Current Off Shore Order ETDs

[Canadium]

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.

 

[Johnwa]

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.

 

[YYCHM]

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.

 

[Richard G]

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.

 

[Richard G]

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.

 

[YYCHM]

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.

 

[Tom Kitta]

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.

 

[kevin.decelles]

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

 

[YYCHM]

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".

 

[gerritv]

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.

 

[YYCHM]

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



Ordered on the 15th and still in China

 

[CalgaryPT]

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

 

[gerritv]

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

 

[YYCHM]

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

 

[PeterT]

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.

 

[YYCHM]

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......

 

[CalgaryPT]

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...

 

[kevin.decelles]

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

 

[YYCHM]

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

 

[PeterT]

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?