msearancke Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I just wanted to vent my frustration with Thomann Cyberstore and warn anyone outside of the EU thats thinking of ordering something. Yes New Zealand is along way from anywhere but I order stuff from around the world on a weekly bases and have not experienced anything like this - I really do think my shipment is going by boat. After checking out their international shipping options (http://www.thomann.de/gb/helpdesk_shipping.html?country=nz) I found out that Thomann use DHL and and my order should take up to 9 days for delivery. Ordered product on the 2nd, Shipped on the 5th - All good so far...After a week long battle of phone calls and emails Thomann finally sent me a tracking number that worked. It worked however on the NZ post tracking pages not the DHL site! I only discovered this because I do enough shipping to recognize the number. Long and short of it is that the shipment never left till the 18th and is not in the country yet! Summary...Told they ship via DHL, item is obviously being shipped via postal service.Told 9 days. Currently sitting on day 21 undelivered (not even in the country!). Im sure lots of you use this service and find it great - but I wont be using it again any time soon. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventaylor Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 In reply to the above I have just had 2 different orders from them which were delivered in good time and very well packaged.I have ordered some disco lighting at an amazing price and some stage lanterns which I consider very good value.So I would say that maybe this is an unfortunate incident but hopefully not typical of Thomann. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Well, yes... but you're in Jersey... not *quite* as far away as New Zealand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avdavesound Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 This is an unfortunate incident but not typical of Thomann(now). I order off them every few weeks and I receive items within 5 days(most of the time) but a few years ago I ordered a pa system costing about 1200 euro, I ordered it start of December 2004, Didn't receive till April 2005!. They have more staff now and a great epos system keeping them up to date with stock quantity. try them again on a few consumables and see how long it takes. how's there shipping price to new Zealand? must be expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Firstly, are you saying it was shipped on time, if so, how is it down to Thomann. A recent order of mine was shipped one day, arrived within this country within 24 hours and spent a week sat around before it got to me, this is down to the pathetic courier service we so often see not Thomann. Secondly, in the last 4 and a half minutes there have been 715 topics about Thomann, their products, their delivery, their feet, their blow up dolls with a passing resemblance to Mr Kipling, I'm not suggesting this one gets sent with the rest of them but.... send this with the rest of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I've had two orders shipped from Thomann to New Zealand, both without incident, the most recent being a year ago. Having said that, they seem a lot less good at answering emails these days about potential orders... And just to add - DHL and "the German post office" are the same thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Hampson Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 And just to add - DHL and "the German post office" are the same thing...OT but;DHL may well be owned by Deutsche Post (The German 'Royal Mail'), but they are certianly not the same company. DHL is a dedicated Courier service with wordwide operations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Still off topic but if you send a parcel via Deutsche Post it does go via DHL as only letters are transported under the Deutsche Post brand. As far as parcels go DHL is indeed the German post office as well as being the international courier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 I think the issue is "who handles the receiving end", in the case of the OP, in New Zealand. If a DHL van pulled up in front of his house, well and good. If it was delivered by the New Zealand post office (and the bit about the tracking number may indicate this) then he didn't get the courier service he says he was promised. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Edited to insert: just checked on a previous Thomann order, dispatch was via "Post Ausland" and I did not receive a tracking number. You wont get a DHL van pulling up outside your house in NZ, or certainly not the bit of NZ I live in, maybe you get real DHL vans in Auckland or other city centres. I use DHL a lot; DHL in Christchurch hand the goodies over to a "local courier" to deliver the last hop. There are, of course, several local couriers (including the parcels bit of NZ Post) suitable for the job, and they vary a bit in style, but so far none of them have lost the goods. You lose web tracability once it gets handed to the local courier - on the web the parcel shows as "delivered" once it's given to the local courier. Anecdote time: Here in NZ we have post boxes, like the ones which you see in movies sitting on the street. Well, the postman managed to completely f*ck my last mailbox by surgically inserting a pair of Crown PCC160s (housed in a Shure mic box) into it... Still, the new postbox is much nicer :) Just in case you fancy being a courier deliver chap or chapess in NZ, heres the rules: Firstly you wear shorts in all weathers, come rain, hail, snow or sun. Secondly, you get the thing out of your van, leaving the radio on (loud is good) and engine running, and the door ajar, you run with the package to where you are going. You hand it over, or hide it away, and then run back to your van and jump in. Thirdly you drop the handbrake, indicate, and move off at speed, being quite certain to not check in your mirrors first. Actually, three is a joke - all Kiwi drivers do that :huh: Bastards. Your van will look like this; note it is all windowed; none of that security stuff here... http://www.courierpost.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D4455A3F-54A9-403B-BBE8-68E250C45A3F/0/nz_map_promo3.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msearancke Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 As an addition to all this. I use NZ post a fair bit to send stuff internationally using a service they call International Express. This gets delivered in a maximum of 6 days worldwide and Ive never had anyone say it took longer. I just don't know what to make of this and why it took 13 days before it left Germany from the time they sent it??? My big problem now is that because it look like its been sent via the postal service Im going to have a customs nightmare. With DHL (the real one), FedEx etc they send me an email saying I have a parcel that need clearing and would I like to pay the GST (VAT) on the credit card they have on record. I generally get stuff delivered to me the day after it arrived in the country if delivered by courier. I'm probably going to sell the stuff anyway when it arrives as the 2nd show I was planning on using it on packed in tonight. :) Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owentec Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I've had a similar experience within the EU. I ordered several expensive items at once, and after a few days, I received an email stating that they had received the order and my credit card details, but that I needed to send them a copy of my passport for security reasons. I did this, and was told the items would be shipped as soon as they were all in stock. About 2 weeks later, I received a phone call telling me that I couldn't pay for this much by credit card, and they suggested a bank transfer instead. By this point, I was desperate for certain parts of the order, so I asked to pay for those items by credit card and have them shipped immediately, and pay for the rest by bank transfer (which takes a few days , or lots of money to do quicker). They dispatch the first lot of items and I get the bank to transfer the money for the other stuff. Instead of using DHL, they ship the urgent items by land, which took about 3 weeks. By the time my bank transfer goes through for the rest, they are out of stock of some items! At this point, I cancel the second part of the order and they transfer the money back. I sourced the items elsewhere (received in 3 days), which cost me about 20% more. The items were all going into installs. Fortunately, my clients were reasonably understanding. In addition to the 20% extra I had to pay for some bits, this cost me in extra labour on one job with a team of 4 installing equipment overnight for a couple of nights instead of 2 during the day over a longer period. Another job happened to be delayed for other reasons (builders struggling to construct a patio area while its underwater), which was fortunate. I've bought from Thomann dozens of times, and this is an exception. They are normally quick and efficient. Guess I was just unlucky! Owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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