Posted 07 November 2010 - 10:57 PM
Robert
I'm sorry to read about your order. I'm guessing you were taking advantage of the AU-US$ exchange which has been steadily moving in favor of the AU$. We all know of the confusion of international pricing of a product, with additional taxes/duties/overheads of running a business all included in the price and suddenly the difference can be big. Most times, ordering from overseas is a great way to save money. However, there's always a risk, especially when things go pearshaped, as you ozzies say. When the order is messed up, the cost of dealing with it is obviously much higher due to the distance, not to mention difficulty in communication with the time difference.
It is one of the pitfalls of buying from a dealer in another continent. Suddenly shipping costs $100 instead of $10 etc. A local dealer would be able to respond faster, although they would also be hampered by the availability of product from the manufacturer as well.
Unfortunately for you, many things went wrong and you ended up with a bad experience. I'm sorry you had to go through that but I want to thank you for giving feedback on a dealer and highlighting what can happen when things go wrong on international orders.
Bill, H2O's reputation not withstanding, I think the distance was a factor in the rectification process. As you said, Mike delivered stuff to you personally. He could've overnighted whatever product for under$30-100 anywhere in the US. Going to Australia, it would've cost over $200-500 and 4 days, and that's IF the ozzie customs don't take their time to calculate duties/GST etc. A business is out to make money on the sale, shelling out a few hundred dollars and losing money on the sale to ship parts urgently needed isn't going to happen unless they think they can make it back in future sales/advertising etc.
Even communication is easier with a local dealer, without the time zone difference. PST-EST isn't nearly as bad as 16-18 hrs time difference.
Drew
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