn't even talk to me, Amazon said they'd look into it but Amex told me not to pay that item on the bill...and they took care of it.

  • BrumbazzBrumbazz

    Can anyone tell me the dimensions/size of the GH4 body only box?

    There must be someone with that box lying around :-)

  • manila57manila57

    My GH3 body only box which I imagine would be same size measures 190mm x 155mm x 145mm. My GH4 box with 12-35mm kit lens was 285mm x 145mm x 145mm. Hope that helps.

  • jleojleo

    On a related note, a lot of big box stores like Best Buy and Walmart now open the boxes of electronic goods incl. cameras that are returned due to empty boxes filled with clay:

    http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/01/17/future-shop-and-best-buy-fall-victim-to-selling-clay-ipad-2s-launches-full-scale-fraud-investigation/

  • BrumbazzBrumbazz

    Thanks manila57

    The registered size from track and trace was: 0,31 x 0,25 x 0,16 in meters.

    Compared to your measures, that leaves very little space for the amount of padding, I would expect.

  • BrumbazzBrumbazz

    The camera got here today, I'm holding it, and it's sooo awesome.

    I loved my hacked GH2, which performed amazingly. This feels like a propor tool, where everything makes sense.

    The wrapping was so different then the original empty box, so pretty sure, someone swiped the first one in the warehouse. This one had proper sealing tape, going all around. The tampered part on the first empty cardboard box was not big enough to take out the camera.

    Anyway, enough of this, back to the camera

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