Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/08/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Although VSS Outlet is certainly correct about **** return policy, their current position of saying the lens they sold me was "junk," after previously saying, on a least three separate occasions, it was "extremely sharp," is simply beneath contempt.  Aside from VSS Outlet's assurances that the lens was extremely sharp, this lens is so famous it is mentioned as a breakthrough design in Wikipedia.  Clearly, my extremely blurry pictures are not evidence of a cheap lens, but one with a serious defect.

  That said, VSS Outlet has had ample opportunity to provide the excellent customer service they claim to cherish, but they've made it pretty-clear they won't be providing any in this case.
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************
  

  etails; particularly, when I purchased the lens and when I first complained. He said it was almost a month, but in fact email records prove that I contacted him within 4 days of receiving the lens, to express my concern that the lens was defective.Anyone can make a mistake and sell a vintage product which doesn't work properly, however, a reputable business would accept the return. I told ******************** that if he was certain the lens was good, he should sell it to someone else, but this is when he told me it was a cheap lens that should not be used.To be clear: I did not get a refund and I did not receive the lens back.Note: the time between when I first complained to when I actually sent the lens back was because I purchased a video camera for testing, and then two rolls of film, and not until the film was developed and scanned could I be certain the lens was defective. The cost of the video camera, film, process & transfer was approximately $470 but I'm only asking for a refund on the lens.--*******************

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2023

  VSSoutlet has an excellent reputation for customer service. We care about the people that buy from us. ************** is obviously not satisfied with the outcome of his **** purchase, and in his complaint, has distorted the facts to suit his narrative.

  Return: ****'s policy (and we follow **** policies strictly, and have been Top Rated Sellers for years), is that a buyer must initiate a return within 30 days of having received the item. ************** did not do so, therefore, the **** return window closed. 30 days is a generous time period. If he had issues with the lens and didn't like it, he could have started a return at any point before the 30 days time period had expired, we would have honored it. 

  Follow up: Even though the return period had passed, we wanted to help **************. I agreed to have a look at the lens if he would send it back to us. We did this at no charge (our fee for this is typically $100). I made it clear that the lens was his, and no refund would be forthcoming, but that we would give it a look and see if we could identify any issues with it. We have a backlog of equipment to evaluate and repair (as most camera stores do. A month or more backlog is typical). Three weeks later, we receive the following message on ****: "Hello, it's been more than 3 weeks since I sent the lens back, and I would appreciate a refund." I made it clear again that there would be no refund, just an evaluation. When I received this message, I prioritized this evaluation, skipping over other customer issues in order to do it. We checked out the lens and found that it performed as expected for what was designed to be a "bargain" lens. ****** was engineered and sold as a third party lens for people who could not afford high quality lenses, which started at 7x the price. Therefore, ************** could not expect the results to be of the same quality as he would have had with a top tier lens such as a SOM, *****************, or a ******************************* 

  Another curious part of this complaint is that ************** states that he had a video camera (which, I assume accepted this lens). In an email I found, he stated that the lens was blurry when shot wide open on his video camera (which costs him nothing. He then apparently goes on to spend time and money to use the same lens on a film camera which meant buying and developing film, only to find that it produced the same results. This makes absolutely no sense. Why spend $470 on film and developing using a lens that you already suspect has issues?

  ************** also claims the lens was not returned. The **** tracking number is ********************** and the package has a delivery scan. We also returned the lens at OUR expense and not his.

  The bottom line is that ************** is an experienced **** buyer AND seller, with at least 464 feedbacks. He should know the rules about returns as well as we do. He should also know that **** requires that messages regarding transactions use **** messaging. My first **** message from ************** was received on April 28th, just a few days before the return period closed. 

  In my view, we went above and beyond to help **************. We responded to numerous messages, we agreed to evaluate the lens at no charge, and we returned it to him at our expense. **** does not require us to do any of these things.

  Obviously, ************** feels wronged, and I am sorry that he does. We did everything possible to help him within **** policy. And then we did even more. I feel that this complaint therefore is unreasonable, and since he had 30 days to open a return and receive a full refund, the responsibility for the outcome is his.

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/24/2023

  As per our discussion, I have resolved the complaint against VSSoutlet, and please label it as satisfactorily resolved.

   

  thank you,

  --*******************