FrancoisL Posted November 18, 2011 Share Dear All, thought to share my experience. I order stuff to the tune of $343 (inclusive of $51 for shipping) on Tuesday at 1pm from Chainreactioncycles and it arrived this Morning at ORT where it was cleared by DHL. They then contacted me to pay the VAT, I did by EFT and they promise to deliver at home between 1 and 4pm today. Pretty sleek and painless but for one small gripe. Appart from the $51 shipping cost (bulky items) and of course the Vat of R376, DHL charges me a "DISBURSEMENT FLAT RATE 80" fee of R80 ( for clearing the shipment and collecting the VAT, as explained to me by DHL). On a big order not that much but it will hurt when this R80 becomes more than the shipping cost, which is about R60 for a small item. Kind Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted November 18, 2011 Share Simple solution... buy more from CRC so that you qualify for free shipping (orders over R3200). Parcelforce ships nearly as fast as DHL. Local courier service happens via EMS, and they charge a flat rate of R30 Oh, and on the CRC site, change your currency setting to ZA Ronds, so the mathematically challenged (like myself) can understand what you're on about Edited November 18, 2011 by patches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted November 18, 2011 Share Simple solution... buy more from CRC so that you qualify for free shipping (orders over R3200). Parcelforce ships nearly as fast as DHL. Local courier service happens via EMS, and they charge a flat rate of R30 Oh, and on the CRC site, change your currency setting to ZA Ronds, so the mathematically challenged (like myself) can understand what you're on about I don't do that because the conversion is not up to date. The region has to be changed though so that the Vat can be removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Kaze Pete Posted November 18, 2011 Share Dear All, thought to share my experience. I order stuff to the tune of $343 (inclusive of $51 for shipping) on Tuesday at 1pm from Chainreactioncycles and it arrived this Morning at ORT where it was cleared by DHL. They then contacted me to pay the VAT, I did by EFT and they promise to deliver at home between 1 and 4pm today. Pretty sleek and painless but for one small gripe. Appart from the $51 shipping cost (bulky items) and of course the Vat of R376, DHL charges me a "DISBURSEMENT FLAT RATE 80" fee of R80 ( for clearing the shipment and collecting the VAT, as explained to me by DHL). On a big order not that much but it will hurt when this R80 becomes more than the shipping cost, which is about R60 for a small item.Kind RegardsWhy not send it to your local post office? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted November 18, 2011 Share I don't do that because the conversion is not up to date. The region has to be changed though so that the Vat can be removed. yeah, the ammount shown on checkout and the ammount deducted off your credit card are different... the one taken off your account is about 3% more. I've been told this is due to a currency conversion fee that the bank charges. But yeah... I just like not having to convert when windowshopping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted November 18, 2011 Share That was pretty fast delivery considering all the complaints here in the last while.Why are you working in dollars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted November 18, 2011 Share That was pretty fast delivery considering all the complaints here in the last while.Why are you working in dollars? yeah dammit! that was fast! My delayed orders were due to stock issues. Site indicates items in stock. Order goes through. 3-4days later CRC emaisl saying certain items are out of stock. Not cool. Order delayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted November 18, 2011 Share yeah dammit! that was fast! My delayed orders were due to stock issues. Site indicates items in stock. Order goes through. 3-4days later CRC emaisl saying certain items are out of stock. Not cool. Order delayed.I put in a order yesterday afternoon and it was dispatched at 9am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted November 18, 2011 Share I put in a order yesterday afternoon and it was dispatched at 9am double dammit! My last 2 orders (one placed the day after I received the other) have both had stock issues and 4 day delays! I thought I was on CRC's most valued customer list! Waiting for one as we speak... Phones EMS this morning, they said it was scheduled for delivery. Customs charges were R500 less than I anticipated (seems they didn't notice there were shoes in the box, hehehe!) Edited November 18, 2011 by patches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummibear Posted November 18, 2011 Share double dammit! My last 2 orders (one placed the day after I received the other) have both had stock issues and 4 day delays! I thought I was on CRC's most valued customer list! Waiting for one as we speak... Phones EMS this morning, they said it was scheduled for delivery. Customs charges were R500 less than I anticipated (seems they didn't notice there were shoes in the box, hehehe!) Being in the EU i don't have to pay taxes....that makes it a triple But that said we get hammered on stuff from SA,Aus and USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted November 18, 2011 Share Why not send it to your local post office? Add an extra week to your delivery this method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancoisL Posted November 20, 2011 Share I worked in dollars because I had some $ in my Paypal account. I believe working in R are converted to pounds automatically and then converted back by the cc company. But thanks for al the tips, specifically using Parcelforce. Their shipping charge was cheaper as well, I did not sellect them because I did'nt knew them, willdef use them in future. The best suggestion though is to buy more than R3200, that should be easy Edited November 20, 2011 by FrancoisL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted November 21, 2011 Share I worked in dollars because I had some $ in my Paypal account. I believe working in R are converted to pounds automatically and then converted back by the cc company. But thanks for al the tips, specifically using Parcelforce. Their shipping charge was cheaper as well, I did not sellect them because I did'nt knew them, willdef use them in future. The best suggestion though is to buy more than R3200, that should be easy Yup! nothing wrong with parcelforce. I've used them for 9/10 orders. The 1 time I used Royal mail and that took 4 weeks (it was that december when the UK had to ground planes due to bad weather). Out of those 9 parcelforce orders, 8 were free shipping. As you said, it's not hard to spend R3200 on CRC In fact my last order was just means to be 1 small part (R122.77) that I forgot on the previous order. But then one rationalizes and says "shipping will be more than the item itself"... so you add a few more things to your cart... and before you know it... TADAAH! Free shipping again Oh, and group orders are another good way to get free shipping (for those times when you really only want that one small item). Get some buds in on the action until your order qualifies for free shipping! Just watch out when ordering helmets, clothing, protective gear, or complete bikes. These items incur a duty on top of the VAT charge, and working out everyone's fair share in a group order can be tricky. But yeah... welcome to the world of CRC! There are many addicts here who can answer any questions you may have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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