Direct Imports? A word of caution

[Spooky]

I'm just uploading a picture for now but soon as I get back in the next hour or so I'll post the story behind it.

Suffice to say this is a 60watt £6,000 machine that is now no more than a large piece of scrap metal. (not to mention two more in the same condition)



Back in a bit

best wishes

Dave

[Spooky]

Okies I'm back (no rest for the wicked)

Ok so the picture, It's an HPC 6840 with a 60 watt adaptor and tube fitted.
Three of these arrived with HPC this week and after what was left of the crates was removed the picture was the result.

So some things can get broken in the mail but this wasn't due to bad crating by the Chinese but down to damage caused by the freight handlers (the people between the ship and the recipient).That in itself must happen on occasion but it does bring up the spectre of who pays?

It's not going to be China as they did exactly what they were paid to do, it's not going to be the parcel delivery service as they delivered....So that leaves the handlers....sure they are responsible IF you can prove they caused the damage and not the loaders at the Chinese end. You can bet at £18,000 value that anybody is going to do their best to get out of paying or accepting an insurance claim.
So if this can happen to a big distributor then imagine what resolution a single machine buyer is going to get if their machine ends up arriving the same way.

In some cases of drop shippers on Ebay you can bet they will wash their hands of it and Ebay has a non receipt limit of 60 days, even Paypal aren't going to do much to help as all the seller has to do is say "Sorry, please send it back and we will replace it" and your claim goes out the window. Even if you do pay the fee to send it back (and that's going to be several hundred pounds) it's going to take 3 months likely to get there, then another 3 for it to get back. So you are £6,000 out of pocket (plus return postage) with little chance of any resolution inside 6+ months.

Then think of buying from smaller one man shows that don't have the bucks to be able to replace your machine (that you paid up front for) they will go bust and you have NO hope of getting your money back. (this has happened to more than one company that markets lasers that I know of) so all in all I'd ask the question? is it a good idea to buy bigger machines direct or are you better off buying from a UK business that has the financial stability to protect your investment?

I know what I would do hence the reason the 4 lasers I have owned (inc three I still own) have come from the UK from a company I know is still going to be around in 10 years time

best wishes

Dave

[PhillyDee]

That exact reason why I went with HPC for my first, and to be next laser purchase.

[endcan]

Bet the alignment is out on that one !
Did the tube survive?

[Spooky]

A direct quote

"Bloody hell Dave, the tube was like a paperbag full of broken lightbulbs"

[SimonMallas]

Hi Dave,
What a mess!!! Its not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last!!!! and like you mentioned theres nowhere to go, one big mr nobody did it!!!!!!
Simon