Any luck with vendor "Collect888"???

First time I have ever been concerned about an internet film order, but I ordered 20 rolls of slide film from this vendor, who has a text ad here on APUG from his online storefront on November 5, paid promptly with PayPal and a couple days later got a postal tracking number. That number has never been "activated" yet, as there has been no package presented to the postal office. I have emailed this person several times, and got several excuses, but as of yet no film. I am getting concerned, I cannot afford to waste money on product I don't get.

Just because it is not activated at the post office does not mean it has not been mailed, the delivery confirmation is just that it is not a tracking number, it just shows a label was printed by their system and will not be updated until such time as it is delivered..

Dave

Dave Parker said:

Just because it is not activated at the post office does not mean it has not been mailed, the delivery confirmation is just that it is not a tracking number, it just shows a label was printed by their system and will not be updated until such time as it is delivered..

Dave

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I am more concerned that it has been over 30 days since my order was placed accepted and paid for, and still no film.

PHOTOTONE said:

I am more concerned that it has been over 30 days since my order was placed accepted and paid for, and still no film.

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You can search the forums here, it has been discussed before, also, you could file a complaint for non-delivery with paypal, I had to do that the other day on a purchase I made, and it took all of about 15 minutes to get it solved.

Dave

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=Collect888&Dirn=Received+by

Spot a pattern?

Good luck, Bob.

I've tried emailing him for you. I have disabled the ad until I have more details about this situation.

That's some pretty good ethical conduct and community concern on Sean's part there. Thanks for posting this as well, I was looking to buy a lot of polaroid film from Collect888 when I could get the money together. I'll be waiting until this is resolved before I touch anything, and those hundreds of negative feedback marks could do with some explaining on the seller's part as well.

Phototone,

I advice you strongly to read this thread (and buy your film elsewhere):

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Sean,

To be frank, I don't think collect888 should be able to advertise here at all....

Jaap Jan

I have bought last year from this vendor twice about 200 rolls of APX100.
Very, very slow. It took almost 2 months, but both times I have received the shipment.

I bought some film from him on eBay once; it took something like a month for him to actually get around to shipping it. I went back through his feedback afterward and discovered that a lot of his "positive" feedbacks actually were people complaining about how long he took to ship, but presumably they didn't want the get a retaliatory negative. So now when I check feedback on eBay I look for patterns not only in the negatives but also scan the positives.

That being said, I did consider buying from him again because he seemed to have a large supply of E100SW in 120 and 4x5, but I always put it off.

Photozone,

According to your post here (I don't have your detail order information) your order was processed and postage paid to the USPS a long time ago. There are three possibilities: 1) package lost by USPS; 2) not shipped yet; 3) package returned to me due to not deliverable. If you are a international buyer there is another possibility 4) the package is still on the way to you.

If you call me directly (phone number at my website) and give me your order information I can let you know the shipping status, and if lost I will either send you a replacement shipment or a full refund if there is no more stock. All shipments are 100% insured by me and never a money loss from any buyer - I cover all possible shipping losses. Due to one man operation the slower shipment is possible so if you need to use film quickly, like if you have a travel plan, please email or better call me to make sure I know your plan. At the time of this writing, I have a buyer ordered 4 different films and want to make sure he can use the film in next week's travel. I have already processed his order as UPS ground but now I have to re-evaluate the delivery time to make sure it is the ok. Otherwise I will have to cancel the shipping label and use a faster shipping method. So let me know before I printed the shipping label could save me some time too.

Here is a recent story of slower international shipment. I shipped 100 rolls Fuji 120 RMS slide film to one Poland buyer two months ago. Last month I received buyer's email of no films showing up. That is about one month already via USPS regular airmail. I told him the package could be still on the way to him because it is an international shipment and according to my past experience it could be quite slow. But again considering he is from East Europe and a lot of buyers from oversea are quite alert to this kind of situation, I decided to EMS (USPS Express Mail) him another package to make him feel better. That is all from my operating cost and the EMS shipping is quite expensive. I quickly forgot all about this. After another month, just a few days ago, the honest buyer finally emailed me and told me he received both packages, and decide to sell the extra one, and will give me the money back when his selling is done. This tells us, how slow the international shipment could be and can really worn out the patience from an un-prepared buyer.

Thanks for Sean emailed me this link. I am right now 100% time booked due to holiday order and shipment so there is not much time left for me to visit APUG.
Writing this email costs me at least the packaging time for 5 orders . And look at the timestamp of this writing, it is quite late and I haven't finished today's work yet. Sure, work is beautiful.

Happy shooting.

I am not international. I am in Arkansas, USA. I have emailed you multiple times and each time I copied the original order, and confirmations and my address, and the tracking number you provided me. I don't know what calling do, but I will do it.

Gene McCluney
Phototone

Gene,

Save your phone cost because you left your name in the your last post. Your order was indeed shipped via USPS Priority Mail according to my old memory. Because there is no information we can get from USPS delivery confirmation number so it is not delivered yet (not delivered, lost, not shipped, or still in the shipping process are the same to USPS Delivery Confirmation service right now, we only see the shipping label was printed and nothing else). I can ship out another order for you, but if both arrives you just need to return one of them, or pay for both orders. Please email me and resolve this offline and I have to have a rest - almost 3:00am now. Thanks.

Email has been sent to Collect888. I will keep the list updated on the resolution of this matter.

Collect888,

1. with all other sellers than you, I have never waited longer than max. 3 weeks to get USPS shipment being on the other side of the planet.
2. not only me, many other buyers had same experience with you.
3. for me only, I had twice exactly the same experience with you.

Conclusion: after then I didn't buy from you, though I have left postive feedbacks to you.

The problem is not specific to this case.

Ernie, sorry you hit the hard period with slower shipment last year. I remember that period did last about two months in late summer. But one thing I am sure, all orders were finally shipped out, or if someone cannot wait for the shipment, they were getting their full payment back. There were a few poor guys got both the film and the refund and disappeared in front of me.

Now eBay software automatically takes care all feedbacks for me. Before that I had to do a few times per year and it is a semi-auto or semi-manual process. And someone could be left out. Now if you leave me a positive you are getting a positive quickly and it is 100% accurate.

BTW at the same time I am apologizing and you guys are crying about the slow shipment. I am worrying the whole film business is collapse at an amazing speed. With less and less profit and a shrinking market to support a discounted film business sometimes I do feel buyers should tolerate a bit. If you can plan ahead, order film ahead of time, it will help me to keep running this business. If you have any special need, go ahead to make arrangement with me to work out a faster shipment.

Guys, I'm chiming in rather late, but recently I sent two packages on the same day that were 8x10 envelopes of identical weight to two locations. The source, Rochester NY and the destinations, Daly City CA and Tulsa OK.

The one to Daly City arrived in one week, but the one to Tulsa arrived only after 1.5 months, and two calls to the local postmaster. It took our Rochester postmaster a call to Tulsa, and within 12 hours it was delivered in Tulsa. This was certified mail without return reciept.

USPS gives no explanation but handwaving.

At the same time, I sent several packages via UPS and have tracking #s and delivery confirmation on all of them including which door and what time of day! The UPS tracking even included an apology for a delay of one day due to severe snow in Kansas.

PE

Photo Engineer,

Thanks for your knowledgable postings about films and film history. I have gained a lot from reading your writings!

In front of me, is a "Parcel Search Request" from USPS Postal Service Seattle Bulk Mail Center just received. Basically one of my shipped Priority Mail package was damaged and the film was lost during USPS shipment and they found a package wrapper with my name and address. They were asking me what is inside the package and "if after a thorough search your merchandise is not located, take this form and wrapper to your local post office for a postage refund". I am sure this will generate another unhappy buyer. USPS, is still working like a government agency. Some of their front desk service personal actually hope they are getting as less packages as possible.

collect888 said:

Photo Engineer,

Thanks for your knowledgable postings about films and film history. I have gained a lot from reading your writings!

In front of me, is a "Parcel Search Request" from USPS Postal Service Seattle Bulk Mail Center just received. Basically one of my shipped Priority Mail package was damaged and the film was lost during USPS shipment and they found a package wrapper with my name and address. They were asking me what is inside the package and "if after a thorough search your merchandise is not located, take this form and wrapper to your local post office for a postage refund". I am sure this will generate another unhappy buyer. USPS, is still working like a government agency. Some of their front desk service personal actually hope they are getting as less packages as possible.

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Hate to say it, but I don't experience the same as you, and I ship hundreds of USPS packages a week..

But I do agree, those of use that ship a lot of packages, take the guff because the USPS and many other shippers, don't care, and I agree, once it leaves our hands, we have very little control over what happens to that package.

Dave Parker
Satin Snow Ground Glass

I'm waiting on an order myself, and I'll try to be a little more patient given what I've read here. But customers must file a dispute with PayPal within 45 days of the payment, so taking two months to get things out the door is just way too long. It doesn't give any protection to the customer in the event something goes wrong. It's unfortunate paypal is that way since Visa/Mastercard give you 90 days, but there it is.

Thanks,

Will

Will emailed me: "OK I received it tonight! Thank you. I should have just waited one more day". (Actually my shipping could be faster.) A few hours later he has already tested the paper and according to him, "All looks well". A corner of the shipping box was a little crushed by UPS but the content is ok.

Good ending at least for this one.

Should be more careful about the shipping packaging in this busy holiday season. I saw that lady in my local post office throws packages around instead of carrying them over.

One week later, still no film!!

It has been since November 2.total. After posting on this form I was finally contacted again by Collect888 and he indicated he would re-send the film. Now a week later, no film. I doubt I will ever get any film from Collect888.

Gene McCluney

I spoke too soon. The film came. It is wrong. It is 24 exposure, not 36 exposure, and it is not just "short dated" it is waaaaay out of date. as of expired in 2002. Thats 4 (FOUR) years past date. Doubt if it will do anything good. I will never, repeat never, never, never ever ever ever even remotely consider purchasing anything from "Collect888" again, ever!!!

I certainly have learned my lesson. There are plenty of honest vendors out there, way to many to waste my time with this one.

Gene,

I did not list this film as "short dated". The whole page at my website listed 35mm slide film as "outdate" on every film.

"Short dated" has never been into my language to describe films. In my business of selling films, I usually list film as "fresh", "dated xx/200x", or if I am not sure about the date of the film, either give a date range like 2002-2004, or just say "Outdate" without a date. I don't like the term of "short dated film" because some dealers used it for both "close dated" film that is fresh, or "outdated film". For close dated film, I usually say it is still fresh, for example, dated 3/2007. Straightforward.

You told me you ordered 36 exp. films not 24 exp. I decided "The Customer is Always Right" and just send you the second package of 36 exp films to resolve the issue. In communications I have told you I am sending you the second package of 36 exp. films without paper boxes, and "in my best knowledge that is dated around 2002-2004, like the one you ordered". "If you can use I can send you 20 rolls of those. If the film is no good you can return at any time. Otherwise I will just refund to you to make sure you are not getting anything you don't use." And I clearly stated in my email:""I checked again the shipping record. There was one package sent out to you. If it is lost so be it. If not please turn it to me. That should contain 24 exposure films instead of 36."

Your email response to me is, "PLEASE SEND WHAT YOU HAVE. I DON'T CARE IF IT IS IN BOXES. AS LONG AS IT IS IN THE PLASTIC SNAP-CANNISTERS. IF I GET THE "PREVIOUS" SHIPMENT, I WILL PAY YOU FOR IT." So outdated film is not a total monster to you. And you knew and are ready to accept that second batch of film has an unknown but outdate date of a few years. You knew there is an previous package with 24 exp. film inside and you can return it but you opt to keep it and pay for it. I don't understand why you forgot what you have expressed in both phone conversation and emails. According to the time stamp your email was "Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 12:31 AM".

Also in today's APUG post you did not mention I have told you I am sending you the second package, and did not mention you have received USPS delivery confirmation number for the second package. (The package was given to USPS two days ago).

I have all five copies of your recent emails in my archive. From your email I can see you used all UPPER CASEs and never used lower cases in our private email communication. In APUG you seems know to use lower cases. Being in the Internet since Bitnet and Usenet time, I can see what kind of net user you are. Some net users abuse the Internet with strange split personality. I don't know if you are one of them but it is truly a pleasure to hear that you are not buying from me. I don't like dealing with rude and dishonest buyers.

I have never seen so many negative feedbacks. You would think that after one or two the seller would change something instead of just letting it ride and piling up a gob of negatives. Some people have no scruples when it comes to making a buck.

Curt