Hey all,
There seems to be some shock stories on Whirlpool about shoppingsquare.com.au. However, most of the threads are old so i was asking for people's opinions here. Have you ordered from them? If so, what was your experience. I'm ordering ram/SD cards, not just general junk. Their prices and delivery seem quite good atm, They don't want to charge me $20 for delivery of an SD card like other shops.
Opinions please :)
Love Davo.
(Mod — moved to General Discussion)
ahh yeah, i figured that was the case :)
thanks
I had a problem with them in receiving an order of SD cards - it took a large number of weeks before it arrived, by which time I was overseas. The tracking number they gave me didn't exist according to Australia Post. I did contact them and they eventually offered a refund (not long after, the cards limped into my Post Office Box, so I didn't take them up on the refund) - but I was forced to buy overcharged SD cards overseas. I'm not sure what the story actually was in the end - if they hadn't actually been shipped until I started querying, if they simply were lost in the mail. Who knows? To be honest, I'm staying clear of them for big orders now.
I think i'll give this a miss, seems risky. i wonder how they even stay open if there are so many complaints. The complaint resolution centre would be bigger than the store itself!
Bought a computer there (a ~$1,200 HTPC) and it arrived in around 1 1/2 weeks after the order which is not too bad (although I live like 10 minutes walk from Apus which I could just go and pick it up :)
They do sponsor for our weekly competitions for the next few weeks though :)
Scotty would you mind posting the specs of the HTPC?
Im in the market for one at the moment myself but don't really have that kinda budget to work with.
Altho I do already have the speakers and the LCD screen so I just basicaly need the box.
This is similar to what I bought:
Mine had an older AMD CPU though, but the rest is pretty similar. Bought it a few months ago.
Nice - Im def gonna go the AMD route also as they seem to have much better onboard graphics with the motherboards than Intel.
I'm thinking of going with the Phenom II 550 or Athlon II 250 CPU as they both have fairly low energy consumption and are pretty decent bang for buck.
I've bought a few items from SSq and have found them prompt and reliable.
My problem with them is that their shipping costs are most often very high, but when they have free/cheap shipping offers,,, go for it!
\_/7
agree here. When they post a bargain, you then add expensive postage and it turns out not to a good deal in the end.
Well I ordered something today and got an email stating it has been been posted (after 5pm) so I'll see soon for myself how good they are when it comes to speed of post and how the packaging is (as I've never ordered from them before, but did today due to some free P&H).
Earlier today ShoppingSquare had the "Asus EPC1000HE-WHI011X Netbook - 10", White" earlier today for $619 but postage was $59 (its now $724 and out of stock), so P&H was expensive.
Well i had a mixed experience. Ordered two items, one SD card and one micro-SD card. The 'package' was sent quite promptly, but it was missing the micro-SD card. Had to jump though many hoops and loops over a period of about 2 months just to get them to send the micro-SD which was only worth about $10 in the first place.
The items were also not in retail packaging (just the small plastic case), although the branding does seem legit.
Bad enough of an experience to turn me off buying from them again. Probably much better off getting Officeworks to pricematch another retailer and be sure of what you're getting.
I ordered 3 4GB MicroSD cards (not on the website now) but P&H the same as the following (If I had actually paid P&H):
http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=281
SanDisk 2GB microSD Card, Transflash, T-Flash $8.04
Delivery & Handling: $5.99 (for one)
Discount for Combined Postage: -$5.99
Delivery & Handling: $11.98
Even the combined P&H is a ripoff.
I ordered on Sunday 21/6/09 (with free P&H).
They sent me an email on Monday 22/6/09 after 5pm saying it was dispatched and it arrived yesterday (25/6/09) which is VERY slow for such a small thing to be delivered considering it was sent on Monday (effectivetly Tuesday (which what the eparcel tracking shows below)) from presumably Alexandria in Sydney NSW and I am Sydney also.
The memory cards and adaptors came in the plastic case and no reatail packaging (just like Atlas stated above), so no paperwork stating the warranty or speed etc.
Eparcel tarcking:
"Event Date/Time (Local Time) Event Description Location
25/06/09 09:41 Delivered XXXX DC-DEL
25/06/09 06:37 Onboard with driver XXXX DC-DEL
25/06/09 02:06 In transit XXXX PDC
24/06/09 15:00 Manifest accepted ALEXANDRIA BULK LODGEMENT CENT
23/06/09 12:26 Manifest received ALEXANDRIA BULK LODGEMENT CENT"
(so Australia Post was bit slow there before it made its way from the initial lodgement place)
Now the "package" was a black plastic envelope folded over with NO padding (even DX uses padded bags and would have retail packaging). I didn't order from DX as they are always running out of these memory cards there such good sellers.
Each plastic case were 5cm by 3.5cm by 3.5mm.
There is no way even all 3 of the small cases would have cost $5.99 to post (the plastic envelope a few cents), they could have easily used an overnight satchel from Australia post which costs less then $5 for delivery anywhere in Australia (and guaranteed delivery to many place the next business day).
Basically the P&H that ShoppingSqaure charges is a rip off (as is many other online merchants).
I wouldn't be buying from ShoppingSquare again (unless there was free P&H and even then I probably wouldn't due to the lack of retail packaging and lack of padding/protection (and considering what they wanted to charge for P&H there should have been some)).
Hi Zero Sydneey
Thanks for your opinions.
1) Regarding the postage, I totally understand the p&H concern from some of our customers. We are working the way to reduce it without under our cost and hope we can come up a better shipping deals in near future. At this moment, we always try to make the best offers based on total price (price + shipping and handling). If you found any dealer offering cheaper in total price(price + shipping and handling), you are always welcome to send a ticket to us to request price matching.
2) The packing material is based on the item type and the courier service level. I understant that customers always want to have the best protection on the items they ordered. We are now working on the shipping option in our web site, so our customer can choose between the best service and best price at one spot. Just remind you that, all of the items shipped by ShoppingSquare.com.au are covered with transit insurance. If the order is missing or damage in transit, you can claim back your replacment or full refund.
3) The Sandisk standard card are shipping as bulk pack. They may come originally from Sandisk in bulk or we removed the retail packing when the stock arrived (for shipping cost and handling issue). All Sandisk product are originally come from Sandisk and comes with 5 years replacement warranty.
Thanks for clarification on the P&H.
At OzBargain we are always asking for the TOTAL cost anyway (although it does not stop people comparing something that delivers to your door with something you need to queue up at MSY for).
danilochan why is Shopping Square charging $49 to ship a netbook as its seems very high?
(http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/p_6949_ASUS_EeePC_1000HA__E…)
Zero Sydney
You can get it at $10 Shipping Cap Australa wide this weekend
and I adjusted the Shipping to $29.95 after the promtoion.
we are working on reducing shipping price recently, but it will take to updated 3000 items in our store.
Please let me know if you found any item are over priced on shipping, I will try to review it again, and try my best to lower it if possible.
Why not just give the best shipping rate to us straight away on all items instead of us telling you that your shipping is overpriced on specific items?? Wouldn't that be the best thing to do for customer satisfaction??
as we need time to update all the shipping for 3000 items. we need to review the actual cost of item and shipping to adjust.
I believe all the update can be done before Christmas.
daveaus 23 min ago ¶
+1 they really need to be significantly cheaper than anyone anywhere in the world before I use these guys
since most online stores in other countries can deliver stuff to you faster than shoppingsquare.
Hi Daveaus
at this moment, we manage to deliver 90% of our order by next working day (after payment confimration)
I believe there is room for us to do better. and we will arrange a express service very soon, to make sure customer can get their product within their expected period.
Recent 1 hour promotion, waited 8 hours to get an Ipod for the advertised price of $178 to be told at 2 minutes past 9 that is out of stock and the cost was actually $228. Very misleading, and a total waste of my time.
Why don't you have any contact phone numbers on your website? Also I made an order and did not receive a confirmation email or any email stating eta of postage arrival? What kind of service is that?
Shipping (and handling) is $9.99 for a 2GB SD card which they are selling for $7.35. ShoppingSquare claim they cost $29 normally, yeah sure.
http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/product.php?id=544
From above:
"danilochan on 04/09/2009 - 20:07
as we need time to update all the shipping for 3000 items. we need to review the actual cost of item and shipping to adjust."
Well looks like ShoppingSuqare still hasn't worked out the real cost yet. I just think ShoppingSquare is a complete ripoff for their S&H so wont buy from there anymore (when I did last buy it just came in an paper envlope with no protection).
I can't highly disrecommend ShoppingSquare enough, STAY AWAY, don't buy from them. Their slow, overcharge P&H and the products aren't packaged well.
The problem with shopping square is that they inflate their normal prices ridiculously, then offer the price for a quite normal, sometimes higher, sometimes lower price and quote that it is 30%+ off the RRP.
I wont be surprised if they get done by the ACCC sooner or later. I have no idea where they get their RRP's from, but i think its from the guy in the marketing department.
I am sure there are some great deals hidden in the rough, but unfortunately their shoddy sales technique has driven me off ever looking.
I purchased a 32gb SDHC memory card and a HTC Velocity 4g phone from them when the phone was on special and had free delivery. I paid with paypal and within 4 minutes of placing the order their system had reversed the transaction and split it into two separate orders. There was no refund to me from paypal.
The memory card arrived but the phone never shipped. I asked why and was told that I cancelled the order…. which I didn't. They kept saying this so I logged a paypal claim. Eventually they actually investigated and advised that the system split the order as the items were in two different warehouses and they would send the phone to me via expedited post. 2 days later still no phone. They then said that their system wouldn't allow them to send the phone until I closed the paypal claim. I told them I couldn't close the claim because paypal wont reopen a closed claim if there are further problems. They then said they would refund the money. A couple of days later still no money. They then said that they can't refund the money until I close the paypal claim. Rather than sort this they're allowing paypal to find against them and refund the money to me. They reckon that paypal will refund the total price including memory card and they will then get their debt collectors to take care of me for the $50 for this.
Besides reporting them to paypal I have reported them to the ACCC and the NSW Dept of Fair Trading
Long story short. Don't deal with them.
Ouch!! :(
~~
\_/7
AHHH - you not only resurrected that other 2 year old thread, but also this one which is almost THREE YEARS OLD?
Just to have a rant? Your story is full of holes anyway…
I enjoy the odd rant, but please start a new thread next time
Dodgy - one word for them
fraudulent sales fake memory cards and there is no customer service at all, i sent back my 64gb memory card because it never worked fine. it was fake memory card which can not copy even 1 gb of data….. i sent it back and they received it and then they never replied me back……. i could not get my card or money back…… i never saw such fraudulent seller.
Be aware and avoid them, they do not care about customers all they care is their own profit.
Hi,
If you are finding good deals from shoppingsquare.com.au then that's great.
Problem with sites like whirlpool is that most posts are going to be about fake/not working RAM/sd items rather than from happy customers.
That said, postage on memory and cards should be low and I look at the overall price and quality rather than just order.
For a while dstore.com.au was good but it varies. Postage has gone up and lots of places are passing this on (and then some).
Also, have a look at:
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=AusPC_Online
lurve (in a brotherly non-touchy feely kindy way)…