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Leica Cameras Leather Accessories: Angelo Smaldore (Angelo Pelle)


D-Mavignier

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I have just had a very bad experience with the Craftsman Angelo Pelle. Originally I ordered a Tokyo Holster for my M10. When it arrived I was not happy with the product. It uses a velcro which makes a loud noise whenever opening the camera bag and the leather was less elegant than I am used to from Leica's own half cases and not on the same level. So I sent it back and Angelo Smaldore personally replied to me in a very rude way. I am attaching here a Kopie from his email to me in which he insults me in the most rudest way. I would like to warn others in the community. This seller has absolutely no manners and doesn't seem interested in a fair treatment of his customers. So if you have any doubts a product might be perfect before you order from him, please reconsider. I have now to engage with a lawyer to get my money back from him which is a headache. Do you have similar experiences with Smaldore or other sellers from hell?

 

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Although I can more or less  understand the frustration of the seller, as the case is advertised as having Velcro fastenings and he is proud of his workmanship, it is common business sense as well as social custom to bite your tongue and remain polite, especially as EU regulations demand a full refund on return within two weeks of goods purchased over the Internet.
I too would strike this supplier from my list of business contacts. What he does not seem to realize is that responses like these tend to become public and harm his business.

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  • 4 weeks later...

By the way, at the end Smaldore returned the payment and everything orderly. I felt sorry for having to return his stuff. However - personally I would not recommend his cases. They lack the refinement and are not on the same level with Leica’s own half cases. It was insulting and upsetting to read his emails. Rude character. 

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On 5/14/2021 at 2:21 AM, jaapv said:

Although I can more or less  understand the frustration of the seller, as the case is advertised as having Velcro fastenings and he is proud of his workmanship, it is common business sense as well as social custom to bite your tongue and remain polite, especially as EU regulations demand a full refund on return within two weeks of goods purchased over the Internet.
I too would strike this supplier from my list of business contacts. What he does not seem to realize is that responses like these tend to become public and harm his business.

Jaap,

I followed your link to the advertised product but cannot find any reference to velcro on the site pertaining to the product.

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2 hours ago, ymc226 said:

Jaap,

I followed your link to the advertised product but cannot find any reference to velcro on the site pertaining to the product.

His pictures clearly show velcro.

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Wow.

I am truly amazed by Angelo Smaldore's temper tantrum -there is no way to justify communicating to a customer in such a manner. 

I don't see where @D-Mavignier did anything to deserve such abuse, particularly when "...EU regulations demand a full refund on return within two weeks of goods purchased over the Internet..."   One would think that being in business in the EU, Smaldore would know this.

The photos of the case in question do clearly show velcro, but that does not excuse Mr. Smaldore's verbal attack.  It sounds as if he is the one who wants to "fuck money."

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, jdlaing said:

Playing the Devil’s Advocate again I think what set him off was the return shipping refund for international rates. I don’t know of any vendor that includes return shipping.

I think you are right. 

Based on what @jaapv posted (#2), it sounds like that is required by EU law.  That's still no reason to blow up at a customer like that. 

It sounds like Mr. Smaldore needs to do a little bit of thinking and institute a restocking fee equal to the cost of shipping for non-defective returns, if EU law does not prohibit that.

Edited by Herr Barnack
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How about raising prices across the board by €1 or €2 to cover the cash leakage due to refunding international shipping fees? Over the course of a year's business, it would cover that loss. 

Lost business due to the seller's tantrum becoming widely known is going to hurt his business far more than the cost of his absorbing return shipping fees on one transaction, though. 

 

 

 

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I did a little research here.

Restocking fees are not allowed. If the seller states that shipping fees are not refunded, and Angelo Pelle does state that, they do not have to be refunded.

Fair is fair with regard to buyer changing their mind and the item is not defective.

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I’ve been tempted by the Pelle Tokyo Holster on a number of occasions over the years as I’m always looking for ingenious ways to carry an M (believe that this design might have been the first of its type, predating Leica, Oberwerth and maybe others). The pictures on the site make this design look tempting but after reading about the customer interaction and experience here…. I think I’ll look elsewhere.

 

 

.

Edited by RMF
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vor 11 Stunden schrieb jdlaing:

I did a little research here.

Restocking fees are not allowed. If the seller states that shipping fees are not refunded, and Angelo Pelle does state that, they do not have to be refunded.

Fair is fair with regard to buyer changing their mind and the item is not defective.

That is all correct, Angelo does not need to refund the shipping fees for returning the article, however he has to refund 100% of what D-Mavignier paid originally for receiving the article, including all fees. That’s how I read D-Mavignier‘s email, that he is accepting to pay the return, but Angelo is not accepting the full refund of the original payment, which is a violation of the law.

Since I was also tempted of some of his products for a recently purchased MP I will now consider alternatives.

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I bought a couple of times from Angelo and apart from receiving an amazing and fast service the items I bought were outstandingly hand crafted of premium leather. I recommended him to several friends..

Having wrote this, his reply to D-Mavignier is completely unacceptable and as a previous extremely happy customer I'm a little bit saddened by this story.

Will I continue buying from him? Probably yes.

Will I continue recommending him? Probably not.

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Well, as we all apparently only see a snippet of the full e-Mail conversation, it is hard to guess what both parties were exchanging before...

Moreover, refund of full shipping costs (for the shipping from the vendor to the customer, which seem to be in dispute) does not seem to be a clear-cut case if non-standard shipping processes like oversea shipping / international are involved and if the terms and conditions on his website are quite clear regarding the shipping costs.

I never had similar problems with Angelo. But this is maybe mainly due to the fact that he never replied to my e-mail asking for a customized case and that I thus never bought anything from him. 😄

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The European law is pretty clear on this, all regular shipping costs are to be refunded as well, only extras on customer‘s demand (express, special handling or additional insurance etc.) are non-refundable. If vendor and customer are in different countries, international shipping is standard (how else should Angelo ship from Italy to Germany).

His diction however keeps me finally from ordering anything there.

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