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Disconcerting Afterthoughts on a Purchase


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I don't know if this is best for here or Amicus, but whatever.

 

Sooo, I may have been ripped off.  In a search for bits, I eventually found www.bitsbay.it 

 

Now, I placed the order on the 23rd.  They didn't ship until the 26th (conveniently right after I sent an email asking why they hadn't yet shipped my order).

 

I did not get a tracking number.  When asked, I got two answers.  The first time, they dodged teh question entirely, but said shipping from Italy to the US would typically take two to three weeks.

 

Then, I asked again, and this was the reply:

 

"Hi there,


Im sorry but there isnt Any tracking code for not tracked shipping 
from Italy. Take some patience and everything will be fine :)"

 

Obviously, not the best of English skills, so I cannot be 100% sure of his meaning here.  Buuuut, I'm getting a touch nervous, in part because I need those bits for my ETL vow.  Ironic, because I chose them only due to them having all the bits I was looking for.

 

What are the odds that I got scammed here, do you folks think?  But I suppose a more useful question would be has anyone dealt with www.bitsbay.it before?

1) In Europe most postal services do not use tracking numbers. Speditors like UPS / FedEx / DHL and such do. You might ask them for some kind of receipt as proof they've sent it, but if they are dealing with multiple packages, it's unlikely they will have retained it.

2) Reportedly, the Italian post office is notorious for it's pondering slowness.

3) As well as for people stealing the living crap out of what's getting sent. My friend who works for one of the Polish bits design companies keeps complaining about the issues when dealing with virtually ANY package being sent to Italy.

4) Because of the three above, it stands to reason they actually might be taking the fact into account that your package WILL get lost and/or stolen and they give themselves ample time for a resend.

4) For me the reply, albeit in a tad broken English, does not really read as an attempt weasel out of anything, just a pat on the back and an attempt to assuade your fears. Give them the 2-3 weeks, say even until the end of the month, then start asking questions again, I'd say.

Good luck! smile.png

EDIT:

And if they DO scam you for your money, they will get theirs in kind when we Crusade the everloving crap out of their headquarters.

Yeah, I wasn't in a panic (in no small part because the delivery date hasn't passed), just looking at little things that had my eyebrow raised. The condemnation of the Italian postal service doesn't come as much of a surprise, although it certainly doesn't put me at ease tongue.png

I did manage to find only a couple of reviews of the site on dakkadakka (weirdly the only place I could find any), and people were pleased with them, but the dates were several years old on average.

And if they DO scam you for your money, they will get theirs in kind when we Crusade the everloving crap out of their headquarters.

Before you get out the black sword, you should know the bits I ordered are for building my Arrows a Librarian. whistlingW.gif

Before you get out the black sword, you should know the bits I ordered are for building my Arrows a Librarian. whistlingW.gif

Then there's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I'm not getting my Black Sword after that! Target practice!!!

+++ OI! SERF! WHERE'S ME ARMOR O' FAITH, EH?! +++

Hello there, I'm from Italy and even though I never ordered anything from bitsbay I already knew it as a quite famous website were to find bits. I can't really say much on its reliability but I know it has been around for years and a lot of people order from it.

 

But I can say that, purchasing from US, the shipment arrived after 3/4 weeks, so probably it will take for your shipment the same time to arrive.

  • 4 weeks later...

Sooo yeah, still no delivery, and the package was shipped June 26. I sent an email last week telling them so, and got no response. I just sent them another, informing them that I have yet to get my bits. I'm curious as to if and when they will do something about this. But mostly I'm just angry verymad.gif

Hope you get your stuff in time.

 

However, as said, Italian post is not precisely the best...unless you pay for extremely premium services.

 

Also, this being said as a fellow Mediterranean, August is not he best time to contact people. Sucks, I know, but its a holiday month and unless its a proper business its easy that they simply have no access to the net.

 

Let us know how it goes!

A holiday month.  A month.  I don't even know where to begin with this...

 

It's already too late to get it "in time" for the ETL.  I'd have to figure out the bitz, figure out the kitbash, do some very minor sculpting, all of which would take far too long at this stage along with everything else I still have to do.

 

At this point, I just want them because I paid for them, and because I still want to do the conversion after the ETL :P

 

At any rate, I'll be avoiding anything that could possibly involve Italian post from now on. 

 

I guess if it doesn't show up, I'll have to wait til September before I can 'express my dissatisfaction.'  Now if only I can figure out how to send swarms of angry bees through the internet...

For future purchases I recommend Bitzbox.com, its the one I use and my orders arrive within a week. Ive only once had problems and that was because there was a mixup in the order I made but they were happy to help and I got my money back.

Anaziel, I've used Bitsbox in the past.  I chose bitsbay because I had quite a diverse array of bits that I needed, and they had them all.  Shipping and handling involved with ordering from several other sources would've doubled the price.

 

Pbenner, I used pay pal.  I'm not sure how to go about opening a claim.  I wouldn't want to, but much longer and...well, I can only be pushed so far.  I'm giving them the benefit of a doubt on account of mentioned issues with the Italian postal service here, but again, my patience is limited.

  • 2 weeks later...

Got a refund today.  I really would've preferred the bits :(  The reply email sort of passive aggressively blamed me for not getting it shipped with a tracking number, but I don't recall even having that option at the time I placed the order.  They even said they will cancel any future orders I may or may not make if they aren't shipped with a tracking number :P

 

Such an irritating setback....

Got a refund today. I really would've preferred the bits sad.png The reply email sort of passive aggressively blamed me for not getting it shipped with a tracking number, but I don't recall even having that option at the time I placed the order. They even said they will cancel any future orders I may or may not make if they aren't shipped with a tracking number tongue.png

Such an irritating setback....

Damn that sucks. Like someone said above, I'd go for Bitzbox. I know that in your case they didn't have all the necessary bits, but I'd vouch for them.

I can't necessarily blame the guy for being a bit perturbed himself.  Without a tracking number, he had no way of knowing if I was lying through my teeth, either.  For all he knew, I got the package and was just trying to scam him.

 

Bitzbox and bitzbarn are popular enough that they never have the parts I want in stock. :verymad:  That, and the shipping and handling you accrue when ordering from more than one sight outstrips the cost of the bits themselves by a shocking margin.

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