Quote:
Originally Posted by rockworm
If I had known there would be such a delay, I would have gone to an US seller. I accepted the distributor's estimated deliver through my local LFS. I trust my LFS and have since discovered that these delays are common with the Canadian distributor. This comes not just from my LFS, but also from others who have contacted me. The LFS contacted the distributor three times after the order was placed. I finally received word today that it is being shipped from Montreal and will be here Tuesday. The distributor was more than willing to charge the LFS an additonal $90 dollars to get it here for today. They did not accept responsibility for the delay and neither I nor the LFS feel that the extra delivery charge was reasonable. This speaks to the integrity of the distributor and in the future I will try to avoid ordering products that they carry.
I do note that the US prices are somewhat comparable to Canadian prices, but once you add the shipping and import charges (broker charges) plus the taxes, you are looking at a 20% higher price. Once you are above $1000 this adds up.
I do have a large system and expecting fast replacement of equipment may not be directly available from Canadian sources. However, distributors should have something in place for timely accomodation. I don't expect them to carry all products, but they should be set to get them in short order if needed by a consumer. Maybe my expectations are too high.
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I buy a lot of machine parts in my line of work and even though there are distributors with large warehouses right here in town they still don't have half the stuff I need on a regular basis in stock. I can usually pay the airfreight and get things in the next day but even with paying millions a year in parts we still get the same situation that you are in more often than I would think should be acceptable. Sadly it seems to be common place these days.
It's great that your LFS is really putting an effort in for you, hopefully the skimmer shows up on Tuesday. When I order out of the states I only buy if they will ship by USPS, no brokerage fees and even with shipping the prices are usually the same or even still a few bucks cheaper (for the things I buy anyway, your mileage may vary). Still I prefer to buy Canadian when I can and the price difference is minimal.