Photospecialist Reviews 

I ordered an instax wide printer and 2 packs of film. I noticed on the order confirmation page that they were quite explicit with a message to say you will receive an order confirmation email straight away ( I did not receive an order confrimation email, still havent) something about the wording was a little off so i decided to check reviews and found many customers stating the items they received were used and not new. I requested my order be cancelled due to the risk of receiving used items rather than take the chance so I submitted the cancellation form and waited, suddenly received an email stating the order was on the way. A few minutes later I received a response to say the order couldnt be cancelled as it had shipped but they did nothing to assure me that items sold by this company were new and not used. Orders ship from Netherlands and delivery dates listed before purchasing were not accurate, the items stated 2-3 days but ended uo being 5 days. Items do appear to be new and unused which is a relief. I would say order at your own risk. There is something not quite right with this company.

I was worried at first after seeing the ratings on trustpilot, but thankfully my experience was fantastic. I ordered a very expensive monitor and it came fairly quickly considering it was delivered from Netherlands. It was a great price and i had no issues. Thankfully when you place your order you get a Trusted Shops guarantee, which will give you your money back if you have any bad issues, that really reassured me, thankfully didn't need to use it since they delivered :)

A very risky outfit. Just trying to get accurate information about the price and the specification is like crawling over broken glass. The Canon Maxify GX1050 - EXTRA INKT looks a good deal at £229 but would be subject to UK Customs VAT if shipped from the Netherlands which is where this company is based but this point is not mentioned or clarified on the .co.uk website. The 'description' and 'specifications' sections contradict each other - one says it has Ethernet and USB connections, the other not - which is it? The 'EXTRA INKT' mark implies that extra ink is included but is not mentioned in the 'description' section, neither is the standard amount of ink which should come with the usual standard model.
So, the web page is a real mess. Customer services, by phone and online query form, didn't know what they were doing so were a complete waste of time. The first call centre agent could not answer the simple question about UK VAT on the £229 - put me off with a promise of a callback that didn't come after 3 working hours the next day so I gave up. Called them again and the second call centre agent managed to call up the product on a webpage that said the price was £339 and she didn't know why! Obviously their tech is not fit for purpose. If an outfit fails on such basic points then are a liability - I will take my custom to a UK supplier with whom I will have some redress if things go wrong.

I would not recommend this company. Their customer service is poor, items are frequently unavailable, and the business practices seem unreliable.

Received item in opened box. Possible return. Disappointing

Appears to have a modern slick website with help centre and smiling operatives, yet is a total scam.
Item shown as ‘ in stock’ but they cannot supply it and won’t answer any mails or calls to refund the money.
Avoid, avoid- thankfully only lost a small amount by dealing with this bunch of thieves….

UPDATE:
Have also noticed that they have taken the money TWICE for one order.
Despite the usual ‘Oh, we’re really sorry’ replies on here- still no reply from them. Not only are they scamming, not supplying paid for goods they are also taking money from accounts twice. Criminal activity for all to see.

Ordered a backpack from photospecialist at the start of June and have not recieved it yet.

Photospecialist did not enter my flat number onto the order so my item couldn't be delivered. When my delivery failed, I contacted photospecialist who said they'd send out a replacement to the correct address.

I am yet to recieve the item a month later, they provide no updates, have to be chased. Awful service.

Not a UK company. Placed order for a buteo mark iii photo hide on 14 June. Received invoice in an email which said I would get an update when it shipped. Tried to contact Photospecialist on 17 June to check when this was likely to be, because I hadn't had any further contact from them. My email to customer service bounced back and the uk phone number listed on their invoice says "this number is not receiving calls". I hadn't checked TP before ordering but now wish I had: I am concerned this is going to go wrong...UPDATE to be fair, the item was sent and i got a message from Royal Mail saying it was due to arrive 6 days after I placed the order, but by that time I had already submitted a dispute via my bank. The item was therefore not delivered, having been recalled by Photospecialist, who did eventually email me on 18 june (after I posted on TP) to say it had been dispatched, but this message got filtered by Outlook into my junk folder.

I sent a parcel with them very early April and it took them almost a month to start an investigation on the whereabouts of my return, only 3 days later UPS came back with the results being my parcel was lost and UPS are sending them an insurance claim however now its been 3 weeks since that and almost 2 months since I've dropped it off and I still do not have any sort of refund, I try to call them however I'm either on hold for 30 minutes and the phone just drops or when I select a number to where I want to get through too it just doesn't connect me. - I will update this if they finally decide to give me whats mine.

DONT BUY ITS A SCAM, they said it was a 2 year warranty but when my camera broke then said they can’t fix it and I have to pay €70 to get the broken camera back and no money back or anything

I cannot comment on other peoples experiences, I ordered a Benro superslim monopod which I couldnt even purchase from anywhere else in the UK. Ordered on Monday, sent a tracking number for UPS an hour later, received my product today (Thursday). Great product and no issues with delivery. Will use them again.

All sorted

Hi Photospecialist.. Sadly still no response from you..no emails..no contact. This issue has been going on since 7th February 2025..nearly a month.. very very poor customer service.

Please can you send the flag covers or send compensation for the missing items. It is frustrating not to have the full set of flag covers which I have paid for. Thank you

Update : 2 March 2025
Hi

Still no communication or resolution to this issue..

PLEASE PLEASE can you send the WHITE AND GOLD flag covers asap

Many thanks

Bob

Hi Photospecialist. Thank you for your reply on Trustpilot. Sadly I have not received any emails and non in junk, and I am receiving emails regularly, so not sure what the problem might be. Also I have not received any phone calls. However I am pleased you are aware of my contact and are trying to sort things. Please if possible can you send the White and Gold flag covers for the Bresser Frame asap. That would be great thank you. All the best Bob
20th February 2025 Dear Photospecialist

Any news yet please on delivery of the White and Gold flag covers ?

All the best Bob

Hi Photospecialist

Now Tuesday 18th February and apart from your reply to my Trustpilot review, I have heard nothing from you re this error on this order which I notified you about on the 7th February

Please can you sort this out asap as I am missing both the White and Gold flag covers

I would appreciate some sort of explanation and compensation please

Many thanks

Bob

I ordered a Bresser Flag scrim which arrived but without the White and Gold scrim covers. I wrote to Photospecialist immediately on the 7th February 2025..I still have not received a reply.
I had an issue some time back with them over an incorrect order and this took months to sort out, so I promised I would never buy from them again...but I did and gave them a second chance. Terrible customer service and quite rude not to reply or acknowledge receipt of my numerous emails. I will not be using them ever again. Sorry guys but two strikes and you are out.

Hi Photospecialist

Hope you are well

Can you please let me know what is happening about this order ???

No white or Gold flag covers sent…now 19th February..Enquiry raised 7th February….!!!!

Please respond

Many thanks

Bob

Hi Photospecialist

Hope you are well

Not sure what is going on..I have received a Returns label from you for UPS and a refund

To be clear I dont want to return the item, I would like the Gold and White flag covers please

Many thanks

Bob

I found an item on their website, at a much better price than anywhere else. When I read the Trustpilot reviews, I almost decided fully against making the purchase. I checked out the buying process and saw that PayPal payment was available, which gave me peace of mind that I could potentially be refunded if any issues arose. I also saw lots of positive Reddit comments from people who use Photospecialist - I guess maybe these people had not written about their positive experiences on TP.

When I entered order details, the address form was filled automatically and did not look in the format I am used to. I added the extra information in another box and when I made the order, it seemed to have left out this extra detail. I was unsure how this would work out at this point, but I contacted customer support to check, and they got back to me quickly.

2 days after my order, I received the item. I'm sure it said 3-5 working days, so I am rather pleased by this delivery time. The item is as described and I got it at a decent price. This is one customer who will surely be returning for more purchases in the future!

Was looking to buy a hip belt for a Lowe Pro rucksack, price? £12. Go to check out and it is suddenly £21.99 with no explanation. Feels very scammy to me.

I ordered a drone two years ago with the Photospecialists 4-year warranty—far better than DJI’s 2-year coverage.

Recently, I broke my drone and sent it in for repair, but it went missing in transit. Even though the loss wasn’t their fault, Photospecialists investigated the case, and since I was within my warranty, they credited me the full purchase amount to replace it and continue my work.

It’s incredibly rare to see this level of customer care from a business that isn’t obligated to step in. I wish more companies operated like this—it’s the kind of service that makes me want to pay it forward. I’ll be recommending them to anyone looking for camera gear and will continue purchasing from them exclusively. Couldn’t recommend them more! Personally would like to thank Jelle who was the customer care person I was in contact with.

Avoid Avoid Avoid!
Ordered a battery on the 13th of Jan.
Same as others eventually received a UPS tracking link with absolutely no information on delivery.
E mailed to cancel order twice with no response.
Do not buy from Photo specialist zero customer service and can’t answer simple questions in a timely way.
Asked Visa to refund.

Update been asked for ID info by Photo specialist via Trustpilot. I have emailed Photo specialist with all the information several times try looking at it!

24.1.25 Another day gone by e mails still not replied to, more silence from Photospecialist. I want my money back. Get the message!!

25.1.25 Had an e mail, hurrah! The item has been dispatched but UPS can’t deliver it.

Yeh right
Demand for refund ignored.

31.1.25 Update. On Trusted shops where I also left a bad review they left a note saying they could see the package "was stuck at the courier company" never e mailed me to say that so take that with a pinch of salt. They eventually emailed me after more cancellation requests to say they were getting the item returned and would take 5-10 days to return. As 15 days have passed the matter is now in the hands of my credit card company for a charge back to Photospecialist. Bought a battery from an other outlet earlier in the week and it arrived next day. Be warned.

Re: Update 3rd of Feb from Photospecialist. They ignored my mails and only responded when I applied pressure.
Terrible customer service.
Fact two items delivered in 5 days from the Netherlands from another company. They used UPS.

Ordered a camera bag as they show as one of the only UK suppliers for Wotancraft (turns out they aren't in the UK anyway).
I didn't get tracking information for the order, when I chased it up they sent me UPS tracking details. These just said "Your package may be delayed. We are adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible. Eindhoven, Netherlands", each day for a a week before saying it was returning to the vendor.
The customer support suggested the would raise this with the back office, but I've had no response. Communication via PayPal said they'd check with UPS, but no updates were provided. I'm currently awaiting a refund
Very poor customer service.
Why pretend to be in the UK if you can't ship here

Order 10 days ago. No confirmation of despatch, no receipt of order no positive response to email query pertaining to delivery. Item was a gift. Likely to arrive too late if at all. Bank to help with the payment.

Ordered a flash and octabox for an upcoming session next week on the 14th but have not received the confirmation mail, so I contacted them by mail and still waiting for an answer!! Trying to phone them but the number doesn't work! the flash should be on his way to me already as it was in stock by the time I ordered. Paid on the 14th but no signs neither from them or my flash
Right now very bad experience

Should have read the reviews before placing order. So website details and photographs are misleading. Also incorrect.

Specifics:
Ordered box of filter cloths, received 1 cloth (at 50x the price you can buy at Amazon
Ordered 52mm Z series ring and they dispatched P series.
Only credited the incorrect items even though they gave a very expensive shipping cost and I bought a system with several rings and the missing ring negated the need for the entire set.
Needless to say I will never deal with this company again and STRONGLY recommend you avoid them as well

Before they say anything I have had 6 conversations with customer services and the last one from them simply said order cancelled (I.e.) they have up. I am sure they like delivering half an order better than nothing but not in the eyes of the customer, next time you buy a two wheeled car think about that :)

January 15th
- still waiting, talk to Mariana on customer services she had the whole sad tale