Shipping problem with Chinese Laser

[Jacqui Marlin]

All had gone quite well with my purchase from WK Laser and I was told that my machine had shipped earlier than anticipated. On June 8th I was told my machine would ship the following week. When I heard nothing more I checked again and on June 21 I was told it left China the previous week. Then I learned it would be shipped via Hong Kong. Okay, not a problem. Still not hearing any more I checked again and was told it would arrive "around July 10th." I did not receive shipping documents and checked again and was told they would be sent by overnight mail but they were not received yet by Frank Fang. Today I contacted Frank again and received the following info that was never disclosed before:

Last time I checked with my assistant , she told me there is no direct ship to hawaii and shipment will be forwarded in Hongkong to Hawaii Honolulu.
I will check with her again tonight and try to get something for you, shipping document should be available after the ship leave hongkong to honolulu, remember the honolulu is the only port ship can reach, you have to arrange for a pickup there.

I had arranged shipment to be made to Port of Hilo. That is where I expect to pick up the machine. Honolulu is on a different island and there is no way I can pick up the machine there. It is now a month since shipping was to have occurred and I have no shipping documents and don't know if the shipment has left Hong Kong! There are forwarding lines to continue shipment from Honolulu to Hilo, but that should have been part of the shipping costs that I paid. I am now in limbo, having expected the machine last week and at this point I am not even sure if I will receive it before I leave for a month on the mainland!

Frank has always been very responsive to my questions, but apparently the answers are not always accurate.

I said I would relay my experiences both good and bad, and all of my dealings in ordering the laser machine have been good. So far, the shipping experience has not been in accordance with what I was told. The tale will continue.

[Mark Rios]

If you finally do get it I would suggest that you wear some sort of mask/faceshield when you open the container so that you don't get hit by the antifreeze fumes or salmonella bacteria flying out of the crate. Damn Chinese,...........

[Marc Myer]

Jacqui,
I'm on Oahu, and am willing to help.

[Jacqui Marlin]

First I want to say that Frank has been extremely helpful in trying to sort this out. Apparently there was confusion between the State name Hawaii and the Big Island name which is also Hawaii. I was told that China could not ship directly to Hawaii so it had to go through Hong Kong. This is likely what has caused the delay. I will contact one of the local inter-island shippers once I know when the crate will arrive and I guess it will cost additional money but I had shipped things before and it wasn't too bad. I am frustrated but now that I understand what happened it will be best to just try to sort things out.

Thank you Marc, for your offer to help. I also have another friend on Oahu who has offered help but if it involves carting from one shipping line to Young Bros. she might not be able to do it. I will contact Young Bros. to see if the transfer can be arranged from here.

[Jacqui Marlin]

I had heard reports of various customs difficulties other people had importing the laser machines so I went armed with as much info as I could and my good friend met me at the airport in Honolulu. I was told the equipment could be claimed after noon on monday but we went straight to the port and searched out customs. This is a pretty large port with close to 50 piers. There were two or three areas so we worked out way through them to finally find the office for freight and even though it was 10:45 I figured I would check anyway and with no one waiting I was able to get this taken care of without much problem. The agent had done his homework after he talked with me on the phone a couple of days ago and had the classification for duty figured out. I had worried about the FDA clearance for lasers (broker firm made it sound like a major headache) but nothing was necessary. So with duty paid and papers stamped getting the shipment released was the next step.

Since it was lunch time we stopped for lunch in Chinatown (great stalls kind of place where we had great lunch for cheap!) Back to the port and this required a bunch of stops. Moving company that had offloaded the vessel and had the machine in storage and also China shipping company to show the customs stamp so the goods could be released - of course these were at opposite ends of the port. Without a way to move the crate ourselves I ended up having the moving company make the arrangements to take it to the interisland barge port. That was the most expensive and unexpected cost but by this time I just wanted to be sure it was done. So it should be on the barge that leaves Wednesday midnight for Hilo Port and it is due to arrive midnight Thursday but I am not sure if I can get it on Friday as I planned since the shipments then have to be offloaded and sorted since it is not a full container load. If it happens to be at the back side of a container I would have to wait until the stuff in front of it is emptied out before I could get it, but at least it is on the 2nd to the last leg of its long journey - the last being onto a truck and up my stairs to be installed in my newly cleared office space. And I have requests for a couple of possible jobs once I learn to use it!

[Mike Hood]

The trip up the stairs will be no joke either. I keep my laser downstairs, but I recently moved a 600 lb safe upstairs to an office. Wow... I couldn't imagine having done that with the laser.

[Joe Pelonio]

The trip up the stairs will be no joke either. I keep my laser downstairs, but I recently moved a 600 lb safe upstairs to an office. Wow... I couldn't imagine having done that with the laser.

Mine's upstairs now, my 19 year-old son and I managed it, so I'm sure it's nowhere near 600 lb.

[Mark Koenig]

Put mine in the basement garage... It's 500 pounds but sure did please the driver when he dropped it off and we could roll it into place... I was so happy until I realized that my 1500 pound Gun Safe, on the first floor, was directly over my desk!!! X's 1500!!!

Didn't figure that out that stupid pet trick until mapping out the exhaust... Good thing that it's block walls all the way up to the floor joists...

You may want to get some 2x4's and lay then on top or the stair treads so the guys (Hope they are Samoan Size) can push it up the stairs...

Good luck on your Journey!!!

Think happy thoughts, Mark...

P.S> You'll forget about all of this pain while figuring out Corel and starting a new business... It's all good...

[Jacqui Marlin]

Thanks for the encouragement Mark. The 3040 is not nearly 300 Lbs. but it was still a bear to get up the stairs because they make an El. But a strong friend, a dolly and some extra oooomph got it up. It is sitting on a desk top and I have it hooked up with the exception of the water. Since it is water cooled that will happen after dinner if I have recovered a bit of energy. Otherwise it waits until tomorrow because my rule is not to run machinery of any kind when tired! The machine is quite impressive and the tube and spare both arrived intact. I plan to use Illustrator which I already know how to use, but if I must get Corel I guess I will have to borrow it from a friend. I was told it can run my Adobe files (probably will need to use one of the export translations). At least I know how to use it! LOL

I have blessed this group many times for all the support and answers I have found here and on CNC zone. I now also know where to go for other answers for my other tool questions!

[Belinda Barfield]

Otherwise it waits until tomorrow because my rule is not to run machinery of any kind when tired!

Congratulations on the new family member! I agree with you on your rule, as it is mine as well. Regardless of the deadline, I have found that if I push beyond a certain point when really tired I end up missing the deadline anyway since I have to remake all the parts I made at 3 a.m. or so.

At some point, this may become just a job for you, but in the beginning it is SO MUCH FUN! Hopefully it will stay that way, and you will be as excited about your 50th job as you are about the first job.

You have a great resource right here at your fingertips. I am anxiously awaiting your first pics!