Thread: Carba-Tec needs a new Financial Controller

Originally Posted by Geekgirl

Amazon are using a third party shipping company i-parcel – Home this company ship what ever Amazon (and maybe a couple of other companies) have to go to Au, they ship it all to a central warehouse in Tullamarine, then they reship using Aus post as it is the cheapest way to get stuff around Au.

Kat.

Sounds strange.
I have received parcels from Amazon that were sent from many different countries, depending where they had it in stock at the moment.
Wolffie

My last order from Amazon earlier this month was mailed in 3 shipments and 3 different shipping companies - Iparcel, DHL global mail and UPS. UPS was fastest followed by Iparcel and then DHL global mail which finally arrived via Aus Post as for what Charleville showed on his shipment.
Les

Originally Posted by Charleville

Amazon lied to me!!!!


They told me that the Kreg product that I ordered on Tuesday last week, would be delivered to my door on 6 August.

They lied! It was delivered today.


That's 6 working days. Unless the Carba-Tecs lift their game on stock management and price, they have no hope. Will we miss them? Of course we will but someone will fill the void. That's the way that a market economy works.

I shall pull back from that hard line to reiterate that I want Carba-Tec to succeed but I have just paid AUD$35.27 for a product that I now have in my hands that was going to cost me $45 at Carbatec and not be available until at least mid August. How does that work again?
.

Amazon lied to me again!


They said that the second order that I made after the above one would arrive next week but they lied. It arrived today.

This time the order was most made up of a pack of 500 Kreg screws which I would have thought was getting a bit heavy to be sending by airmail but once again, the screws arrived well ahead of any promises by Carba-tec and at a cheaper price.

The real threat to Carba-Tec becomes that now that I have experienced just how good Amazon is at supplying the Kreg products in both speed and price terms, I probably won't even bother looking for such at Carba-Tec; I shall just log into the Amazon website.

I currently have an order with Amazon for books, all listed on their web site as currently in stock & shipping immediately.

I placed the order on 30th June and now that they have my order, Amazon show that they won't be shipping any of it before the 7th August.

Quote "My last order from Amazon earlier this month was mailed in 3 shipments and 3 different shipping companies - Iparcel, DHL global mail and UPS. UPS was fastest followed by Iparcel and then DHL global mail which finally arrived via Aus Post as for what Charleville showed on his shipment.
Les"

Flexability - maybe Amazon is continually looking around for the fastest, cheapest carrier and using them.
One thing worries me with all this - warranty. After 3 months of use I had to return a 10HB saw to Carbatec Bris - machining issue. After 20 minutes explaining etc I was given a full refund. There was some argy bargy of course but they came good. It was very important to be able to explain the situation with this saw to a person who represented the company. I now have a H&F ST-12D from another supplier of this heavier gear. If these companies go, what replaces them. I agree that they do need to keep up but the warranty issue is important. I don't know what the percentages are but income from the smaller stock would help keep the ship afloat. If enough people complain to the company concerned hopefully they will act.
Tony.

One thing worries me with all this - warranty

Only a minor thing but I bought a couple of books from Amazon a few years ago. When they arrived, I discovered one of them was water damaged. I contacted Amazon and they sent me another copy no questions asked. I also had an issue with something I bought from Lee Valley and they sent me a new bit for it free of charge.

Just a couple of examples where after-sales service has been exemplary from online retailers.

Hello again
what if Amazon and Carbatec etc worked together!!
Without those Australian suppliers doing the many years of building/supplying a market Amazon etc would not have one.
Tony.

Originally Posted by noty

Hello again
what if Amazon and Carbatec etc worked together!!
Without those Australian suppliers doing the many years of building/supplying a market Amazon etc would not have one.

That is a brilliant idea and certainly a change from the linear thinking that plagues the bricks and mortar retailers in this country.


I am not sure that I entirely agree with your last sentence as a necessity going forward into the future, though. Most of the skills and techniques that I have learned over the past three or four years since getting into woodwork have been learned from Youtubes and other online video lectures, usually from USA sources. It is only a minor transition from that into buying the products online.


The best Aussie sources for information for me have been these forums and the demos to be seen at the woodworking shows. However most of the latter can be replaced with online videos, which could in the future be live and interactive. ie a Roger Gifkins could demo his jigs online at say, 10 am every day and handle customer enquiries there and then. (Yes - I know that he is out of that business. This is just an example as a lot of people would be familiar with his regular show appearances in the past.)

Attending a woodworking show is not cheap, usually. It is very quick for the average punter to spend $40 - $50 on entry ticket, parking and lunch/'refreshments at these shows. By comparison, I bought a bandsaw online a few years ago and it cost just $60 to have it transported from Sydney to Brisbane.

So even bulkier items are buyable online without too much delivery cost pain.

Many companies already sell through Amazon. Rockler for example. The bigger issue here is whether Aus companies would have the online systems to handle up to the second on-line stock control. Many companies here ( I would rather not name them) I have contacted in the past about a product on their website before ordering on-line, only to be told they have no stock and have no clue as to when it will be available again. LV and Rockler for example have brilliant systems in place and even when no stock is available, provide an estimated date of when it is available again. My experience with LV is that it usually becomes available sooner than the expected date. I do not have a lot of experience with Rockler (only 2 orders some time ago) due to their high shipping costs. But when it comes to LV, no company comes even close. (I know there are some in Aus that are very good - reports on this forum). My experience with LV can only be described as exceptional. Amazon is pretty good for what can be ordered due to limitations. Expect these limitations to grow due to the gloating on this forum. Soon Kreg will not allow shipments to Aus from Amazon. I have always kept this information low key to protect my own interests of getting good prices without the local companies being aware of it. I have shared this info privately with a number of forumites (I am not selfish), but now the cat is out of the bag. We have shot ourselves in the foot.
Les

At this point I would also like to add that I am a very big supporter of Carbatec. My local Carbatec in Perth has always given me excellent service and they still do. That is why I have purchased many thousands of dollars worth machinery from them. They sell the very finest Chinese made woodworking machines known to man. I would not dream of purchasing machinery on-line. But for smaller non power items, when bargains are to be had, I will be there.
Les

Originally Posted by lesmeyer

Expect these limitations to grow due to the gloating on this forum. Soon Kreg will not allow shipments to Aus from Amazon. I have always kept this information low key to protect my own interests of getting good prices without the local companies being aware of it. I have shared this info privately with a number of forumites (I am not selfish), but now the cat is out of the bag. We have shot ourselves in the foot.
Les

So you believe hardware and related consumables will be going the way of armaments - not to be sold without an end-user certificate.
Cheers,
Jim

Originally Posted by jimbur

So you believe hardware and related consumables will be going the way of armaments - not to be sold without an end-user certificate.
Cheers,
Jim

I was under the impression that there were already plenty of distributers that will threaten to remove their products from any retailer that posts them overseas. If Australian retailers/distributers complain too loudly to the powers up the chain, then a similar thing could potentially happen.

Originally Posted by lesmeyer

now the cat is out of the bag. We have shot ourselves in the foot.

You don't reckon that Amazon's leverage with Kreg and others is going to be bigger than any Aussie retailer, especially once they establish a beach-head here with a warehouse?


I reckon that you fear Aussie retailer protectionism too much, Les. Global online sales is now a fact of life. Either Amazon sells direct to us or alternatively we will use one of the US based companies who will purchase on our behalf and ship the products here, still cheaper and quicker than the local retailer may choose to do. This all has the inevitability of gravity.


What we actually want is for retailers like Carba-Tec to know what they are up against and to react in a way that moves them into a viable economic alternative. If they choose to play the protectionist game, they will only be delaying the inevitable.


.

It is already happening in some sectors:

AUSTRALIAN consumers will be forced to pay substantially more for their favourite fashion brands as a growing number of local importers reach agreements with international brands to stop selling their clothes to Australians on overseas websites or to lift their web prices.

Read more: Importers close door on overseas online stores