I got this email from a supplier today:




This was my reply:



I haven't heard back yet.

Am I being dense? Is there something to this that I'm not seeing? I feel like I'm being bilked out of an additional $540 ($90 * 6) just to receive something I already prepaid for in a "reasonable" (adjusted for 2022) time frame.

 

I got this email from a supplier today:
View attachment 260759



This was my reply:

View attachment 260760

I haven't heard back yet.

Am I being dense? Is there something to this that I'm not seeing? I feel like I'm being bilked out of an additional $540 ($90 * 6) just to receive something I already prepaid for in a "reasonable" (adjusted for 2022) time frame.

Because the component shortage is the shortage everyone is talking about but not the only shortage. Search the phrase "force majeur" and your favorite plastic (poly propylene, polycarbonate, polyamide 6 or 66) and you'll learn there is a plastics shortage. There has been a truck driver shortage since before the pandemic. There is a shortage of electricians for high-voltage hazardous areas. There is a shortage of Nurses. There is a shortage of Aluminum and aluminum casting capacity. There is a shortage of people skilled in analytical equipment calibration. There is even a shortage in people to do inspections/audits for ISO9001 registrations. There are shortages in everything. Honestly, you're lucky the airfreight space has been offered to you. Pass the cost on to your client/customer like everyone else. If you're not contributing to inflation like everyone else, you're losing money.

 

LOL When I got RIFed and found out that unemployment would pay for education I applied for them to pay for a Micrsoft Bootcamp to get the MSCEE certification. I was already doing the IT work but didn't have the certification and a 2-week bootcamp sounded like fun. Nooooo... We don't need IT workers, but we will send you to a truck driving school. We need truck drivers! That was over 15 years ago. And NO, I don't think I ever had any desire to drive a semi-truck long-haul. Uh uh, no way!

 

I heard a few weeks ago there is a freight train comes from China to London a couple of times a week. When I order components they usually take 10 to 14 days to arrive so maybe they come on that, shipping is really cheap.

 

(Some text removed for clarity)

I haven't heard back yet.

Am I being dense? Is there something to this that I'm not seeing? I feel like I'm being bilked out of an additional $540 ($90 * 6) just to receive something I already prepaid for in a "reasonable" (adjusted for 2022) time frame.

It looks fishy to me. I agree with your logic, it seems that somebody related to your order is an opportunist. Perhpaps a manufacturer is willing to push you a little closer to the front of the line for a little more profit.

 

I heard a few weeks ago there is a freight train comes from China to London a couple of times a week. When I order components they usually take 10 to 14 days to arrive so maybe they come on that, shipping is really cheap.

Right. I order stuff from China all the time on ebay and comes in 2 weeks. Like what am I actually paying for when I pay this $540 extortion? To avoid my items being shipped on camel back and strapped to dolphins for the transatlantic leg of the trip? 108 days is enough for a steam paddle ship to make the journey seven times.

 

Because the component shortage is the shortage everyone is talking about but not the only shortage. Search the phrase "force majeur" and your favorite plastic (poly propylene, polycarbonate, polyamide 6 or 66) and you'll learn there is a plastics shortage. There has been a truck driver shortage since before the pandemic. There is a shortage of electricians for high-voltage hazardous areas. There is a shortage of Nurses. There is a shortage of Aluminum and aluminum casting capacity. There is a shortage of people skilled in analytical equipment calibration. There is even a shortage in people to do inspections/audits for ISO9001 registrations. There are shortages in everything.

This doesn't really answer my question but just shatters it into 25 separate but same questions. How does paying for air freight address the aluminum shortage? How does paying for air freight address the truck driver shortage? Etc.

Honestly, you're lucky the airfreight space has been offered to you. Pass the cost on to your client/customer like everyone else. If you're not contributing to inflation like everyone else, you're losing money.

Right, I got that; that I am expected to be grateful for any respite from these oppressive shortage boogeymen and accept what is offered without question. But I am not wired that way. Probably to my own detriment in this case.

 

I'm a little late to this thread, but I would ask for them to show more details about the shipping costs. If you're going to pay $540 for "shipping", then the supplier should be able to produce a shipping receipt to prove that was the actual cost. I'd be willing to bet that "shipping" fee is going to go straight into someone's pocket.

 

Lately, when placing orders @ AliX with multiple vendors involved, I am charged shipping by each vendor. But, when the package arrives it contains multiple orders from the various vendors who each individually charged shipping. Apparently, this consolidation is done within the China Post system and not at the AliX warehouse if such a thing even exists. I also get the opposite when ordering tea. One large order recently was broken into 4 separate packages. Maybe it's just an "Inscrutable Oriental" kind of thing to confuse us "Foreign Devils".