sounds great, but it does not work like that in real world, by buying insurance you transfer liability to a party that is insured,
Please leave such remarks limited to the Bashing Neal Thread.
Maybe you had 1 bad experience on 1 occasion.
I’ve had none of those, and MANY good experiences.
As our buddies on the other side of the big pond would say: well beyond the call of duty.
My friend, when you ship internationally the cheapest way with shipping containers, there is no chain of custody. When you buy something from Macys, Macys hands it to Fedex, Fedex has a manifest that they took custody of it, then they delver it to you. Anything goes wrong, they know exactly what happened. Not to mention everyone has insurance. That chain of custody does not exist when shipping internationally. Why do you think Registered Mail is so expensive? Because USPS maintains the chain of custody documentation no matter where the package is delivered.
Pardon my ignorance, bat that’s the way Dutch law functions.
At least it did on the moment I got my undergraduate degree.
I usually (though sometimes I forget) do an unboxing video when I receive something worth more than about $50. That way, I have proof if something is not right.
You contacted zebralight first, which is the right thing. But after being ghosted for 2 weeks, I wouldn’t bother with them anymore. Zebralight is hoping you just go away. Make a claim with Paypal, if you used it. Don’t make a credit card claim if you used Paypal, because Paypal might get mad and cancel your paypal account.
Without a video, it’s really your word against theirs. But, if you haven’t made a lot of claims, then paypal will probably side with you. Or they may just refund you, and swallow the cost themselves (I’ve had them do that for me for low cost items).
I’m a zebralight fanboy, but I wouldn’t be buying from them right now. Well, I can’t, because they cancelled international orders this year. But, even so, their website is unsecure, and your account or payment info may be visible to others. Also, I think they’re not the company they used to be. Way too many signs of shrinkage.
what do Dutch laws have to do with a package send from us to uk?
It is perfectly possible. I suspect the lights are just stacked on a shelf in boxes. There are many reasons why a box might be empty and might not be checked when being packed and posted.
Also at the end of the day, you shouldn’t need to prove anything….
Chargeback/ dispute. They are the only one who can collect insurance and you never got what you paid for.
That isn’t helpful either.
Zerbralight come from America not China for starters. And there is f*ck all chance of finding a Maglite on the shelf in a local hardware store in the UK either.
Buyer is choosing delivery service, yes? Seller shipping by buyer’s chosen service and providing a tracking number. If YOUR parcel is lost YOU have to find it yourself.
Paypal will ask Zebra for proof of shipping , so they will show a tracking number, tracking will show that parcel is delivered. If you did not received it means you just got robbed, If you got robbed go to police.
Nope. Seller paid shipper and is responsible 
No this is not how it works. I don’t even believe it is how it would work in Eastern Europe.
The buyer has a contract with the seller. The seller has a contract with the shipper. The buyer does not.
It really is that simple. The seller is responsible for shipping it out. And by proxy they are responsible to ensure the customer receives said item.
If it was a private non commercial sale, where the buyer arranged their own shipping it would be different. But for commercial selling and shipping of products it is always the sellers remit and responsibility.
Flashaholics sell Zebralight in the UK
I’m still waiting for the shipped weight of the package. Did it weigh enough that a flashlight was there to begin with? Have you done business with them before? What were the other tracking questions you asked them before this
I disagree....
I did a quickie bash at Armytek and part of their loss of reputation happens in real conversations about being screwed by a vendor like this one . If Neal didn't reply to a buyers honest problem then he deserves bashed here ...and bashed there ..maybe a little bit of everywhere .. buyer beware . You were warned !!
i've never had an issue with Neal... but I've heard so many people squealing from the pain he's inflicted upon them to know it's a distinct possibility .IMHO that's why we're here .To sometimes take the pain and let others know about the good and bad .I appreciate the info .
Since UK was a member of EU for 47 year, and only just left, I assume that both UK and NL
(NL = country were the Dutch are indigenous) have laws that are compliant with EU laws.
And are the same, maybe not to the letter, but to the spririt (meaning, intention, results).
A few exceptions: NL and pretty much the rest of the world is driving on the wrong side of the street.
Plus: because a consumer is basically “weaker” than a business, they (eg. we) have more rights.
In general the location of the plaintiff will decide which judicial system is prevalent.
But as individual buyers we can choose to take the seller to court in our country, under our laws.
BBB in US has no “authority”. Businesses can pay them to be a member. Shipping out of the US is expensive. Shipping from many countries into others is expensive. I can understand why ZL is not going to ship out of the country. Independent shops in countries or other regions will be the way it has to be.
The package was shipped by airmail, there was no other ‘courier’ option at the time I purchased.
There was parcel tracking, which I used when chasing delivery times as it was stuck in Hong Kong for 3 weeks.
I’ve just checked the envelope which I still have and it says 0.4kg on the label. The label also says, interestingly, that it may be opened in transit. It was closed when I received it.
I bought directly with credit card and now in discussion with the card disputes department.
I wasn’t aware of flashaholics stocking Zebralight so thanks, I’ll take a look. I know they’re hard to get hold of.
I spoke to the UK Royal Mail and they have said it needs taking up with the supplier, I assume this is because also on the parcel label the value of the packet is listed as $20. Probably not far off the value of what I actually received, but a lot less than it was actually worth and will be no help when claiming compensation from the mail system!
As I said, I’ve learnt my lesson. Courier and insurance from now on, first time I’ve ever had a problem.
You wont have this problem again as Zebrlight only accepts US orders now. Its on the web site.
To clear up this US-centric misconception, only zebralight orders from the US where shipped out of the US. Orders from all other countries were shipped out of China (where zebralight makes all their lights). So, his light came from China, not the US.
I have no idea why they stopped orders from everywhere except the US, this year. I think it’s business problems, but that’s just speculation. Or, maybe too many people were getting empty boxes?