that's odd for a few people to be having trouble like that..
I think the biggest problem about the communication problem is the timing of Chinese New Year and CNQG basically being a one man operation. However, it's only appropriate for any reputable business to inform its customers of such a disturbance in customer service and in this case it's been missing. Try to rest assured that tracking info will eventually show up because mine was very late coming even though I ordered almost immediately. In fact, mine just finally shipped (allegedly). Try to wait out CNY because I really feel this is the obstacle causing disruption for some of our orders. The rest just got lucky I guess :)
well I received an Email from our friends RIC.
Hello James
Thanks a lot for your group buy.
20 HK parcels had been returned to us on 20th, Including 7 group buy parcels
These parcels were stucked at custom unfortunately, we have no way to ship them out before Holiday now.
Im sorry this package has to wait till 30th Jan to be reshipped.
Really sorry for the issue.
Ric
I don't know if I buy this since this is the first response I received from him. I don't guess it really matters, but it looks like it will be over a month to get my product. Had I received proper communication to begin with,(conformation, tracking number,etc..) I would probably buy this. I didn't so my bullshit alarm is going off, but I will play it out because there is a remote possibility that this is the truth.
It would be nice if Ric would actually come on here and explain the situation himself. This really sux. With hkp returning the unsent lights it means he will have to reship them on the 30th from scratch along with the umpteen thousands of packages from all the hk sellers. hkp will be flooded for weeks with delays and guys like me wont see our DRY until the end of Feb if we are lucky.
Ric really needs to pacify the crowd here by at least commenting here publicly on whats happening. He says 7 of the group buy parcels were returned unshipped. Those 7 deserve to know if it's them. I want to know if I am one of them.
Here's my latest information from HKP. Do you think mine will get returned to RIC ? The item (RT124194198HK) is being processed for departure from Hong Kong as of 21-Jan-2012.
No, looks fine.
The rest really need to chill out, get over yourselves for ordering just before the Chinese New Year. Yes it will take a long time and nothing can be done to change that, hopefully you learned until next year.
MFM I hope your advise "to chill" was not directed at me.
Good news- Got my DRY this past Tuesday WOOHOO!
Bad news- Wife had to sign for it. Oh well, at least I will have plenty of light in the dog house.
Other than being a little slick to handle because of the size and I need to find some sort of grippy surface to put on it I really like this light.
Thanks RIC
There is an announcement here, quote:
Dear Customers,
We will be on holiday from 20st Jant to 30th Jan. All orders made dring the holiday will be shipping on Feb 1st or 2th Feb.
Any problem or question , please email to cnqualitygoods@hotmail.com
THANKS
Ric
2012, Jan 18th.
The information about the CNY holiday could have been posted in this thread also since it was mentioned in the DQG Smallest AA/14500 EDC light Group Buy From cnqualitygoods thread.
I doubt it will be returned to Ric. When a registered parcel is sent the first thing that shows up in the tracking system IIRC is "... being processed for delivery to the addressee", then the next step is "... being processed for departure from Hong Kong" and finally "... left Hong Kong for its destination on <date>".
It is directed to everybody. It's CNY. I don't have any pending shipments because I purposely stopped ordering from China/HK. I have items in my carts though. After about a week that's the time I will pay.
Also, this is one of the reasons we saw members sending the payment to Ric as fast as they can - to preempt and avoid the CNY delay.
MFM, You make it sound like it was our fault for ordering around the Chinese New Year. Let me remind you that we had no choice on when to order this light. Ric announced the Group Buy the first week in January. Our only option was to deal with the pending Chinese New Year or not order the light. Most of us were counting on Ric to ship our lights before the Holiday.The only thing to "learn" from this, is that reliable shipping via HKPost is always going to be a problem no matter what time of year it is.
pod7381, when did you send your payment?
Btw, it's nobody's fault. Shipping problems increase each year during CNY. It's just the way it is.
All I am saying is rightly or wrongly, I think we all expected our lights would be in transit before the CNY. Ric knew the Holiday was approaching when he offered the Group Buy.
In answer to your question, I paid Jan. 5
But some people couldn't deal with CNY and went nuts with accusations and paypal disputes, so obviously they shouldn't have ordered.
Also, CNY is not an on/off event, already in the beginning of January were many Chinese businesses more busy than usual (including HK Post/China Post). And since you only pay for bulk shipping, your packages will have lower priority than all other packages.
For the people who are still waiting yet paid at the beginning of the group buy (myself included), I wouldn't necessarily put the blame on Ric. I believe he really did send them out for shipment in time considering I received a tracking number the same time as everyone else who already have their lights. We just happen to be the unfortunate ones who had our lights stuck at HKP for a while (mine being about two weeks!). The only fault I put on Ric is him not being very clear in this thread that CNY could significantly delay orders. The majority of his customers reside in countries that don't shut down for two weeks so they're not exactly familiar with this sort of thing.
Anyway, we all knew CNY was coming so we took the risk. We had to have assumed HKP would get flooded (many wholesale buyers acting ahead of time to compensate for the down time). Some here won the lottery and got theirs early and the rest weren't so fortunate and have to wait a while. It's certainly okay to complain and vent but let's not completely throw Ric under the bus.
Please read my last post (#485) I think CNY delays should have been figured in the equation when the Group Buy was offered by Ric. Maybe the Group Buy should have been delayed til Feb. I do agree that filing a PayPal dispute now is very premature. I am confident all the lights will eventually be delivered. It's all about communication. Expectations vs. reality should have been discussed. Then no one would have a complaint.
By the way, I think very highly of Ric. He has always been a stand up guy with me. Could he have communicated better about the CNY delays to those of us not familiar with the Holiday...of course.
Bottom line, we will never know if the shipments were delayed leaving the warehouse, delayed at HKPost or a combination of both.
Either way, no throwing under the bus being done here.
Maybe he should extend the group buy for a couple of weeks after CNY to make it possible for people who cancelled orders.
Ah that was well ahead of CNY. You have reason to complain. Ric should've been more forthcoming.
I was assured by Ric that my order would make it out in time. I was well aware that I was cutting it close when I ordered but it was the best I could do. I don't fault Ric for CNY but I do fault him for not updating this thread. I can only hope that he has personally contacted via pm or email those who's orders did not make it on time. Since I have not heard from him I can only hope my order made it through but we can only make assumptions since he has not updated this thread. All he has to say is that all orders have made it through except for those he has personally contacted with news to the contrary.
I like Ric and have defended him in the past so if any of my comments are objectionable to you then good.