I want to give PJRC my money, not faceless corporations!

hsiboy

Member
This is directed at PJRC/Robin and the shipping method they currently use (USPS) for orders made through the PJRC online store.

I've just just been stung again, by our local post office here in the UK.

The rules in the UK state that if you import anything over £15 (15 GBP) then you have to pay VAT. Fair enough, i haven't got a problem with that.

I purchased 2 x OctoWS2811 adaptors @ $10 USD each. Shipping was another $13.67 USD to the UK (with useless tracking info) for a total of $33.67 - not a problem, ship it!

However, the UK tax man wanted £3.96 for VAT as the stated value of the package was $20.00 - But, (here is the kicker) the local post office charge £8 ($10 USD) for collecting the VAT. So the total i paid for 2 x OctoWS2811 adaptors delivered is $49.90!! I want to give you my money, not our shitty post office (which, is a commercial entity, not a national institution).

On the same day i ordered those boards from the PJRC store, i also placed an order with Mouser. I purchased 3 x Teensy 3.2 boards @ £17.90 each, with free shipping, however it incurred an additional £5.11 upfront for VAT/customs charges. The Mouser package arrived 5 days later (even though it was the Christmas holidays), via DHL with great tracking and no additional charges, because i had paid up front.

Please stop using the crappy United States Postal service and look for alternatives. The USPS is slow (3 times as long as the DHL parcel from Mouser), expensive and not able to deal with customs charges, and worse they hand of to the UK post office who demand an £8 handling charge even if its only £0.10p worth of VAT to collect.

If you cant find a cost effective alternative, then please could you stock more of your items with Mouser??

Many thanks,

your loyal customer

HSIBOY
 
Sounds like the problem is with the UK Post office. I have the opposite problem when shipping from the US. If I use USPS, it gets handed over to Canada Post, who deliver it to my mailbox, charge a flat $5 customs fee and half the time don't even bother to collect the duty/taxes owing. Slow, yes, but at least the service fee is fair.

If I ship something via UPS or Fedex, I will get hit with massive minimum brokers fees (typicall $20+), they charge taxes on everything, including their overpriced brokerage fee, and if I don't want it delivered with no signature, I have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest depo because they'll charge me an extra $15 to redirect to one of thousands of UPS retail outlets that are scattered every where.

I have a Tindie store and ship worldwide. Small items (about the size of a cell phone) without tracking are $15 to anywhere via Canada Post. With tracking? $60. Same package with tracking via UPS or Fedex, > $100.

Trust me, USPS is not the problem.
 
For deliveries inside USA, the US Post Office is a good, cost effective method. I use First Class often for deliveries from Digikey, Adafruit, and others. It may add a couple of days to delivery time, but service is otherwise as good or better than other services. With UPS, I've had tire tracks on boxes, deliveries sitting in the rain, and I never know where or when the package will be left.
 
Other source

Hobbytronics are a UK retailer that supply the entire range :)

See http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/teensy-audio-adapter?keyword=Teensy

Another UK store - I live in Edinburgh, and I've bought my teensy's from here:

https://www.robotshop.com/uk/

Been reliable, and they stock the teensy with pins, which hobbytronics don't seem to. Only annoyance on every one I've bought is that the sticker they put on the pinout card obscures the description of the pins.

Paul.
 
If you want Teensy 3.2 then log onto https://store.oshpark.com/products/teensy-3-1. Don't worry you will get the Teensy 3.2. Current price is $17. I believe shipping is minimal which makes then much cheaper than PJRC. Shipping is $1-$2. They just slip then into an envelope and they arrive about 14 days later. Lat time 3 X Teensy 3.2 cost me $54 (ok $1 each postage ) and no duties to pay. UK cost £13.85 inc. Carriage each.
 
That’s a rip off really from some of these corporations; the shipping and taxes cost multiples of the item. The USPS experience is not just geo specific, I think it also varies with time or customers because I once had nasty experience in Canada.
 
That’s a rip off really from some of these corporations; the shipping and taxes cost multiples of the item. The USPS experience is not just geo specific, I think it also varies with time or customers because I once had nasty experience in Canada.
That was in 2018 still
 
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