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I really want to get going on my robot but the parts haven't gotten here yet! The shipment was supposed to arrive yesterday, and I contacted Solarbotics to see what the deal was. They haven't gotten back to me yet. Also, what the heck is the deal with the shipment tracking?? "Left" and "Arrived" without a location doesn't help me!
Has anyone else had any problems with Solarbotics shipping before?
wow… I"ve never seen
wow… I"ve never seen anything go back and forth so many times…gotta admit, kinda funny
I don’t mind it going to so
I don’t mind it going to so many shipping centers, I just wish I knew where it was!! Yeah, it is kind of funny, but still annoying!
I’ve ordered from them twice
I’ve ordered from them twice and it did take a long time both times – about a week and a half, if I remember correctly. That’s why I now order their stuff from Pololu whenever possible – they’re in the US and shipping is just two days or so.
Dan
Good for me
I order from HVW-TEch which is own by Solarobotic now and its pretty fast. 4-5days only.
Bummer
Thanks for letting me know, TCG. I’ll try to order from them or another domestic company.
HVW Technologies
Ah, thanks for letting me know. I’ll check out their inventory, and maybe I’ll order from them next time.
I’m convinced the Canadians are just messing with me
Just checked again. There’s another “Arrived At” that got added to the tracking. Could this mean it’s sitting on my doorstep, and it’ll be there when I get home? Could this mean it’s made it all the way to China and is being loaded onto a cargo ship for shipment to the Panama canal then around the great horn spoon and on to San Francisco then down to Tiajuana and up to Carpinteria? I have no way of knowing.
I’ve ordered from them many
I’ve ordered from them many times before, I’m on the east coast and shipping takes about 5-6 days typically. My latest order arrived yesterday. This purolator shipping thing appears to be new, as it is not the interface I had in the past when checking on my shipments, and I think maybe they still have some bugs to work out…
-Fergs
Well, they just got back to
Well, they just got back to me about the shipping …
Hi Jedd,1-866-276-2687
I don’t know how she knows that it’s in San Fernando … it says nothing about that anywhere on the tracking. If it gets here tomorrow it will be 2 days late, and that might not even happen. I’m going to ask them to give me my shipping money back … this is unacceptable when they claim that “Your package should arrive on or before the Estimated Arrival day.” Either they refund my money, or they lose a customer forever. 
Anytime a package goes
Anytime a package goes across a border it can be delayed. I doubt they will refund it for a 2 day delay during international shipping. Usually they only refund shipping if it is shipped overnight guaranteed.
Solarbotics -> good guys
I believe I met their owner Dave several years back, and knew at least one guy who works there. They do really care and put a lot of effort in delivering good stuff for robot folks. I seriously just believe that there was some screw ups on Purolators part, and there did seem to be about a 4 day delay at the border from what that pic showed. I know it’s tough waiting for something you really want to get building on, but is it really worth getting upset over? It’ll get there, just have a little patience.
It’s not so much that I
It’s not so much that I don’t have patience, it’s more just that I have a busy weekend and a busy week coming up. These few days were pretty free for me and I would have used the time to work on my bot, but I didn’t have the parts. It’s upsetting, and I think that if this is a common thing for packages to be held up at the border, they should account for it when they give you an estimated delivery date, rather than saying the package will be there by an idealistic estimate.
we’ve all been there…it
we’ve all been there…it happens…
I feel your pain as well…I have 3 different orders. 1 came in today(my ardus!!) but Ihave to wait til tomorrow for the 28 pin socket and till monday for some specaial parts via ups from az…and that should have been here today cept that its ups and they won’t be delivering on weekends…
Yeah, sorry if it sounds
Yeah, sorry if it sounds like I’m whining. I know we all have to put up with it.
I am very professional when it comes to anything work-related. The customer is always right yadda yadda yadda. So when I see a company not being professional, it’s a pet peeve of mine. I know … it probably seems like I’m totally anal.
I don’t think so…if you
I don’t think so…if you pay for an express service with x day deliver, I’d expect it…of course, border issues could arrise considering it’s electonics…but shouldn’t be too bad. You’ll be happy when you get it… 
just order stateside next time…
Yup, lesson learned. I
Yup, lesson learned. I didn’t even realize they were in Canada, or I might have reconsidered.
Yeah, I was a little upset
Yeah, I was a little upset when my Solarbotics order took longer than expected too, but then I sat down and rationalised it to myself and realized I wasn’t being fair. As frustrating as it is to be expecting an order and make the time to work on it and then find out that it’s delayed, that’s the chance you take by using a non-guaranteed delivery method. Now, if my order was shipped via some company like UPS, by a method with a guaranteed delivery date, like 2nd day air, and it didn’t arrive when it was supposed to, then sure, I’d get upset, but I’d get mad at the delivery company – as long as the vendor shipped it when they said they would, it’s not reasonable to get mad at them for what happens after that. Especially when it’s an international shipment – think of it the other way around, what if you’re a vendor in the US and someone orders something from Europe. You can’t be expected to give them a 100% accurate delivery date.
Just imagine what it’s like to be a roboteer like Frits or maneuver over in Scandinavia – you have to put up with this kind of thing on every single shipment We’re a bit spoiled by our plethora of local vendors and two-day shipping
Dan
That is soooo true
My package from Solarbotics (CAN) took exactly seven days to arrive here (NL). Pretty good, considering I ordered from Sparkfun (USA) on the same day and I am stil awaiting delivery, three weeks on.
Same ocean in between, same size/price package. That experience makes me considering getting a credit card (that’s right: you do not need one here until you start ordering over the internets), so I can order from “local” shops (UK, IT, DE).
8ik
Yeah, you’re right. I’m
Yeah, you’re right. I’m overreacting. It’s a bummer, but I can wait.
