Buying Australian

[FAT-TOY]

   i ordered bearings from a seller on ebay thinking they had Australian stock, my fault I only half read the ad.  So I thought i'll buy more to get this job done, from another supplier in Sydney, that i know has stock here on the shelf.  I placed the order on 20th May the delivery was between 23rd and 27th May. When it had not arrived in that time I contacted the carrier (Fastway) with the tracking number and they told me that the item had not been picked up yet by them. I contacted the seller and they told me that the parcel had left their store on 21st May and was with the carrier.  By now i'm getting a bit pissed off so I contacted Fastway again, this time the bloke on the phone told me that fastway had not yet been informed by the facilitating company that the seller was using. He told me that this company holds heap of orders from many sellers in their warehouse and when they get a big enough quantity of parcels going in this case to the Newcastle dept, they then call the carrier to pick them up. He said that he would be surprised if it turned up within the next week more likely it will be 2 weeks.  If this is the case, then it could be more than 3 weeks to get a hand full of bearings from Sydney to Cessnock.  The bearings from China will probably arrive first. Anyway looks like bad feed back ahead for this arsehole seller.
  Zane

[bazza]

orderd vmx magazine 5 weeks ago (not there fault) on news couriers month behind with xtra parcells bought on line while in lockdown and shops closed, un usual times (in NZ)

[FAT-TOY]

  i don' think this case has much to do with the virus, if fact the more i think about it the more I believe the middle man warehouse is probably controlled by Fastway and they only pick up when it has a heap of parcels for the one area, and any complaints they can blame the sender. This arrangement might make sense for the carrier, but not for the buyer,  the seller is also a party to it because he continues to use this carrier. Hopefully some bad feed back from disgruntled buyers will change their minds about using them. What's wrong with using Australia Post, in this case I can't imagine having to wait 3 weeks for a 150km delivery.
   Zane

[jimg1au]

Don't buy stuff from the uk what used to take max three weeks has now blown out to three months for that same reason waiting for enough parcels to fill a cargo plane as no passenger planes comming here

[pokey]

Strange days indeed the amount of domestic packages currently being processed by Post is 90% higher than the same time last year and Im sure the same is for all courier services .. Many interstate products are sent  on domestic passenger flights but with the restrictions this has not been possible. Post have hired 3 aircraft to do the task but there is still a vast backlog of product as staffing numbers need to follow the distancing guidelines. Post have also changed some delivery procedures again to follow safety guidelines and assist in speeding up the process  .Lots of people ordering and less people available to process. its just the way it is and we have to wait it out.
Most of you guys who sell anything  would use several delivery companies depending on the destination, the size or the customers preferred courier. Safeways operate the same as everyone else by a phone call notifying them to pick up and if the call is received by early morning the item is picked up that afternoon or it is held over to the next day. It all depends on the phone call  being made and Im thinking that hasnt happened or the products were actually at a different branch and stock had to be transferred to the buying branch before dispatch to you the customer.

[sleepy]

Fastways in my opinion has gone down hill since it was bought by a Chinese group a few years ago. I'll probably be called a racist for that comment but of late their service has been quite poor.

[Nebo]

Why are you buy cheap Chinese bearings in the first place ?.  There are many good sites on Ebay that sell SKF ,FAG, TIMKEN, NTN,KOYO etc. Not made in China. At very good prices.    Or if can you not get it on Ebay and do not mind the price go to a SKF Bearing Shop.  They are usually very helpful and if they have not got in stock but in their warehouse they will get for you in 2 to 3 days.  I would never use Chinese bearings in my Maico engines.  Yes i know some SKF bearings are made in China but  when you ask for them or order them you can state non Chinese.

As far as Fastway or Noway couriers go i could write a book on how bad they are.
To cut along storey short they have a customer service rating of about Zero or in the Consumer Forums a score lower than most of the other couriers combined.
Next time you order something , check which courier company it is been sent by.
Last time i ordered something on Ebay i insisted on another courier or i would not buy it .
It was delivered in a few days by Fast Freight.

[FAT-TOY]

  I purchased from an local company hoping to receive the bearings in short time. If they were to be used on one of my bikes i would always use quality bearings but not all jobs need them, and this job didn't.
  The thing that pisses me off is the advertised delivery date and the actual delivery date.  When I was working as a purchasing officer the discounts on both bearings and bolts/nuts was unreal we used to get up to 80% off retail price 
  The seller has contacted me again and told me that he has spoken to fastway and they will do their best to have them delivered ASAP. So I suppose all I can do now is wait.
   Zane

[Butcher]

i sent an aluminium box with engine parts weighing 19.5 kgs from newcastle to mackay 3 weeks ago with australia post. it cost $80 and arrived 3 days later. Cant speak highly enough of good old fashion snail mail.....   

[skypig]

I order push bike parts from “Pushys”.
Mind blowing speed of delivery.
Sometimes “the next day”. (Only Brisbane to Sunshine Coast - but impressive despatch and shipping)

Pre “Pandemic” I ordered a tire to Karratha (notorious for slow mail) on a Tuesday night, and it arrived Friday.

The tracking is “starshipit” listing Australia Post as the “carrier”.


I hope Australia can start to compete on service and quality, so we can reduce our interaction with China (Who’s only advantage is price.)
Most of us are willing to pay for quality.