Dont you just hate Online Stores that mislead you on the shipping

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Well i am really mad this morning. I responded last night to the deal that Hartville Tool has for their T track which was listed in this thread. Got all excited at the fact that they

a) Ship to Canada
b) Make a clear statement about being open and above board with their shipping.
shipping hartville tool.jpg

Then you look at the International page and they say Canadian and Mexico customers this International service does not apply.

hartville tool international shipping.jpg

So you figure after that you gonna get the listed price.

Wrong. They let you go through the motions of placing your order entering all your contact details, shipping appears as shown in the table and you submit your order.

Next day (this morning in my case) you open your email to find that the shipping aint what it appeared to be. Its nearly three times as much.

I find this practice fraudulent and misleading and deceitful.

I have written back to the sales person who wrote to me and asked that my email be forwarded to the owner or president of the company.

Just a warning here for other buyers. When a site displays this kind of behavior i am suspicious of all their policies and commitment to them.:(


Its time there was a place where we could report site like this and have it blacklisted.
 
No wonder you K-nucks hate us ;-) I too find the inability of some online folks to not be "up front" about total costs disturbing. I understand that some websites are built poorly and cannot present the complete information until the end of the information gathering process. Be that as it may, they should not lead you to believe you are happily on your way only to rudely change the game on you. They should announce that the actual total will be shown at such-and-such a point PRIOR to your accepting the order placement. *** pant, pant, pant *** (rant over).
 
Maybe we should have a section where we rate vendors, with close to 5000 members world wide we out to get someones attention. Maybe two sections, a hall of fame for the good ones and a hall of shame for the bad one..:D

That "other" forum has definitely contributed to improved vendor performance, I am sure we could too if the info were properly presented ;-)
 
Hartville Hdwe is one of my favorite vendors. Their customer service is generally on a par with Lee Valley's.

One thing they will do, that most other vendors don't, is hold an order until everything is in before shipping it. They do email you and give you the option of dropping a back-ordered item from your order in order to get immediate shipping, though.

I've dealt with them many times, and never been disappointed. I also visit their retail store several times a year, and they're just as good, or maybe even better then the mail-order branch. I took Larry there when he was visiting last Summer. He said he was impressed... He even bought parts for that bed he was making there. :)

I suspect the Canadian shipping cost.problem has more to do with the shipping agent than it does with Hartville Hardware. NAFTA or not, Canadian brokerage fees and rules sure do complicate matters. One of my former clients - in Valcourt, Québec - used to send me stuff UPS for about $10.00. It'd cost nearly $40.00 to send it back to them. Go figure...:huh:
 
One of the miss-directions that SOME internet companies use is -- during check out they tell you that it be 5-8 business-days before an item will ship -- then 3-5 business day for shipping.

BUT:

Most ship the same day the order is received or the next day.... so I have my favorite companies to order from...

I really feel for our Canadian neighbors no matter what the legal policies are.
an imaginary line drawn should not make such a $$$ difference for UPS, FedEx to drive a truck for delivery.. YES I know that this is over simplifying big government decisions. :(
 
Jim this time it aint the shipping agent, I am not so much refering to the actual cost of the shipping quoted as to the fact that they do not make it clear that they will change the shipping on your invoice once they check what it should be.

I find the big hala baloo over shipping to Canada to be very played up by vendors.

It aint that difficult. Larry has sent me parcels and no issue and cheaper shipping with straighforward flat rate box that most of these sites.

I have recieved parcels from others selling appliance spares with no issues. Seen to sorting out the duties and the GST that we have to pay with no problem.

What these guys are doing online is to try create a situation where you are already hooked on the order and now feel obliged to accept the increase in the shipping.

Its unscroupulous and unethical. I am waiting to see if i get a response from the person that the sales people have forwarded my email to,

So far their response has been to accept my cancellation of my order and to quote me a paragraph from their website which states

"This paragraph says: “Fastest Shipping - All in-stock orders received by 2:30 PM EST (weekdays) ship out that same day! Orders to the contiguous states are shipped UPS Ground. UPS Ground is not available to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, or International destinations. Please call for shipping options and quotes. Need faster than normal shipping? Just ask one of our helpful Customer Service Representatives to give you a quote on Next Day or Second Day shipping.”

It does not say that the shipping as shown on your invoice will be updated for Canadian and Mexican customers and then submitted to you for your approval.

They are deliberately trying to lull one into a trap.

Most Canadians i know are so polite that they will merily accept the increase and these tactics without questioning. Some will not buy there again as a result, but i just hate these kind of business tactics.

Ethics is what is missing in this world today and we need to return to ethical deals.

I am sure you guys have had enough of the Enrons and Worldcoms and Wall street ponzi schemes to say enought is enough.

Whats worse they trade on the claim that they are ethical and dont hide the shipping in the first paragraph i quoted. This adds insult to injury. Do they think we are thick up here?:mad::bang:
 
Sorry to hear about that Rob. Wish I'd read this thread earlier, I'd've asked if you wanted me to get one for you too.

You folks also get gouged by separately priced items (like books) that are priced 30% higher for CAD even though USD/CAD is just about at parity now.
 
No worries Mark i got Lee Valley not too far from me. :D The T track and a few other things were a good deal. I aint bought from them before and now i aint ever likely to. They will go on my unethical company list.

And if i dont get a report back from higher up they will end up on Rip Off report we will see how they like that.:D

Power to the people.:thumb: (oops is that political):rofl::rofl::rofl: This is consumer issues.;)
 
Shipping charges never ceaase to amaze me! Good job sticking to your guns.:thumb:

When I lived in Alaska, I lost track of how many times I had to inform companies that advertised free shipping to the continental US that Alaska was part of the continent and NOT an island off California.
 
Top