HLJ US customers; what's your worst experience with EMS shipping?

[petesy]

USPS will only give you limited information on your parcel in Japan, have you tried tracking it through Japan Post? If not, run your tracking number through their web site and see if your parcel got kicked around in Japan.

http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/index_en.html

I guess it is fairly well known by now that when HLJ were forced to offer discounts by the competition, they recoup it from the shipping cost. Shipping the same weight by other shops like Hobby Search is almost always cheaper than HLJ. It also seems like HLJ really takes their time in processing their shipment. It would take a week for them to post the kits when Hobby Search would do it the same night after they received the payment.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I hopefully will get my shipment tomorrow. I wanted SAL, HLJ says I should have been able to ship via SAL (and they admitted that they have a problem w/incorrect box size for LaFerrari on the first day), but w/o a screen shot it's my word against theirs, and they're being a bit assholey about it. My shipping is 3300 yen, but HLJ says it really cost them 3600, so they supposedly ate 300 yen shipping, and I'm supposed to be happy about that? When I could have been charged about 1600 yen for SAL and get it shortly after the EMS fiasco?

So because I was not home when it was "delivered" (I wanted SAL when I shipped since I knew I'd be home when it was delivered), I now have to drive myself to the post office to get it. 11 days after paying for express shipping.

I have no love for EMS shipping, I have no love for HLJ. Had I been able to ship via SAL, I'd have been happy. Had I shipped FedEx, I'd have had the box a week ago, and have been happy. I'm not at all happy...

[hirofkd]

I'm still tying to gather information because I don't understand your problem.
Your original post said that your package was sitting in a container in Tokyo, but other posts sound like it never left HLJ, which is located in Gunma.

Unavailability of SAL seems to be just a human error, so it's negligible since everyone makes mistake, and the problem is not recursive.

I do remember HLJ's slow processing time (like 7-10 days) several years ago, but all of my orders this year were shipped promptly (Feb 28 order was out on Mar 3, Sep 16 and 17, Nov 29 and 30).

Am I being lucky every time, or you just happened to be unlucky on this particular order?

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Both Hobbylink and the postal service dropped the ball.

Hobbylink claims my shipment should have been available to ship via SAL, but that was not the case when I set up shipping. I was trying to avoid exactly what happened, a package arriving when I was out of town. Hobbylink admitted that they had a glitch w/box size when LaFerrari was available, making for inflated shipping costs and apparently keeping SAL out of the equation. I wish I had a screenshot of my shipping page that day.

The tracking of the shipment was also inferior to FedEx. I cannot decipher whether it sat in Tokyo for a week, or New York for a week. All I know is it finally left New York last Wednesday, a week after it was shipped. It was delivered on Friday, but I wasn't home, so I had to drive to the post office today to pick it up...12 days after shipping, full-price for "express" shipping. This was very much an inconvenience.

Hobbylink tried to make it sound like I got a "good deal" because my 3300 yen shipping price was 300 yen less than "actual shipping price". No, not really, because the package would have been about 1600 yen shipped via SAL which I preferred. Had I known EMS would have been so bad, I would have paid 200 yen more for FedEx, and had the box either on the 22nd or 25th. Lesson learned there, but the overall lesson for me is to quit relying on HLJ, because I'm not happy with how this has been handled. I don't like to feel that selecting a shipping option is akin to Russian Roulette. What should have been available to me in the first place was not, and I only seem to get a CYA kind of response from HLJ.

This was a test for a problem, and ultimately I'm in the position to try other vendors for hobby items and shippers after this fiasco.

[petesy]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

The tracking of the shipment was also inferior to FedEx. I cannot decipher whether it sat in Tokyo for a week, or New York for a week. All I know is it finally left New York last Wednesday, a week after it was shipped. It was delivered on Friday, but I wasn't home, so I had to drive to the post office today to pick it up...12 days after shipping, full-price for "express" shipping. This was very much an inconvenience.

Run your tracking number through Japan Post if you haven't done so, it will tell you what happened with your package in Japan.

http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/ems/index_en.html

[JeremyJon]

Anyone recently shipped from HLJ to Canada?
I'd like to know what the actual shipping of a kit from HLJ cost you?

I can't seem to get a clear answer from them
I'm investigating actual cost of shipping a LaFerrari kit from them, vs. buying one off an ebay seller
Thanks

[hirofkd]

You don't get the exact shipping cost from HLJ, but only the estimates.
It's Y1380 for SAL, Y2180 for FedEX, and Y2340 for EMS to Canada.
The kit is back ordered at HLJ, though.

Incidentally, my pre-ordered La Ferrari (among other items) was finally sent from AmiAmi last week, but it's sitting at Chicago custom service for two days...

[WRCfan]

I have only ever had good experiences, quick delivery and amazing service from HLJ.

[JeremyJon]

Thanks Hiro

I did see HLJ are back ordered, but even at 4000yen+2180yen shipping (about $65 CDN) is still cheaper than best eBay priced kit I can find currently (about $75 CDN)

What was your AmiAmi shipping cost?
if they have a FedEx option, seems better option if available

[hirofkd]

I never order one kit from overseas, so it's hard to compare, but a combination of La Ferrari, Z4 GT3, Veneno, LP-670SV, plus two PE sets and one decal set was quoted as Y5115 for SAL and Y5540 for EMS. Difference was small, so I chose EMS. The box exceeded the max weight of 2 kg, so small packet was not an option.

From my past experience with AmiAmi...
Three Fujimi curbside and one Aoshima curbside kits (and some small tools) cost Y4840 by EMS.
Two Fujimi curbside and one Aoshima detailed kits cost Y1880 by unregistered Small Packet.
One Fujimi curbside and one Aoshima detailed kits cost Y1480 by unregistered Small Packet.

You can see two and three kits per box are a great deal, because you can use small packet (limited to 2 kg), but it takes 2-3 week from Tokyo to Austin, TX, and the package can't be insured or tracked.

AFAIK, HLJ is the only Japanese online hobby store that offers FedEX option, and it's usually a little cheaper than EMS.

[petesy]

Originally Posted by JeremyJon

I did see HLJ are back ordered, but even at 4000yen+2180yen shipping (about $65 CDN) is still cheaper than best eBay priced kit I can find currently (about $75 CDN)

If you want one now Hobby Easy has it in stock for CAD $47. With postage it should cost around $70.

http://www.hobbyeasy.com/cgi-bin/i8_...egory_code=all