Garrettwade, anyone had trouble with these guys?

G

Giunta

Feedback: +0 / =0 / -0
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
46
Hi all,
3 days ago I ordered two Douk Douks from garretwade. During the ordering process it said they'd advise me on shipping costs. I sent them an email yesterday asking if they had a price yet for me to confirm and go ahead with the order. Early this morning my credit card was charged the amount for just the knives. Now I'm worried they're going to try and charge me whatever they want on shipping and if I say no it's going to be a hassle for them to cancel my order and give me my money back. Either way, they seem to be no answering my emails as it approaches the 4th day. They charge $5 handling on international order, what for I don't know, but now they're going to charge my credit card for shipping/handling which is yet another transaction(my bank charges a small fee every time, more when it's international). Most companies don't charge handling fee and they're very fast with the order, these guys charge you and don't even hurry it up.

My plan was to cancel the order when they got back to me with shipping and get the knives from someone else... but now I'm kind of stuck since they've half charged me.

Am I being too picky or impatient? Everyone else in the knife world(New Graham especially) keep in constant contact with me and I never have to worry about a transaction taking a week. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled, but all I ask is to know what is going on, especially when they've taken money.

Should I just wait a couple more days?
 
I can't say how good they are, since I only bought from them here in the US, so there was no international hassle about it. Most companies do charge handling, but they roll it into shipping charges, only sometimes listed as S&H.

I agree that they should have been more responsive about getting you information on shipping charges before going any farther with the transaction.

If they do let you know, then decide if you want to cancel. Or if they don't and the knives arrive with inflated shipping, just refuse them and have your bank get your money back.

In either case, do everyone a favor and tell them that charging you in two separate transactions costs you extra because of the bank fees.
 
I've had nothing but SUPERB experiences over the years with Garrett Wade.

But.................

I am in the US so that doesn't take into account the hassle of overseas shipping and credit cards.

Hope things are okay.

Syn
 
I have only had great & fast service from them. I understand some company's will not ship oversea's due to the hassle involved in shipping.
 
It seems their cotnact form on teh website is either not working or thye just ignore any messages you send through it. I emailed the orders place and was in fits of laughter at their response.

They basically said it takes 3-5 days to get a shipping quote. :confused: :confused: :confused: It's two damn douk douks, they fit in normal envelops for christ sakes. I don't know how to respond to an answer(excuse?) like that. Anyway, it's still bad business to take money out of my account before I agreed to the order.

I guess I'd order from them again now that I know how they work but really only if I was depserate or it saved a bit of money. They were quite a bit cheaper than anyone else with douk douks.
 
I too have had great luck with Garrett Wade. I have been dealing with them for about 10 years now and they have always gone the extra mile with me. A Thumbs UP for Garrett Wade:thumbup:
 
I just received two Douk-Douks a few days ago from Garrett Wade, and I didn't have any problems, but I'm in the US as well...it seems they are one of the only places online that still carry Douk-Douks, though I'm sure eBay is always another option. Anyway, good luck!
 
So my order was placed on the 18/6, credit card charged for the knives only on the 21/6. I emailed them that day on the 22/6 they respond by telling me the shipping department is still figuring out a shipping quote and it usually takes 3-5 days. (3-5 days for a shipping quote?? What the hell is going on there?? :confused: :confused:). Anyway, on the 25/6 I get an email from someone with the email address xxxx@filltek.com saying the shipping came to $26!!!! and that it was on the way. I first replied with 'who the hell are you and why do you have my name, address and credit card details?', then I looked up filltek and see they provide e-commerce stuff.... thanks to garrettwade for telling me my information is passed on to a 3rd party, makes me feel real safe. I then ask why I wasn't notified of the shipping cost before they went ahead with the order.

The reply wasn't that great, I was told they can cancel the order but I went ahead with it anyway. I didn't want to wait on them to credit my account, would've been a whole other nightmare. Anyway, I don't know what is happening, they haven't got back to me to confirm that it was sent again, I can only assume it was.

When/If I do get these knives I'll have plenty to say to the people at garrettwade. Their lack of information and communication is terrible. Going by their website's shipping prices they're sending me something that weighs around 2 pounds.... is that even possible for two douk douks? Everyone else was quoting me $8-10 because they can fit in a padded envelope.

At the end of the day though they went ahead and shipped the items before I had even agreed to the shipping cost. They could've charged $100 if they wanted... it wouldn't have matter because they weren't going to wait for my OK to go ahead with it. The way they handle international orders leaves a lot to be desired, absolutely terrible. I'm more shocked than angry at how they dealt with it all, it's so backwards and at no stage did they bring me into the loop even though it was my order/money they were playing with. I'm really baffled at how a business can operate like this.

I'm sure these guys are great for US order but international seems a bit messed up. Would I use these guys again? Ye, probably now that I know how they operate. Unfortunately though their shipping price is so high that they're no longer cheapest for douk douks.
 
I almost ordered from them 6 months ago.
Their site was unclear on their shipping to Canada. So i emailed them, the gist of my question was
" can you/do you ship via U.S.P.S to Canada"?
They replied the next day but never really answered the question.
:grumpy:
A speedy reply is useless if it doesn't answer the question.
Very annoying considering it only required a yes or no answer.
I then ordered from Lee Valley instead.
I haven't been back to their site since, maybe by now they finally clarified and posted their shipping policies/options.
 
I thnk that the bottom line here is that INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING is truly plagued with bureaucratic problems here in the USA. Probably because of the Homeland Security Department and newly related national security laws they are more than likely scrutinizing everything that leaves the country.

It's really thrown me a few curve balls here of late. I had one Russian Brother buy a couple of knives from me and my packages got to him faster than 2 of my most recent Canadian shipments :confused:. Ironically I've had a lot of hassles shipping to Canada of all places. I just got too many friends up in Canada so that not making my items available to them is simply out of the question.

I say all of that to say this: I truly think that the current INternational Shipping problems out of the USA is you sole culprit. Believe me Garrett Wade are good people. I have dealt with them on many occasions. They want your business and they want you to be happy with them. But until this country get's it's international shipping woes ironed out it's just going a problem unfortunately.
 
JD Spydo said:
I say all of that to say this: I truly think that the current INternational Shipping problems out of the USA is you sole culprit.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're saying it's the USA's fault that these international shipping hassles occur. That is seriously counterintuitive. You even said Russia was faster than Canada -- wouldn't Homeland Security be tighter on them than on a next-door neighbor?

We know some companies do it with no hassle, like New Graham. Canada has been notorious for years for cross-border problems, although I just noticed Ragnar says they seem to have improved recently.

I have never heard of an international shipping policy as confused as this from Garret-Wade. That's poor business procedure, not Homeland Security -- which is much more concerned about incoming mail.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top