Sewing Camp?

Really? I have a stack of them in my desk drawer that I just fill out and stick with the package *before* I go to the post office. I haven't used one in quite a while, but if I need one, they're here. So it doesn't take me more than a minute to fill it out at home before I go off to the post office, and once there, it adds no time at all. Of course, if someone would like to pay me $10 for that minute, I'd be happy to accept.

Melinda I'm only 3 hours north!!

Br> HC wrote:

A business either has a pickup, or they take their mail in to the post office in one of those big white hampers. The postage can be metered, which should be what they do with their other mail order shipments.

However, even if they only do the odd one off by mail, charging twice for postage for a total of $13.00 for a $2.90 postal charge seems a bit over the top. If it were an eBay seller, I'd certainly reflect that in any feedback, and I think Tutu is entitled to feel abused and mention it here since there is no "feedback" for her purchase otherwise. They sell by mail, they probably want to continue selling. A pattern isn't like chewing gum, you can't sell the same thing over and over, but I would expect return sales are still welcome. You don't go back to a place you feel has abused you, and I don't go to places that have abused people I know, including you, Melinda.

I'd sugget you come and visit and hit the fabric shops but I'm afraid the choice is limited and Spotlight has been rather disappointing of late. We also have a serious lack of space due to DH's office and a 4 yr old DS who thinks he rules the house.

A friend of mine who runs an Internet second hand bookshop warned me to always check on postage charges as in her words "That's where they rip you off". She gives a maximum postage charge in her quotes but then only charges the cutomer on the actual postage she charges. I've noticed that her approach is unusual as most do what has been done to Tutu.

I'll give you a yell next time I'm heading south. The local Spotlight is being revamped as the previous manager let things become untidy which was a shame in a brand new store.

I think all 4yo's think they rule the house, I know my DGD was that way inclined a year ago but being at school this year has made a big difference.

Br> HC wrote:

At my company we keep all the customs forms etc in our office. Filling it in takes only a few minutes and then it has the psotage attached and dropped in the pillar box as normal. I only need to take it to the PO if it needs an extra service and it was unlikely this package had any of those given the costs above.

All too often overseas customers are ripped off by firms that think we are mugs. I don't mind paying a realistic price for a service e.g. Global Priority, but I do object to paying that price for ordinary airmail.

Lizzy

Newcastle Spotlight isn't new, although the ground floor is being redone after being flooded back in June. We have a new store at Rutherford but the dress fabric section is really tiny.

DS is going to pre-school next year, July birthday, I'm hoping it'll settle him down a bit. I'm really looking forward to a couple of hours peace a day!

Preschool will make all the difference, enjoy your peace! Did you suffer any damage from the floods?

Br> HC wrote:

No we didn't have anything major happen here, apart from the backyard flooding a bit. There's a bridge (or was) over a strom water channel at the end of our street (name change on the other side) that was rather badly damaged the approach from our side was undermined, our street has been very quite! I was supposed to be at a local sporting comp that weekend which has been postponed until December. Our only major problem was being without power from late Friday night until late Sunday afternoon, then loosing a phase half an hour after the power came back on - we had no lights or hot water for a while, but my parents had only minor power interuptions the Friday night so we headed up to their place Saturday for dinner and showers.

So pleased you didn't suffer too much damage. It must have been terrible....TV news coverage looked just awful and I felt for everyone in the area. Fortunately I live in a hilly area (by choice) so don't get flooded although the town has been cut off from highway access a few times, but once the tide changes then water levels recede.

Bronwyn ;-)

mel> HC wrote:

The Friday night was a rather anxious time, think the wind worried me more than the rain, until DH told me that the backyard was flooded and what it smelt like - there is a sewer line across the backyard... Saturday was a pain, trying to entertain a 4 yr old with cabin fever! (actaully this was about a month before his birthday) Sunday we sent him of to DH's parents, they lost power about the same time we did but got it back sooner.

A lot of water fell out of the sky that Thursday/Friday. The weather boffins say we had less wind than the May 1974 storm that sent another ship onto Stockton Beach, part of that one is still there.

I don't have a problem with that. It's just that, having been trashed personally by a lot of people who didn't bother to hear my side of the story but just believed someone secondhand and held it against me, I just prefer to think the best of people, even those whose business practices I don't agree with. Maybe these people just are not efficient and that's really what they felt it cost them. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are out to cheat people.

IOW, there is a big difference between saying, "I think this person's shipping charges are too high," (and I know that a lot of Ebay sellers regularly violate Ebay's TOS by recouping some of their costs with an inflated shipping charge, but it's also possible that a clueless seller ends up spending having an overseas sale cost more than they thought), and "This person is cheating people." Same goes for web sellers -- I know I have read somewhere people in other countries who say that the only reliable overseas delivery in their area is some particular carrier or another, which is a carrier they don't use

And then aga>

There is a difference between a slight overcharge and $10, I think. I have had buyers complain about a seven cent overcharge on postage for an eBay bid, and am not about to spend several times that on a stamp to return their measly 7 cents. But, if it were anything like $10, I would feel ethically required to reimburse them. We just need to apply a little common sense.

Thank you very much for the variety of views on this matter. I must admit that I had not taken into account the onerous logistics of a small retailer completing the little green form and actually taking the package to the Post Office. But since I am heavily reliant on overseas purchases I am hyper-sensitive to shipping and mailing costs:-)

But it still looks like a SUPER pattern - I have a mountain of huge unwearable T-shirts and even if I only get one or two to look decent, then it will have been money well spent.

I don't want to trash someone's business unfairly - I was just a tad put out at the time of the package's arrival and posted here because this is where I had found the link to the pattern.

Cheers for now Tutu Cape Town, South Africa /

Hi Tutu,

I shop on-line a lot, even though I am in the U.S. I love to shop at 2 A.M. I am very sensitive to high shipping charges, which are often charged by some companies. I do a lot of business with companies who offer me free shipping without inflating their prices. I often use a portal like MrRebates.com, and I also use a credit card that pays me rebates. I sort of think of myself as a "competitive" shopper. ;-)

So I appreciate good links to good sources, and information about how a transaction went for someone I feel will "tell it like it is."

Fair enough.

I understand what you are saying. I just believe that without asking the company why they are doing that, I don't know if they are charging what they believe to be a fair charge to reimburse themselves for their time or whether they are trying to cheat people.

S>