# Current Off Shore Order ETDs



## YYCHM (Aug 29, 2020)

Just as a FYI...

An Amazon order for carbide inserts (Aug 28)  that ship out of China has a ETD of October 26 - November 17.  China Post I believe.

An AliXpress order for ER collets shipped via EPacket has a ETD of 15-30 days.


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## CalgaryPT (Aug 29, 2020)

I'm getting frustrated with Amazon, and it pre-dates Covid. I'm finding that in addition to not policing misleading product descriptions, they have become less transparent WRT delivery dates. You really have to triple check what you order from overseas; much of it doesn't even get manufactured until orders reach a specific quantity, hence the lengthly waits. Amazon takes the same hands off approach to the products they sell as Facebook does with content. You're on your own.

And I won't even comment on the arbitrage examples. Those drive me nuts.


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## Johnwa (Aug 29, 2020)

If possible I only order if it’s fulfilled by amazon.  If its being shipped by the seller from China then I use Aliexpress.


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## candiveserv (Aug 29, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> If possible I only order if it’s fulfilled by amazon.  If its being shipped by the seller from China then I use Aliexpress.


AliExpress does not refund the shipping charges if the product does not make it to your doorstep within their time-frame or at all.   Amazon, I find expensive in most instances, The free shipping is compensated for in the inflated price. I would much rather see honest pricing for the item and again honest pricing for the shipping. Then I could make an educated decision about a tentative purchase. Cheers


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## YYCHM (Aug 29, 2020)

candiveserv said:


> AliExpress does not refund the shipping charges if the product does not make it to your doorstep within their time-frame or at all.



AliExpress doesn't refund items that are never delivered?


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## candiveserv (Aug 29, 2020)

AE refunds items that are not delivered but they do not refund the shipping charges. I am speaking from personal experience.
 So it is a quick way to loose 20 bucks that could have been spent locally or from a place in Canada.


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## YYCHM (Sep 5, 2020)

Further development...… My AliExpress order with ETD of 15-30 days appears to have been mailed??  CP recognizes the tracking number.  Unlike other orders, I never received email notice that it had been shipped.   Not sure what this EPacket thing is now.  My order also states that I can't open an undelivered dispute until Dec 2


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## Tom O (Sep 5, 2020)

I ordered from Amazon via China tracking # never worked and realized they were delivered to my box When the email gets sent to rate it by Amazon.


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## kylemp (Sep 5, 2020)

I can't even begin to explain how much I've ordered off aliexpress (and Alibaba for that matter) and have only had one very small, very cheap thing not show up. All the others that were out of timeframe I disputed and had a refund for, and generally EVENTUALLY the thing would show up. 
My recent experience with shipping times isn't good.. Still w/o things I've ordered 2 months ago so, like I always say, if you need it fast buy it on this side of the ocean or be prepared to wait. You're getting a discount mainly because of the shipping times, keep that part in mind when ordering from China.


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## Dabbler (Sep 6, 2020)

I'm currently waiting on a carbide burr via amazon.ca, but the delivery date says oct22-nov13 - fingers crossed!

 A few months ago I disputed an order that was 5 months late - disputing every month or so, finally I got my refund.  The parcel showed up a few weeks ago, and now I feel guilty!


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## CalgaryPT (Sep 6, 2020)

Dabbler said:


> I'm currently waiting on a carbide burr via amazon.ca, but the delivery date says oct22-nov13 - fingers crossed!
> 
> A few months ago I disputed an order that was 5 months late - disputing every month or so, finally I got my refund.  The parcel showed up a few weeks ago, and now I feel guilty!


When I (briefly) considered becoming an Amazon seller for an item I was going to make, I attended a local Amazon Sellers' Group. What I learned is that many overseas items use "vacuum pool containers" (vacuum in this case meaning they aren't full). Companies wait until they have enough orders, then negotiate space in an unfilled container that goes nowhere near you. It then sits in this country or region. Eventually their shipper negotiates space in another container that has space and may even go back to the original country it comes from. This iterates multiple times until it gets to you, which is why it takes so long. I learned that in the shipping industry not everyone ships knowing how it will arrive, as this is dependent on price. The distributors who sell at lower prices often use this technique and the result is a 5 month delay that looks like a lost package to you.

I have had the same experience, contacted the seller and been sent another item that arrived (because the stars aligned and its route went by way of containers that were closer to full, and thus got shipped sooner). Sure enough the original arrives months later. Once I even contacted the seller and offered to return or pay for the second (original) item. They couldn't be bothered for the price, which is quite a comment on the markup I guess.

I also learned that sellers can partner with other sellers to share container space purposely. There are data companies (or maybe Amazon itself sells the data) that look at where an item's COO (Country of Origin) is, its ratings on Amazon, its shipment history, etc. You then partner with a company that meets your needs and piggy back on their more reliable shipping strategy. Oddly enough, some companies purposely buy bad pool space knowing it will take months past the ETD. They do it not just to save money. Some companies have been known to buy and sell a small amount of competitive products and _purposely_ ship them via a known bad pool route just to upset customers. In a market with only two or three brands, customers often don't differentiate by seller, and just associate the bad reviews with the brand name. Amazon tries to toss out reviews that reference shipping issues, but many people read between the lines and most reviewers can't separate their bias of the shipping time from the product itself. Case in point: I've never had an Amazon review rejected because I _complemented_ the shipping speed, but have had multiple ones rejected because I _criticized_ it.

Amazon is a fascinating business and there are a bunch of good books about it. I was also fascinated to learn in the user group that the reason why you see a box of wooden toothpicks selling for $6000 is because sellers know many people will buy a higher priced product thinking it is better than the similar item priced just slightly below it. Sellers set an algorithm that monitors their competitor's price and then increases their own price to a marginal percentage above it. But if the competitor has done the same, the result is dueling algorithms and a box of $6000 toothpicks.

I learned a ton from this user group, much of which disgusted me. I must have looked pretty doe eyed when I joined.


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## YYCHM (Sep 6, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> When I (briefly) considered becoming an Amazon seller for an item I was going to make, I attended a local Amazon Sellers' Group. What I learned is that many overseas items use "vacuum pool containers" (vacuum in this case meaning they aren't full). Companies wait until they have enough orders, then negotiate space in an unfilled container that goes nowhere near you. It then sits in this country or region. Eventually their shipper negotiates space in another container that has space and may even go back to the original country it comes from. This iterates multiple times until it gets to you, which is why it takes so long. I learned that in the shipping industry not everyone ships knowing how it will arrive, as this is dependent on price. The distributors who sell at lower prices often use this technique and the result is a 5 month delay that looks like a lost package to you.
> 
> I have had the same experience, contacted the seller and been sent another item that arrived (because the stars aligned and its route went by way of containers that were closer to full, and thus got shipped sooner). Sure enough the original arrives months later. Once I even contacted the seller and offered to return or pay for the second (original) item. They couldn't be bothered for the price, which is quite a comment on the markup I guess.
> 
> ...



Was that your skunk(?) trap endeavour?

I offered to re-refund an item that arrived way after it had been refunded only to discover there was no mechanism in place to do so.


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## CalgaryPT (Sep 6, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Was that your trap endeavour?
> 
> I offered to re-refund an item that arrived way after it had been refunded only to discover there was no mechanism in place to do so.


Yup—insurance company threatened to cancel my homeowners insurance if I did anything commercial. It shut down my retirement business.


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## PeterT (Sep 6, 2020)

Pete, where was the Amazon group assembled or located? Like a Meetup thing? Are they still functioning? (I mean outside of covid issues). I've wondered a lot about the inner workings myself, both as buyer but more how people are marketing things when they have an invention or product. There is a lot of YouTube content but vast majority is useless. Usually USA based which doesn't work the same here. Or re-flogging Walmart sale items or they speculated on a carton of AliExpress items. Or out of date business model, or gateway to buy their How I made a Zillion$ from my Moms closet and a cell phone lol.


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## CalgaryPT (Sep 6, 2020)

This is it here: https://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Amazon-Sellers-Meetup/

The guy who set it up is also the 3D Printer guru at UofC. The meetings used to be in the Alastair Ross Technology Centre at the UofC Campus ( https://www.platformcalgary.com/locations/artc/ ), but not sure if that is still the case. Last time I looked they had 400+ members, but only 20-30 showed up at any given meeting.


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## francist (Sep 6, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> insurance company threatened to cancel my homeowners insurance if I did anything commercial.



Interesting. Is that because you would have been manufacturing items for sale in your home or just plain working out of your home to support your business? A ton of people work out of their home doing various things (author, artist, whatever) — what didn’t they like (other than skunks)?

-frank


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## CalgaryPT (Sep 6, 2020)

Small artistic operations like writing, quilt making, painting etc., usually aren't an issue (zoning not withstanding). But commercial welding in a non-commercial space was the problem. Insurance companies don't even like hobby welding, which is interesting because hobby welding at home doesn't even make the top 10 causes of household fires (cooking is #1). Contrary to popular belief the insurance industry isn't 100% data driven. There are still a lot of myths and suppositions underneath premium costs (ask any male driver under 25). Before I started I engaged an insurance broker (not agent) to see if there would be an issue. I was told for a slightly increased premium I would be fine and they would allow the usage up to a certain area in the garage. Six months later when I went to finalize they had changed their mind. 

I never intended to sell from my home; it was all internet based and I had a distributor in BC lined up. I also had all the City home occupation permits ready to go. 

It was a huge lesson in business for me. I spent 10s of thousands on startup costs including patents, trademarks, and an e-commerce site, but still knew there was risk. I knew every part cost down to the penny, but my profit margin only existed because I had no labour cost and no workshop rental overhead. The second I priced out commercial space I was loosing money. It also defeated the purpose of the business, which really was to give me something to do in retirement—not become a millionaire.

I don't regret a penny. I feel like I got a fast track MBA. It was a great, albeit expensive, experience.

Having a forge in your garage is likely a similar insurance no-no, but I know people do it. If it were just me and my own house I would have taken the risk, but having homeowner's coverage voided on our house wouldn't sit well with my wife or family. End of sad story....


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## YYCHM (Sep 18, 2020)

EPacket delivered as claimed.  AliExpress stuff ordered on the 4th was delivered on the 18th.


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## candiveserv (Sep 18, 2020)

Glad to hear that..! I had purchased an ER32 collet from AE and never received it. I got refunded but not for the shipping. I then bought the same on eBay for slightly more money but at least I received it. Not tht I dislike AE. I bought alot of neat stuff thee but I think twice about bigger ticket items .


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## YYCHM (Sep 19, 2020)

Any one have experience with AliExpress Standard Shipping?  It claims the same delivery standard as EPacket. 15-30 days.


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## Canadium (Sep 19, 2020)

When I tried to buy stuff on AE a long time ago they wanted all kinds of personal and card info which turned me off especially considering its a China based business. So I limit myself to EBay. I also have got refunds for overdue Ebay purchases coming from China only to discover they arrived a little later. In one case when a larger amount was involved I told the seller and gave their money back again. They were very appreciative and probably couldn't believe anyone was dumb enough to do such a thing. This year when a couple of my items were late they blamed it on the pandemic and a subsequent reduced number of shipping options. They practically begged me to be patient so I waited. Eventually everything did arrive although sometimes very late.


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## Johnwa (Sep 19, 2020)

I have used AE quite a bit.  I use a credit card with a $1000 limit on it but never have had a problem.   I never save the card info, I just re enter it for each purchase.  Other than that all they wanted was my mailing address. My understanding is that AE keeps the payment in escrow until the transaction is complete.  I don’t think ebay transactions work that way. Whenever there was a problem with an AE order I never had any problem getting a refund.

I am starting to receive items from my last order, made in April.  I’ve received refunds for all of them since they weren’t delivered in time.  

A few times I managed to repay after I‘d got a refund and the item showed up.  AE really isn’t set up for that though and it was a really frustrating process.  Unless it was a large purchase I wouldn’t bother doing that again.


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## YYCHM (Sep 20, 2020)

Things appear to be improving.  My Amazon order for carbide inserts that was mailed via China Post with an ETD of Oct 28 is now in CA and I should see them this week.


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## candiveserv (Sep 20, 2020)

I was supposed to receive an item from AE and it made it to CA in fact in Ottawa were I live but still was not being delivered. I called the DHL depot when they stated that the parcel was undeliverable and they emailed me stating that the shipper (AE) did not pay the duties on it..  I then emailed the seller and they said it was out of their control and suggested I re-order the item. The  shipping was handled by AE and they had a nome for it (AE super duper express) or something like that. As I said in an earlier post, I did get refunded for the colet set but not for the shipping which was expensive enough because of the weight of the item.


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## candiveserv (Sep 20, 2020)

On another note, I ordered a few things from Amazon just this Friday. I added a center finder Fowler 52-575-020 Combo Edge and Center Finder to make the minimum for free shipping. I received it today!  Friday Saturday Sunday. Wow!  Amazon does have a huge warehouse about  30 kms from here but still. and on a weekend.


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## YYCHM (Sep 20, 2020)

candiveserv said:


> On another note, I ordered a few things from Amazon just this Friday. I added a center finder Fowler 52-575-020 Combo Edge and Center Finder to make the minimum for free shipping. I received it today!  Friday Saturday Sunday. Wow!  Amazon does have a huge warehouse about  30 kms from here but still. and on a weekend.



Ya, if it's labeled shipped by Amazon, the delivery time can be next day on some stuff.


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## Tom Kitta (Sep 20, 2020)

Recently I feel AE has been sabotaged with shipping a bit as a lot of items arrive late & seller has to refund costs. This has forced some sellers to ban Canada as they loose too much $$$. Experience with AE is excellent - they are even better then Amazon as far as refunds and cases go - Chinese efficiency. 

As for seller stuff so far I got burned bad by eBay. Their resolution process is a nightmare. It takes weeks. No automation. Dozens of emails and chat sessions. Hours wasted. Ebay truly sucks when there is an issue. I am not over dramatizing - you have to ask multiple times over chat for them to act and when they say 24-48h they mean 1 - 2 weeks. With you on their rear end constantly asking why it all takes so long. 

For pricing on many items AE is the best by far. This is followed by eBay and Amazon usually is terrible. This mimics seller fees. Seller fees on eBay with paypal are 20%. I would not be socked if Amazon was 30%. I suspect AE is less then 10%. 

I am quite sure there is some conspiracy to delay shipments form China as the Covid situation does not seem to have any effects on shipments to Europe - people in say Russia get their AE stuff at least 2x or 3x faster then Canada. Some AE shippers went so far to have a small distributor in NA to deal with the issue - that more or less kills any Amazon / eBay competition.


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## kevin.decelles (Sep 21, 2020)

I agree with Tom, I suspect Canada post is working to rule (more than usual) during COVID. There are weeks where there is NOTHING in my mailbox , and when I ask about it my local post office rep said there simply was no mail period, for anyone. 

I had 7 or 8 orders from eBay, ae, etc. all ordered within weeks of each other all arrive on the same day, magically. Almost as if there was a bin filling up and they won’t release it until it is full. This has occurred more than once

I shy away from eBay for the reasons Tom lists re refund policy. Painful. If I do order through eBay, I pay PayPal as they are easier to deal with

I order 90% through amazon lately especially if time is a factor.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## YYCHM (Sep 23, 2020)

This is interesting...….

My Amazon order for carbide inserts (Aug 28) that shipped out of China with a ETD of October 26 - November 17 arrived today.  It had a China Post label on one side and an EPacket label on the other?  It was labeled "gaskets".


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## gerritv (Sep 24, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> If possible I only order if it’s fulfilled by amazon.  If its being shipped by the seller from China then I use Aliexpress.


That is my approach as well. If there is an issue AliExpress deal with it both better and prompter than Amazon. Everything was snail's pace earlier this year, one parcel was 6 months.
What put me off Amazon was their intentionally badly focused Search. I usually already know what I want to buy, but everything shown is what they want to sell.


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## YYCHM (Oct 30, 2020)

Check out this EPacket delivery gong show.....






Ordered on the 15th and still in China


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## CalgaryPT (Oct 30, 2020)

I'm reading this book now called, "The Box — How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger." You wouldn't think a 400 page economic history of Sea-Cans could be so interesting, yet I'm enjoying it. I love micro-history and learning about stuff others don't care about until they realize how it changed the whole world.

It doesn't fix _your_ shipping pain, but it sure enlightened me about how complicated the shipping world was (and still can be) as it tries to get your inserts across an ocean so you can have fun in your shop


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## gerritv (Oct 30, 2020)

My recent AliExpress and Banggood items have been arriving within 2 weeks of shipment. 10 more on the way.

First time an Aliexpress item was ordered, and it arrived next day via Amazon Prime! Quite the surprise, and unwanted as it messed up my plans. I usually count on the 2 week interim period to get things ready for what I ordered 

Gerrit


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## YYCHM (Nov 1, 2020)

What can you say eh.... proverbial gong show happening here...


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## PeterT (Nov 1, 2020)

I've was getting confusing updates from Canada Post on my recent Ali order. The order had landed in country obviously, first an ETA, then a retraction, then a revision, then behold arrives (about 2 weeks after original notification). This had nothing to do with the Asian shipper. But last time I checked the news there was still a raging worldwide virus issue going on so I don't think its unreasonable to expect shipping time variation. I've heard stories on other forums where the vendors were switching shippers (at higher expense to them) just to get items to the customer so clap-clap for effort. Maybe not your particular situation but I think its hard to draw meaningful conclusions about suppliers or shipping in these unprecedented crazy times. Not making excuses, just sayin.

Re 'gong show', I'd much prefer detailed progress line items like you have than limited info or no info. My buddy had a 2K Fedex order go sideways & they couldn't tell him where it was. For a while it was looking like delivered to a guy in Florida. This is Fedex we're talkin. His conversation with the resolution center was apologetic, they were struggling with necessary re-routing due to COVID & taking on other couriers to help out.


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## YYCHM (Nov 1, 2020)

That very first entry of "Handed off to forwarding agent for transit"  was initially listed as "Handed off to airlines" and then changed shortly after???

My order is listed with a Nov 1 - Nov 11 delivery, I'm having my doubts about that claim......


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## CalgaryPT (Nov 1, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> That very first entry of "Handed off to forwarding agent for transit"  was initially listed as "Handed off to airlines" and then changed shortly after???
> 
> My order is listed with a Nov 1 - Nov 11 delivery, I'm having my doubts about that claim......


I'm as far away from religious as you can get, but apparently Saint Bona of Pisa is the Patron Saint of Couriers. If your escapade gets any more complicated, maybe it's time to light a candle or two...


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## kevin.decelles (Nov 2, 2020)

I ordered a universal cutter/grinder from AE at the end of Sept -- my biggest spend there to-date (~1400).  I chose DHL for delivery as I've never had unexpected fees outside the standard duty etc.  Package shipped last Friday and the YYC data-mining of updates begins.

For DHL, I explicitly requested they 'hold' the package.  Don't bring it to me -- I'll come to you.  I indicated this on my order, I updated the settings for this one waybill, I reconfirmed it everytime I went to the site.........  and the last update on Friday was 'Clearance processed' in 'Southern Alberta'.

I finish work on Friday, go to the kitchen to get a drink of water.  Looking out the window, I see a wooden crate/box sitting in the middle of my lane, with a bird sitting on it.  I live in the country and there wasn't a solid object for 50 feet -- just the box.  I go out and check, and sure enough it's my cutter/grinder.

It took 12 hours for the DHL site to update and show it as delivered....... so do they every really know where the freight is?  and show much for 'hold for pickup'.  

My wife wanted to complain,  I was just happy that a) they shipped it   b) it wasn't damaged  and c)  it worked and was exactly what I expected.

Total ship time - 6 days 20 hours.   105lbs of freight.    In the past 12 months, AE hasn't bit me once,  I had two parcels disappear from Ebay that shipped from USA.... go figure


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## YYCHM (Nov 2, 2020)

This is CP's take on the situation...…..


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## PeterT (Nov 2, 2020)

kevin.decelles said:


> Looking out the window, I see a wooden crate/box sitting in the middle of my lane, with a bird sitting on it.  I live in the country and there wasn't a solid object for 50 feet -- just the box.  I go out and check, and sure enough it's my cutter/grinder.



Wow, that's crazy. I've heard of similar situations where people have tried to interject normal UPS/Fedex type delivery so they can self clear through some procedure & save the dinger fees. One ofmy RC friends wrote a step-by-step process. It sounded complicated, maybe the shippers play it that way intentionally, I dunno. Glad it worked out for you in the end.

What T&CG if you don't mind me asking?


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## YYCHM (Nov 2, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Wow, that's crazy. I've heard of similar situations where people have tried to interject normal UPS/Fedex type delivery so they can self clear through some procedure & save the dinger fees. One ofmy RC friends wrote a step-by-step process. It sounded complicated, maybe the shippers play it that way intentionally, I dunno. Glad it worked out for you in the end.
> 
> What T&CG if you don't mind me asking?



It's still in China as far as I know....

What is T&CG?


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## PeterT (Nov 2, 2020)

Sorry for the acronyms. Tool & Cutter Grinder. Sorry Kevin called his a universal cutter grinder & that's the machine I was asking about.


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## YYCHM (Nov 8, 2020)

Well this is getting just a tad tedious...…….






Been sitting in this state for 8 days now.  Check out the open dispute date 2021-01-14


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## Johnwa (Nov 8, 2020)

You should contact the seller and ask what’s going on.


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## YYCHM (Nov 10, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> You should contact the seller and ask what’s going on.



单号：LZ395416494CN
包裹状态：运输途中
国家：中国 -> 加拿大
目的地：
2020-10-31 16:45, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-30 11:22, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-19 22:02, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-19 21:21, CNCANA,China, International item processed in originating country
2020-10-19 18:48, China, International item mailed in originating country
发件地：
2020-11-01 05:07, 广州市, 已交承运商运输
2020-11-01 03:02, 广州市, 离开【广州国际中心】，下一站【广州国际交换站】
2020-10-31 16:45, 广州市, 【广州国际中心】已出口直封
2020-10-31 16:45, 广州市, 【广州国际中心】退回，备注：安检退回
2020-10-31 16:40, 广州市, 【广州国际交换站】退回
2020-10-31 11:39, 广州市, 已交承运商运输
2020-10-30 11:22, 广州市, 【广州国际中心】已出口直封
2020-10-30 11:22, 广州市, 【广州国际中心】退回，备注：安检退回
2020-10-29 20:49, 广州市, 【广州国际交换站】退回
2020-10-20 04:32, 广州市, 已交承运商运输
2020-10-20 03:42, 广州市, 到达【广州国际交换站】
2020-10-19 22:02, 广州市, 【广州国际中心】已出口直封
2020-10-19 19:40, 广州市, 离开【省国际花地湾营业部】，下一站【广州国际】
2020-10-19 18:48, 广州市, 【省国际花地湾营业部】已收寄，揽投员：黄明忠1，电话：17391391390
======================================
Powered by www.17track.net
Number: LZ395416494CN
Package status: In Transit
Country: China-> Canada
Destination:
2020-10-31 16:45, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-30 11:22, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-19 22:02, CNCAND,China, International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2020-10-19 21:21, CNCANA,China, International item processed in originating country
2020-10-19 18:48, China, International item mailed in originating country
Place of shipment:
2020-11-01 05:07, Guangzhou, delivered to the carrier for transportation
2020-11-01 03:02, Guangzhou city, leave [Guangzhou International center], next stop [Guangzhou International Exchange Station]]
2020-10-31 16:45, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International center] has been exported directly
2020-10-31 16:45, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International center] return, remarks: Security Check return
2020-10-31 16:40, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International Exchange station] return
2020-10-31 11:39, Guangzhou, delivered to the carrier for transportation
2020-10-30 11:22, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International center] has been exported directly
2020-10-30 11:22, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International center] return, remarks: Security Check return
2020-10-29 20:49, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International Exchange station] return
2020-10-20 04:32, Guangzhou, delivered to the carrier for transportation
2020-10-20 03:42, Guangzhou, arrive at [Guangzhou International Exchange Station]]
2020-10-19 22:02, Guangzhou city, [Guangzhou International center] has been exported directly
2020-10-19 19:40, Guangzhou city, leave [provincial international Huadiwan business department], next stop [Guangzhou International]]
2020-10-19 18:48, Guangzhou city, [provincial international Huadiwan business department] has been received and sent, and the investor: Huang Mingzhong 1, tel: 17391391390
======================================
Powered by www.17track.net
Alibaba Translation


包裹是因多次安检不合格，重新发出，导致一直在中国运转
The package was reissued due to several unqualified security checks, resulting in continuous operation in China.



And another response later......

安检不合格的因素有很多，所无法规避这种情况
There are many factors that fail the security check, which cannot be avoided.
Alibaba Translation


只希望包裹幸运一些，不要放在无法出口的集装袋中；包裹就能很快通过安检，交航飞往加拿大
I only hope that the package will be lucky and not put in the container bag that cannot be exported; The package will pass the security check quickly and be delivered to Canada by air.



And another...

朋友，这个我没法给你准确的答复，如果安检很顺利地通过了，那么由中国飞往加拿大，，再到送到你手上，快的话30天左右就可以了。如果安检依然不太顺利的话，我也没法预测包裹什么时候可以送到你手上。
My friend, I can't give you an accurate answer to this. If the security check passes smoothly, then fly from China to Canada, and then send it to you, if it is fast, it will take about 30 days. If the security check is still not smooth, I can't predict when the package will be delivered to you.


----------



## DPittman (Nov 11, 2020)

Frustrating ain't it.


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 12, 2020)

Spotted this on Amazon.ca yesterday and ordered it.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07ZCTFB78/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was delivered at 6pm today!  Nice! 

3.7KW and $10 less than the 2.2KW ALIExpress unit I currently have stuck in limbo in China.

Seems well make and works out of the box alright...... BUT...… the instruction/programing manual is in Chinese


----------



## Crankit (Nov 12, 2020)

My guess is there is an import documentation or addressing issue


----------



## RobinHood (Nov 12, 2020)

Nice score - do you have a picture of the data plate?


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 12, 2020)

RobinHood said:


> Nice score - do you have a picture of the data plate?



Can't seem to get an image of it, the flash keeps washing it out.  But all it really states apart from some part number and S/N is

1PH AC220V 50/60Hz
3PH AC220V 0-800Hz 3.7KW


----------



## RobinHood (Nov 12, 2020)

Thanks.

Was just concerned that they shipped you the 0.4KW power unit and not the 3.7KW one. The add seems to show a bunch of options when it come to rated power.






Looks like you are fine.


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 12, 2020)

RobinHood said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Was just concerned that they shipped you the 0.4KW power unit and not the 3.7KW one. The add seems to show a bunch of options when it come to rated power.
> 
> ...



Ya, I found that a little confusing as well, but the ad title did clearly state 3.7KW.  The price was more in the 0.75-1.5KW category, but the regular price was more on the 4-5KW category, so I took a chance.  I could always contest (or try to contest?) what was sent as not as advertised.


----------



## Johnwa (Nov 13, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Spotted this on Amazon.ca yesterday and ordered it..
> 
> .. BUT...… the instruction/programing manual is in Chinese



I have an app on my phone that will take a picture and then translate it.  The results vary from fairly good to gibberish.  It might work well enough to cross reference to an English one.


----------



## Brent H (Nov 13, 2020)

@YYCHobbyMachinist  I have 2 similar ones to what you purchased running my mill and lathe -Does the attached help? work for you?


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 14, 2020)

Gong Show...….







Ordered Oct 15 and still in China.


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 23, 2020)

What do you figure.... should I believe this or not????






I was just about to raise a dispute on this order.  It was returned to the shipper 4 times since mid Oct.


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 24, 2020)

Well it finally made it to Canada.....






I wonder what the problem was about?


----------



## Dusty (Nov 24, 2020)

Hang in there Craig it's a coming!


----------



## David_R8 (Nov 24, 2020)

In stark contrast I have a rotary table on its way from India. Shipped on the 20th, should be here tomorrow as it landed in Victoria yesterday.
Keep the faith Craig!


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 24, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> I have a rotary table on its way from India.



This should be interesting.  I think the RT I got from BB was from India.  It was terrible.


----------



## David_R8 (Nov 24, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> This should be interesting.  I think the RT I got from BB was from India.  It was terrible.


Indeed. I took a leap of faith because it was only $200 including tail stock and dividing plates.
If it's awful I'll rebuild it.


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 24, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Indeed. I took a leap of faith because it was only $200 including tail stock and dividing plates.
> If it's awful I'll rebuild it.



What size and what brand?  The one I had was a SOBA.


----------



## David_R8 (Nov 24, 2020)

No brand but as far as I can tell they are all pretty much identical.
It is really an experiment.


----------



## Chicken lights (Nov 24, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> I'm reading this book now called, "The Box — How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger." You wouldn't think a 400 page economic history of Sea-Cans could be so interesting, yet I'm enjoying it. I love micro-history and learning about stuff others don't care about until they realize how it changed the whole world.
> 
> It doesn't fix _your_ shipping pain, but it sure enlightened me about how complicated the shipping world was (and still can be) as it tries to get your inserts across an ocean so you can have fun in your shop
> 
> View attachment 11464


I ordered that book tonight, I’ve read a bit about it before and I think it will prove to be a great read 
Also I tend to believe you won’t steer a guy wrong


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 30, 2020)

So now CP appears to have misplaced my package.....






I'm wondering if it got sent back to China for some reason???


----------



## Johnwa (Nov 30, 2020)

It hasn’t been released from customs yet.
Here‘s one I have coming.  It’s a small package and made it through customs in one day.


Origin: 
2020-11-25 17:51, BURNABY,BC, Item processed
2020-11-25 09:40, VANCOUVER,BC, Item was released by Customs and is now with Canada Post for processing
2020-11-24 16:10, RICHMOND,BC, Shipment picked up by Canada Post
2020-11-18 17:10, Electronic information submitted by shipper
======================================
Powered by www.17track.net


----------



## YYCHM (Nov 30, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> It hasn’t been released from customs yet.
> Here‘s one I have coming.  It’s a small package and made it through customs in one day.
> 
> 
> ...



That's what it appears to be, but why stalled in customs for a week now?  It's a VFD.


----------



## PeterT (Nov 30, 2020)

Customs doesn't care what it it. Well... they care if its a bad thing, or an expensive thing. But I mean your parcel goes through the same evaluation process as thousands of other deliveries every day. I just received some low $ value, small shipping box cutting tools. It has been in-country for +2 weeks, probably majority of that time in customs holding pattern and/or Canada Post. But with increasing demands of holiday season, Covid issues... its not like you have many options. BTW some go through unopened, some random ones get opened... whether you get a duty/tax bill is kind of a variable thing too.


----------



## David_R8 (Nov 30, 2020)

My rotary table arrived very quickly via DHL and had been opened.


----------



## kevin.decelles (Nov 30, 2020)

TIS the season for delays . I get my mail in town, and the lady at the post office will go days without ANY parcels from Canada post. That’s for everyone 3000+ people

There are definitely processing delays or holds applied....... add a union or two and a holiday season...... 

I’m ordering stuff now that I expect to need in feb (carbides / end mills)




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Brent H (Dec 2, 2020)

As an FYI if you pay on Aliexpress with PayPal it is changed over to AliPay and they take the payment as "Cash Advance" against your credit card .  You then get hit with a $5 "Cash Advance Fee" on top of all the other charges.  Since it is your credit card provider hitting you up for the cost there is not a lot of support from PayPal or AliExpress to get this refunded.  My VISA said they would refund the cost - Just be aware that AliExpress has this hidden back fee that just started a few months ago - Lots of calls to VISA from other people


----------



## David_R8 (Dec 2, 2020)

Brent H said:


> As an FYI if you pay on Aliexpress with PayPal it is changed over to AliPay and they take the payment as "Cash Advance" against your credit card .  You then get hit with a $5 "Cash Advance Fee" on top of all the other charges.  Since it is your credit card provider hitting you up for the cost there is not a lot of support from PayPal or AliExpress to get this refunded.  My VISA said they would refund the cost - Just be aware that AliExpress has this hidden back fee that just started a few months ago - Lots of calls to VISA from other people


Is that the case even if you have your PayPal account set with bank info as primary vs credit card info?


----------



## Brent H (Dec 2, 2020)

I do believe so - if you use the credit card as the method of payment through PayPal, when you pay on AliExpress the "AliPay" sends it back to the credit card company as a "Cash Payment" - as it Money gone ASAP....My VISA guy said they would reimburse me as I had no idea this was being done but next time I probably will not be so lucky.  He said it was happening a lot just over the last little while.  I have written to Pay Pal with nothing replied yet.  If you pay from an account via PayPal you would be fine.  If I am not correct on this and someone knows how to change something to fix it - please post


----------



## kevin.decelles (Dec 2, 2020)

I just did one yesterday.....  My paypal is wired to amex..... thx for the heads up.


----------



## PeterT (Dec 2, 2020)

Hmm.. I have my CC set up directly to Alipay, its been that way since day-1. I haven't seen any extra charges right up to purchase couple weeks ago. Are you saying this is a PayPal-Visa thing or Ali thing? 

I also notice Ebay made changes to take Paypal out of the loop. Supposedly for reduced dinger fees but I haven't tested yet. So they are suggesting to enter your CC and/or bank account for direct deposit & withdrawals. The only downside is I've had to use PayPal to resolve the odd scammer which they did (within a time limit & it wasn't a great experience). Guess I'll have to read the fine print. I still use PayPal to buy/sell things but it slinked to my CC anyways.


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 2, 2020)

I used paypal for my first AliExpress order in 2019.  None of my 2020 AliExpress purchases offered paypal as an option so I thought AliExpress had abandoned paypal?


----------



## David_R8 (Dec 2, 2020)

Looks like PayPay is still available to me on AliExpress.


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 2, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Looks like PayPay is still available to me on AliExpress.



Hmmm.... that makes me wonder if it's a seller controlled option then?


----------



## Brent H (Dec 2, 2020)

This is all new in the last couple months - I purchased a set of Broaching cutters - one company  - Used PayPal but it shows up as an AliPay - Singapore E-Commerce.  Then purchased a NT30 chuck adaptor and set of tap chucks for the mill (oh ya!) these were a different vendor but still came back as a receipt from PayPay to AliPay - no problem with that - just that Alipay is listing the sale as "cash".  My exploration into it on the PayPal site shows this to be happening a lot just recently - it is your own credit card company nailing you with the CASH Withdrawal - although it is quite impossible to be in Singapore at the bank machine


----------



## PeterT (Dec 2, 2020)

This Ali order was quite recent, within a week or so. Order invoice = CC charge. CC is listed as AliPay method of payment. I've never seen any added fees on that front.
I checked a CDN Ebay order paid with Paypal, same thing exact match. They do charge their unflattering FX rate on USD purchases but I cant say I've seen these 'cash' transactions like you ar ereferencing.  The only times things I've experienced weird stuff on Paypal is selling privately. Some insist on 'seller' or 'goods' status..whatever they call it. Maybe so they have some recourse if deal or delivery goes sideways? Others insist on sending cash because it mitigates fees? But I think that only works inter-Paypal in within Canada, foreign transactions are different.


----------



## Brent H (Dec 2, 2020)

Interesting @PeterT  - I just got burned on the last 2 purchases - I will get the fee's back but now pretty leery of my overseas adventures......dang..


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 2, 2020)

Brent H said:


> Interesting @PeterT  - I just got burned on the last 2 purchases - I will get the fee's back but now pretty leery of my overseas adventures......dang..



That makes two of us


----------



## David_R8 (Dec 2, 2020)

And I’ve had only good experiences. 
So strange. Clearly not all vendors are the same. 
I just bought a 4-jaw chuck for my rotary table. Seller gave me 5% off and I should have it in five days. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 3, 2020)

Well knock me over with a feather...….. Progress!


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

This finally got delivered today......






Sheesh.... ordered Oct 15 and shipped via EPacket.  At least the manual is in English and there is no visible damage.

Estimated delivery was: Nov 01 - Nov 11  16-26 days


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

And it appears to be DOA...…..






Nothing... not a single led or a running fan.... Nothing....DEAD


----------



## David_R8 (Dec 7, 2020)

Oh man, that truly sucks!
Who was the vendor?


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Oh man, that truly sucks!
> Who was the vendor?



Store name: Bill VFD Inverter


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

It's ALIVE.....






I gave the side a tap with the screw driver handle and got some action, but it's behaving in a very erratic fashion.


----------



## Brent H (Dec 7, 2020)

Check power input/output power pins for a cold solder joint or a loose internal connection - the controller is typically connected with a thin ribbon cable and these can be painful if not all the way on


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 7, 2020)

Brent H said:


> Check power input/output power pins for a cold solder joint or a loose internal connection - the controller is typically connected with a thin ribbon cable and these can be painful if not all the way on



Well, it's not a problem with my wiring.  Something is shorting or breaking contact internally.  Runs for a bit and then blinks out and then I have to give it another tap to get it going again.  Abused during shipping?  I've contacted the seller to see what they can do about it.  Not really usable in it's current state.


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 9, 2020)

So I contacted the seller and he insisted I send him a video of the issue.  I sent him a video of a dead VFD being brought to life with the tap of a screw driver handle.  This was after two evenings of AliExpress chat at 8+ PM local time.  After seeing the video, he offered to send a replacement if I paid the shipping cost ($26 CDN via EPacket) and said not to bother returning the faulty unit.  

Hmmmm was this worth it or not, my $86 VFD has morphed into a $112 VFD?  

Well... I agreed after a third evening AliExpress chat, paid the $26 and now we are back to square one.  Lets see what the delivery time is this go around


----------



## historicalarms (Dec 10, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> It's ALIVE.....
> 
> View attachment 12088
> 
> I gave the side a tap with the screw driver handle and got some action, but it's behaving in a very erratic fashion.


   In some broken ingwish tongues   Ewattic & vawiable have same same meaning....


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 21, 2020)

The saga continues...……..  this conversation was started Yesterday 16:27








The replacement VFD has been in a "Packed for picking-up." tracking state since the 11th of Dec.  Where is it?
Read






1.If we can not reply you in time,because we are in sleeping;we will reply you at beijing(+8 time area) time next morning +9:00,If you have not received your item more than 35 days,please contact us,do not open dispute,if under 5 usd item,we will resend you or refund you.You can also send a message to my email: junchengjht@163.com

2.Be carefull Choose China Post Shipping,Sometimes Your Parcel will be lost,It will waste your time,Buyer Should be Charge of Clearing Customs Duty or Tax; In particular, DHL, UPS, TNT,Fedex,Aramex,DPEX;Keep mobile phone be Calling, So that Customs or Logitics staff can Call you in time,Otherwise Item Maybe be destroyed, Though, your money and time will be wasted


Yesterday 18:48






Hello
Read


Yesterday 19:27






Has it been shipped or not?
Read


Yesterday 20:22






No response will force me to issue a dispute on both the original VFD order and the shipping charge for the replacement VFD.
Read


Yesterday 22:55






11 PM Canada time now....  I'm Disappointed in your service.
Read


04:07






朋友，明天早上我给你准确答复。
My friend, I will give you an accurate reply tomorrow morning.
Alibaba Translation


负责发货的仓库工作人员一直没有回复我。
The warehouse staff in charge of delivery has not replied to me.
Alibaba Translation


19:00






What did your delivery staff have to say?
Read


19:21






送货员说，你的包裹因为安检检测出带有电路板，不能发走
The deliveryman said that your package could not be sent away because of the circuit board detected by security check.
Alibaba Translation


或许我们可以更换速卖通标准运输
Maybe we can change AliExpress standard transportation
Alibaba Translation


但是速卖通标准运输是线上物流，目前我们无法创建，需要你再新建一个订单
However, AliExpress standard transportation is online logistics, we cannot create it at present, and you need to create a new order.
Alibaba Translation


Production Information

Extra Fee for add 0.01 usd
US $0.01



如果没什么问题，我们今天会再次尝试发出
If there is no problem, we will try to send it again today.
Alibaba Translation


19:46






I'm not putting $0.01 US on my credit card.  Send it out today and provide me the tracking number.  If you can't do that then I want a refund.
Read

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And then there was silence...….


----------



## DPittman (Dec 21, 2020)

Wow


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 24, 2020)

So Tues Dec 22 I opened an AliExpress dispute with the seller requesting a full refund for both the defective VFD and the extra $26 CDN to ship a replacement.  The seller immediately agreed to refund the $26 but I still haven't seen that yet.  On the 23rd AliExpress got involved with the VFD dispute and arranged for a full refund if I shipped the defective VFD back.  They provided a free CP shipping label to send the VFD to Chilliwack BC of all places.  Apparently the refund would be issued once the VFD delivery is confirmed which should be Dec 31st.

What a gong show this turned out to be


----------



## YYCHM (Dec 25, 2020)

Got the $26 CAD back... Now to see how the initial purchase goes down.....


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 1, 2021)

As of today..... Jan 1....  AliExpress has issued a full refund at no cost to me.   Sheesh.... I started this Oct 15.

Now to decide if I want to attempt this all again with a different seller.....


----------



## YotaBota (Jan 1, 2021)

You have a positive start to the new year!
What about a local supplier? I know the cost will be more but at least you talk with someone and they can provide support.


----------



## David_R8 (Jan 1, 2021)

For what it's worth I've bought two Teco VFDs from emotorsdirect.ca and have had excellent experience both times. 
I could not imagine the frustration of waiting for two months and then have the thing be DOA.


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 1, 2021)

David_R8 said:


> For what it's worth I've bought two Teco VFDs from emotorsdirect.ca and have had excellent experience both times.
> I could not imagine the frustration of waiting for two months and then have the thing be DOA.



The Teco VFDs are a little out of my price tolerance and I don't really want to deal with wiring pots and switches.

The question now is "was the shipping fiasco a trend for things coming out of China now or the fault of the seller?". The silly thing was returned 4 times to the seller due to some kind of security check failure what ever that means.  The same thing started happening with the replacement VFD so I pulled the plug.  Probably should have pulled the plug on the initial order after the second return.  Lesson learned.

I asked one of the AliExpress sellers if they would send me an English manual for my current VFD.  He said they would but I haven't seen it yet.  If I can get this thing to reverse from the key pad or even a switch I'd be set.


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 26, 2021)

I wonder what this is about?  Shipped out of China.....


----------



## Brent H (Jan 26, 2021)

yep....I am waiting on some tap holders since mid November and a T-Shirt for my son that was due in December 10 to 22 nd......no sign of anything...


----------



## David_R8 (Jan 26, 2021)

I have to count myself lucky. The facemill from Banggood arrived in 16 days.


----------



## DPittman (Jan 26, 2021)

Yup i





Brent H said:


> yep....I am waiting on some tap holders since mid November and a T-Shirt for my son that was due in December 10 to 22 nd......no sign of anything...


Yup I've got stuff supposedly coming from Aliexpress also.  Some stuff has arrived and some stuff no explanation for where it might be... the tracking is utterly worthless.  Some stuff that has already arrived shows that it still hasn't made it to Canada and other stuff says it has shipped but I really doubt it.


----------



## YYCHM (Jan 26, 2021)

David_R8 said:


> I have to count myself lucky. The facemill from Banggood arrived in 16 days.



I'm a little gun shy of AliExpress and Banggood right now


----------



## Brent H (Jan 26, 2021)

@DPittman : my one order is somewhere and the complaints department wont let me file until March 3rd.  One Tracking says its in Canada, one says its waiting for a seat on a plane and one says it hasn't made it out the door yet?


----------



## kevin.decelles (Jan 26, 2021)

I have some carbides that were ordered Jan 6 get delivered to the post-office yesterday.  I have about 15 other parcels coming (All Alliexpress).  Lately Bangood has been the faster.


----------



## PeterT (Jan 26, 2021)

My own opinion is (on average) Ali has their act together & the ball gets dropped when it enters Kanuctistan. Example I ordered about 5 different items from different dealers recently spread out over maybe 3 weeks over Xmas break. Magically all packages arrived in my box the exact same day & one my daughter ordered for good measure. Hard to visualize what's behind that unless they are batch processing by postal code or something. Mostly I use Ali stores but not always. The good ones you can trace progress every step. Then when it hits our postal system it goes off the radar & black box is lost at sea. 

Or my favorite - receive a CP template email: You have a new mail delivery. OK, yeah.... I'm expecting about 6 things actually. From...? ...eta? ... no link, tracking number doesn't lead anywhere. Its an embarrassing gong show for the most part unless you send a parcel by expresspost to someone else in Canada.


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 6, 2021)

Figure this one out????


----------



## Hruul (Feb 6, 2021)

Ya my last order did that too.  Went from getting delivered to customs in vancouver to clearing customs in mississauga.


----------



## Chicken lights (Feb 6, 2021)

Hruul said:


> Ya my last order did that too.  Went from getting delivered to customs in vancouver to clearing customs in mississauga.


That could just be where the brokerage is located though. The parts ordered could still be in fact in Vancouver it’s merely paperwork being processed in Mississauga. Either brokerage or actual Canada customs border office


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 6, 2021)

Hruul said:


> Ya my last order did that too.  Went from getting delivered to customs in vancouver to clearing customs in mississauga.



Did you eventually get it?


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 6, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> The parts ordered could still be in fact in Vancouver it’s merely paperwork being processed in Mississauga.



And show up as a Canada Post transaction?


----------



## Chicken lights (Feb 6, 2021)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> And show up as a Canada Post transaction?


Yes
I mean I have no proof in front of me but to have an agency in an odd city doing customs clearance not related to where the goods are actually crossing the border is common


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 6, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> Yes
> I mean I have no proof in front of me but to have an agency in an odd city doing customs clearance not related to where the goods are actually crossing the border is common



So.... If it took from Jan 29 to Feb 6 to transfer the info from BC to ON, what did they do mail it?


----------



## Chicken lights (Feb 7, 2021)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> So.... If it took from Jan 29 to Feb 6 to transfer the info from BC to ON, what did they do mail it?


Probably email


----------



## Hruul (Feb 7, 2021)

Hello @YYCHobbyMachinist I got the parts.  Took about three weeks longer than the estimated shipping though.  The other item I ordered at the same time that didn't ship till about 2 weeks after the first shipment arrived first. But I eventually got everything.  Both shipments were through canada post.  The first shipment the canada post tracking went blank after it said it was in vancouver, said something like delayed check back later for almost the full 2 weeks, then it showed as moving again.


----------



## Johnwa (Feb 11, 2021)

Just received some small packages from Aliexpress.  They were ordered January 27th.  That is pretty fast!


----------



## Brian Ross (Feb 11, 2021)

I received a package this morning that I ordered from AliExpress on Jan 29. The estimated shipping time was 15 to 45 business days so I was a bit surprised it got here so fast.


----------



## Brent H (Feb 12, 2021)

I am still waiting on a package from November 30


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 12, 2021)

Amazon item finally arrived today..






Richmond - Vancouver - Mississauga - Calgary ????

Original delivery estimate was for March 3 shipped out of China.  I don't think it was shipped from China.  I think it was shipped from Richmond.


----------



## Chicken lights (Feb 14, 2021)

Anyone run into this before? Waiting on something from the USA. Got a text message that opened that IPS link. The link gives two options, pick it up at the depot (no address given) or fill out where you want it delivered to, and provide a cc to pay the $2.00 customs fees 
I’ve never seen that before, usually if there’s duty you pay at the post office. I’m thinking scam. It’s so close to the UPS logo and google comes up empty
I’ll call Tuesday to see if I can learn more


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 14, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> View attachment 13322View attachment 13323
> 
> Anyone run into this before? Waiting on something from the USA. Got a text message that opened that IPS link. The link gives two options, pick it up at the depot (no address given) or fill out where you want it delivered to, and provide a cc to pay the $2.00 customs fees
> I’ve never seen that before, usually if there’s duty you pay at the post office. I’m thinking scam. It’s so close to the UPS logo and google comes up empty
> I’ll call Tuesday to see if I can learn more



Check this out https://saskatoonpolice.ca/news/2020872


----------



## Chicken lights (Feb 14, 2021)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Check this out https://saskatoonpolice.ca/news/2020872


Thanks for that


----------



## YYCHM (Feb 14, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> Thanks for that



Google "International Parcel Service"


----------



## YotaBota (Feb 14, 2021)

RUN!!!!
These emails are just sent hoping to find someone waiting for an order and will send them personal and financial info. Some even get access to shipping info by buying the info or some other means.
Glad you asked and didn't respond.


----------



## Brent H (Feb 14, 2021)

My Long Lost order arrived!!!

sitting at the post office....evidently home delivery is "as close as we can get".  Post office would have acknowledged the order but the shipping info still had it on the ground awaiting a seat on a plane from Singapore.  Whew!    now we can try tapping on the mill when I get home - hopefully more than once


----------



## Tom O (Feb 14, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> View attachment 13322View attachment 13323
> 
> Anyone run into this before? Waiting on something from the USA. Got a text message that opened that IPS link. The link gives two options, pick it up at the depot (no address given) or fill out where you want it delivered to, and provide a cc to pay the $2.00 customs fees
> I’ve never seen that before, usually if there’s duty you pay at the post office. I’m thinking scam. It’s so close to the UPS logo and google comes up empty
> I’ll call Tuesday to see if I can learn more



I got one of those supposedly for a free phone I just treated it as a phishing expedition as I never ordered anything and all my orders had been delivered. I had one supposed from a courier in town and went to the depot they had no record of it.


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## YYCHM (Mar 21, 2021)

Had a really good experience with Amazon.ca recently (not fulfilled by Amazon).  I ordered a replacement DVD burner for our laptop from a supplier in the US. Either USPS or CP crushed the box to the point the unit was unusable.  Got a full refund and was told no need to  return damaged item.  That's not bad at all.....


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## Dabbler (Mar 21, 2021)

DVD burner?  Wow.  I've jsut had my  first DVD experience in 8 years... to copy the content to my HDD to play it in VLC.


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## YYCHM (Mar 21, 2021)

Dabbler said:


> DVD burner?  Wow.  I've jsut had my  first DVD experience in 8 years... to copy the content to my HDD to play it in VLC.



Trying to tell me we are waaaay behind on the technology scale?


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## DPittman (Mar 21, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Had a really good experience with Amazon.ca recently (not fulfilled by Amazon).  I ordered a replacement DVD burner for our laptop from a supplier in the US. Either USPS or CP crushed the box to the point the unit was unusable.  Got a full refund and was told no need to return item.  That's not bad at all.....


Good to hear. 
I've had nothing but excellent customer service from Amazon if not their vendors.  Mind you Amazon has screwed up more than once, but eventually comes through sooner or later.  There doesn't seem to be as many good deals on Amazon anymore compared to all the other online oversea options, but I certainly prefer buying through Amazon when I can.


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## Brent H (Mar 21, 2021)

@YYCHM


> Trying to tell me we are waaaay behind on the technology scale?


.......hahahahahahaha

Just before coming back to work I was helping my son fish the tape out of the VCR and fix that and then at work I had to give a lesson to the new folks about how a rotary dial phone works...hahaha


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## YYCHM (Mar 21, 2021)

Brent H said:


> @YYCHM .......hahahahahahaha
> 
> Just before coming back to work I was helping my son fish the tape out of the VCR and fix that and then at work I had to give a lesson to the new folks about how a rotary dial phone works...hahaha



LOL..... rotary dial phones.... I remember being pi.sed off when the telco declared they weren't supporting them any more. Remember cassette answering machines?  I can remember my dad testing and buying TV tubes at the drug store.  Used a few party lines in the past as well.  Ohhhhh…... I'm getting old.


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## YYCHM (Mar 21, 2021)

Brent H said:


> @YYCHM .......hahahahahahaha
> at work I had to give a lesson to the new folks about how a rotary dial phone works...hahaha



Do you get new guys every shift?


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## Brent H (Mar 22, 2021)

@YYCHM : you would think with covid things would change - ha! 

The guys I had to show how the phone worked were techs assigned to fix it - LOL.  I explained it’s operation, what was probably wrong and left them to it.  I think it was mostly operator error on behalf of the new guys on the other crew (not letting the dial return before attempting the next number)- LOL


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## CalgaryPT (Mar 22, 2021)

Brent H said:


> @YYCHM : you would think with covid things would change - ha!
> 
> The guys I had to show how the phone worked were techs assigned to fix it - LOL.  I explained it’s operation, what was probably wrong and left them to it.  I think it was mostly operator error on behalf of the new guys on the other crew (not letting the dial return before attempting the next number)- LOL


I read once that the dot in the middle of the finger holes was added later when they discovered that the incidence of wrong numbers dropped dramatically if (specifically) men had something to aim their fingers at.

I suspect whoever discovered this trick graduated to designing urinals with the painted bumble bee or fly on them to also improve our aim.

Or maybe it was a demotion.


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## Tom O (Mar 22, 2021)

I wouldn’t have thought of that.


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## YYCHM (May 18, 2021)

What the heck does this mean????

"Your package is pending release from a non-UPS broker. Contact the non-UPS broker for additional information.
2021-05-18 11:20:33"

Doesn't state who the broker is?


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## Brent H (May 18, 2021)

@YYCHM - sounds like SPAM - check if it is even a legit sender


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## YYCHM (May 18, 2021)

Brent H said:


> @YYCHM - sounds like SPAM - check if it is even a legit sender



Wasn't an email.  Listed on AliExpress On-Line tracking.  It was tagged out for delivery earlier this morning.


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## Crankit (May 18, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Wasn't an email.  Listed on AliExpress On-Line tracking.  It was tagged out for delivery earlier this morning.



What city was it last scanned at?


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## YYCHM (May 18, 2021)

Crankit said:


> What city was it last scanned at?


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## Brent H (May 18, 2021)

@YYCHM - if it was Aliexpress it could be anything then.  I received goods that the tracking said were returned from a different country and had not been shipped yet.  The translation is typically all over the place.  Hopefully things show up!


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## Crankit (May 18, 2021)

That's bizarre UPS handing over to a non-UPS broker....try Googling Calgary brokers? can't be too many and if it had a short "out for delivery" time it must be close to the UPS hub


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## Tom Kitta (May 18, 2021)

Who is your non-UPS broker? 

You need to setup your broker with UPS - once you do that the process is very smooth. 

A package cannot be "held" by a broker - the package can be held at customs but broker never sees it (at least for normal pp and normal values). 

For my UPS stuff the UPS delivers as usual and then I get invoice from Border Bee. 

Some pp have issues - DHL did not want to deliver until I paid there fees - I had to contact my broker whom contacted higher up at DHL and then they released - they just crossed over "duty to be paid" in big red marker - i.e. it does not matter who the broker is. 

UPS is my preferred way as they seem to work very smoothly with Border Bee.


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## YYCHM (May 18, 2021)

Ok, it was just delivered by UPS.  Ordered May 11, so not too too bad considering it shipped from China.


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## YYCHM (Jun 3, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Ok, it was just delivered by UPS.  Ordered May 11, so not too too bad considering it shipped from China.



Was served an invoice for $12 in brokerage fees in the mail today....  UPS delivered the package May 18?


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## David_R8 (Jun 3, 2021)

Yup that's about right


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## Canadium (Jun 3, 2021)

I ordered bunch of things on Ebay over past few months. At one extreme one item from China arrived in a couple of weeks. At the other extreme the item, also from China, never arrived yet after more than 3 months.


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## DPittman (Jun 3, 2021)

Canadium said:


> I ordered bunch of things on Ebay over past few months. At one extreme one item from China arrived in a couple of weeks. At the other extreme the item, also from China, never arrived yet after more than 3 months.


Yup I've had pretty much the same experience.  Aliexpress items some arrived in reasonable time and one item its been 3 months and Aliexpress is supposed to "step in" on my behalf and refund but I haven't seen anything yet.  I HATE their app and the way things are done.


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## Canadium (Jun 3, 2021)

DPittman said:


> Yup I've had pretty much the same experience.  Aliexpress items some arrived in reasonable time and one item its been 3 months and Aliexpress is supposed to "step in" on my behalf and refund but I haven't seen anything yet.  I HATE their app and the way things are done.



In my case I was able to get a refund easily but the lost time is a PITA.


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## cuslog (Jun 3, 2021)

Well, I tried Bangood for a 10 pack of inserts and Ali Express for a lathe DRO recently. Inserts were in my mail box in under 10 days and the DRO was at my door via Fedex within 10 days as well. No duty, no brokerage fees (yet ?).
Haven't tried the inserts yet, still working on mounting the DRO, X-axis works,  Y, maybe tomorrow.


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## YYCHM (Oct 5, 2021)

So I ordered this for a 6" HV RT I acquired.

https://www.amazon.ca/INDEXING-Plat...4560f&pd_rd_wg=do9o8&pd_rd_i=B08P51VNXS&psc=1

So far DHL has scanned the package at the following locations in the following order

Sept 30 - DELHI (NEW DELHI) - INDIA

Oct 01 - LEIPZIG - GERMANY

Oct 03/04 - Customs clearance CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA

Oct 05 - LEIPZIG - GERMANY

Oct 05 - MILAN - MALPENSA - ITALY

Estimated Delivery Date
*October, 06 2021 - By End of Day*

Hmmmm...... some how I doubt the delivery claim.


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## Canadium (Oct 5, 2021)

@YYCHM seems to me that when a package starts going backwards like that something has gone wrong. Reminds me of a  couple of times when some of my packages went astray. One time the USA shipper put CA as short for Canada and of course some other American  interpreted that to mean California. The package went to and vanished in California. It was an item purchased on Amazon and they readily admitted there was an error and I got my money back. Still a PITA because of the hassles and delay.


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## YYCHM (Oct 5, 2021)

Canadium said:


> @YYCHM seems to me that when a package starts going backwards like that something has gone wrong. Reminds me of a  couple of times when some of my packages went astray. One time the USA shipper put CA as short for Canada and of course some other American  interpreted that to mean California. The package went to and vanished in California. It was an item purchased on Amazon and they readily admitted there was an error and I got my money back. Still a PITA because of the hassles and delay.



Very strange.....


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## Susquatch (Oct 5, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> So I ordered this for a 6" HV RT I acquired.
> 
> View attachment 17541
> 
> ...




I'll say one thing is for sure! You are getting a LOT OF SHIPPING for your dollar! 

Also keeps guys like @Brent H busy maintaining the shipping lanes.....


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## YYCHM (Oct 5, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> I'll say one thing is for sure! You are getting a LOT OF SHIPPING for your dollar!
> 
> Also keeps guys like @Brent H busy maintaining the shipping lanes.....



For those time frames it must be air cargo.  The US customs stuff is confusing.  I'm thinking the package is still in Europe somewhere and the US customs stuff is I DUNNO.


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## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)




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## YotaBota (Oct 6, 2021)

The last place I worked at DHL stood for "Delivery Horribly Late". A package that was paid for as overnight delivery was three weeks getting to us.


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## CalgaryPT (Oct 6, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> I'll say one thing is for sure! You are getting a LOT OF SHIPPING for your dollar!
> 
> Also keeps guys like @Brent H busy maintaining the shipping lanes.....


Baaaa haaaa haaa  (Sorry @YYCHM)


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## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)

Well..... I'll be damned....... Delivered at 6pm today.






Ordered on the 29th arrived the 6th.  7 days from New Deli India.

No instructions which there were supposed to be


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## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)

Plates fit the RT.....






Handle fits as well....






Just need to figure out this sector arm spring, knock off a few edges on it and it should be good to go. 

Not bad for $58 cad landed.


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## Chicken lights (Oct 6, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Well..... I'll be damned....... Delivered at 6pm today.
> 
> View attachment 17569
> 
> ...


Real men don’t read instructions


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## trlvn (Oct 7, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> Real men don’t read instructions



Would a guy lose his man-card for watching a Youtube video?


Asking for a friend.

Craig


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## 6.5 Fan (Oct 7, 2021)

Chicken lights has it correct, instructions are for when you tear it down and can't reassemble it.


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## Chicken lights (Oct 7, 2021)

trlvn said:


> Would a guy lose his man-card for watching a Youtube video?
> Asking for a friend.
> 
> Craig


Nah, an instructional video with detailed educational steps is nowhere near reading instructions


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## historicalarms (Oct 7, 2021)

I have lived by the creed  "when all else fails, read the directions".

    YYC  I am envious of your 6 days from India. I ordered 2 small screws for a Chinese shotgun from a U.S. gunsmith supply store Sept 16 and still haven't received them. Tracked them 4 times across the US mid-west, tried to deliver to wrong address 3 times and then returned to sender. Re-sent last Monday  and no border crossing notification as of yet.
     Those two $4 screws probably have $1000 worth of handling cost associated to them by now .


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