| French Guys, please help - Click HERE for Original Thread |
| uli |
Hi folks,
I recently ordered parts at Selectronics. Shipment is on its way for 3 Weeks, Selectronics does not reply to email requests.
Does anybody have experience with them?
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| peufeu |
Yes, they usually are quite serious... no problems with them.
You should just call them. |
|
|
| uli |
thanks for you reply.
My problem is, that my French is VERY poor!
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| jacco vermeulen |
Not French, but i haven't had problems with Selectronic so far.
(people at the Lille shop are very friendly and helpfull)
|
|
|
| uli |
I will try to call on monday - problem is the shipping, not the shop.
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| uli |
I´m fed up, they may be friendly, but I got NO parcel (5 weeks)!!
I asked for investigation and they sent me a screenshot of the
French Postal Services tracking tool. I am able to put in a number
on my own, I want to know where my stuff is, dont need no
F%&/((/& screenshots!
:mad: :mad: :mad:
I paid the bill, but no parcel!
BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| Bricolo |
| what does the tracking say? where is the parcel? |
|
|
| uli |
Hi Bricolo,
tracking says nothing anymore. At Collissimo the tracking number
is only valid for 30 days. Collissimo said 10 days ago, the sender
(Selectronics) would be responsible for investigations. A friend of
mine (fluent french in contrary to me) wrote some emails for me,
but instead of looking after the parcel they sent screen shots.
Now I think that they dont care, they already got the money
(164 Euros ~ 200USD) - no answers, just 1 screenshot.
I tried to call but Im not able to make my point clear in French and
at Selectronics they dont speak english or german.
I got only 2 tracking numbers:
1) CD383217805FR - this is the missing parcel sent 21st September
2) CD383218151FR - this is a second order, which is sent on
4th October, maybe this one will show up.
I am angry a little bit, because when I order from the US or Canada
the shipment is here in 5 days including customs.
In European Union it is not possible to ship in 5 weeks.
Kind of Babylonian Mess :whazzat:
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
An unusual situation?, maybe, but I am sure you have some recourse if:
= You made your payment by PayPal (International). Refund may take as long as a month.
= You made your payment by EU bank based credit card. Refund may take as long as two months.
If either of the above, then starting the process of obtaining a refund will usually "light a fire" under the vendor and they should respond quickly with detailed shipment information ... or the refund.
...
If you paid by personal check, money order, bank wire or bank EFT, you may be, as we say here in the states, SOL.
:bigeyes: |
|
|
| uli |
paid with VISA, they charged it to my account already.
Selectronics "ships" usually after getting their money, at least
when doing international orders.
BS; seems that I paid kind of Fools tax.
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... paid with VISA, they charged it to my account already. Selectronics "ships" usually after getting their money, at least when doing international orders. ..."
(Payment before shipment is the same for us here in the states ... (CIA = Cash In Advance ... ;)
The Bank that issued your credit card is the next place to contact ... call your Visa Card Issuing Bank and tell them that the vendor has had a resonable time to fullfill your order and the vendor has failed to do so and You want Your money back ... or the goods, immediately.
Your Card Issuing Bank will then complain to the credit card clearing services in France and they will contact the vendor. The vendor will then have to justify their side of any issues like mis-shipments, late shipments, failure to ship, warranty complaints, etc., with an immediate written response ... or lose their ability to accept credit cards. If the vendor has not been able to ship, refuses to ship or is unable to prove they have shipped AND You have received Your shipment, THEN you will simply get your money back, in full. If the vendor has shipped, they will immediately track down your package and report this information directly to you with written explaination AND report to Your Card Bank ... and Your Card Bank will also report this to You.
... I would bet that the vendor will respond with in two to three days with a delivery or a refund ... or a long letter of appology and a request for patience with the eventual delivery ... but the vendor will certainly respond ... Or Your Bank will have to pay You and Your Bank will close the vendor out of the EU credit card clearence system and possibly out of business. (It happens all the time ...)
:eek: |
|
|
| uli |
Thanks Eddy!
I will try that!
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| Cloth Ears |
FastEddy,
What an excellent and simple explanation! There should be somewhere 'sticky' for this to go so that other 'credit-unaware' people on the site can look to it for info.
Mods, are there any sticky places on DIYA for consumer advice? |
|
|
| janneman |
| quote: | Originally posted by FastEddy
" ... paid with VISA, they charged it to my account already. Selectronics "ships" usually after getting their money, at least when doing international orders. ..."
(Payment before shipment is the same for us here in the states ... (CIA = Cash In Advance ... ;)
The Bank that issued your credit card is the next place to contact ... call your Visa Card Issuing Bank and tell them that the vendor has had a resonable time to fullfill your order and the vendor has failed to do so and You want Your money back ... or the goods, immediately.
Your Card Issuing Bank will then complain to the credit card clearing services in France and they will contact the vendor. The vendor will then have to justify their side of any issues like mis-shipments, late shipments, failure to ship, warranty complaints, etc., with an immediate written response ... or lose their ability to accept credit cards. If the vendor has not been able to ship, refuses to ship or is unable to prove they have shipped AND You have received Your shipment, THEN you will simply get your money back, in full. If the vendor has shipped, they will immediately track down your package and report this information directly to you with written explaination AND report to Your Card Bank ... and Your Card Bank will also report this to You.
... I would bet that the vendor will respond with in two to three days with a delivery or a refund ... or a long letter of appology and a request for patience with the eventual delivery ... but the vendor will certainly respond ... Or Your Bank will have to pay You and Your Bank will close the vendor out of the EU credit card clearence system and possibly out of business. (It happens all the time ...)
:eek: |
It's even better than that. CC companies are very sensitive to this. I had two cases, one of overcharging, the other not delivering. In both cases, after I complained to the CC company, they immediately transferred my money back from the vendor to my account, and THEN started to ask the vendor question. Unless he can prove he kept his part of the deal, he isn't going to get the money. In these cases, complaining really helps.
Jan Didden |
|
|
| jackinnj |
| It works both ways -- I have a signed receipt for goods sent to a U.S. address -- and still got a chargeback. The CC companies have you over a barrel if you are a small vendor. |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... There should be somewhere 'sticky' for this to go so that other 'credit-unaware' people on the site can look to it for info. ..."
" ... CC companies are very sensitive to this. ... Unless [the vendor] can prove he kept his part of the deal, he isn't going to get [to keep] the money. ..."
" ... The CC companies have you over a barrel if you are a small vendor. ..."
It is not quite that bad for the vendors. Their recourse is simply to prove they either did actually make shipment and delivery or provide a refund. This is actually quite painless for a legitimate vendor, if they respond quickly with a satisfactory result. In all cases, if the CC Bank gets involved, the burden of proof is on the vendor.
Points of interest: Here in the states, if the amount is under US$500.00, then the vendor may only lose a small amount of money in the form of the refund plus modest costs. If over US$500.00, then the vendor may lose his "license" to process credit card transactions through the credit card clearence systems ... or ... suffer the refund & fees and lose of "license" ... or criminal prosecution plus lose of current and future "license". It all depends on the CC Issuing Bank, which may simply fall back on their insurance to satisfy the customer with a refund.
...
Here in all of North America, UPS, FedEx, DHL and registered US, Canadian and Mexican Postal Mail are considered by all of the courts to be "friends of the court" and recognized as the courts' witness to pick up and deliveries. If they say a shipment was delivered, the burden is then on the customer to prove otherwise ... and the vendor gets to keep the money. If these "common carriers" can not prove delivery, they may have to pay the vendor for his losses or they may pay the vendor for a "re shipment".
I have never, ever in ten years in eCommerce and twenty five years as an International importer and shipper, had any difficulties with UPS, FedEx, DHL (TNT, et al), or the US or Canadian Postal authorities in recovery, local or International ... nor have I ever been mis-informed about a real, actual, provable delivery ... nor any problems obtaining delivery confirmations or confirmations of non-delivery. (Even when the case is one of "it fell off the back of the truck", the common carriers have made good on their pledges with either full refunds or additional shipments at no charge ... even in the absence of "extra" package shipment insurance. [Aside: Interestingly, I have had no problems in the Middle East, Turkey, Afhganistan & Pakistan, Latvia, Russia, Hungry or any "Slovician" regions or Hong Kong, Singapore, Tailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezalia, South Africa ... just Mexico and patience prevailed there. Several Mexican delivery pecularities have resulted in jail time for the Mexican Customs Federalies involved ... and I eventually got my money back and so did the customers, thanks to UPS.])
I have never had any serious problems with any Credit Card Issuing Bank in recent times. I have never had any problems with the Credit Card Clearence systems, either here or in the European Union, the Orient or elsewhere. The British CC clearence systems in the UK, Canada and Australia are the best for credit card customer security, but they are all very, very good.
This is why I am not in the software business = no delivery tracking available ... I could and probably should write a book ... |
|
|
| uli |
Besides being VERY happy about Eddies tips, there is news from
my problem:
In fact shipping is done by the french post office by giving the
parcel to DHL, which took me a fortnight to find out (calling EVERY
major company like TNT, UPS etc. Finally a friendly guy at austrian
post office told me that he sees the tracking number in his system
showing DHL as carrier).
The guy at DHL just saw the address, recognized it as private,
never showed up, said it to be undeliverable and sent it back to
France.
Now I have to discuss that they send it to Austria again.
What I am disappointed is that a company with international
distribution aims is not able to answer to calls or emails in English.
French post office even dont answer to french written emails.
Nobody cares about recipients problems, although the
transportation risc and responsibility lies within the sender´s
responsibility. They even didnt do some investigation from the
senders side.
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... Finally a friendly guy at austrian post office told me that he sees the tracking number in his system showing DHL as carrier ... The guy at DHL just saw the address, recognized it as private, never showed up, said it to be undeliverable and sent it back to France ..."
?? Private Address ?? DHL is supposed to deliver, private address or not, unless there is no way to do so or no way to get a signature. (If you get mail at that address, DHL should have tried to deliver as that is part of their contract with the French PO.)
Nice to know about this DHL problem, as we use them in Europe EU, etc. all the time. We always ask for a recipient signature ... which is what may have happened here. BUT DHL should have tried twice, and then sent a mail notice of delivery attempt and held the shipment locally awaiting pick up by the customer, rather than return it to France. Call DHL and ask them to retry the shipment ... or proceed with your refund request.
:( |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... What I am disappointed is that a company with international distribution aims is not able to answer to calls or emails in English. ..."
This is not unusual. What we do it compose our email messages to International customers then use one of the online language translation programs (like Babel Fish http://world.altavista.com/ ) ... and send the email message in BOTH languages.
English to French: Ce n'est pas peu commun. Ce que nous il composons nos messages d'email aux clients internationaux puis emploient un des programmes en ligne de traduction de langue (comme poissons http://world.altavista.com de Babel)... et envoient le message d'email dans LES DEUX langues.
English to German: Dieses ist nicht ungewšhnlich. Was wir es bestehen, verwenden unsere email Anzeigen zu den internationalen Kunden dann eins der on-line-SprachenŸbersetzung Programme (wie Babel Fische http://world.altavista.com)... und senden die email Anzeige in BEIDEN Sprachen.
(French to German: Es ist nicht wenig gemeinsam. Das, was wir er zusammensetzt unsere E-Mail-Mitteilungen an die internationalen Kunden dann, gebrauchen sich eines der Programme in Linie der SprachŸbersetzung (wie Fische http://world.altavista.com von Babel)... und senden die E-Mail-Mitteilung in den ZWEI Sprachen. )
No? Comista? :smash: |
|
|
| uli |
| quote: | Originally posted by FastEddy
" ... What I am disappointed is that a company with international distribution aims is not able to answer to calls or emails in English. ..."
|
Ups thats no correct english I fear:D :D :D
Better?
I´m disappointed that...
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod:
PS: english to french via Babelfish and then the result to german
is no good idea, the message got lost:devilr: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... english to french via Babelfish and then the result to german is no good idea ..."
Si, ... One translation to another ... too much information gets lost when translating the results into a third language ... :dodgy: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... Nobody cares about recipients problems, although the transportation risc and responsibility lies within the sender´s responsibility. They even didnt do some investigation from the senders side. ..."
My business has been doing International shipping and importing daily, for more than ten years ... and we really, really do care. I have run several cost benifit analysis routines on the success verses failure to deliver, mis-shipments and wrong item shipments. No matter how I play with the cost numbers, I figure we lose at least US$100 on every mistake in shipment ...This applies to both International and domestic shipments .... If we have more than 10 mis-shipments per month, the shipping department losses their performance bonuses. If an employee is responsible for more than 3 mis-shipments per month, it can be grounds for dismissal. If our shipping department has an error free shipping month, they all get a bonus of around US$150 each ... and get to keep their job. I pay these bonuses almost every month. This is a huge incentive for them to add big dollars to our bottom line and their own paychecks and I gladly pay the bonuses. We are all seriously concerned in the event of any shipping failure.
We do care or we lose money = :D |
|
|
| uli |
Finally there seems to be kind of "happy end" to that story:
I located a second shipment just in time, before DHL wanted to
send it back to France. Once again the driver didnt inform me of
the shipment but wrote twice tried customer informed.
I picked it up at the local DHL station.
The first shipment arrived at Selectronics in perfect condition.
Now they ship it again by using Chronopost. Never heard of them,
but they can´t be worse than DHL.:D :D :D :D
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod:
PS: do not use Babelfish, the Systran Tool is MUCHO better! |
|
|
| FastEddy |
1) DHL in your area may be bad, but we use them world wide and generally don't have any problems.
2) the Systran Tool is better! ... thanks for the tip. :) |
|
|
| uli |
I dont think that DHL is that bad, it much depends on the individuals
working in a particular area.
Uli
:nod: :nod: :nod: |
|
|
| FastEddy |
" ... depends on the individuals working in a particular area. ..."
Is Thus and Ever Shall Be ...
(This is why it is possible for us little outfits to whip the pants off of the giant corporations = big companies have big overhead and it does not always help them.) |
|
|
|
|
