Ordering hats from the USA

[daizawaguy]

With the strong interest in ordering hats from Australia on this forum (wait times, postage costs etc.) I thought it would be interesting to give my experience of ordering hats from the USA (mail order that is, not custom order):

"M1" hats - ordered a summer hat last year. Order processed automatically by e-mail. Card debited. Nothing arrived after 3 weeks. Mailed the first response. Got a prompt reply with tracking number. Seems the hat was stuck in Malaysia. 3 weeks later, hat still in Malaysia. mails back and forth, and finally a replacement hat is sent out. Next day, original hat arrives at my doorstep! 2 months

"M2" hats - order a branded hat box. Order mail received. 2 weeks later nothing. Mail back. My card cannot be processed. Change cards. 2 weeks later, card processed. Package arrives a month after the order.

"L hats" - a Knox enquiry. Email response arrives swiftly. Cannot take non-domestic cards, and my enquiry about postage through USPS was met with a reply...`send through UPS for $185`...and that`s the postage!

"B hats" - order sent last Sunday. Prompt e-mail response with reply "call for international rates". US holiday on Monday, so called Tuesday with the response "It`s been sent Sir, USPS, $37, do you want a tracking number, and by the way, what time is it in Tokyo? That`s kind of you to call, we did not expect you to call". Hat arrives Friday.

Well done Bencraft, you have a very slick operation.

 

[Daoud]

How unfortunate.....clearly there are many non-customer service- oriented people working in jobs which should require excellent customer service skills and attitudes. These people had best wake up........it's a tough world in today's marketplace.

 

[nickn5]

I'm in a little bit of a situation with Optimo at the moment, who I had seen highly recommended here. They received, last week on Wednesday 11th February (as tracked by USPS), a hat I won on Ebay which needed some cleaning/reblocking work. All was arranged in advance with good communications and clear instructions what to do with labelling etc.
But since then I've had no reply to my email and have even phoned them. The first response on phone was 'we check in hats on Mondays' to which I said 'well yes, that was last Monday (16th) then surely'. Then the response was 'erm, yes, ok, we'll call you back soon we need to go find out'. That was yesterday about 2 p.m Chicago time. Nothing more heard yet...
I really hope this works out ok, I will update the situation as it pans out. I hope to be able to leave positive comments on Optimo in the end!

N.

 

[daizawaguy]

You won`t have any issues at all...gotta give it a month. Bet you will be a proud owner of a nice hat some time in March. A $100 refurb is not going to get the attention of a $500 order, but it will be sorted out fine. Patience is the key. Your order has been noted, just a matter of time. You`ll be pleased, I can tell you.

 

[Aaron Hats]

Speaking from a strictly business perspective, international orders scare a lot of small business owners. Sadly, that's where the most fraud occurs so that's why you often get the "call us" or very high price quotes from businesses. I once quoted a "customer" $15,000 for two dozen hats. He emailed back with credit card info which was stolen. Different web sites have different criteria for approving credit card transactions. It boils down to what the owner is comfortable with in terms of risk. At the least, most require address verification which isn't always possible with credit cards issued from smaller banks outside the US. There's also CVV code verification. In my opinion, the credit card companies need to create new security features but why should they. When the consumer disputes a charge they simply take the money back from the merchant.

That concludes today's small business lesson.

Aaron

 

[besdor]

I have to agree with Aaron. We get a lot of international orders and there are some countries that we just wont ship to. We have had too many problems wth certain parts of the world . Since it is difficult to verify a credit card outside of the US, the only way to be 100% certain is to request an international money order or set up a paypal account.
One country that simply loves hats is Japan. We ship more hats there than the whole South America. And, we've never had a problem with a Japanese order. They cant get enough Borsalino and Stetson hats there.





Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[nickn5]

Paypal is definitely one of the better web-based things to have been developed over the last few years, I would be much more hesitant using my credit card on overseas orders, but with Paypal, no problem.

Only downside is, makes it almost too easy to buy things = so I end up spending more than I really should...

N.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Most of the hats I own were bought in the USA...the European perspective

As said above...
I'm a bit old fashioned: I come from the days when thing were shipped...er...by ship. That's the standard. Now, I know the Wright Bros. initiated other means of transatlantic (-oceanic) transport but, quite frankly, even forty years after the first man on the moon, I don't expect my orders to reach my doorstep the first day after. Mr. Scotty is yet to materialize.

I am patient. A month, at most, like in the word "due diligence" (three weeks is more like it). In order to be perfectly diplomatic, I voluntarily agree to put the blame on Belgian customs, like in "don't kick sleeping dogs" (especially if they might be American; they're bigger, even if only in the mind).

My internet experience is that merchants, in the USA, in Australia, have a culture of being quick about business. Thanks, much appreciated. This is as it should be. Within reason, of course. The airplanes have been flying at 600 mph since fifty years (actually a bit slower now than then).

No, I'm not in any mood to complain about delivery delays, in general. It's never happened yet that something I ordered did not arrive.



And, this for the guidance of European buyers: new items invariable (always!) get seriously taxed with import duty, VAT and a customs clearance tab. Say +40%, maybe even 50% on top of the initial cost: steep!

Used (Ebay) items do not get taxed, except for our dear post office standard "presentation to customs" charge of €10.00 accross the board - sometimes, much like a lottery. and I bet the post office handling is where most of the delay occurs. Other than that, this last remnant of state monopoly goes on strike. Local politics, none of your business.

P.S. I always pay with Paypal. Works. Cheap. Why, ten years ago it cost an arm and a leg to set up an international bank transfer.

 

[nickn5]

Update on Optimo:

After I sent an email this morning, I received a call just now, and they are about to start reblocking and cleaning, should be sent to me next week hopefully. They asked if I wanted a Fedora or Gangster shape crown when reblocking, I asked for open crown, more fun for me that way!
I've paid now anyway so all is good.

N.

 

[Colby Jack]

That is good to know.:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Will Morgan]

International reputation matters.

Credit scam wise we have only got ripped off once over a decade in shipping to Japan.

We insist on Western Union for orders say, to pick an extreme case, Nigeria.

The problems we face shipping internationally are more with customers being surprised by duty.

Because we endeavor to operate ethically, we always declare the full value of a shipment. Some countries, romance language countries in europe come to mind, have high duties. Sometimes customers are surprised by the amount of duty, then, instead of paying the duty, they abandon the order...

Italy, Spain and France for example will refuse to release the goods ( to be shipped back to us on our dime ) unless we pay the duty. To mitigate this problem we ask for payment up front on high value orders to these countries.

http://davidmorgan.com/