"The fabric is cheap and designs are nothing like the pictures. I thought is was just me, but through my research, most of the reviews are negative. "
"Thank Goodness for Reviews!!!! I was about to click that submit button and make a purchase over $250 until I realized that I had to agree to their refund policy, which sent me on the search for the reviews. After reading the reviews.....I'll pass. I'm aware that you can't make everyone happy, but when you have SEVERAL people give bad reviews and the company doesn't seem to respond or even make it right... that's a red flag. Another red flag is when you look at their return policy, and they won't offer a refund, the customer has to pay for shipping the item back, they charge a restocking fee, AND they will only do exchanges. This is very poor customer service. It's also clear that the products they are offering aren't of good quality, so they want to lock you into the purchase, otherwise, they won't make any money. No thanks, Cowboy Studio. You may want to rethink how you treat your customers, your policies and get better quality equipment! Zero Stars from me!"
"I'm going to write out a few reasons why no professional (or even amateur) should ever shop here:
1. Most of the gear they sell is third-party knock offs or their own brand-name gear which is even worse. We purchased softboxes from them and they fell apart within a year (i.e. broken sockets, handles, etc.). Don't even try reselling any of the gear, because it isn't worth anything to a discerning professional. It's barely worthy of a flea market.
2. Their customer service is HORRIBLE! Just the other day, I reluctantly went back in there to buy something small and it was about 5 minutes before anyone even acknowledged me, the individual who then proceeded to inform me that "someone will be with me in a second". Another girl then came through who told me the same thing but then went back to a phone call she was on. I waited another 5 minutes before asking the original person if someone else can help me. In a huff, she then disappeared around the corner at which point I left without purchasing anything. I use to go there infrequently and this isn't the first time something like that has happened, although recently was the last straw.
3. They have a phone system that sends you through a long dialogue and most of the time makes you leave a message even though every time I've actually visited the store, they never been busy during business hours. Why it is someone just can't answer the phone directly is beyond me.
The people they hire do not care, and I suspect they don't know that much about what they sell either. Never shopping there again."
"This company mis represents inits!
Do not respond to e-mails.
STAY away!"
"Cowboy Studios are a scam. I was so stupid to fall for the cheap price. Avoid like the plague. I never knew that American companies are allowed to operate such a rogue business model.
I have been ordering online for so long without ever encountering rogue traders that I did not feel I needed to do an FBI search before ordering from this online store.
I placed an order for an item that only they were carrying. I noticed that upon checkout, the picture of the item was for a different model to the one I ordered. Went back, and that was it, they had a mistake in the picture.
I sent them an email and they confirmed that they would ship me the model I ordered, not the one shown in the picture. Guess what, in spite of noticing of their mistake, and double checking and they confirming, they sent the wrong model! Unbelievable.
So through email exchanges give me an RMA and I sent it back. I needed this item quickly as I was about to travel and needed it for my travels, so I ordered another one, with expedited delivery, now that I was so close to travelling.
For some reason, they held onto my order so that it did not arrive for some 3 weeks, when I had come back from my holidays! Not only that, they want to charge me 20% re-stocking fee for their mistake!
Given the series of events, there is no way this was a mistake on their part. I now firmly believe that they do this to make money from unsuspecting customers. They made another 20% profit simply by purposely sending me the wrong item. Plus I had to pay for expensive to and return shipping through no fault of my own.
Spare yourself the trouble. Don’t fall for their cheap prices like I did..
"
"Sorry to say,these guys are the pits. On Friday the 10 of August I order 6 Brolly boxes and a tripod case. They recommended that I have them shipped to my studio in Mexico City by USPS. The price that I was quoted was quite expensive compared to what I usually paid to UPS when I order from B&H or Paul C Buff etc. But the only option that was offered was USPS So I said OK. Now it's Thursday night, a week has gone by and the only "tracking" that USPS will advise that my order has been moved from Bumfuk Texas to another town quite close to Bumfuk. My mails to Cowboy Studio go basically unanswered as do my phone calls. I did receive one mail informing me that USPS is really bad, and that they do very little updating. So where are my Brolly Boxes? Oh thats impossible to say came the answer. Cowboy Studio and USPS are really a dynamic duo to be avoided at all cost. As I sent a mail stating that I was extremely displeased with everything, The just stopped replying
"
"Purchased battery for camera, arrived a few days later DOA, wouldn't take a charge, was told to send it back. I was credited for purchase, but they deducted 20% "restocking fee" & I had to pay to ship it back. I've never heard of anyone charging a restocking fee for a defective item; what're you going to do, sell it to someone else? "This is our policy" was the answer. Frankly, it's my policy not to do do business with disreputable merchants, so this one's out."
"I have purchased three fluorescent fixtures from Cowboy Studio after researching the market. I enjoy the rugged housing, dual stand sockets, internal ballast and polished reflectors. They are not Kino's but worth the price. Barndoors need tighter hinges."
"Bought a plate "by Arca Swiss". Received a Chinese made knock-off that was defective. Beside false advertisement and defective manufacturing the Cowboy Studio refused to refund shipping. Amazon was great, just credited my account. I will never have business with crooks from Cowboy Studio again."
"I ordered an external flash battery pack from them via Amazon...similar to the Canon CP-E4 but at a fraction of the price. It worked for one session and then died. It is a brick. I sent them a message via Amazon complete with my order number and the issue. They did not respond. "
"I have ordered several small items from CBS both from their Am-zon storefront and from their Eb-a-y seller acct. The items came well packaged usually using the more reliable UPS rather than slow and unreliable USPS. They sell low cost photo and lighting accessories that are made in China. The items are serviceable but are definitely not luxury goods. The quality of thhe goods they offer is decent and more than acceptable. i have been very pleased with price, quality and shipping speed and packaging. Highly recommended. "
"Ordered via Amazon online. I was emailed on September 3rd,2010 that my order had shipped and was given a USPS tracking number. Sent an email to Cowboy Studio stating "A USPS tracking number (XXXXXXX) was issued for this item on September the 3rd, but no information has been updated by the postal service. Has this item actually been shipped? Their reply "Thank you for your purchase. Your order has been shipped on 9/3. Unfortunately, USPS does not update their website often or at all. I can assure you this package has been shipped and should arrive shortly.
Please allow 2-7 days from ship day to arrive." My reply to them, "I ship daily using Priority Mail and at least in my area, they update tracking info within 8 hours or so consistently."" I received no response to my email.
On September 10 (I have been waiting for 7days now to get my purchased item and remember I was told it had shipped on the 3rd) I get this update from the USPS "The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on September 10, 2010 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date." I of course email Cowboy Studio to point out that I had been lied to and I am not happy, as of September 12th I am still waiting for a reply from them and still have not received the item I ordered. I will never ever make the mistake of ever ordering anything from this merchant again. Use them at your own risk!"
"I'd like to relate my recent experience with them. They sent me the wrong item and I had to shoulder the return shipping! They admitted that they didn't have the item that was pictured, but the admission came AFTER I received the wrong item. Somehow, they just decided to send me something else since they didn't have what I wanted in their stock. Worse, when i complained, they insisted that I shoulder the return shipping! Jeez! Go figure!
(Besides, what I also discovered with the item they sent to me was that the quality is not as I expected, and my expectations were based on their descriptions)"
"I ordered a flash accessory from this company, and they sent me the wrong item. Of course, I called them about it, and they told me that the item I had ordered was not in stock (although it was listed to be in stock on the web), and that they had "sent me the one that seemed to be the closest to the one that was ordered." (!)
After some discussion they agreed to the return of the item they had sent, and to a full refund (including all shipping charges). It took two weeks and four additional emails before they finally sent me a return shipping label. A few days later I indeed got a refund but ... only for the item without the original shipping charges. Very frustrating experience.
At the very least this company is very poorly organized and their customer support is sub-par. I clearly do not recommend doing business with it. "
"Ordered two items from Cowboystudio.com thru Amazon. One being an optical hotshoe slave for my camera flash. Granted the order was delivered very quickly and it was only about 10.00 item, but it was defective. I emailed the company immediately (thru Amazon) to find out how to return it to either get a refund or maybe try another (a friend has the same model and his works fine). I never heard a word back from them and had to go thru Amazon's A-Z claim guarentee process... Thanks to amazon for giving me a refund after I did not receive any reply from Cowboystudio on my email asking how to return it... I guess they were all too busy riding on the range to answer, regardless i will never do business with that outfit ever again.
"