Just had a bad experience using vPost shipping from USA

[Rangefinder_fan]

Alright, according to Amazon, they did US$4.65 billion in sales in the 2nd quarter. My point is simply that Amazon is a massive organisation, with lots of people. If you did not inform them of the special needs of your order, then it is not their fault. Your order was 'special' because it needed to be shipped to Vpost and then to you.

There could have been a variety of factors why your order was packed in a non-'common sense' manner. Perhaps stock of smaller boxes were not available that day. Perhaps the crew that day was in a massive hurry. But whatever it is, the fact that your package was not packed according to how you'd assumed it would be is not amazon's fault, because you agreed to and paid for shipping to a US-domestic address. They did not charge you more for the larger box did they? How could they possibly know that it was to be trans-shipped to Singapore? Maybe they really did think that your name was VP32x1234.. haha

Its kinda* like this. Lets say you lend your camera and a standard lens to a friend and he comes back bitching that all the birds and wildlife are so damn small. Your reponse to him would be 'Why din you tell me what you wanted to use the camera for?'

See my point?



* not exactly accurate, but good enough.

its the way they pack my bag, so why not its their fault?

My bag wasn't big to begin with but they packed like a big carton. They did not give me an option to specify to pack compactly in the first place. Who knows they dun have common sense.

btw the shipping isn't charged by amazon but Vpost which charges by volumetric weight.

So if amazon decides to pack a small item into a big carton, you will incur heavy shipping fees by Vpost as result. So whose fault? My fault? Neh. Its brainless amazon. Of cos they had to take the blame for not having the common sense to pack an item correctly and proportionate to the item size.

 

[swhyge]

Well wait till you are in a three corner fight with the merchant and Vpost; then you will appreciate that it is much easier to quarrel with a single merchant on direct shipping.

yes, it can be very messy if happen

I do appreciate all the little little things associated with shipping - I have been shipping things regularly for many many years, longer than some of the members' age here - both personal and business.

But for personal use, little parcels here and there, vpost, comgateway, etc... provide a 'easy' way (my opinion..) unless the merchants also have a easy way, then it boils down to cost... Unfortuantely, buyer as individual, has to know what they are doing and take the necessary measures... They have their SOP and individual buyer account is too small for anyone to pay personal attention...

Individual experience and preference differ... touch wood, so far, no unreasonable outstanding outcome for me .. lucky me.

 

[lioneldude]

I ordered a Nike Tennis Polo in August 2009 from a merchant (GOLFSMITH) which does not ship Nike US products out of the States. In the checkout, I clearly put my name to like i'm VPxxxxx My Name as the Addresee, but apparently their webpage was so dumb that they subsituted the addressee name with the card holder's name - meaning they deleted my VP number. Additionally, there is a limited number of characters in their address line and hence i couldn't put the VP number. From the Fedex Ground tracking, i found that the package had arrived but it took VPOST 4 days to find my package at their warehouse.

Secondly, the merchant had packed one pathetic polo into a 30 x 10 x 15 cm box, and i incurred more expensive VPOST shipping rate. My item net weight was 0.5kg but the volumetric weight was counted as 1kg and hence i paid $21 for shipping from VPOST USA base to Singapore. On the overall, a US$30 discounted polo had become S$78.

And just like most people here, the VPOST customer service is bad. They hardly reply to your emails. I wouldn't recommend VPOST unless the merchant refuses to ship out of US.

 

[sinned79]

Because their legal responsibility is just to deliver the bag to your US address and however they pack, they made the delivery at the agreed shipping cost.

And you can put special remarks in the speical remarks box. I believe most online merchants have a special remarks box. Or else, you can always email them.

If it is an obvious case of say, 10x the size, then I guess you can pin it on them. But when it is a case of say 1.5x the optimal size, you will not succeed so easily.

One question: when you say shipping is by Amazon, are you talking about shopping by Vpost vai Amazon? or are you talking about the traditional method where merchant ships to Vpost and Vpost ships to you? There's a big difference here.

Unfortunately, i did not see any special remarks box when i made the order. And since i had ordered from them DVD long time back. The packaging is quite alright. So i just rest off my mind until Vpost send me a bill of $80+ sgd shipping fee that alarms me to check with Amazon how did they pack my bag that results such high cost which then i demand an explaination (actually i did not ask for a refund) and in the end they offer me the refund out of goodwill.

10x is a bit far stretch but its definitely more then 1.5 times the bag size (i will say 2-3 times). My mum got a shock when she received the carton on my behalf and ask me what i ordered. :bsmilie:

i am using the traditional method. Amazon ships free to Vpost usa address and Vpost ships back to sg. I pay Amazon the bag money and pay Vpost for the shipping fee.

 

[sinned79]

Alright, according to Amazon, they did US$4.65 billion in sales in the 2nd quarter. My point is simply that Amazon is a massive organisation, with lots of people. If you did not inform them of the special needs of your order, then it is not their fault. Your order was 'special' because it needed to be shipped to Vpost and then to you.

There could have been a variety of factors why your order was packed in a non-'common sense' manner. Perhaps stock of smaller boxes were not available that day. Perhaps the crew that day was in a massive hurry. But whatever it is, the fact that your package was not packed according to how you'd assumed it would be is not amazon's fault, because you agreed to and paid for shipping to a US-domestic address. They did not charge you more for the larger box did they? How could they possibly know that it was to be trans-shipped to Singapore? Maybe they really did think that your name was VP32x1234.. haha

Its kinda* like this. Lets say you lend your camera and a standard lens to a friend and he comes back bitching that all the birds and wildlife are so damn small. Your reponse to him would be 'Why din you tell me what you wanted to use the camera for?'

See my point?



* not exactly accurate, but good enough.

Actually not a good explaination. I am sure by now Amazon knows how Vpost works (I order my DVD via amazon and ship by Vpost since at least 5 years ago). So I am pretty sure they know that Vpost ships internationally.

 

[vince123123]

Acutally I think his explanation si rpetty good; you are still relying on the fact that "they should have known". And whilst that standard may differ from person to person, it is my view that they have acted reasonably in not knowing.

I don't know about the US, but under Singapore law, it is my view that you will not have a good case against such a merchant if it goes to court.

Actually not a good explaination. I am sure by now Amazon knows how Vpost works (I order my DVD via amazon and ship by Vpost since at least 5 years ago). So I am pretty sure they know that Vpost ships internationally.

 

[Rangefinder_fan]

Hey,
you do realise how small Singapore's population is right? And that Vpost is probably one of like thousands of shipping agents out there?
You arent in customer service are you?
I once chatted with a staff from a PC desktop os maker and he described Singapore sales as a 'rounding error'.
IMO, and yours differs naturally, it is not fair to expect Amazon to know what Vpost is, and what is their business. Note also that Amazon does often ship by USPS, which is a 3rd party. How could they possibly know?

Anyway, to the TS, sorry for crashing your thread.
My take on your Vpost experience - Am not surprised since I hold the opinion that they are staffed by monkeys who track packages using a cunning combination of coloured string and carefully arranged peanut shells.
I use them when I have no choice. Other posters have offered very viable alternatives which should be explored.

Actually not a good explaination. I am sure by now Amazon knows how Vpost works (I order my DVD via amazon and ship by Vpost since at least 5 years ago). So I am pretty sure they know that Vpost ships internationally.