deux jambes

That is the seller. I’m glad to hear you received your order from them last year.

Currently, they don’t have the most impressive feedback, so that’s part of the reason I’ve grown a little concerned.

RobbieTunes

I just rec'd two sets of decals from the Eastern Europe, via Hungary, and installed them. They're fine.
I also ordered a wool jersey from the guy in Serbia that makes them. It came in fine, just too long once it gets wet.
I also had saddles custom covered by a guy in Ukraine, super nice SSM Concors, but it's iffy now. Russia handles his mail.

One thing to note is that customary things over there aren't always in line with how they are here.
Courtesy is important, and firms fill orders as their schedules and protocols permit.
It's not like Amazon from next door, "gotta have it yesterday," etc.

robertorolfo

FFS man, this was exactly what I was trying to avoid. You are jumping to certain conclusions that simply aren't implied or supported by my statement. The existence of some criminals does not imply that an entire country or region consists solely of criminals. The existence of the mafia in Italy does not mean that all Italians are in the mafia. Far from it, they detest the mafia, but it's still a thing.

Also, your interpretation of the crime statistics is lacking. If an item is stolen in Italy, of course the crime is going to be reported and recorded there, regardless of who committed the crime and where the stolen property eventually ends up.

https://www.dw.com/en/hamburg-police...les/a-38589521

https://www.thejournal.ie/bike-theft...95364-Feb2020/

Cycling team?s stolen bikes spotted for sale on Eastern European website | The Bike Comes First

branko_76 

it seems the accusations are coming from you Kilroy1988

You lectured me yesterday without fully understanding my post, now you're reading too much into robertorolfo 's comment about things being stolen from Western Europe ending up in the East.

Kilroy1988 

Right. So Italy has five times as much theft per capita as the Eastern European country in question. The only way you can say Serbians are more likely to be selling bicycles stolen from Italy than Italians selling bicycles stolen from Italy, is if you assume that people from a nation with 1/5 the average theft are committing five times as many crimes abroad.

Yet you're not questioning the reputation of the sellers in Italy.

Total nonsense.

Kilroy1988 

Then perhaps you should explain yourself better before you go around saying that you're trying to get your money back for items that still have an estimated arrival date in the future?

As for Robert's post, again, it makes no sense to cast judgement on Serbians when Italy has a much higher theft rate - you're far more likely to buy a bicycle or component from a bicycle that was stolen by an Italian in Italy than from a Serbian who stole something from Italy. That's ridiculous.

branko_76 

I said I tried to open a case, I didn't say anything about trying to get my money back.

And I don't recall robertorolfo saying anything about Serbians

Kilroy1988 

If you open a dispute and the seller cannot provide evidence or respond on time, ebay may settle in your favor and return your money, whether you or anyone likes it. Don't open a dispute if you don't want your money back.

Post #23 . Narhay specifically mentioned Serbia, Robert specifically responded.

I'm just tired of seeing people rag on eastern Europe. You are more likely to buy stolen stuff for many of the larger, wealthier nations in Europe, as well as right here in the US, than you are from Serbia or other small European countries with much lower theft rates.

Italy has ten times as many people as Serbia. Almost as many people as all of the balkan nations combined. To suggest that foreigners are committing enough thefts in Italy to drive up the crime numbers versus domestic theft is a bewildering thing to say.

branko_76 

Before you reprimand someone, try to ask a question fiirst to gain some understanding...at this point, I don't feel like explaining myself to you.

Kilroy1988 

Lol. I asked you three questions in my first two responses to you and you only answered one. I asked what the seller did wrong and you said they didn't providea tracking number. So then I asked if they said they would, or if they specified a postage level that you're sure would provide one.

At that time you told me I was lecturing you with three sentences.

Ha!

branko_76 

get over it dude

Kilroy1988 

You're the one who continues to respond to me. You jumped back in here this morning long after I stopped having the slightest interest, and I'm only responding to your quotes of my posts because that's the respectful thing to do.

Perhaps you need to get over it. Don't respond to someone if you don't want a response, especially when you need to eat your words. I asked you questions and you literally ignored them then told me I should have asked you more questions. So dumb.

noobinsf 

I remind us all (ahem) that public forums are a tricky place to be when you're feeling easily provoked. I suggest a walk around the block, and maybe not looking at this thread anymore today if you feel compelled to be right.

branko_76 

so dumb? I agree, jumping to conclusions is extremely dumb

Kilroy1988 

I agree. My apologies. It's hard for me to turn a blind eye to someone making sweeping statements about the likelihood of stolen goods being sold in one place, where there is in fact much less crime than in the place where the items are supposedly being stolen from. If you're worried about buying stolen items on eBay all statistics and common sense suggest that you should be more worried about purchasing from the county of origin with ten times as many people and higher rates of theft per capita.

It's horrible bias. That's all it is. And I'll argue with anyone who thinks otherwise.

deux jambes

I’d venture to say that postage from any region of the world is going better than this thread is.

Anyhow, just for clarification, my OP was simply meant to gather perspective from those who have ordered merchandise from Serbia, as until recently I never have myself. That order is now a little over 3 weeks past it’s expected delivery date, which is the longest I’ve ever had a delivery arrive late. I was just curious if that was common. Nothing doomsday.

I’m not feeling impatient, and I don’t care to open a claim against a 7 dollar decal (shipping included). The seller says it shipped, and I have no reason to doubt that’s true. I don’t have a tracking number, but I also didn’t expect one for an envelope either. If the item never arrives, I’ll assume that it fell into the Atlantic ocean somehow. Now on the other hand, the seller doesn’t have the best feedback, and if I have been scammed, well, that’s a risk I took. Same with ordering from overseas during a worldwide pandemic, another risk I took.

Some parts of the world ship much slower than others. I was just wondering how Serbia might rate in that regard. Certainly never meant to make a big deal out of it, because it’s not a big deal, and I never meant to rag any country or imply negativity otherwise.

Didn’t anticipate any back and forth arguing and bickering amongst forum members either. Surly there’s more important events and issues happening than any of this?

But carry on if y’all must...

Or go ride a bike?

SuperLJ

I ordered some Mavic Open Pro retro decals from the same seller a year or so ago. Way more attractive than the billboard ones the rims come with.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MAVIC-MODUL...0AAOSwVcZcogxf

Really nice quality, reasonably fast shipping, and he included a nice note. I also should say that I ordered and paid for 4, and he sent 10!

I’d say just be patient. I ordered two jerseys from Hong Kong on April 12, and they have yet to arrive.

Kilroy1988 

As a rule I don't argue on the internet about really important things. Then I actually do get upset. I can sit back and smile while I'm typing these posts. If I could go ride a bike I certainly would, but right now I'm just posting during sporadic breaks at work!

I don't have any issues with Branko, or Robert (though we haven't agreed a couple of times in the past well), but when someone says something I think is silly then I don't mind saying so. I've said some stupid things here and elsewhere and been set before the inquisition enough times to know that if you can't sit back and try to learn something from what others are telling you - whether they're faceless and nameless entities on the internet or not - then you're doing life wrong. I've learned a lot from what appear to be rather heated or subjective debates on online forums, but perhaps that's just me.

Robert can keep thinking what he will, and anyone can agree with him or not, and Branko can keep thinking I was being harsh when I was actually just typing on my phone out of curious boredom. Doesn't bother me!

-Gregory

52telecaster

Im waiting for a t.a. bb tool from poland. Been a long time but stuff happens and the guy has a good rating so if it never makes it, I'll use the one from the coop.

Kilroy1988 

Poland and Russia can be real long waits... I had a comic book sized envelope shipped to me from Poland earlier this year (before the pandemic) and it took seven or eight weeks. My mother-in-law ships us things from Moscow sometime and they often don't even leave Russia for a month or longer! Some national postal services definitely need to do some upgrading.

dweenk

Corona Virus may have played a role in all this, but back in September/October of 2019 the was a big kerfluffle about the postal rate pact of some 30+ countries. New rules and rates are coming in July and as I read it shipping rates from China will rise, and every country will set its own rates. I don't know if that is of any benefit to us at all, but you can be sure we will find out.

canopus 

Just as this lockdown hit I had ordered some non bike related grips from Turkey. The Turkey tracking number shows that it was handed off to the receiving country (US). After that it has been in limbo. It is currently 14 days overdue from worst case. I'm not sure what to do with it, The seller appears to have done his part..

deux jambes

Its interesting. I’ve heard that Polish post can be horribly slow. I ordered a plastic cap for a quill stem from Poland on May 20th. It arrived yesterday. That’s just two weeks from paypal to the mailbox.

What I’m begging to realize is that there’s just no tellin’ with any of this!

Ged117 

I bought a frame from the UK eBay in March, and I finally called Fedex the other day to see what happened after radio silence from the seller. The frame ended up in their "undeliverables" warehouse in Memphis after the seller did not respond to inquiries from Fedex regarding customs charges here in Canada upon the frame's arrival. The frame arrived here in Ottawa over a month ago, and then went south. Apparently, he was supposed to put my contact info as well as his own on the form. When he failed to respond, they were also unable to return to sender. So off it went to the big warehouse with the Ark of the Covenant inside and all the other lost bits.

After some good customer service by Fedex following my call, I spoke to a lovely person down in Memphis who found the package containing my early '50s Armstrong 531 frame. It is now on its way here. I hope it is OK.

Caveat emptor.

Miele Man

I've sent bicycle parts to three different members in the past couple of months. That's going from Canada to the United States and I think that the old Pony Express would have been faster for delivery. Canada Post was even advising not sending small parcels because the postal system was so overloaded.

I guess the mantra these days is "Expect Delays".

Cheers