Shopmate, Aus Posts US shipping service , anyone used?

[glend (Glen)]

With the Black Friday histeria about to hit, i thought i would ask if anyone has used the Aus Post Shopmate service, which provides a US shipping address for forwarding to Australian customers. Many of the US retailers do not ship overseas, so it seems like a great idea.

[brisen (Brian)]

Hi Glen

I used this yesterday to order a package out of the US and it was a simple process of logging in to the Aust Post account I already have and using the US address that was provided. Once it gets processed through the warehouse in the US they send an email and you get to pay for the postage from US to here.

It actually works out at $18 for the postage of the item that I want from the US compared to the over $70 I was quoted to get it direct from the retailer to here, so a substantial saving but possibly a couple of days slower to get the item.

Brian

[StuTodd]

I regularly use the NZ Post version, who have warehouses in the US, China and UK and it is a fantastic service. Saved me many dollars in postage in the past.

[rally]

Glen

It is a great idea if it works !!!

But it was nothing but a frustrating mess for me.

I was only able to use a FedEx service for delivery
USA FedEx delivery was free - but Australian FedEx delivery was nearly $200

There were two main problems to start with - first they registered me with one USA suite address for delivery and then after my package had already been sent to them using the address they provided, they sent me a different USA suite address for no known reason.
I rang them instantly, worried this would be a problem and they assured me it wouldnt be - but it was !
Even they couldnt understand how this happened - it was all by email so I sent them copies but they were as confused as I was.

Then they lost the item internally and I had to prove it had been delivered. This proved to be not so simple, but fortunately FedEx delivered it to them and I was eventually able to get proof.

Then my parcel was eventually found, they coudnt find it when it suited them, but then found it instantly when we had proof of delivery !
This first part of the problem took over 3 weeks

Then the real fun started

The next process involved maybe 20+ phone calls over the next 6 weeks, at least the same number of emails (plus replies) and ultimately numerous escalating complaints when nothing would happen or the exact opposite would occur after another a weeks delay, or you would login to their website only to see they had changed the status of the complaint to "resolved", when nothing had actually happened at all - this happened 3 times !
Each time you have to start a new enquiry and start all over again.

At each stage you were faced with the option of the goods being destroyed !
I was offered the option of paying them an extra fee (cant recall but think it was $75US) to destroy my goods worth US$1500 !

This occurred because one dimension on a long rectangular box was literally 5mm longer than a maximum
Yet had I sent it by USPS postage service it would have been well under and delivered to my door in 7-10 days !
But Australia Post had imposed a smaller limit

Trouble was FedEx was offered as a delivery option for me.

Mass and volme were well under limits, but the way the end of the box was folded at a slight angle exceeded a dimension.

My item was simply put into long standard box that was only about 150mmx150mm by some length that was easily shortened by untaping the end and folding the flaps down an extra cm !
It was just rattling around in the box - could probably have been cut down by 40% volume
It was easily repacked but they couldnt seem to ever get repack it despite this being an offered service.

They also refused to let me organise for DHL or FedEx to pick it up

They eventually delivered my item many weeks after the event for which my son required had passed.

If the item had been shorter by 5mm it probably wouldnt have been such a problem !
If they had simply cut the tape and bent the ends of the cardboard box down in the first instance as I advised it also wouldnt have been a problem - I actually had to send them a drawing of what to do !!!
If I had been able to keep dealing with the same person it also probably wouldnt have been as big a problem, but each step of communication took 2-3 days - assuming there was a response or the complaint status wasnt changed.
If there was commonsense at the USA end I am also sure there wouldnt have been a problem !

I coudn't use them again - the idea was it would save me about $100 in postage fees Vs international express courier fees
It ended up costing me more, took much longer and was a battle to stop them from destroying it and charging me extra for the privilege !

I made a formal complaint to Australia Post detailing everything but never heard back.

Good luck
Delve deep and read the small print.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

I used it once for an item that would not ship to Australia. My experience was nowhere near the level of the above. Basically I would call it slow and expensive.

They say that they will repack items if possible to reduce the cubic weight and charge the reduced fee, in my case they left a small box and a box four times the size, packed out with flowpack beans, when the final item in the fist box was packed in conforming foam to begin with. It took two days to cross the US and then about three weeks to Aus, with a week of that between Tullamarine Airport and Kilmore (40 minutes drive)

It seems about as good an option to me as the Ebay global shipping program, I.E. not much chop.

[PhilTas (Phil)]

I used Shopmate a little while ago for a set of coaxial adapters for US$180, which would not ship to Aus. Free shipping within the US, delivered to shopmate in 3 days. A$32 for shipping to home (Darwin) took another 2 weeks.
I would use it again for items that would otherwise not ship to Aus.