Increased delivery costs (Carbatec)

[Afro Boy]

Hi,

As anyone else noticed the huge increase in delivery costs/charges for Carbatec Melbourne? I had my combo jointer/thicknesser delivered to me for $170 about a month ago. Got quoted $250 to deliver a bandsaw (which is lighter and smaller).

Apparently they have a new delivery company which is meant to be much better and they're able to organise specific delivery times, etc. StarTrack (their previous company) used to lose stuff off the back of the truck apparently!

Suffice to say, I've had to call them to check on the whereabouts of my shipment so the additional cost so far doesn't seem worth it to me.

Anyway, just wanted to know if anyone else has noticed the huge jump in delivery costs.

Cheers,
Af.

[Afro Boy]

A quick update ...

Just spoke to Steve (got his mobile number from the head office ), the manager of the Melbourne store. Apparently the courier is coming today to pick up my bandsaw and deliver it. So glad I called to check on the order or this would've been a bit of a problem for me.

So, I'm paying $250 for a more responsive delivery company which is meant to call me to organise a specific time for delivery. I asked Steve for it to be delivered to me on Wednesday which is fine, but he's unable to give me a specific time. He was in fact extremely rude on the phone (and in the store when I was trying to sort out their bungled order initially). Apparently this new increased charge is just the cost of the new shipping company. I was told that we can be assured that our machines wont be dropped off the back of the truck.

I don't want this to become a Carbatec bashing thread. However, I'm wondering if people without trailers and trucks have come up with any better shipping methods and ideas?

Cheers,
Af.

[Optimark]

I have a tray back ute, so I pretty know just what you can and cannot carry in them. This would be easy peasy and I'm assuming the unit would be on a pallet allowing easy loading onto a drop sided tray back.

Just recently, my men's shed purchased something from CarbaTec and it was loaded onto the ute, weighed around the 200 kg mark.

To unload we placed two pieces of timber through the pallet where the fork lift forks go, then with four oldish retirees, we lifted it off; not hard at all.

Now assuming yours is the same kind of packaging, on a pallet, but lighter than what we had, then perhaps a tray backed ute hire would be far, far cheaper and easier for yourself. As you are the DIY type (assumption here) I would think you could find some friends, mates, neighbours to give a hand to unload in a like manner to our machine.

Ute hire is quite cheap, without too much looking, in fact the first site I chose, this is what I came up with.

https://www.budgettrucks.com.au/conf...g/default.aspx

At $87.10 for a days hire, plus some fuel usage, this would certainly be my preferred method if I didn't have a ute or trailer.

When I didn't have the appropriate licence and/or a suitable automobile, I have in the past hired a truck and used a mate with the appropriate 10 tonne licence, move something for me at around ¼ the cost of any company could do it for.

Mick.

[issatree]

Hi Af,
Mick kind of stole my thunder.
I was going to say Hire a Trailer, & that is a cheap way to go.
Not to much effort in that, depending on which B/Saw as to how heavy.
A bit of carpet or a few bags on the floor, a few Ropes or Tie Downs, then it should be a piece of Cake.

Just Posted a Little Box 3 x 2 x 3in. with 5 Finger Tops in it, $7.20. Unbelievable. Only has to go to Brighton, Vic.

[Afro Boy]

You know what? I never actually thought of hiring a ute or trailer. I would assume that places who sell these types of machines have forklifts and such that can load them onto a ute.

I don't have a tow bar but I'm going to look into getting one now. I do have a friend that buys a single long piece of timber from the big box stores and gets their courtesy free ute/trailer hire. He then does all his tip work with it in a quite couple hours and returns it to the store.

Cheers,
Af.

[TermiMonster]

You can hire the bunny trailer pretty cheap for 1/2 a day as well.
TM

[DSEL74]

I have found those engine cranes you can get them at super cheap etc are great for lifting things off a trailer if your on your own.

[shedman]

A quick update ...

Just spoke to Steve (got his mobile number from the head office ), the manager of the Melbourne store. Apparently the courier is coming today to pick up my bandsaw and deliver it. So glad I called to check on the order or this would've been a bit of a problem for me.

So, I'm paying $250 for a more responsive delivery company which is meant to call me to organise a specific time for delivery. I asked Steve for it to be delivered to me on Wednesday which is fine, but he's unable to give me a specific time. He was in fact extremely rude on the phone (and in the store when I was trying to sort out their bungled order initially). Apparently this new increased charge is just the cost of the new shipping company. I was told that we can be assured that our machines wont be dropped off the back of the truck.

I don't want this to become a Carbatec bashing thread. However, I'm wondering if people without trailers and trucks have come up with any better shipping methods and ideas?

Cheers,
Af.

This is the greatest headache for Australian suppliers. I am distributor for Clearvue cyclones and constantly try to find cheaper and better ways to get my stuff delivered. It is a bizarre situation when a freight broker will provide a number of quotes for the same iutem to the same address with as much as $1,000 difference between the cheapest $275 and the dearest. What makes it even more bizarre is that the cheapest and dearest quote were from the same group offering the same time for delivery.

[Arron]

I'd second hiring a ute. I recently hired one to pick up a bandsaw. $60 for 4 hours but actually it worked out to $102 all up as the distance was more then I thought. To get it off the ute i laid a plank down on the ute with a bit hanging off the end, gently laid the bandsaw down, wriggled the plank underneath, then slid the plank slowly off the ute with the bandsaw on it so it ended up sitting upright on the ground. Easy to do a 95kg bandsaw on my own.

Main thing to remember is to do it over grass - not over concrete - so if i gets away from you and comes down a bit hard then its no big deal.

Cheers
Arron

[malb]

Depending on vehicle you have, how long you plan on keeping it and your mechanical and electrical background, a towbar for your car may be or may not be a smart move.

New typically $350 + installation and wiring, could be up to $500 or more. Could be a lot cheaper for a second hand one via ebay or wrecker if you have a common vehicle, mine was $30 for the bar and then some wirebrushing, rust converter and epoxy paint, and a new set of bolts. Then $40 for new bits to wire up, but I am an electrical and mechanical engineer used to that sort of stuff and have a barn packed with all the gear needed.

In addition to hiring trailers, Bunnings will also hire dropside utes by the hour. Cost me about $80 for 4 hours (including $6.50 for fuel and full damage waiver) a couple of years ago to haul some 4.2m pallet racking, and I still had an hour left at the end of the dropoff. If you needed to do one similar trip a year, and anticipate changing cars within four years, hiring a ute by the hour would workout cheaper that paying for a new towbar, installation and wiring. On the other hand, a few trips a year, and planning to keep the car for longing makes the towbar installation the better choice so long as the towing capacity is suitable for your needs.

[shanesmith80]

I've hired a 4.2m moving truck from budget/europcar/etc before to pick up machinery or even large stacks of timber. Can be very good for the machinery as they have a hydraulic lifter at the back. Costs about $70 - $80 for the day.

[Moti]

I ordered a Jet bandsaw from them the other week. I'm in Melbourne but it came from Brisbane not the Melbourne store. I was less than impressed by Carbatec's end of the service. I was happy to pay $160 as I have no way of getting 100kg off the back of a trailer. When I rang Carbatec on Thursday to authorise the delivery cost I told them this and also asked that I be told when it was on the way so I could be here to meet it. No problem. Monday, there's a card in the letter box - sorry we missed you and a consignment note number showing that the box had left Brisbane on Thursday. Arranged for redelivery - Tuesday a very very big truck turns up out the front - but nothing to get the bandsaw off. The driver mentioned that they get a lot of cases where the sender has not passed on special delivery requirements Arranged for redelivery and explained again that it would need something to get it off the truck. Delivery now being handled by Startrack special services and would arrive Thursday 12:00 - 5:00pm sometime. 11:59 on Thursday morning the driver called - he's a few minutes away. Backed his truck up the lane at the back, manoeuvred the box onto the lift at the back of the truck and slipped it into the shed.

No problem with Startrack special services but Carbatec need to make sure that any special instructions for delivery are passed on to Startrack and do what they say they are going to do.

[DSEL74]

I've hired a 4.2m moving truck from budget/europcar/etc before to pick up machinery or even large stacks of timber. Can be very good for the machinery as they have a hydraulic lifter at the back. Costs about $70 - $80 for the day.

From memory those tail gate lifters don't have a massive capacity so check in relation to the machine you want to move.

Carbatec melbourne are terrible, Timbercon will be opening here in first quarter next year I wonder if this will inspire a better attitude & service from Carbatec???

[Evanism]

E-go couriers. Open a platinum account.

1/3rd the price.

[Treecycle]

Carbatec melbourne are terrible, Timbercon will be opening here in first quarter next year I wonder if this will inspire a better attitude & service from Carbatec???

Can't wait!! They will also be on the right side of Melbourne for people in the west.
I would be going down the ute hire track and the money you save could go towards your new blades. They would have to have a forklift as they need to unload machinery when it arrives at their store.
It is ridiculous that you can't even talk to your local store now as everything goes through Brisbane. I tried to buy something from them earlier this year and when I rang I was told they didn't have any stock in the Melbourne store. They would not ship it to the store so it could be picked up for free, but insisted that I would have pay the $60 to have it shipped to my address. I was so annoyed that I looked around and actually got the item for a much better price and was able to pick it up for free.