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Ordered Dec 23rd: Merimobiles
Still nothing, customer service says if I don't see it by this weekend they will send me a new one. Plus it just so happens I sent in that rebate for the free dock and paid the investment of $10.50 to the U.S.Merchants. I have yet to see either one. Anyone in the same boat still? When all is said and done I might have 2 docks. Unless we have another snow storm.
Label/Receipt Number: **************
Service(s): Registered Mail™
Status: Foreign Acceptance
Your item was accepted in HONG KONG on January 15, 2011 at 4:36 pm. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.
I plan on turning this whole situation into a game, which ever one gets here first will be showered with gifts and pampered. The latter with have to endure the heart ache and smells of being the charger for in the kids bathroom or a ice scraper, snow shovel ect.
Why can't they get more of this stuff in the US? They should be all over EBay by now!
Try checking your tracking number against whatever your mail provider is (mine showed up on CanadaPost).
If it still doesn't turn up I would raise an issue with paypal/your credit card company. Merimobiles has lied to me about shipping details, there's no reason for them to have your money.
I have ordered two items from china in January. One cleared Shenzen on 1/15 and I got it on 2/6. The other cleared on 1/23 and I got it on 2/8
It seems things have really slowed down from there on china post airmail
Merimobiles is a terrible vendor. They are doing the same bs to me (even after completely admitting that the shipping problem is thier mistake). They are a bad company that doesn't take care of its customers. I highly suggest that everybody avoids doing business with them.
Swyped from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1
I will avoid them. Thanks.
Just total got mine a minute ago. Ordered from merimobiles dec 26th. I live in são Paulo Brasil.
sixvoltsystem said:
Ordered Dec 23rd: Merimobiles
Label/Receipt Number: **************
Service(s): Registered Mail™
Status: Foreign Acceptance
Your item was accepted in HONG KONG on January 15, 2011 at 4:36 pm. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.
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I order on the 12/26 and have the exact same as the above, with the exact reply from merimobiles about shipping another if I don't get it by this weekend. Unless they overnight it why would I expect that a second one would make it to me.
unnerv00 said:
I order on the 12/26 and have the exact same as the above, with the exact reply from merimobiles about shipping another if I don't get it by this weekend. Unless they overnight it why would I expect that a second one would make it to me.
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I ordered my Dock 12/30/2010, received a "Your Order Has Shipped" email on 1/19/2011. Got my Tracking Number and this is what was reported:
Destination - United States of America
The item (RB176555762HK) is being processed for departure from Hong Kong as of 22-Jan-2011.
It looks as though it is still being processed! I sent an email to [email protected] so they could explain the status delay. No response 2nd request was sent today.
EKS
FWIW - I ordered a Leather Case w/ USB keyboard & Mini Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard w/ touchpad and laser pointer from Ankaka.com January 6, 2011.
The tracking system provided this response:
Destination - United States of America
The item (RT083003489HK) left Hong Kong for its destination on 17-Jan-2011
So, my Ankaka items are officially in the mail and should arrive San Jose, CA any day. My merimobiles.com Docking station is still in Hong Kong being processed for departure.
It seems that merimobiles choose the cheapest delivery option each time they ship something. Like they try to accumulate packages to make one huge shipment to US for less money.
If you go to the USPS web site and under tracking teb enter the track number, you can see progress once they receive it.
Damn... did you all forget it's a slow boat to/from China?
My dock took almost 30 days to arrive from Merimobiles. It was a race between the doc and usb keyboard case I ordered. The doc won by 3 days.
I decided to e-mail them being as nice as I possibly can here is the reply e-mail:
hi sir,
sorry for the matter.
the tracking number is: RB*********HK
please ask your local post of it.
if you dont get it next weekend. we will ship another one to you again. ok?
thank you.
Regards,
Janey
www.merimobiles.com
Then:
hi sir,
we asked the post and they told us that time because of the bad weather. all packages delayed about 2weeks. the package is on the way to your country now. if you dont get it next weekend. we resend you another one again or refund you. ok?
thank you.
Janey
www.merimobiles.com
I got a few emails from Janey too. I already did my venting on another thread, but this company is horrible. I think that their support people are all the same person. Always say sir. Always is all lower case. Always bad grammar and you are lucky if the sentence make any sense. The last response I got six days ago said that they would check on my order, but crickets since then.
Then I call up US Merchants to see why I still haven't received my rebate dock from 11/26 purchase and they say that they are having trouble getting the docks from Viewsonic and it will be at least another couple weeks before they get them.
I am livid.
Merimobiles Answer to your threads
Hi we know many docking stations where delayed in the regular mail during the months of December and January. As you know this is a free shipping item rated at 14-21 business days. During those months there has been many delays in the regular mail. We can assure you we ship them promptly. The situation is now alot better and most packages are arriving promptly in the advertised time and the regular time that it should take by regular mail. We do care alot about our customers. We do have a policy when it takes over 1 month we reship or refund. Many people have received there docking stations already. Shipping times are back to normal, and contrary to what 1 member claimed we don't chose the cheapest way possible to ship, its a regular mail shipping item like any other item, and every year during the holiday time there is always delays in the mail. Things are back to normal now, we can assure you on our part we ship them promptly, its unfortunate some people had to experience delays from the mailing system. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact us. And no there is more than 1 person answering the emails in contrary of what 1 member claimed.
thank you
Philip
merimobiles-philip said:
Hi we know many docking stations where delayed in the regular mail during the months of December and January. As you know this is a free shipping item rated at 14-21 business days. During those months there has been many delays in the regular mail. We can assure you we ship them promptly. The situation is now alot better and most packages are arriving promptly in the advertised time and the regular time that it should take by regular mail. We do care alot about our customers. We do have a policy when it takes over 1 month we reship or refund. Many people have received there docking stations already. Shipping times are back to normal, and contrary to what 1 member claimed we don't chose the cheapest way possible to ship, its a regular mail shipping item like any other item, and every year during the holiday time there is always delays in the mail. Things are back to normal now, we can assure you on our part we ship them promptly, its unfortunate some people had to experience delays from the mailing system. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact us. And no there is more than 1 person answering the emails in contrary of what 1 member claimed.
thank you
Philip
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Philip:
Thank you for your reply. I didn't start this post to defile Merimobiles. That was not my intention. I was stating I had both Merimobiles and U.S.Merchants both sending me docks since Dec. of 2010 and have not seen either one and was wondering if others had received theirs yet. You do however get a +1 for lurking the XDA forums. Janey has been nice answering my questions and she did state that if I didn't get it by this weekend that I could have you guys refund or resend it to me. So I'll correspond with her later this afternoon if I haven't seen it.
One plus on still not receiving a dock from merimobiles, where my order was placed on 12/26. I read the statement above with respect to bad weather. Didn't we hear a similar story from another supplier of cases? Basically I don't accept the weather argument....
Any advice on how to proceed with a refund request?
sixvoltsystem said:
Philip:
Thank you for your reply. I didn't start this post to defile Merimobiles. That was not my intention. I was stating I had both Merimobiles and U.S.Merchants both sending me docks since Dec. of 2010 and have not seen either one and was wondering if others had received theirs yet. You do however get a +1 for lurking the XDA forums. Janey has been nice answering my questions and she did state that if I didn't get it by this weekend that I could have you guys refund or resend it to me. So I'll correspond with her later this afternoon if I haven't seen it.
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vsc said:
One plus on still not receiving a dock from merimobiles, where my order was placed on 12/26. I read the statement above with respect to bad weather. Didn't we hear a similar story from another supplier of cases? Basically I don't accept the weather argument....
Any advice on how to proceed with a refund request?
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I request a refund throw PayPal. And they refound me the whole 45USD.
how to get a refund
Hi for anyone who has not received there docking station and its been over a month, please email us and we will send you another one and upgrade the shipping to express shipping, we can of course refund your order as per your request, thank you for your time
Philip
Hi guys, I though it would be a good idea to start a threat just for everyone who placed an order through Play.com UK and paid full price.
We can use this thread to keep everyone updated on the progress of their ordered, and any updates etc; whether they are able to get it at the discounted price, full refund, partial refund etc.
I ordered a 16GB this morning at 8:30am, and order was confimed at 2:44pm and sent to packing for delivery.
Price - £349
ordered at about 5am this morning
order confirmed at 05:57
packed at about 4pm this afternoon
16GB @ £349
Mailed them asking to cancel and advised I will source elsewhere for a much cheaper price... (I imagine its too late though)
Looks like Play.com are out of stock now. I can't find the HP touchpad 16/32gb anywhere on their site. It was there a few hours ago.
I'm also waiting on a Touchpad from play.com which I bought at full price earlier today.
My gut instinct having dealt with Play earlier on similiar issues is that we'll all be returning our TP's for a full refund
Still I'm going to remain optimistic..
Lothaen said:
ordered at about 5am this morning
order confirmed at 05:57
packed at about 4pm this afternoon
16GB @ £349
Mailed them asking to cancel and advised I will source elsewhere for a much cheaper price... (I imagine its too late though)
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I'd recommend not cancelling your order just yet.
you'll be in a better position to negotiate with them once you have the product.
If you cancel before they despatch it, they won't lose anything, they'll just send it to someone else who was able to place an order.
Once you've got it, hopefully we'll be in a better position a few days after all this commotion, and they may be willing to refund the difference.
otherwise they have to go through the hassle or receiving product back, and then arranging to sell it on - probably at the reduced price.
I'm going to wait to see if mine actually comes through, then assess the situation then.
If they don't openly offer the refund, I'll put a complaint to them, and to the FSA.
their returns policy gives you 7 days to request the return or raise an issue - this is different to 7 days to actually return the item to them.
The complaint etc could last as long as you want, as long as you raise the issue within 7 days.
we should have a strong argument if we refer them to the fact they were aware on Monday that the supplier had significantly reduced the price, and that a large number of supplier not just in UK, but all across the world had reduced their prices to fall in line, and they are being unfair against the consumer by acting this way.
We could also quote things we can get - regarding their comments on Monday evening that they were aware of the price discount and were working on it, yet they chose to do nothing.
Ordered as mine was in my cart, however at time of checkout it stated not in stock.
I doubt I'll get it. however I'm also one of the wait and see's
There may be hope for us yet.
In the US - HP have agreed to refund customers the difference of all ordered purchased within 60 days of the price change.
HP are also 'leaning' on companies to offer the price match themselves.
So if Play.com don't crumble under the pressure over the next few days - maybe there is hope from HP directly.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-ne...efund-price-differences-for-early-buyers/3857
HP apparantly informed retailers on Monday that the prices will be reduced, and requested that all retailers offer to refund the difference in the sale price.
HP also advise that it can take a few days for all retailers to act on this.
called play.com in the end and they said it was too late to stop dispatch anyway (wanted to save myself a couple of £ in postage to be honest) - they have sent me my return code and marked it as potential return
so i still have to wait for it anyway...
but the chap I spoke to I did would they not do a price comparison, or are they even considering lowering the price but he said nope. Full refund or keep at full price basically.
@danlat1415 - do you have any of that information or anyway to process that with HP as I'll consider keeping it if thats the case! I wonder if we can ping an e-mail to HP pronto to try and get some clarification from them that we can apply for refunds if the retailer won't honour it...
If I was HP and I'd told everyone to cut the price on Monday, and found out retailers were basically ignoring them (probably to pocket the profits) I'd be a bit peeved -
out of this experience, I'll definitely not be considering Play.com for anything further apart from as a last resort...
sounds like @Analogue Dude has had a similar experience before... that's the feeling I am getting now too.
I'm looking into what HP are doing for UK customers and I'll keep you updated.
It's still very early, and once order are sent out and customers start complaining in large numbers - they may change their mind.
Also depends on what action HP take over the next few days.
Play.com don't want to get bad publicity, and if all other retailers are honouring the price change, it'll be bad for Play.com to try and profit from the limited stock they have - compare to the bad publicity they'll get.
I've been hunting around the net, and this isn't the only forum complaining about Play.com's decision, so strength in numbers...
I guess the only real outside chance of getting a partial refund is if every customer who bought a TP from them returns it this week. Hopefully the logistical nightmare/expense of checking every return will push Play into offering the refunds.
As I said earlier I doubt it happens though, Play are a horrible company to do business with, I haven't used them for years and if it wasn't for this deal I wouldn't have touched them with a foot long stylus.
I'd recommend anyone who has ordered from Play.com to complete the form on the attached link for the BBC Watchdog program.
we may not get anywhere with it, but it's best to put as much pressure as we can on Play.com to honour the discounted price.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/
wrong thread
Analogue Dude said:
I guess the only real outside chance of getting a partial refund is if every customer who bought a TP from them returns it this week. Hopefully the logistical nightmare/expense of checking every return will push Play into offering the refunds.
As I said earlier I doubt it happens though, Play are a horrible company to do business with, I haven't used them for years and if it wasn't for this deal I wouldn't have touched them with a foot long stylus.
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Really hope so or HP kick their ass (which I doubt will happen)
I got the impression of a very non-caring company when I called them up - to be honest, I had a good impression of them before - but only used them a handful of times... I guess its because I never had to _deal_ with them properly before and just did an order which came and had no issues...
danlat1415 said:
I'd recommend anyone who has ordered from Play.com to complete the form on the attached link for the BBC Watchdog program.
we may not get anywhere with it, but it's best to put as much pressure as we can on Play.com to honour the discounted price.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/
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done that - not sure how much help it will give though...
i also wonder though is it worth putting in a 'request to return' with play for everyone's who order has dispatched ? its too late to cancel, but if they have a _lot_ of requests to return and the main reason being the stupid prices... ?
Don't suppose there is a HP email addy to send concerns to? Wonder if they can confirm or deny possible refunds...
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
As far as I know, Argos and Play.com were the only two retailers that hadn't yet offered the lower price (whether it be for a limited time, like Amazon)
But Argos has this morning now caved in and reduced their prices to £89 and £115.
This will hopefully help in the fight against Play.com
they are now the only hightreet retailer trying to greatly profit from this sale.
I'm waiting for an update from HP and I'll let you know. Waiting to hear back from their press office.
So far they have only confirmed that they'll refund direct customers, and credit the retailers.
Just waiting to find out if their credit customers of retailers who are refusing to refund the difference.
(if the retailer are being credited by HP, then they are severely taking advantage of the customer.)
As more developments happen each day, hopefully by the time the Touchpads arrive it'll all either be sorted or a lot clearer.
had an email from play.com this morning saying they would not refund the difference and only option was to keep or send it back for a full refund.... will post the email in a few
was looking for an e-mail form for hp too to submit my disappointment with play
Thank you for your reply.
We regret to inform you that we are not able to process a partial refund should there be a change of price for HP TouchPad 16GB webOS 3.0 WiFi 9.7 inch Tablet PC but we are more than willing accept the item back upon receipt for full refund.
We have two options to process a refund for this order.
First is to allow 15 banking days delivery time frame to take effect so we can provide a Not Received Claim Form and the second is to return the item upon receipt. The latter option will require a Returns Authorisation code which we will be happy to provide as soon as you contact us.
You also have the option to print a pre-payed label on-line. In order for you to return an order, please follow the step by step procedure which can be found on the link below:
http://www.play.com/Help.html?page=retn
This will prompt you to sign in on your PLAY.com account and choose the order you need to return.
We hope that this information is of some help to you. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this matter has caused you and thank you for your patience and valued custom.
Kind Regards,
Customer Care Team
Play.com
**************************************************
Confidentiality: This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your
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I just logged into my Play account and my order is now showing as cancelled with today's date beside it.
Card payment had gone through so I wonder what they're playing at
I'd suggest that we go protest outside Play HQ but I don't fancy going to jail for a touchpad (maybe an ipad....)
Brad from HP support said to contact UK HP support on 020 7660 0950
not really very helpful so far... i will check my play.com order - but i got an email saying it was dispatched
Lothaen said:
Brad from HP support said to contact UK HP support on 020 7660 0950
not really very helpful so far... i will check my play.com order - but i got an email saying it was dispatched
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Thank for the update.
I too have got an email this morning confirming my order has been despatched via DHL and I've got a tracking number.
expect it to take upto 5 working days to be delivered, then I have 7 days for receipt to inform them if I wish to return for full refund.
That's approx 8-13 days to get this resolved and to put pressure on Play.com
Hi guys,
I put my transformer prime on ebay yesterday at a buy it now price of £350 which I thought was fair considering the prime's condition. Someone bought it within about 6 hours which was great, however, he only has 1 feedback for a saw he bought in 2011.
He sent me this message over ebay:
Hi mate, Glad I won your item. I'm currently in U.K at the moment. Please email me at [email protected], confirming the exact condition of the item. I will be going for an appointment will be able to access my email from my iPhone, so email me at [email protected] using the item number as the subject. cheers
seems dodgy. Only in the UK for a bit? going for an appointment? Using a freeweb email address? His address checks out as being from the UK
I am aware of people reversing payment on paypal once theyve received the product and I don't know how to defend myself from that happening. I can't afford to be scammed as I'm a student and need the money to buy a laptop as my other one packed up yesterday.
Any advice would be great,
Cheers, Nick
Did he send payment? Did he pay with Paypal?
Just make sure that you ship the tablet with tracking and insurance. You might consider doing a proof of delivery (signature) as well. As long as you can prove it was delivered to the address he specified he can't come back later and say he never got the item. The tracking, signature confirmation and insurance all cost a few bucks extra, but when dealing with a $350 item and a dodgy customer they are well worth the extra fee.
nickkyboy36 said:
Hi guys,
I put my transformer prime on ebay yesterday at a buy it now price of £350 which I thought was fair considering the prime's condition. Someone bought it within about 6 hours which was great, however, he only has 1 feedback for a saw he bought in 2011.
He sent me this message over ebay:
Hi mate, Glad I won your item. I'm currently in U.K at the moment. Please email me at [email protected], confirming the exact condition of the item. I will be going for an appointment will be able to access my email from my iPhone, so email me at [email protected] using the item number as the subject. cheers
seems dodgy. Only in the UK for a bit? going for an appointment? Using a freeweb email address? His address checks out as being from the UK
I am aware of people reversing payment on paypal once theyve received the product and I don't know how to defend myself from that happening. I can't afford to be scammed as I'm a student and need the money to buy a laptop as my other one packed up yesterday.
Any advice would be great,
Cheers, Nick
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I'd be concerned about wanting to "confirm the exact condition of the item". If he wanted to do that he should have contacted you before bidding, not after winning. Also, whatever precautions you may take, if he leaves the country after he has your hardware in hand, you will not have much recourse if things go sour later-even if you have all the documentation to prove your side of things. Any way you could get him to pay cash?
On the yahoo account, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. I know lots of people who use yahoo, gmail, etc as their primary email accounts. This keeps things so that your email account is not tied to your ISP and you can keep your address if you change service providers. Also, I personally keep a separate Gmail account that I only use on ebay so that I don't have to give out my "real" address which I only give to friends and family.
thanks for your replies guys,
no, I have not received any money into my paypal account and am waiting for a response from him. Just a quick question regarding postal insurance: Do I insure my tablet up to the value of £350 and receive that if it all goes wrong? Why doesn't everyone just claim things went missing and both parties win?
also to the guy above, that bothered me too. The item's condition was extensively detailed in my description with photos and everything
cheers, Nick
With insurance you specify the sale price of the item and if it goes missing you collect that amount of money from the postal service which you then use to repay the purchaser.
The reason that everyone doesn't just say things are "missing" is because doing so is a crime punishable with prison time if you are found out. Also, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a stranger to reliably lie for you.
almightywhacko said:
With insurance you specify the sale price of the item and if it goes missing you collect that amount of money from the postal service which you then use to repay the purchaser.
The reason that everyone doesn't just say things are "missing" is because doing so is a crime punishable with prison time if you are found out. Also, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a stranger to reliably lie for you.
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So Worst case scenario is the item goes missing in the post according to mr fraudulent purchaser and I collect cash from the post office?
nickkyboy36 said:
So Worst case scenario is the item goes missing in the post according to mr fraudulent purchaser and I collect cash from the post office?
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No. The worse case scenario is that you don't buy insurance and the package gets lost or damaged in which case you are out of a tablet and have to refund the $350 out of your own pocket because your item was never delivered.
(Total loss= Tablet + $$350)
2nd worst scenario is the tablet is lost, but you paid $5 (or whatever) for the shipping insurance so you don't have to refund the purchaser out of your own pocket but you are still missing a tablet.
(Total loss= Tablet + $5)
When shipping relatively expensive items overseas it is always worth paying an extra $10 or so to the shipping company for insurance, detailed tracking and signature confirmation. This is doubly true if you don't trust the buyer which seems to be the case with this guy.
I sell my prime with dock, with 399 euro. I buy this in aprile. 2years waranty. I never use this tablet, and i want to sell. I change 2 prime, for defective problems. This is OK. For link send PM.
Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2
almightywhacko said:
No. The worse case scenario is that you don't buy insurance and the package gets lost or damaged in which case you are out of a tablet and have to refund the $350 out of your own pocket because your item was never delivered.
(Total loss= Tablet + $$350)
2nd worst scenario is the tablet is lost, but you paid $5 (or whatever) for the shipping insurance so you don't have to refund the purchaser out of your own pocket but you are still missing a tablet.
(Total loss= Tablet + $5)
When shipping relatively expensive items overseas it is always worth paying an extra $10 or so to the shipping company for insurance, detailed tracking and signature confirmation. This is doubly true if you don't trust the buyer which seems to be the case with this guy.
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oh I see, thus keeping the cash the buyer has given me.
This does sound like a scam to me, I once had very similar emails when I advertised a car.
I wouldn't part with your Prime until you have the money safely. I don't think you're covered by eBay payment protection (because his feedback is low), but might be worth checking with eBay customer service how protected you are.
Good luck!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
nickkyboy36 said:
oh I see, thus keeping the cash the buyer has given me.
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Pretty much. According to eBay rules if your product was lost and not delivered you would have to refund them their money (Paypal would happily do it for them without your consent). If you bought insurance, the postal service would pay you the listed value of the tablet so you would get $350 (minus whatever you paid for insurance) and the purchaser would get their $350 back as well.
Insurance is ALWAYS worthwhile, especially for items over $100 and often for items as low as $30 if you have a bad feeling about the buyer.
I've used Ebay a LOT.
1 - Never send without a payment
2 - NEVER, I repeat NEVER EVER accept a payment through PayPal that they used a credit card to make. Reason? People claim that they were "frauded" and do a chargeback. PayPal retracts the money from you and you are out everything.
3 - If you receive a payment email from the buyer NEVER trust them. EVER. Go directly to your paypal through your web browser, never through their links. Reason? They have fake paypal pages set up to make you think you got the payment. I've seen this more times than I can count...it almost suckered me the first time it was that good.
4- ALWAYS get insurance, tracking number and mandatory signature upon delivery. DO NOT EVER send without any of these. Period.
5 - Make sure to ship through whatever government shipping options you have if available. Canada Post, USPS, whatever...this usually avoids brokerage fees (which you can apply to be your own broker and get the item anyway, but it's a headache and a HUGE scam shipping companies LOVE to employ for extra cash)
6 - If the guy says he's from somewhere reasonably local (UK, USA, Canada) then states "I am overseas working in Africa on a geological survey ship, can you please send to my cousin in Nigeria" tell him to **** off and repost it.
7 - EVERY fake buyer will send a template email "Thanks guy, I am happy to be winning your item off of ebay and can not wait to get it! I am so excited!", it never sounds conversational and never mentions the specific item. You can send them back an email that asks them specific questions and they'll answer with another template "Glad to hear from you, I will send the money requested and $50 extra dollars if you send the item as soon as possible through the fastest way".
If the person on the other end can't have a conversation, even in halted English, ignore them and move on. They are a scammer, usually from Africa, using templates to try to scam. Chances are they can't speak a lick of English, or even count. They entice with excited sounding emails offering extra money above and beyond the asking price, then send a fake email that they paid you with a link inside that takes you to a fake page.
This screams scam, I'd back away from it right now. If your selling on Ebay make sure you have someone with atleast 6 to 12 months history, and with a good rating. People will buy a bunch of crap $1 cables so they can raise up there rating and then start scamming on big name items.
When I sold my iPhone 3G years ago I ended up with someone offering to pay me and paypal but wanted me to ship to his Niece in another province... it was a gift and she'd be soooooo excited... apparently....
I walked away from that deal quickly.
Put it up on craigs list, meet in a public place and get cash.
I would run the other direction. This sounds no good.
Probably will be importing the RN2 to the US.. Where are the cheapest and best places to get this device from? I'm worried that either: I'll get a fake, long shipping times or never receiving the product or wont honor any warranty issues.
Im new to MIUI, is there a custom recovery that I'll need? Do i have to worry about unlocking a bootloader? If so, can i relock for warranty issues?
EverBuying.Net has it for $174.99 (http://www.everbuying.net/product1078806.html). I have never used them myself so I can't vouch either way. But at the same time, the RN2 is a known quantity, and whichever dealer you buy it from should get you the same thing (+/- customer service). I do have an order for one myself at GearBest, but it is a complete disaster, and I would not recommend them at the moment. I preordered it on 3 Sep, they charged my credit card on 14 Sep and said it would ship in 3-5 days, and now ~6 weeks later it is still in the processing stage. I have used GearBest in the past for other stuff, and even though orders have taken up to 5-6 days in processing, they have never been like this. For some reason, they are filling orders that arrived much later like end September and early October before filling the preorders.
I bought mine from minideal.net.
Originally placed an order with gearbest they requested a copy of my credit card and driving license and said it was extra security measures.
I didn't feel comfprtable so I cancelled the order.
Placed the order with minideal.net on a Saturday night received the phone Friday mid-day so essentially took 4 and a half working days to get here (i did pay a bit extra for DHL) worth it in my opinion.
Im from germany
I bought it from Spain for 240 € ( Amazon )
It came with a otg cable a back cover
and glass Front cover
Its the prime model
verbage said:
EverBuying.Net has it for $174.99 I have never used them myself so I can't vouch either way. But at the same time, the RN2 is a known quantity, and whichever dealer you buy it from should get you the same thing (+/- customer service). I do have an order for one myself at GearBest, but it is a complete disaster, and I would not recommend them at the moment. I preordered it on 3 Sep, they charged my credit card on 14 Sep and said it would ship in 3-5 days, and now ~6 weeks later it is still in the processing stage. I have used GearBest in the past for other stuff, and even though orders have taken up to 5-6 days in processing, they have never been like this. For some reason, they are filling orders that arrived much later like end September and early October before filling the preorders.
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Everbuying and Gearbest are the same company! Good luck! I too have received excellent service from Gearbest as well as horrible delays, lies from Gearbest. You puts down your money and you takes your chances!
Thanks guys for your input.. minideal for some reason isnt letting me enter a USA address. But looks promising with the screen protector and case.
Now im worried as I was going to buy from gearbest or everbuying
any other options that are similarly priced with a 1yr warranty?
tlxxxsracer said:
Thanks guys for your input.. minideal for some reason isnt letting me enter a USA address. But looks promising with the screen protector and case.
Now im worried as I was going to buy from gearbest or everbuying any other options that are similarly priced with a 1yr warranty?
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GearBest finally sent me a shipping notification this morning with a picture of my package. So, they do have them in stock at the moment unless they have sold out again already. For the record, they charged my credit card on 14 Sep, and said it would ship out in 3-5 days at that point, but the reality is that it has taken up till today to ship. There is obviously a huge demand for this.
kusamba, thanks for confirming that Gearbest and Everbuying are actually the same company. I started considering this possibility recently because their LiveChat services always opened/closed at the same time and had the same status indications, and also because of similarities in the websites, and within their promo e-mail headers. So it is interesting to see this is actually the case.
tlxxxsracer, Gearbest/Everbuying do seem to have the best prices. The Everbuying link shows about $5 cheaper, however. The slight difference is you can get DHL shipping from Everbuying on the product for about $5, too. The same DHL shipping on Gearbest is like $25. At least these were the prices a couple of days ago when I was getting ready to cancel my Gearbest order. My point is that for the same price, in one case you get DHL 3-5 day expedited shipping (Everbuying), but in the other case you get non-expedited version (Gearbest).
verbage said:
GearBest finally sent me a shipping notification this morning with a picture of my package. So, they do have them in stock at the moment unless they have sold out again already. For the record, they charged my credit card on 14 Sep, and said it would ship out in 3-5 days at that point, but the reality is that it has taken up till today to ship. There is obviously a huge demand for this.
kusamba, thanks for confirming that Gearbest and Everbuying are actually the same company. I started considering this possibility recently because their LiveChat services always opened/closed at the same time and had the same status indications, and also because of similarities in the websites, and within their promo e-mail headers. So it is interesting to see this is actually the case.
tlxxxsracer, Gearbest/Everbuying do seem to have the best prices. The Everbuying link shows about $5 cheaper, however. The slight difference is you can get DHL shipping from Everbuying on the product for about $5, too. The same DHL shipping on Gearbest is like $25. At least these were the prices a couple of days ago when I was getting ready to cancel my Gearbest order. My point is that for the same price, in one case you get DHL 3-5 day expedited shipping (Everbuying), but in the other case you get non-expedited version (Gearbest).
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but dont you get charged with import/customs tax if you choose DHL?
im thinking of going with geekbuying
tlxxxsracer said:
but dont you get charged with import/customs tax if you choose DHL?
im thinking of going with geekbuying
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Personally, I have never been charged import/customs tax when ordering stuff from China vendors, but I guess it is always a possibility. Nonetheless, I suspect it is not a very common occurrence simply because in the big picture, these purchases are small potatoes. If you were ordering mass quantities of items for probable resale, I can imagine things would be significantly different.
I have never ordered from GeekBuying myself, but I would not be hesitant to give them a shot if I were you because they are an established vendor that has been around for a while. I think there is some amount of gambling with every Chinese vendor because most are probably running with just-in-time inventories, and they will be loathe to admit they don't actually have an item in stock for fear of missing a sale. Regarding my purchase with GearBest, there is no question that the experience with this purchase was extremely frustrating. But I have used them several times in the past, too, and never had a problem like I've had with the RN2.
verbage said:
GearBest finally sent me a shipping notification this morning with a picture of my package. So, they do have them in stock at the moment unless they have sold out again already. For the record, they charged my credit card on 14 Sep, and said it would ship out in 3-5 days at that point, but the reality is that it has taken up till today to ship. There is obviously a huge demand for this.
kusamba, thanks for confirming that Gearbest and Everbuying are actually the same company. I started considering this possibility recently because their LiveChat services always opened/closed at the same time and had the same status indications, and also because of similarities in the websites, and within their promo e-mail headers. So it is interesting to see this is actually the case.
tlxxxsracer, Gearbest/Everbuying do seem to have the best prices. The Everbuying link shows about $5 cheaper, however. The slight difference is you can get DHL shipping from Everbuying on the product for about $5, too. The same DHL shipping on Gearbest is like $25. At least these were the prices a couple of days ago when I was getting ready to cancel my Gearbest order. My point is that for the same price, in one case you get DHL 3-5 day expedited shipping (Everbuying), but in the other case you get non-expedited version (Gearbest).
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I would still buy from Gearbest or Everbuying because, from what I read, the online dealers are pretty much all alike - some good experiences, some bad. My worst experience was with GeekBuying just last month - I needed a phone and a tablet delivered within 20 days - went to their chat, was confirmed 70 tablets in stock - that both the phone and tablet would be delivered (to the USA) in plenty of time - they had me do 2 separate orders since the 2 items would ship from different warehouses - they told me to chat again after I placed the orders which I did - they made many promises - the phone (Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime) went out in about 5 days - regarding the tablet, I received a fake DHL tracking number but other than a series of lies, nothing - a few days before the deadline, they cancelled the sale, refunding to Paypal the cost of the tablet but not the $10.60 DHL fee. I got one of these Redmi Note 2s from to2c - they shipped quickly but do not respond to my requests for support on this phone - maybe they went out of business.
kusamba said:
Everbuying and Gearbest are the same company! Good luck! I too have received excellent service from Gearbest as well as horrible delays, lies from Gearbest. You puts down your money and you takes your chances!
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Everbuying and Gearbest are the same company??!!! dang! I ordered one and was hoping I won't be getting all the pop-ups like someone who got one from Gearbest
---------- Post added at 11:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------
kusamba said:
I would still buy from Gearbest or Everbuying because, from what I read, the online dealers are pretty much all alike - some good experiences, some bad. My worst experience was with GeekBuying just last month - I needed a phone and a tablet delivered within 20 days - went to their chat, was confirmed 70 tablets in stock - that both the phone and tablet would be delivered (to the USA) in plenty of time - they had me do 2 separate orders since the 2 items would ship from different warehouses - they told me to chat again after I placed the orders which I did - they made many promises - the phone (Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime) went out in about 5 days - regarding the tablet, I received a fake DHL tracking number but other than a series of lies, nothing - a few days before the deadline, they cancelled the sale, refunding to Paypal the cost of the tablet but not the $10.60 DHL fee. I got one of these Redmi Note 2s from to2c - they shipped quickly but do not respond to my requests for support on this phone - maybe they went out of business.
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I supposed the safest bet would be buying from reputable sellers on AliExpress. Should have ordered one from there and paid an extra $20 instead. Now I hope my order from Everbuying would come through.
I wouldn't recommend Gearbest. I bought from them using the preorder but they only shipped after I started a PayPal claim a month after they said they would ship.
I ordered mine from aliexpress seller "Shenzhen Top-One Trading Co., Ltd." via DHL delivery. Arrived 1 week after order in Austria with no additional taxes or fees., like said in the description. It is the 16Gb TD version, but LTE and WDCMA are both working great for me.
I totally paid 155,14€ for phone + shipping.
Robin69 said:
I ordered mine from aliexpress seller "Shenzhen Top-One Trading Co., Ltd." via DHL delivery. Arrived 1 week after order in Austria with no additional taxes or fees., like said in the description. It is the 16Gb TD version, but LTE and WDCMA are both working great for me.
I totally paid 155,14€ for phone + shipping.
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That's a great deal. I paid €173 for the phone shipped + around €30 import tax from Gearbest. Should have just waited to buy from Ali but I was too hyped and pre-ordered. Never again!
here is an update on my purchase from Everbuying if anyone is interested:
*placed order (Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime and temper glass protector) with a credit card, chose expedite shipping
*2 days after placing the order, got an email about order was put on hold, and they needed to verify payment (pic of credit card used showing only name, exp date, and last 4 digit of account number and a pic of ID showing name, pic, address and exp date). They actually needed the verification on the same day that I placed the order, but they didn't send an email about it. I only found out after seeing a message in the inbox of my Everbuying account... could have saved 2 days of time there had I known.
*1 day after payment verification, order "was shipped" with a DHL tracking number (according to DHL, shipping info was received)
*DHL waited 6 days to pick up the package, (or the seller waited 6 days to actually send the package)
*DHL delivered the order 3 days after
**There was hardly any protection. The original box was not wrapped around with plastic bubbles. It was put inside another box with some plastic bubbles placed on top of the original box, and everything was put inside a DHL shipping plastic bag. When I opened the package, the outside box was a little moist because it was running like dogs and cats on the day of delivery. But the temper glass package and the original Xiaomi box seemed to be dry. Lucky there.
All in all, I guess my first purchase experience from Everbuying was considered good.
I supposed the safest bet would be buying from reputable sellers on AliExpress. Should have ordered one from there and paid an extra $20 instead. Now I hope my order from Everbuying would come through
I never dreamed I would hear "reputable sellers" and "AliExpress" in the same sentence - to me, they are a real crap shoot.
kusamba said:
I supposed the safest bet would be buying from reputable sellers on AliExpress. Should have ordered one from there and paid an extra $20 instead. Now I hope my order from Everbuying would come through
I never dreamed I would hear "reputable sellers" and "AliExpress" in the same sentence - to me, they are a real crap shoot.
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They're getting better, the problem is most people go to Aliexpress for impossibly low prices. Therefore, if you want to survive as a seller on Aliexpress, you are forced to compete almost entirely on price. Aliexpress sellers usually work on razor thin margins, so most people just sell part time, and don't really care enough about the business to put real effort into customer satisfaction.
I actually have a sellers account on Aliexpress, so I can say with fair confidence that any products that sell for less than 6 or 7 dollars probably do not ship with real tracking numbers. Technically, the sellers are violating Aliexpress TOS. However, most budget sellers still do this because customers tend to reward sellers who list products with impossible prices. The only way to get ahead is by cutting corners, especially on shipping/tracking and sometimes with the product itself.
Aliexpress takes up to 30% commission and a tracking number adds more than 3 dollars to the shipping cost, so do the math. I can sell a 3 dollar product, but I need to price it at over 7 dollars just to break even and this doesn't even begin to cover the other costs of running a business or make it worth my time. Play by the rules, and you can charge 7 dollars for a 3 dollar product and still lose money on each sale, but if you disregard the rules and cut corners you can sell for 4.50 and make a profit. So, who will you buy from? Someone selling the same product at 7.50, or 4.50?
Aliexpress could crack down on sellers, but this would bring prices up and Aliexpress customers are typically looking for bargain basement deals. That's just how the cookie crumbles.
I should note that Aliexpress is extremely strict about listing branded products now in an effort to cut down on counterfeits. You need to apply for permission if you so much as mention a brand name anywhere in your listing. I suppose there are benefits to this, but some brand names are also fairly common words. A real pain in the ass when writing product descriptions.
For example, "NEW 2015 plush granny smith apple pillow, soft, squishy and nice! Pls Buy OMFG dear GOD I need the monies."
Aliexpress: "*****, I see you mentioned Apple. Change it now before the long noodley appendages of Apple's tentacle beast™ molest us all!
kusamba said:
I supposed the safest bet would be buying from reputable sellers on AliExpress. Should have ordered one from there and paid an extra $20 instead. Now I hope my order from Everbuying would come through
I never dreamed I would hear "reputable sellers" and "AliExpress" in the same sentence - to me, they are a real crap shoot.
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*Knock on wood*
I have placed over 20 orders this year using AliExpress just this year alone. Never an issue. You will just have to pick and choose good vendors from reading the reviews, and understand why you're even buying on AliExpress.
To be fair to some of the vendors on there, a lot of the complaints I read from the consumers was that people were expecting to get a Mercedes for the price of a Daewoo. Not going to happen. And often times I could clearly see that people do not read the entire description of product and service and whine about it later. And then of course there are a lot of sellers who would cheat customers. Good thing about AliExpress is they won't release funds to the sellers until all parties are satisfied with the transactions.
felix168 said:
*Knock on wood*
I have placed over 20 orders this year using AliExpress just this year alone. Never an issue. You will just have to pick and choose good vendors from reading the reviews, and understand why you're even buying on AliExpress.
To be fair to some of the vendors on there, a lot of the complaints I read from the consumers was that people were expecting to get a Mercedes for the price of a Daewoo. Not going to happen. And often times I could clearly see that people do not read the entire description of product and service and whine about it later. And then of course there are a lot of sellers who would cheat customers. Good thing about AliExpress is they won't release funds to the sellers until all parties are satisfied with the transactions.
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That's true, they also take forever to release funds so in theory you shouldn't have a problem getting your money back if there is a problem. Although I've never had a customer dispute a sale or file a complaint, most customers don't confirm receiving orders either. So, usually Ali only releases funds several weeks after product tracking shows delivery. It feels like 2 months sometimes. If you sell any amount of volume, you have to front at least 6-8 weeks cash for everything you sell. Which is probably why Aliexpress offers financing...
Basically, Aliexpress puts on a promotion as an opportunity to give shops visibility by putting their product listing on the front page/promotions page. In order to play, you'll probably need financing to support the promotion, which Aliexpress offers. Featured listings/promotions may sell hundreds/thousands of units, and shops may not see any revenue from the sales for months. Combined with the requirement of slashing prices by x amount and Ali's cut, a lot of shops just bleed money and never get the expected post promotion exposure/sales. I have a friend who used to own a factory, and he noted that you can spend 1000-dollars trying to promote your shop on Ali and only make 200 dollars in sales. Needless to say he doesn't sell on Aliexpress anymore.
As it turns out, it's quite difficult striking a balance between keeping customers and sellers happy on a platform. For sure, I hope Aliexpress cracks down on sellers who use fake tracking numbers and other shenanigans though. Customers also need to realize that an item priced near the cost of shipping is probably not going to change your life. You're ordering from the dollar menu, high margin sales affords better customer support and after sale service, if you're losing money or making 5 cents on a sale it's hard to bend over backwards. Some people only make a few cents on an item that costs 5-6 dollars, so if a customer demands a replacement for example, that's the profit of 100 sales or so you're messing with, and most people on Aliexpress aren't swimming in sales. The only people who make real money on Ali are Jack Ma and China Post. That's just my 5 cents.
I read from the consumers was that people were expecting to get a Mercedes for the price of a Daewoo.
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jun127 said:
That's true, they also take forever to release funds so in theory you shouldn't have a problem getting your money back if there is a problem. Although I've never had a customer dispute a sale or file a complaint, most customers don't confirm receiving orders either. So, usually Ali only releases funds several weeks after product tracking shows delivery. It feels like 2 months sometimes. If you sell any amount of volume, you have to front at least 6-8 weeks cash for everything you sell. Which is probably why Aliexpress offers financing...
Basically, Aliexpress puts on a promotion as an opportunity to give shops visibility by putting their product listing on the front page/promotions page. In order to play, you'll probably need financing to support the promotion, which Aliexpress offers. Featured listings/promotions may sell hundreds/thousands of units, and shops may not see any revenue from the sales for months. Combined with the requirement of slashing prices by x amount and Ali's cut, a lot of shops just bleed money and never get the expected post promotion exposure/sales. I have a friend who used to own a factory, and he noted that you can spend 1000-dollars trying to promote your shop on Ali and only make 200 dollars in sales. Needless to say he doesn't sell on Aliexpress anymore.
As it turns out, it's quite difficult striking a balance between keeping customers and sellers happy on a platform. For sure, I hope Aliexpress cracks down on sellers who use fake tracking numbers and other shenanigans though. Customers also need to realize that an item priced near the cost of shipping is probably not going to change your life. You're ordering from the dollar menu, high margin sales affords better customer support and after sale service, if you're losing money or making 5 cents on a sale it's hard to bend over backwards. Some people only make a few cents on an item that costs 5-6 dollars, so if a customer demands a replacement for example, that's the profit of 100 sales or so you're messing with, and most people on Aliexpress aren't swimming in sales. The only people who make real money on Ali are Jack Ma and China Post. That's just my 5 cents.
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Very insightful indeed. I'm staying up for the 11.11 AliExpress shopping spree. LMAO! :victory:
This is going off topic a tad and I'm sure the mods are not going to like it. But anyway, thanks for the info. Like I said, smart shoppers and reasonable buyers will have no trouble shopping on AliExpress. And I was happy to report that Everbuying wasn't as bad as all the bad reps that I read about online.
Just as the title states, USPS will not except phones per the manager that I talked to at an USPS. She stated that all the phone companies were told of this and all phones must be issued as Ground delivery only.
To start out this day, I first went to Tmobile to return the phone as stated in the text message. But they could not do it, so he put the phone in a box and printed the return label and I took it to USPS.
I had Tmobile on the phone and he talked to her also. He stated its the first he has had this happened too.
So now, im back at Tmobile and they are talking to customer care as I type this.
The USPS said this is happening to all phone providers that they must be sent by ground only. They told me I could pay for it, myself if I liked, lol.
Anybody else have this issue yet?
Double box it, FedEx or UPS. Pack, tape well.
Take pictures from all angles right before boxing of phone. Insure it.
blackhawk said:
Double box it, FedEx or UPS. Pack, tape well.
Take pictures from all angles right before boxing of phone. Insure it.
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It was prepaid with USPS, and they asked me if it was a phone and I said it was. Next time I will keep my mouth shut, lol.
I was able to get T-Mobile to send me a Ground return label after calling them and actually had an awesome lady work with me to get it corrected, as the T-Mobile store could not get anything done(he tried his best)
Just mailed mine out today using tmobile label. No issues at all. Texas!
maddoggin said:
Just mailed mine out today using tmobile label. No issues at all. Texas!
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I think she had policy mix up in the brain syndrome.
theboz1419 said:
Just as the title states, USPS will not except phones per the manager that I talked to at an USPS. She stated that all the phone companies were told of this and all phones must be issued as Ground delivery only.
To start out this day, I first went to Tmobile to return the phone as stated in the text message. But they could not do it, so he put the phone in a box and printed the return label and I took it to USPS.
I had Tmobile on the phone and he talked to her also. He stated its the first he has had this happened too.
So now, im back at Tmobile and they are talking to customer care as I type this.
The USPS said this is happening to all phone providers that they must be sent by ground only. They told me I could pay for it, myself if I liked, lol.
Anybody else have this issue yet?
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Do you have a battery label on the box?
I was able to send mine out via USPS with no issues. Also your USPS tag when it gets scanned will determine the shipping speed so whoever is telling you that doesn't know what they are talking about.
USPS took mine no problem. It went air from Virginia to Texas using the T-Mobile prepaid label.
My trade in shipped just fine. I take pics and have someone at the post office or ups record me packaging it up and then before the video ends I get a close up of the shipping label on the package. No issues in the many years I've done this.
Since it was a pre-paid, printed shipping label, I skipped the counter and just dropped it into the outgoing box AT USPS (not just a random drop box). Mine was returned and T-Mobile stated it was all good.
I always make sure I hand it directly to someone and get a receipt it was dropped off.
jcsww said:
I always make sure I hand it directly to someone and get a receipt it was dropped off.
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When you print the label, you also print a "receipt" with the package details and tracking number. I used this to verify that it was shipped, delivered and accepted.
The RMA Number, Tracking number, IMEI, Trade Details and everything else you need is all there. I didn't feel it was worth standing in line to get the same information that I already had.
I did realize it was important to drop it off directly at USPS package drop-off rather than in my mailbox or public drop-off location (Many Ace Hardware stores have a USPS location in them for basic services, I skipped them too).
cledee said:
Do you have a battery label on the box?
I was able to send mine out via USPS with no issues. Also your USPS tag when it gets scanned will determine the shipping speed so whoever is telling you that doesn't know what they are talking about.
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I got this on another website. She knew what she was talking about, unfortunately.
USPS issues new shipping requirements for used electronics and other hazardous materials
The Postal Service has issued new requirements for shipping used electronics and other hazardous materials. Effective June 6, mailers must separate all material requiring hazardous markings or labels…
postaltimes.com
"Additionally, pre-owned, damaged or defective electronic devices — such as cellphones, laptops, tablets — that either contain or are packed with lithium batteries must be mailed by surface transportation using Parcel Select Ground or USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Return Service or Ground Return Service."
Makes sense to me. A lithium battery igniting at 30,000" could be crazy scary.