Devastated Photographer Sent Bags of White Powder Instead of $3K Camera

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A photographer and video producer has suffered a huge financial loss after receiving bags of white powder instead of a Sony Alpha 7 IV worth $3,000 (£2,400).

Jakub Sokolowski from the U.K. was horrified when he opened the freshly-delivered camera box to find bags of powder in place of the full-frame mirrorless Sony.

“The parcel arrived as scheduled after a few days, handed to me by a DPD courier. When I opened it, I realized there were bags of white powder similar to flour or plaster powder perhaps,” he explains to PetaPixel.

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Sokolowski had bought the camera from Jessops, a national U.K. camera store, paying $1,155 (£936) up front and used a finance company, Klarna, to cover the rest which he has to pay back in installments.

When Sokolowski told Klarna he hadn’t received the goods, the company told him to contact Jessops who told him he “should go the police.”

Sokolowski says he was messed around by all the different parties involved, all of them pointing fingers at one another. Both Jessops and the courier company DPD claim that the photographer received the camera in “pristine condition,” according to Sokolowski.

“At the moment I’m down for over $1,233 (£1,000) and I need to continue paying monthly installments because if I stop that will ruin my credit score and I won’t be able to take a loan for a property,” he says.

“I’m a freelance camera operator and music video editor running my own small recording studio. This is a huge financial loss affecting my ability to work.”

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Jakub Sokolowski

Sokolowski tells the Daily Record that he has had to cancel “several jobs” because he doesn’t have the camera.

“It’s a huge loss and I have had countless sleepless nights. It has been terrible, it is affecting my relationships because I am stressed all the time and worrying about money because I can’t work.”

A spokesperson from the courier service DPD says: “Cases such as this are incredibly rare due to the high level of security and tracking throughout the delivery phase and, while our investigation is ongoing, we can confirm that a claim for a refund has been raised.”

PetaPixel reached out to Jessops for a comment but it did not respond as of publication.

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