Ordering from Pladask Elektrisk? Insured or not?

[echorec]

The eBay came issue down to bureaucratic-style idiocy. The international program was supposed to ease aggravation, but it just made things more complicated in this case.

Here's the way it worked. I shipped from TN-KY, where their international warehouse/distributor was. They, in turn, do the customs forms and get you a cheaper shipping rate, than you'd be able to get on your own. ---The kicker is you're only taken care of once it leaves the country. If the package had been lost between Kentucky and New York, I would've lost out on my money & the item.

Anyway, it made it to Germany, where it was lost by the shipping contractor. The buyer opened a claim in his home country, which has different guidelines. They insta-rejected his claim, because I had fulfilled my obligation to ship the item. Then I opened a claim in the US (on his behalf) and we had two parallel claims now (being evaluated and processed by different teams & different rules). So in the US, eBay/PayPal put a goddam fucking freeze on my account and took like $400 out of my bank account and froze it as part of an unaccessible PayPal balance (it may have even suspended my PayPal account). ---Even though they had proof of shipment and tracking receipts---fucking idiots.

Anyway, he appealed and I appealed, he got his money back and I got my money back. To my knowledge, the item was never recovered and was either stolen or lost in the belly of a Frankfurt warehouse, only to be unsealed decades from now.

---The biggest problem with international shipping is that not all postal services have agreements. You might think you're insuring your item, but your insurance might only protect you while it's still on domestic soil. On top of that, PayPal requests that you register the package (which is an extra $14 or so). So you could insure something and ship it abroad, then the buyer could request a refund and PayPal could stick you with a bill, even though you paid for insurance and have a shipping receipt---they might still demand that it was registered----otherwise you would have to refund the money immediately and wait up to 90 days for a postal carrier in EU/Asia to transfer an insurance check to USPS.

[echorec]

Also, when it comes to first class vs priority, don't ever think that upgrading your international shipment makes any difference. Do you think some random guy in Denmark cares that you paid USPS $3 extra? Once packages leave the US, it's just a crapshoot on when they'll clear customs. It could take 48 hrs or it could take 2 weeks, but that extra $3 makes no difference.

[cosmicevan]

I will say that I am glad to have the tracking as the package entered NY last night. Heading out of town Tuesday...so the peace if mind of knowing where its at is great as I can have a neighbor snag it off my porch once it arrives.

[Jwar]

I would do insurance on international for sure. However, that’s not always offered lol! Many pedal builders choose not to when sending to the USA. Not sure why but our Post loses shit all the time and yes they fucking suck at paying claims. I only insurance domestic packages over 300 bucks now. If it gets lost, I’m probably fucked anyway.

[lost in music]

Has anyone ever successfully filed a shipping insurance claim? The one time I had a problem (domestically), the claim was rejected.

I did just last week after a package was apparently opened, pedal removed, and resealed en route. It went through on the first try! UNFORTUNATELY, I skimped on the insurance because the pedal was $110 and you can only buy in increments of $50 and I figured "oh well, I have never had a package go missing in all these years so it's probably meaningless." Just means I ended up ditching that pedal for $10 less than I wanted to.

[cosmicevan]

Great success!!!

[Seance]

Great success!!!

Congrats!






Now hopefully you paid the fee to insure that you'll love the pedal and won't flip it in 6 months.

[Pladask]

Hi didn't really read the thread sorry, but just wanted to let it be known that we no longer offer shipping without tracking. We recently struck a deal with DHL Express who will process all our international shipments. The new shipping prices are approx. 10 USD cheaper than the very steep cost of shipping through the Norwegian Postal Service. So now it's cheaper and much faster (but not as cheap as the shipping without tracing).

[oldangelmidnight]

Sounds like a good way to solve the conundrum for people at the moment of ordering.

[cosmicevan]

Awesome!!!