@TorturedZen@RobQ I had the same feeling about ordering stuff from China for a long while…
BUT
I’ve ordered stuff from China, Japan, Taiwan and other Asian places after seeing many happy customers and even though I hear the horror stories, I’ve always had relatively good customer support, great prices, speedy delivery (within 2 weeks to UK, except the stuff through Amazon and I haven’t used fasttech or slowtech yet) and no customs charges.
If I’d order something now and get taxed, overall I still would’ve paid less than buying local. I’m aware of the freak stories but I don’t let them scare me just yet. They’re far too few and far apart. Tthere is a good chance that these things will change in the future but even that is not guaranteed.
Well I get one or more Chinese packages every week (usually under 22€). The times my package got picked out I can probably count on 1 hand and even after fees it usually doesn’t add up to more then buying locally. So for the time being I’ll keep ordering there and save serious bucks.
There are calculators online which give you an indication off what I could cost you, use them before you make an order and then decide if it’s worth it (at least till you know the average ballpark). An informed man makes better decisions.
Neither of us said it was Gear Beasts fault. And I suppose I was a bit vague which could be misconstrued as something against China. I should have been more thorough in my post and I apologize for that. The company I dealt with was a third party on Amazon. I didn’t even know they were in China since they used a PO box in California.
I agree with you that there are lots of shit companies in the world. I worked for Sears Holdings, the king of shit companies. And I agree that it is not fair to treat all companies within a country in a negative fashion. But you have to understand that some of us were essentially robbed and/or treated poorly and couldn’t do much in response due to an ocean between the two countries and a language barrier. Thus the old saying comes to mind; once bitten, twice shy.
If it were a different country, I would hold the same opinion. As a matter of fact I will not and do not purchase from any country other than the US due to my experience and how I was treated and that there was little I could do about it.
I harbor no ill feelings towards China or any persons or organizations within China. I got ripped off, learned my lesson and have moved on.
This happened to me when I ordered nic from hiliq. I believe I paid them $40. Now I make sure when I order from hiliq I use dhl instead of fedex! I’ve no problems since I’ve started using dhl. I’ve probably ordered 3 times with dhl.
Before a package that has customs/duties due is released by customs, those fees must be paid. Do tell, why would FedEx pay those fees for someone unless they are a FedEx customer with a line of credit in good standing? Believe me, as a transportation person myself, I know full well I’ve had cargo sitting in customs for days on end because the responsible party had not paid the associated fees. Nothing about this sounds legit.
Fedex’s website says that they will often cover the fees, and then will either deliver the item and bill the recipient or they’ll hold the package until the recipient pays the fees. I’m guessing it has to do with how much the fees are, especially if the recipient doesn’t have an account with them. I would imagine they’d be more likely to hold a package that had high duty fees than one that has a small fee like $30. But that’s just my guess…
I am so done with China. The full spectrum of abuses permitted/encouraged in the country, all fueled by our insatiable consumerist (and “disposable income”) desire for cheap trash and shiny objects is revolting.
Normally when I order bits n’ stuff from China, I make sure to split it into different packages so the value of each package is below the limit, but this time I forgot to do it. I actually noticed it later and thought about contacting FT and ask them to split it into two packages, but then I thought Nah… what is the odds that they will check this package, when every single other package I have ordered have gone through without being checked
Well as it turns out, that is exactly what happened, and I just received a bill which is 50% larger that what I paid for the actual items
Right now I’m contemplating whether or I should pay it, or just let them return the package to FT. Returning it is definitely cheaper, but it would also mean that I would have to wait at least an extra month to get the items
Whether you buy it straight from China or you go buy it in your local vape shop, it’s still the exact same cheap trash and shiny objects. Besides the DNA boards and some custom mods, pretty much everything vape related is made in China. The only difference is that the shop owner orders it, pays duties and taxes and then sells it on with a profit, all for your convenience.
