Disclaimer: With the above I am not saying Parallel Imported, based in Auckland, are a rip off or anything, but it pays to be fully informed before buying from them.

My story is quite simple.  In June 2015 my old iPhone 4s died and I needed a new phone. I wanted to come over to the android market as my first requisite was now a battery life that lasted more than an afternoon, and iPhones do not offer good battery life unfortunately.

So, like possibly everyone in here, I did some market researh and settled for a Sony Xperia M2 Aqua which sported most of the things I wanted and a Li-Ion 2300 mAh battery as well as water protection.

Only one NZ store sold it at the time and the price was well over $400.00, if memory serves.  Parallel Imported were selling these for $319, inclusive of shipping and with one year warranty, so I told myself surely I'll not need the warranty claim as phones these days are fairly solid pieces of hardware, and bought it.

Couple of weeks ago the rear camera stopped working altogether, and while I don't take pictures with my phone I used the camera to scan barcodes of my rewards/loyalty cards to then use in store.

I checked the date of purchase and found it was 4th of June 2015, so I thought - good is still under warranty.

I called the people at Parallel Imported and told me I had to pay the shipping back to them, which I pretty much suspected, and $40.00 upfront to them refundable if the issue is discovered to be covered by warranty.

I guess it was my bad not to read the fine print really, but I am still fiarly disappointed at this and learnt a good lesson for the future: Buy at a reputable store in my area and while I may spend more the peace of mind of warranty claim handled in a more customer centric way is priceless.

So, beware of the extra costs hidden with these crowd if you ever consider purchasing from them.

My 2c