Is Midwest Photo Exchange Still in Business?

[Ben Calwell]

I second Eugene's comments about Jim at Midwest. I have met Jim face-to-face, and I can tell you that he is a straight shooter and a gentleman. I trust him completely. If he were a surgeon, I'd go under his knife.

[Graeme Hird]

If I were in the business of selling a product which I knew was slightly inferior to those of my competitors, I'd be very pleased to meet someone who puts more faith in my marketing and web site presentation than the quality of the product!

Scott, it seems the overwhelming concensus is for the quality of service you'll get from MPEX. Be patient and form a relationship from which both you and they will benefit. That relationship will last you a life time, if you're lucky. (Who knows? Jim may have even advised against selling your gear the last time - he sounds like that sort of guy.)

Cheers,
Graeme

[Scott Rosenberg]

scott, to answer your original question:

Is Midwest Photo Exchange Still in Business?

no, no they are not. do not bother trying to call them, rather, take eugene's advice and call rod at photomark and enjoy the arca swiss in your future.

[Scott Rosenberg]

just to clarify, i only specifically mentioned the arca because the two times i spoke to Rod he was REALLY pushing them...

[Scott Fleming]

Well I appreciate everyone's anser(s) excepting Dan Smith's. Dan seems to be cooking on another planet.

The main info I wished to illicit with my post was ... Just how good IS MPEX ... AND to let them know they still have a problem.

On a side note: I'm surprised that certain people would openly deride a company and a seller on this site. I thought that was pretty raw. Guess that explains why they never come here.

Please note that I did not disparage MPEX apart from an open complaint about their website and that this thread adds up to a giant free advertisement for them. You have convinced me that I should deal with them. Unless certain of the fold believe I should withold my $10k worth of business I plan on spending in the next few months from them? (like I'd give a good GD)

Thanks for all your help. Hope MPEX gets their website fixed.

[Scott Rosenberg]

scott, please consider this comment carefully and know that having $10k to spend with someone doesn't make you any more important to them than someone with $10 to spend and an opinion valued by others.

[Scott Fleming]

Scott,

I assume you were meaning Graeme's comment. Your link brings up three posts on my screen.

Well if one reads my posts it is clear that I don't put MORE worth in a website than the product. It's just one of the legs of the stool. Everyone's seeming total and absolute faith in MPEX here ... far outweighs the fact that they hired a lousy web development company.

[Dave Moeller]

Not that this thread needs another endorsement of Midwest, but...

I've been looking for a travel camera for those times when I take business trips and don't want to, or can't, take along a Crown Graphic. I found a Fuji GA645 on the MPEX site listed as being in "8/8+" condition. I contacted Jim via the contact form on the web site, asking specifically why the camera had that rating. He wrote back within about 20 minutes, detailing everything that was "wrong" with the camera (in this case, it amounted to cosmetics only) as well as those things that would be important for using the camera (lens condition, winder condition, etc.). You can bet I scooped the camera up five minutes later on the phone.

Jim's been great to deal with over the years. Even though I've never spoken with him directly (he's always busy when I call), I trust him and am happy to send my money his way.

[Janko Belaj]

just my 2 cents... (and I have nothing against MPEX as a firm or shop!!) I have noticed here are lot of us Mac users, few Web-masters (that is something between hobby and 2nd profession in my case), but I have to admit that mpex.com is ... a bit more than just a little bit clumsy. I'm browsing with probably all available browsers on Mac OS 9 and MacOS X and I had a lot of troubles... Not completely disfunctional, but have you tried change something in search fields? It is completely wrong for search engine to start while you are still entering and/or modifying query. And quite annoying... And not to mention code behind what we see... (and have different look on different renderers)... again: I'm just referring to the part of thread which talks about their web site... just try to examine this uri: http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fmpex.com%2F&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=%28detect+automatically%29
(copy and paste whole line)

[Harley Goldman]

I have bought quite a bit of LF gear from Jim at Midwest. He is extremely knowledgeable, very nice and gives me about as good a buying experience as I could ever ask for. Regardless of whether their website was running properly, I would still call Jim first if I needed something. And I have found they often have stock that is not on their website. Always worth a call. My $0.02 worth.