Cheap Electronics in Gran Canaria – A Word of Warning

If you are thinking about buying a cheap camera, I-phone or other device in Gran Canaria, be very careful where you go. A lot of the shops in the tourist areas are selling fake goods and there have been reports of these shops double-swiping credit cards, selling old models, boxing up a different model to what you were shows or selling fake electronics.

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I bought a “Techniks” CD player in my first week in the island and it worked find but not everyone is so lucky and once you are back home it is usually too late to do anything about the problem.

The Indian shops in the Pasarella Centre by Puerto Rico beach are some of the worst ones. Saying that, there are one or two reputable ones but it’s better not to buy electronics or anything expensive from these shops. Why risk it?

Photo by Alexkerhead

If you want to buy electronics check the prices in your local shops before you leave home. Some electronics are the same price or more expensive than what you could get at home. If you do want to buy something in Gran Canaria, Visanta is a reputable electronics chain – there is one in the Yumbo Centre and another in the Meloneras area.

Perhaps you are buying a mobile phone, in which case check it is unlocked and works with your sim card. If you plan to spend a lot of time in the Canaries, you might want to get a Spanish sim card to save money on calls.

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The saying “caveat emptor”, which means “buyer beware”, is an important one to bear in mind. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is!

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9 Comments

  1. Andrew Lenton

    The Indian electronics shop in the Pasarella Centre in Puerto Rico Gran Canaria.

    This shop is a complete con, they offer you cameras that seem to £450 for £50, then if look interested, they then show you how bad it is on a monitor and try and upgrade you to a better camera. Th small Sony Camera, I tried in the shop worked fine in my hand, but the one they give you has no memory card and is a fake. You will not get the the display model, but some other one they slip in. They did not want to show be the instructions or specifications when I insisted they were very reluctant. If I was not with my family I would have less polite. After seeing through the scam, I insisted in a refund as I did not trust them, and without the treat of the police or violence I wound not have got it, so be warned. Avoid like the plague

  2. VISANTA

    We are sorry to know that you have had a very negative experience in one of those shops, unfortunately some of these shops are using this dirty business practices.

    Meanwhile we try hard to offer our customers best prices possible and money back guaranties if not satisfied.

    We have 40 years of experience in the field of photography and electronics products. We like to take care of our customers and give them personalized service.

    We will be happy to attend your requirements in our shops and email [email protected].

    We have shops in:
    -TENERIFE
    Playa de Las Américas C.C. Parque Santiago III, L131
    Puerto de la Cruz C/ La Hoya
    Santa Cruz C/ General Gutiérrez, 4

    -LANZAROTE
    Arrecife: C/ Rafael González Negrín, 1
    Puerto del Carmen Avda. de Las Playas, 55

    -GRAN CANARIA
    Playa del Inglés: C.C. Yumbo
    Las Palmas de G.C: C/ Ripoche, 9 (zona parque Santa Catalina)

    Best regards,

    VISANTA SL
    http://WWW.VISANTA.COM

  3. Cameron

    There’s this thing called amazon back in the UK which you can buy cameras at great prices and everything is safe when dealing with your bank details. amazon… google it and see.

  4. james obrien

    Don’t even enter the shop.the one near hotel risol shopping centre. They tried to con me with a camera.then even though I never left the shop tried to keep my money.the stupid sales people thought they could get away with it.phone the police

  5. H handycam

    Sky line electronics, shopping center europa, cran canaria, puerto rico. Sony handycam for 20 euros, i pad for 45 and go pro cheap also. Short indian guy does the selling.The other people know that sky line electronics people are not honest and told me to be careful. That shopping center is bad, the other one is way better.

  6. Jackie

    I have just come back from Gran Canaria and found I have been ripped off for more than £4,000 by SHOPPER’S STOP on the main road opposite the harbour in Puerto Morgan. A very complex scam involving a tablet pc and (non-existent) contract for phone/wifi services. Lots of distraction techniques and technical talk used to blind me to what was going on.It’s left me feeling sick and humiliated, I was targeted as a pensioner with limited technical expertise. BEWARE

  7. Karen Bray

    AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!!
    MEDIA DIGITAL in the port near the cruise terminal in Santa Cruz.
    Am on The Queen Elisabeth ship. When we got back on board we realised we had been given a camera only worth £100. We thought we were buying a £600 one as that’s how much we paid!
    We called the police and our credit card company, but not sure if anything can be done?

  8. Jeanette

    Cannot believe the same thing has happened to us, same as you Jackie. Shopper’s Stop, Morgan. The goods seem fine, got conned into android WiFi connection which is none existent, we got ripped off for 3,500’00 pounds, our bank cannot help us.

  9. Margaret Heithus

    Steer clear of the Jai Sai Ram Souvvenir shop ny the beach in Porto Rico We bought a Dellitab and paid by credit card We had to leave the tablet at the shop for a week in order so they said to change the language to English and download apps . It was collected the day before reurning to the u k When my credit card statement appeared I found the shop had taken a fraudulant payment of 3457.00 euros and another of 2547.00 euros from my card on the day i collected the tablet. On contacting the credit card company the fraud squad and police have been involved and i have received a full refund . How did they gat my card details and pin . I can only assume that my card had been cloned The money from my card had been used to settle a debt by the shop It is a lesson to be learned and to pay in cash in the future I noticed on the receipt they also have a shop in Mogan so it may be the same one

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