"This is my third order from Midwest Photo and as with the others, my order was processed/shipped in a timely manner and everything looks good. I've had consistently good experiences with them and I'm surprised their rating here is not better."

"First, I'm sorry to see so many negative reviews. My experience was, however, very good. I found this company through Strobist.com blog discussions of new flash gear reviews/techniques. That community seemed to really appreciate MPEX's willingness to cater to the portable flash users so I figured I'd try an order. Sunday April 5, 2009 I submitted an order of 2 Vivitar 285HV, a Lumopro LP120, and a set of Cactus V2s transmitter/receiver. Immediately received an auto reply confirming my information. APPX 24 hours later, received email that the status of order was "accepted". Tuesday morning received call to inform me the V2s set was out of stock (to be fair, the website DID say call/email to confirm stock. I did not do this!). The guy said it would be around 2 weeks before they had anymore and asked if I wanted to wait for the complete order or just remove that from my invoice---this was appreciated as opposed to just them processing as-is while I'm waiting the next two weeks unsure what is going on. I opted to drop the set and to order just the flashes and one receiver. Package arrived via 3day shipment on Thursday. Perfect timing to test the new gear over Easter weekend. I'll be ordering some light st ands and umbrellas tomorrow. I believe they're a relatively small operation, but they seem to know their stuff, have good prices, and seem eager to help. Hopefully others will post their positive experiences too. I am excited to order the rest of my rig from MPEX.

I would suggest to email them via their contact page to ask about the stock of any item you are considering before submitting and online order. Or just call in the order. Regardless, I got what I wanted when I wanted it. That's what counts to me. 24-48 hour processing time was a bit stressful, but it all still arrived the same week of the order. Track your emails and confirmations and you should be good, I'd assume.

- Noel."

"I placed my order online on March 3, 2009 and did not hear a thing for 3 days. I then called and they told me my items were backordered. (Thanks for the e-mail!)

I waited 16 days and saw my credit card was charged for a little over half of the total price for lighting equipment($254.05). So I called the company again and they stated they made a mistake and thought I didn't want the flashes(huh?). The rep was nice and told me he would eat the shipping and knock an additional $10 of the 2 flashes that he forgot to pack.

I was happy and got off the phone and then checked my credit card account and noticed he charged me for another $240.00. The total price of the lighting kit was $439.99. So now I have been charged a total of $494.05 for a kit I ordered over 2 weeks ago!
By now I am in shock, so I e-mailed them and wondered why in world did I get charged $55.00 over the price of the kit??

I got a nice e-mail minutes later stating they had made a mistake and would refund me $55.00. So much for taking off $10 from each flash unit. And what about the shipping?

I gave up. I let it go at that so I can just get my stuff (hopefully) and then never have to deal with this company again. Very nice people, but they have the most incapable people running the place. How hard is it to read an order placed online and ship the product? Run from these guys! Incompetence is plentiful there! I will continue to order from B&H and Adorama in the future."

"Very satisfied. I have purchased from Midwest Photo Exchange previously. This transaction was great. I called before I went to the store to make sure that they had what I was looking for because the website listed "call" for their in stock message. They did have what I wanted(a background support stand), was in and out in 5 minutes.
Great customer service people, easy transaction."

"I placed my order on January 20th, I used UPS ground for the shipment, everything was in stock at the time of order. I wait a week and nothing arrives, so I call them and they tell me it will get here in the next couple days. Waited a few more days, nothing arrives... Called them again, they tell me it will be here on Wednesday the 4th.. wait some more, doesn't arrive. Finally I get my stuff on Friday the 6th..

Decent prices, but 15 business days is way to long for shipping. I don't think I could buy from this store again.. better off with B&H."

"Exactly what I ordered at a lightning fast speed. I had my tracking number within hours of placing my order and it was at my door one day later. Just excellent! "

"I called after reading a couple of reviews here to make sure things were in stock and shipping would not be delayed. I spoke with a very nice representative, received my package a day early, and they even printed off the rebate forms for me and included them in the shipment. Spectacular.

Now the bad. I stated that I called because I was new to off camera lighting. I explained what I was trying to do and the equipment I had. I purchased radio triggers, hot shoe adapter, umbrella swivels etc. A substantial purchase.

What I recieved was a hot shoe adapter that would not work with the radio triggers I ordered and the swivel broke before I even used it. The swivel is not their fault even though I explained that I wanted a metal one but received a plastic one. This is a product problem and not the vendor however, to ship me a hotshoe adapter that would not work with the triggers I ordered was a newbie move.

I will call them today and I'm sure we can get it straighted out but I won't be able to use my lighting this weekend and I leave town on business this week and won't be able to use any of this for at least two more weeks. Very disappointing.

I spoke with a very nice young lady. She assured me that they would straighten everything out. We decided that I would buy additional items and she would credit my card when she received the return items.(I chose this method). I still have not received my replacement merchandise. She told me she would rush it right out and to return the bad products the cheapest method possible. It appears she did the same. I would have expected to receive the replacements by now. I am back from my business trip and still don't have what I need. I ended up buying locally and paying too much in order to use my new equipment before my trip.

I received my replacement equipment on 1/22. Now let's see if my CC gets credited. "

"This was my first order with Midwest. Everything went smoothly. Items were as described and of good quality. I'm pleased and will order from them again"

"I ordered some basic, simple equipment to replace some stolen stuff . the site lists all materials to be in stock. I ordered on a Tuesday morning.

Tuesday evening nothing shipped
Wednesday evening nothing shipped
Thursday evening nothing shipped

Friday I call, and at least a real person answered. They were finally going to ship it that night. What the hell have they been doing with the stuff? I've worked in a dotcom before, and i know precisely how it all (should) work. this is not it.

update:
One of the items I rec'd was opened, used, and inoperable. The trick now is actually getting a response to either return the item or get it replaced --no responses to the last 4 emails."

"All Customer Service people were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Very friendly and willing to help. Great shipping to Australia!!! I would deal with this company over B&H or Adorama in the future!! Just great!

Update:
Second purchase from MPEX was better than the first! Quick shipping again. Very helpful staff. Noah and Mike are great, in fact they all are. Awesome shipping price, and speed.

Well done again, MPEX!!"

"Very Happy!
Prompt delivery to Australia, fair price on shipping too! Definitely ordering again from them. Thank you!"

"After ordering online it was quiet for a few days. However, delivery was very fast after order confirmation."