robcs
Minor Hero
Posts: 45
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Post by robcs on Jan 1, 2015 16:55:08 GMT -5
Got Xmc 1 in september exported to oz. Emotiva used ups to ship. With discount 1199 us at the time about 1400 aud shipping 200 us. on arrival ups arranged clearance Cost was Gst 10% which was 160 aud and a 60aud cost that goes to customs as a fee for clearance. UPS DID NOT CHARGE ANYTHING EXTRA. Note there is no duty now charged in australia for products from USA. (Free trade agreement. )Dont like the look of Bongo Yeah, I paid for my XMC-1 in July 2014 when $AUD to $US was 92 cents. US purchase cost was $1,199 with 40% card plus $231.52 shipping with UPS. Total was $1,430.52 US which translates to $1,581.74 AUS. On arrival UPS adds an entry fee charged by Australian Customs of $56.20 plus GST (Goods and Services Tax) of $158.17. Total $1,796. I think the XMC is well worth that amount. You can recover the GST if you are registered for GST in Australia. But here's a big one for you Cathy (and Dan). UPS and Bongo are totally inferior to FedEX who you used to ship with. UPS for example will sit on a delivery in their depot until the 'required' delivery date rather than deliver the item as soon as it clears customs. This happened with the original XMC-1 and now again with the Dirac kit. The Dirac was shipped ex USA on 24 December arrived in Sydney depot on 27 December, cleared customs on Saturday 29 December. It is now Friday 2 January, one week later and is still not here. With the XMC-1, I called my contact at UPS in Sydney and shaved a few days off the later delivery date. No luck this time with the Dirac kit. Also Cathy it may have been more sensible to show the XMC-1 invoicing in two bites to save the Australian GST and entry charge. The XMC-1 could have been shown less the Dirac and then the Dirac as a separate cost, with the commercial invoices both less than the $1,000 ceiling to avoid the additional Australian import impost costs. |
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Post by jutta on Feb 12, 2015 17:42:43 GMT -5
This bongo thing is still incredibly annoying. They are adding duties and taxes to sub $1000 orders (no additional charges under $1000 tax free threshold on imports) where they are just going to pocket that cash themselves on top of their inflated exchange rate and ridiculous freight costs.
Just punched in the numbers for 2 x XPA-100's in the current sale $678 USD cost after e-club discount.
Delivered....... $1631.88
Don't think so Emotiva. Which is sad because I want the product.
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Post by rocky500 on Feb 12, 2015 19:04:37 GMT -5
This bongo thing is still incredibly annoying. They are adding duties and taxes to sub $1000 orders (no additional charges under $1000 tax free threshold on imports) where they are just going to pocket that cash themselves on top of their inflated exchange rate and ridiculous freight costs. Just punched in the numbers for 2 x XPA-100's in the current sale $678 USD cost after e-club discount. Delivered....... $1631.88 Don't think so Emotiva. Which is sad because I want the product. It does make it costly now with Bongo to order anything from Emotiva for us Aussies. Just had a look at the rate of exchange they are using too. Currently it is just under 78c (XE currency converter). Bongo being so generous gives us 68c in their conversion.  Freight is high now too (add the generous bongo exchange rate), it makes it hard for me to consider ordering anything anymore. |
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Post by jutta on Feb 13, 2015 2:19:55 GMT -5
Taking 10 cents in the dollar which is already low and I can stomach the exchange rate anyway. That's just like fuel. You gotta pay what they charge. But the 10% GST and 5% duty is basically stealing when it shouldn't be applied to orders under $1000
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Post by deltadube on Feb 13, 2015 2:35:21 GMT -5
Taking 10 cents in the dollar which is already low and I can stomach the exchange rate anyway. That's just like fuel. You gotta pay what they charge. But the 10% GST and 5% duty is basically stealing when it shouldn't be applied to orders under $1000 78 vs 68 exchange is more like stealing 20% wow this is HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!! and you cant even pay with usd.. |
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Post by jutta on Feb 13, 2015 2:39:44 GMT -5
Yeah it sux. The .78 is what it is. If we walk in to a bank we get say .76. Bongo .68
Then they take another 15% for themselves disguised as tax and duty which doesn't exist on sub $1000 imports
Highway robbery. Emotiva are you taking note? I got nowhere when I sent an email
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Post by deltadube on Feb 13, 2015 2:45:38 GMT -5
im not buying till they take my usd... I have a usd visa..
cheers
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Post by Gary Cook on Feb 13, 2015 3:40:43 GMT -5
I'm taking advantage of the secret sale to add XPA-1L's for the FL and FR. I paid Emotiva for the items only, direct, via international transfer at my bank's exchange rate. I have asked them to send to a re shipper. If it all goes OK I'll post up how it works and all the details, so if anyone else wants to do the same they can follow the process.
I did spell out to Emotiva exactly why I was paying direct and using a reshipper. So they should be in no doubt as to the Bongo effect.
Cheers
Gary
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Post by jutta on Feb 13, 2015 5:51:40 GMT -5
I was going to do similar with an ERC-3
But honestly it shouldn't be that hard Gary. The system should work and lose the gouging bongo crap
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Post by rocky500 on Feb 13, 2015 6:59:58 GMT -5
I am not sure of the 68c but when I put through the 1x XPA-100's it seem to come to that. $339 US on the buy it now page. Becomes this  I can see why jutta is charged taxes, when 1 of them with Bongo's massive grab on the exchange rate conversion would push it over the $1000 limit for 2. |
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Post by jutta on Feb 13, 2015 18:02:23 GMT -5
No. It was $997 for the items.
That's why it's stealing. Taking your money for something that doesn't exist.
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Post by richardrc on Feb 14, 2015 20:59:42 GMT -5
Will be interested to know how it works out. If you don't mind sharing, who did you use and how much broken down with taxes. I have read that emo won't send you replacement parts etc for free as you organised your own shipping. That would be a risk I would be willing to take. I'm taking advantage of the secret sale to add XPA-1L's for the FL and FR. I paid Emotiva for the items only, direct, via international transfer at my bank's exchange rate. I have asked them to send to a re shipper. If it all goes OK I'll post up how it works and all the details, so if anyone else wants to do the same they can follow the process. I did spell out to Emotiva exactly why I was paying direct and using a reshipper. So they should be in no doubt as to the Bongo effect. Cheers Gary |
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Post by Gary Cook on Feb 14, 2015 23:10:40 GMT -5
I decided to wait until the process is fully complete before I promote it. That way I can put up all the pros and cons, the timetable from start to finish, how much it cost and at the same time share any learnings. So that anyone who decides to follow will have a full understanding of what they are in store for. I've ordered around 8 items direct from Emotiva over the years with freight via FedEx, UPS and USPS and this the first one using a re shipper. So I have a pretty good basis on which to make any comparison.
Current status, I've paid Emotiva by international bank transfer and I'm waiting on their confirmation that they have received it. I have also set up an account with a reshipper and given their closest address details to Emotiva. So it's early days yet.
Cheers
Gary
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Post by sharky on Feb 15, 2015 9:47:08 GMT -5
A few years ago I tried Bongo (not Emotiva related) and had a bad experience. So, when I bought my DC-1 last year, before Emotiva started using Bongo I compared Emo's shipping quote with another reshipper and since the latter option was quite cheaper I decided to try it. The reshipper was Borderlinx (they're DHL partners). They only give you the option of pre-paying the import/customs taxes but that was what I wanted anyway. All went smoothly and I got my DC-1 a few days after. Then Emotiva started using Bongo and I thought I might give it a go again to see if things had become better. I used them again in last September (again, nothing Emotiva related, in this case DVDs and Blu-Rays from Best Buy). And it was a horrible experience. There was terrible communication on their part, the process wasn't as simple as they state on their site. They held my package for days with no explanation, only when I contacted them after a week they told me they wouldn't ship it without me sending them scans of my proof of address for the billing address and from the credit card. They would just sit there with the package if I hadn't asked why the delay. Then, they didn't declare the import taxes as paid, so FedEx Portugal contacted me for paying the taxes. When I told them they should be paid already, they checked with FedEx in the US, which in turn kindly contacted me to clear things up. They said they'd be able to correct the process with the order number, which I didn't had since I wasn't the original shipper, so they asked me to ask Bongo to give them a call and they would sort it out in a minute. Contacted Bongo that replied saying FedEx would never do that so there was no point in contacting them. I insisted saying that it was indeed FedEx that had asked me to ask Bongo to call. Again, same canned reply. FedEx would never allow that. No point in trying. There is nothing we can do. Your problem. Saga eventually ended up well, due to the joint efforts of FedEx Portugal and FedEx in the US that managed to "tweak" the process somehow and getting it delivered without extra costs. Kudos to FedEx customer service in both countries for being so kind and understanding. I recently got some more electronics from the US (non-audio) and needed a reshipper since the seller didn't ship abroad. Went back to Borderlinx and had another painless experience. They even double-box your stuff for free if they think the original box is not sturdy enough. Bongo will charge you for that without even asking. If you guys want to try it here's the link to the shipping costs simulator: borderlinx.com/en/shipping-cost-calculator (seems to know the rules to Australia) Disclaimers: - I am in no way associated with Bongo, Borderlinx or any of their partners/competitors. Just stating my 2 experiences with each. So, won't be held responsible if any of those two totally mangle your shipment, incinerate it, throw it from the top of a tower and give it as offering to the gods. - I didn't post this here before for 2 reasons. 1) I might have been unlucky and everyone else using Bongo may be really happy with the service. I mean, they're still on the market, so they must have happy customers. 2) Both times I used Bongo was with non-Emotiva related shopping, so I don't know if I'm really comparing apples to apples here. Maybe they are more careful with their corporate customers shipping and give a different level of customer support. Since people were complaining I decided to finally post my experience as well. - There are probably lots of other very good reshippers out there. I've only tried these two. |
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Post by wizardofoz on Feb 24, 2015 9:07:41 GMT -5
Anyone in Europe noted this....from my onkyo 3007 manual...wtf  |
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Post by rogersch on Feb 24, 2015 10:29:58 GMT -5
Anyone in Europe noted this....from my onkyo 3007 manual...wtf LOL! |
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Post by monkumonku on Feb 24, 2015 10:32:05 GMT -5
Anyone in Europe noted this....from my onkyo 3007 manual...wtf And that's not a joke either because in #8 right below it they say they are serious and there's even a watchdog to emphasize that. Well, I guess Europeans spell "serious" differently than we do here in the states. |
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,273
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Post by KeithL on Feb 24, 2015 10:42:50 GMT -5
It has to do with bare metal being exposed.... which includes banana plugs that aren't fully insulated and binding posts that leave the end-connect hole uncovered when you use them with a spade lug or bare wire. (If you look at some EU-made binding posts, they have a plastic "cork" covering the hole where you would insert a banana plug.) Anyone in Europe noted this....from my onkyo 3007 manual...wtf And that's not a joke either because in #8 right below it they say they are serious and there's even a watchdog to emphasize that. Well, I guess Europeans spell "serious" differently than we do here in the states. |
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Post by vcautokid on Feb 24, 2015 10:49:00 GMT -5
The story connected, no joke, to this is that the use of dual bananas, or a paladin connector is very close to the Power Cable connectors they use in Europe, so....well you get the picture.
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Post by wizardofoz on Feb 24, 2015 11:04:48 GMT -5
The story connected, no joke, to this is that the use of dual bananas, or a paladin connector is very close to the Power Cable connectors they use in Europe, so....well you get the picture. Tha t would give you some Sirius bass for a few seconds then.... I guess it applies here in singapore if you are stupid enough to try it...and therefore UK too and HK  |
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