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Scurvy
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by Scurvy on Apr 1, 2020 12:32:30 GMT
I looked at my cart. Shipping to the USA is $49 instead of $32. Is this a temporary increase due to the Chinese Coronavirus? It sort of put a damper on my order. I didn't order. Yeah eddie, I am showing the increase in shipping also here in Nebraska up from $33 on my last order in November 2019 to $49.92 today. I did some footwork for you buddy. I just personally called the Thomann distribution center in London England and the lady I talked to said the increase in shipping to the U.S. is due to coronavirus concerns so, incoming shipments here are being scanned more thoroughly. This is the number if you would like to confirm it yourself, but I wouldn't lie to you my friend: United Kingdom hub: +442038850020 She also told me that shipping will come back down after the crisis has passed and normal mailing channels can be used in customs and through UPS. I believe what she has told me, and do not think that Thomann is price gouging in any sense of the word. It's only a $20 increase for now which I know can be a lot of money to some folk. Just save up for a couple weeks more and place an order or wait it out. For me personally, if that $20 extra saves one life in this world it's worth it. Stay safe and all the best,
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Apr 1, 2020 12:55:38 GMT
The German post says they are adding a 16€ charge to parcels sent to the USA: I assume they are passing on an extra price that some US organisation is taking because there are no extra for other countries. Then there is a whole list of countries to which they won't send anything.
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Scurvy
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by Scurvy on Apr 1, 2020 14:39:33 GMT
The German post says they are adding a 16€ charge to parcels sent to the USA:I assume they are passing on an extra price that some US organisation is taking because there are no extra for other countries. Then there is a whole list of countries to which they won't send anything. Yeah Leo, I don't know how your mailing system works there in Germany, but here in the states we have a multitude of different shipping companies that handle international sales for delivery. The biggest 3 used are: #1. U.S.P.S. (United States Postal Service.) #2. U.P.S. (United Parcel Service.) #3. Fed-Ex (Federal Express.) I personally choose U.P.S. service here in the midwest as they are on time and always careful with the packages plus their rates are much better. Any differences in price other than Thomann's initial quote will reflect on which company you use here. It's nice that Thomann keeps a record of your preference on orders and will still confirm each order to make sure you haven't change anything. To me, it's such a small amount of difference that I'm not going to do any further research into it. I am on a personal one on one name basis with the UPS driver as they have run my route here for over 10 years so I might ask him next time I see him if the topic arises. Best regards,
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eddie
Harley Benton Club Member
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Post by eddie on Apr 1, 2020 22:51:45 GMT
I looked at my cart. Shipping to the USA is $49 instead of $32. Is this a temporary increase due to the Chinese Coronavirus? It sort of put a damper on my order. I didn't order. Yeah eddie, I am showing the increase in shipping also here in Nebraska up from $33 on my last order in November 2019 to $49.92 today. I did some footwork for you buddy. I just personally called the Thomann distribution center in London England and the lady I talked to said the increase in shipping to the U.S. is due to coronavirus concerns so, incoming shipments here are being scanned more thoroughly. This is the number if you would like to confirm it yourself, but I wouldn't lie to you my friend: United Kingdom hub: +442038850020 She also told me that shipping will come back down after the crisis has passed and normal mailing channels can be used in customs and through UPS. I believe what she has told me, and do not think that Thomann is price gouging in any sense of the word. It's only a $20 increase for now which I know can be a lot of money to some folk. Just save up for a couple weeks more and place an order or wait it out. For me personally, if that $20 extra saves one life in this world it's worth it. Stay safe and all the best, Thank you. This is great information to know. Thank you for following up. You're right, the extra $20 for the extra measure of safety is worth it over and over. I have two Tele's in my cart. I'm actually waiting for the HB Vintage 1x12 cabinet to become available. Once it is, I'll hit the order button and wait for my goodies. Thanks again.
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Post by rfjones on Apr 2, 2020 1:31:17 GMT
Same thing happened to me last night. Enquired via the chat option. Got a vague explanation.which entity is imposing this? Wrong thing to do during a downturn. Lost a sale of four guitars over it.
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chubbles
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by chubbles on Apr 2, 2020 1:45:52 GMT
How the heck does one "scan" a package for the virus?? Sounds more like science fiction/fraud to me.
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Scurvy
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by Scurvy on Apr 2, 2020 12:42:19 GMT
To be fair Scurvy 's conversation didn't include the line "scanned for coronavirus", just that due to concerns over the the virus they are being scanned more thoroughly. Scanned for what is anyone's guess. Origin? Contents? Dodgy fret ends? ( ). Who knows? Those dodgy fret ends are the ones I really dispise. If they would just hold still long enough for me to get a file at them. Lol This is true I didn't type anything of that nature in my earlier posts defjef, but I did leave this conversation open as to the reasons of shipping increases. Please forgive me if I led anyone astray by not clarifying a little better. I can only speak on my findings here in the states so bare with me please... Being that the United States has the 3rd largest population in the world at 331 million people, the president has enacted not only a quarantine on international air travel, but also has stated that the pandemic is in a crisis situation. More and more are being infected and dying each day here. You personally may not be effected in your country with mailing costs or deliveries and I hope the best for you. It's a different situation here now. The increase in postage is not due to U.S. customs in which all international packages must go through. Yes, it is slowing the mailing process down, but not the main contributing factor. I can't comment on exactly what they are doing to each package, whether they are spraying them individually with disinfectant or what I don't know. I don't want to spread rumors or misinformation. The problem lies in the logistics of the shipping process right now with a shortage of bulk shipping containers for product coming in by sea to our coastal shores, then distribution to the major mailing centers throughout the continental U.S. With "social distancing" during this outbreak, we are seeing major cutbacks in the workforce with temporary layoffs and places of business completely shutting their doors until this crisis has passed. It's happening all over the U.S. right now so it also effects standard shipping processes. My nephew who is a over the road truck driver is still working for his firm here in Nebraska delivering produce, but has seen an increase in his work load due to other companies cutting back on employees so, he picks up extra deliveries and gets them to their destination. He stated that some deliveries have went 100 to 150 miles outside his normal route so it costs more of course. Gas, time, and availability of drivers are contributing factors. In the U.S. over the road truck drivers are the main life force of our shipping. Without them there is nothing. So from my observations here in the middle of the U.S. there lies the price increase I feel. I am not trying to sound like an expert on this matter, just trying to explain other reasons to why this is happening. Here in Omaha Nebraska all large events have been canceled, including the college world series of baseball which we have hosted for decades, almost all the bars are shutting their doors, and the list goes on. We are talking about a deadly virus here folks that is hardest on our elderly and it's all over the world taking lives each day. I wish the best for each and everyone of your family members until this damn thing passes. At 331 million people here it's hard to encompass how the hell they can still get shipments in the mail safely due to logistics. I can't even wrap my head around countries like India with 1.37 billion people and China itself with over 1.43 billion. Best always,
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1,773 posts
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Post by MartinB on Apr 2, 2020 14:23:51 GMT
I currently have a guitar lost in UPS hell
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Scurvy
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by Scurvy on Apr 3, 2020 3:12:24 GMT
I currently have a guitar lost in UPS hell I am sorry to hear that martinb and I hope all turns out well. I personally haven't had any problems with UPS, but I still cross my fingers that every order goes well. So far it has here. Hang in there. It will show up Captain...
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dadgad
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
Back up my Hard Drive? How do I put it in reverse?
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Post by dadgad on Apr 5, 2020 4:33:40 GMT
I just saw the increase in shipping myself and freaked. I did not place the order. My guess is when the airlines were forced to stop flying passengers all the shipments had to go dedicated cargo flights. Airlines can't charge us enough to cover the business they lost. I would have thought Thomann had a contracted rate since it was so reasonable. Must not have. No other option. UPS should be available. This will cost customers and limit business for Thomann. I can wait or buy something else. Can't blame the increase on oil prices since oil futures traded down to multi year low. Airlines are getting hammered but passenger rates are DOWN. Way down. I checked a trip a few days ago about 30 days out and it was at priced like 15 years ago. Its a problem but problems can be solved.
Thomann needs to get with it and setup a US warehouse or let Amazon handle US delivery. NO reason they can't do that. I know the contract Chinese brands do that. Amazon would jump at being the US stock and ship for HB.
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3,457 posts
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Post by LeoThunder on Apr 5, 2020 5:41:36 GMT
Thomann needs to get with it and setup a US warehouse or let Amazon handle US delivery. NO reason they can't do that.
Not worth the effort. Thomann is the largest music store in Europe. They make their money selling everything US music stores already sell. I wonder why they'd even bother trying to sell two dozen more Harley Benton in the US.
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dadgad
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
Back up my Hard Drive? How do I put it in reverse?
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Post by dadgad on Apr 6, 2020 14:40:45 GMT
Thomann needs to get with it and setup a US warehouse or let Amazon handle US delivery. NO reason they can't do that.
Not worth the effort. Thomann is the largest music store in Europe. They make their money selling everything US music stores already sell. I wonder why they'd even bother trying to sell two dozen more Harley Benton in the US. What if it was 2 dozen a day? Effort? What effort? Send the container. Amazon ships and collects. Thomann makes profit and ups volume. More volume gets better contract pricing. Lower prices for everyone. More profit for Thomann. More jobs in Asia. Everybody wins.
Being the biggest store in the EU is not that big a deal. Its a house out in the county with warehouses. I've seen it. Its a great operation but why limit growth? Amazon is a perfect example of how a small company can be a world wide operation. I have also heard the excuse Thomann is family owned they won't do that. Why? Beezos and his wife started Amazon. That was a family business. The biggest book store in America. Could have stopped right there! Its a bit bigger now.
You are under estimating the market. The EU is around 430 million and the United States in around 350 million. Add in 40 million for Canada and 130 million for Mexico which are both in our trade agreements and the market is larger than the EU by about 25%. Its really a simple process they just send a container to Amazon. Amazon does the rest. Everybody wins.
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