Issues with freight

[Handstitched]

Not sure where to put this rant.

Today I ventured out to the 'big smoke' for the first time  in about 8 months  +   to get some leather . I've been avoiding heavily populated areas because of COVID .  My supplier is over 2hrs away in Perth WA , they're also an agent for NSW Leather Co. . While  I did phone ahead,  and they are very helpful,  didn't have everything I needed, except the few hides I regularly use   , just enough to tie me over., so I grabbed whatever I could.  I could have it couriered out, but I like to see what I'm buying. 

The remainder of my order  is at least 1 month away as a result of   massive floods in the east, one of the main rail lines connecting the east with west got washed out and has only just opened, and on top of that, we're still dealing with COVID. Operators can't work if they have COVID....putting  all freight services under pressure, causing all sorts of issues. Shop shelves are nearly empty  . Our state 'gubment' even changed trucks rules to allow triples into supply yards etc.  to catch up.    On top of this, thanks to  Poo Tin 's war, the price of fuel has gone through the roof. 'But wait theres more', as they say in the ads ..... Many events, markets , fairs etc. have largely been cancelled...and ........my local  regional town council decided to "redevelop"  the main street ...and the carpark where I hold  my regular stall, and what a major f** up its been. .......... Thats me out after 12  loyal years, with no guarantee of a return, thanks a bunch  

I'm working solely from home now , may as well be in lockdown .  Dam it, time for some chocolate!!!

**sigh** Sure hope things are a bit easier for you where ever  you are ? 

HS

[Tugadude]

Freight movement is a nightmare right now for many reasons.  Lack of drivers, cost of gas and diesel, and more.  The company I work for has had to resort to adding fuel surcharges to orders and I just saw today that Uber and Lyft are going to raise their prices due to the increased fuel costs.  It won't get markedly better for some time.  Prices on most everything are impacted by fuel and freight so don't be shy about buying ahead if you can.

[Mulesaw]

Ah, nothing like a redevelopment of a city.. Those redevelopments always seem to be planned according to some smart people who thinks that this or that looks great on paper, and when it is finally done in concrete and tarmac. Well it doesn't work as they had hoped anyway.

All city planners in Denmark dream about making that southern Europe feeling with plazas and pedestrian streets that are crowded with people in the evening. The problem is the always forget that the reason why it works in Southern Europe is because they actually have a climate that makes it nice to stay outside for an evening. Even in the late summer. 
We on the other hand normally have cold summerdays with lots of rain and wind, and that doesn't go well with sitting outside and enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

Good idea with a cup of chocolate actually :-)

[Spyros]

29 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

**sigh** Sure hope things are a bit easier for you where ever  you are ? 

Yes, very.  Ivan LW over in Taiwan (to which I'm not affiliated in any way) has the cheapest Horween leathers I've seen anywhere with FREE DHL, so I stocked up and in 4 days it was at my doorstep.  If I can't find what I want, Buckleguy.  If I still can't find what I want I will happily give up leatherworking entirely before I order *anything* from Australia again.  I live in Bentleigh East but for some reason our posties keep sending random orders to Brighton East, it's got to the point where the guy knows me know and he just texts me "hey come get your crap".   And I keep receiving his salts for his swimming pool so I just let those wait until the next time we have a mail swap.

 

[Spyros]

20 minutes ago, Mulesaw said:

Ah, nothing like a redevelopment of a city.. Those redevelopments always seem to be planned according to some smart people who thinks that this or that looks great on paper, and when it is finally done in concrete and tarmac. Well it doesn't work as they had hoped anyway.

All city planners in Denmark dream about making that southern Europe feeling with plazas and pedestrian streets that are crowded with people in the evening. The problem is the always forget that the reason why it works in Southern Europe is because they actually have a climate that makes it nice to stay outside for an evening. Even in the late summer. 
We on the other hand normally have cold summerdays with lots of rain and wind, and that doesn't go well with sitting outside and enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

Good idea with a cup of chocolate actually :-)

Nah, it's not the climate, it's the people.  Having lived half my life in Southern Europe and the other half in Australia, with similar climates, I can tell you the difference is the people.  Just different rhythm of living.  

Give you an example: my friend (45 year old, engineer, married with children) went back home to Greece last week.  8 hours time difference from me, tired, jet lagged, he lost track of time.  So he rang me Wednesday morning 2am (my time) to ask me something random.  Of course I was awake at 2am on a Wednesday, because I'm Greek.  So I pick up the phone:

- "Hey man, it's 2am here". 

- "Oh, yeah... so what's up? Blah blah blah" LOL   

If I ring anyone in Australia on a weekday after 9pm they'll probably think someone died :D

Edited March 15, 2022 by Spyros

[chuck123wapati]

i got good shipping just crap product Herman oak midgrade almost half ruined with machine gouges and scrapes. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[TomE]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

i got good shipping just crap product Herman oak midgrade almost half ruined. 

You might email or call Hermann Oak Leather Co.  I've found them very responsive and would think they'd be concerned about that hide representing their product.  About a year ago they had production problems because of a splitter that was off line for several weeks, and SLC was short on quality product.  I ended up keeping a side that had a lot of puckering because it was all that was available.  A few weeks ago, HO told me they were at maximum production capacity and not taking on new customers at this time.   

[rktaylor]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

A few weeks ago, HO told me they were at maximum production capacity and not taking on new customers at this time.   

They still aren't. I called yesterday.

RT

[fredk]

3 hours ago, Mulesaw said:

Ah, nothing like a redevelopment of a city.. Those redevelopments always seem to be planned according to some smart people who thinks that this or that looks great on paper, and when it is finally done in concrete and tarmac. Well it doesn't work as they had hoped anyway.

All city planners in Denmark dream about making that southern Europe feeling with plazas and pedestrian streets that are crowded with people in the evening. The problem is the always forget that the reason why it works in Southern Europe is because they actually have a climate that makes it nice to stay outside for an evening. Even in the late summer. 
We on the other hand normally have cold summerdays with lots of rain and wind, and that doesn't go well with sitting outside and enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

Good idea with a cup of chocolate actually :-)

 Same has happened in Belfast and some other towns in N.I.

We had a couple of really nice, hot, summers and the councils got rid of the covered places, redeveloped them into open air plaza type places. Bars and restaurants which were encouraged to open up there soon closed up, too cold and wet most days. Now the councils are wasting more public funds in schemes to correct their mess up

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, TomE said:

You might email or call Hermann Oak Leather Co.  I've found them very responsive and would think they'd be concerned about that hide representing their product.  About a year ago they had production problems because of a splitter that was off line for several weeks, and SLC was short on quality product.  I ended up keeping a side that had a lot of puckering because it was all that was available.  A few weeks ago, HO told me they were at maximum production capacity and not taking on new customers at this time.   

i took off the name of the company, I'll be glad to tell anyone who wants to know on a private message but beware, is the middleman. And they don't have a  review section for customers to check their service. They say that midgrade leather is C or d seems to me out of 4 grades it would be B or c. I can read and did know it may have scratches and bug bites and a brand, that is what i wanted but this piece has machine cuts and gouges completely through the top layers almost half unusable imo.

Now what does it have to do with shipping? It cost me 20 bucks +3 days to get it, to send it back for refund another 20 bucks +3days  then to re order from someone else 20 bucks +X days then maybe i get a decent piece with just scratches and bug bites. LOL  OR eat the 100 bucks i throw away in bad leather and save four or five days of aggravation and forget it.
 

Edited March 15, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[chuck123wapati]

52 minutes ago, fredk said:

 Same has happened in Belfast and some other towns in N.I.

We had a couple of really nice, hot, summers and the councils got rid of the covered places, redeveloped them into open air plaza type places. Bars and restaurants which were encouraged to open up there soon closed up, too cold and wet most days. Now the councils are wasting more public funds in schemes to correct their mess up

here the city built a nice water park over $100,000 for the kids then figured out we dont have enough water to run it. we were on water rationing all last summer lol.

[tsunkasapa]

19 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

here the city built a nice water park over $100,000 for the kids then figured out we dont have enough water to run it. we were on water rationing all last summer lol.

Our city totally screwed up a cross town through street to create a 'Bike Boulevard'. But it is a block south of the street that borders the university, so the college kids have no use for ir. And the locals don't use it. It is a nightmare for snow removal, and almost impossible for emergency vehicles. The excuse from the city? "We got a grant to do it." The stupidity of govt, at ANY level, is mind boggling. 

[Sheilajeanne]

3 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

Now what does it have to do with shipping? It cost me 20 bucks +3 days to get it, to send it back for refund another 20 bucks +3days  then to re order from someone else 20 bucks +X days then maybe i get a decent piece with just scratches and bug bites. LOL  OR eat the 100 bucks i throw away in bad leather and save four or five days of aggravation and forget it.

And that's why I'm so glad I'm only 35 minutes from the nearest Tandy store! You may not get Herman Oak there, and other really top grade leathers, but at least I can see what I'm getting, and not have the hassle of returning crap! 

I've heard so many stories like yours, Chuck, it's turned me off ever ordering leather by phone or over the internet! Tools, dyes, etc., fine, but not leather. 

[chuck123wapati]

52 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

And that's why I'm so glad I'm only 35 minutes from the nearest Tandy store! You may not get Herman Oak there, and other really top grade leathers, but at least I can see what I'm getting, and not have the hassle of returning crap! 

I've heard so many stories like yours, Chuck, it's turned me off ever ordering leather by phone or over the internet! Tools, dyes, etc., fine, but not leather. 

You are lucky , I wish i had that option i would use it nearest tandy is 150 miles over two mountain ranges. Funny thing is i have ordered from tandy and gotten better Brazilian tanned leather cheaper.

[Sheilajeanne]

I was doubly lucky in that I found a wonderful mentor when I signed up for their free beginner's classes. God rest your soul, Bill, there must be thousands of leather workers out there who were turned on to this marvelous craft through your patient teaching! 

He also knew the stock in the store better than some of the managers Tandy picked to work there... 

[Handstitched]

 Thanks for your replies good  peeps.  

There are many times we get attacked by the ' fed up & p***d off  ' virus, so its good to just vent .

@Spyros  & @Tugadude A lot of my hides come from Italy . I'm just going to stock up  while I can atm, as we don't know what will happen with freight, cost etc. in the future. I may have increase my prices to compensate . 

18 hours ago, Mulesaw said:

Ah, nothing like a redevelopment of a city

Our 'lil ol' hick of a town only has approx  1700 people...no bank, that closed down Nov. last year and nowhere to park right now due to the redevelopment . The journey just to collect the mail each day has doubled ( no mail boxes where I am) . The foot paths are all over the place, so its a bit like 'bush walking'  to the post office each day. Feel sorry for the elderly & the disabled . Businesses are suffering as a result .    I really can't see the point of it all. They should have left it the way it was....people were happy , not any more they're not.

And , our 'lil 'ol hick of a town now has no mobile phone service . Its been down since yesterday , and the townsfolk are p***d off !!! 

18 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

i got good shipping just crap product

That would be classed as seconds here.  I guess it would be  too costly to send it back .

Feel free to vent some more  

HS  

 

[Mulesaw]

2 hours ago, Handstitched said:

nowhere to park right now due to the redevelopment

That is really one of the few things that most city planners seem to have no clue about.

In a lot of Danish towns the general hope is that people will buy from the small shops/boutiques in the town center, because it gives some life to the pedestrian streets and that southern Europe feeling. 
But then they change free public owned parking lots into weird non functioning plazas, and people are left trying to find an overprized private parking spot nowhere near all the small shops. 
Next the politicians can't grasp why people suddenly decide to move all their business to mall areas outside the tons where there is free parking and lots of it.

An educated guess from my side is that most of those city planners are types that lives in apartments and use a bicycle for their commuting. Well I quite often find myself driving with a boogie trailer or a horse trailer hitched to the back of the car, and If I need to make a stop to buy some groceries - there are really only a couple of shops that have a good parking spot for that. So I try to support those places even when I haven't got the trailer with me.

By the way, this is a great rant you have started 

[fredk]

1 hour ago, Mulesaw said:

. . . and use a bicycle for their commuting.. . .

True story; a certain road junction in Belfast was designed by a bicycle riding development designer. A couple of years ago some EU inspectors declared that road junction as the most confusing and most dangerous junction in Europe and possibly in the World!

[suzelle]

On 3/15/2022 at 6:01 AM, Handstitched said:

 

**sigh** Sure hope things are a bit easier for you where ever  you are ? 

HS

Oh Yes, MORE CHOCOLATE please! Hang in there, feeling your pain. Still dealing with regrouping after having to move out of my shop that was on a main street in the middle of town, open to the public. I'm transitioning still, working from home and also at a friend's (Customer's) shop. Hang in there! Stock up on Chocolate!!!!!!!!

[chuck123wapati]

4 hours ago, Handstitched said:

 Thanks for your replies good  peeps.  

There are many times we get attacked by the ' fed up & p***d off  ' virus, so its good to just vent .

@Spyros  & @Tugadude A lot of my hides come from Italy . I'm just going to stock up  while I can atm, as we don't know what will happen with freight, cost etc. in the future. I may have increase my prices to compensate . 

Our 'lil ol' hick of a town only has approx  1700 people...no bank, that closed down Nov. last year and nowhere to park right now due to the redevelopment . The journey just to collect the mail each day has doubled ( no mail boxes where I am) . The foot paths are all over the place, so its a bit like 'bush walking'  to the post office each day. Feel sorry for the elderly & the disabled . Businesses are suffering as a result .    I really can't see the point of it all. They should have left it the way it was....people were happy , not any more they're not.

And , our 'lil 'ol hick of a town now has no mobile phone service . Its been down since yesterday , and the townsfolk are p***d off !!! 

That would be classed as seconds here.  I guess it would be  too costly to send it back .

Feel free to vent some more  

HS  

 

heres my issue with sending it back , they will just resell it to some other poor sap who probably wont know any better and possibly he will even think they did him a favor. plus I will waste a week of my life and 20 more dollars. then shipping and more time on another piece I cant afford throwing good money after bad and telling them that made no deference to them. MLC wont get any more of my money that is all i can do.

Edited March 16, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[Mulesaw]

56 minutes ago, fredk said:

True story; a certain road junction in Belfast was designed by a bicycle riding development designer. A couple of years ago some EU inspectors declared that road junction as the most confusing and most dangerous junction in Europe and possibly in the World!

I would love to see that junction. 

We have a small village on the island where I live. It is technically just a straight stretch of road with houses scattered with lots of space between them, the length is maybe a mile or so. 
People felt that the speed of the cars was too high, so the politicians had some planners helping in finding a solution. They ended up making some chicanes every 150 m or so. The problem is that those chicanes has actually increased the speed of the cars, because everybody is hitting the throttle to make it to the next chicane before having to stop for a car coming the other way. 

I have to admit that I do the same.

That solution was most likely not invented by someone with a car.

 

[Klara]

3 hours ago, fredk said:

True story; a certain road junction in Belfast was designed by a bicycle riding development designer. A couple of years ago some EU inspectors declared that road junction as the most confusing and most dangerous junction in Europe and possibly in the World!

On the other side, bike paths are generally designed by people who have never ever ridden one...

[Handstitched]

On 3/16/2022 at 7:32 PM, Mulesaw said:

By the way, this is a great rant you have started

Thank you my friend. We all need to let off some steam now and then , but its good to do it with friends that also feel so many frustrations   

22 hours ago, suzelle said:

Oh Yes, MORE CHOCOLATE please!

I couldn't agree more. If I die, I would love to die  naked covered in dark chocolate , cover my bod....o'h ....wait..?.... 

Damn my subconscious .... 

@chuck123wapati yeh, I hear ya. I bought some trophy type buckles some years back...they were crap, very tinnie, cheaply made.  In the end I just sold them cheaply ( and was honest with those buying them)  as it was financially unviable to send them back . Never went back to that company again. Lesson learnt. 

Peace

HS

[Dwight]

In my years of leather working . . . I've mostly used my Tandy store . . . almost an hour away . . . bad part of town . . . 

But I got to pick my inventory that I wanted . . . 

And they are really not good for letting you know something is not in stock if you order something and it isn't there.

But my real gripe . . . is one of the "nationally known" leather suppliers . . . about an hour and a half away . . . Weaver Leather.

Getting there was a 100 mile trip . . . as I did have another place I wanted to go first.

Got to Weaver's . . . walked up to the showroom door . . . it's locked . . . little white paper sign on the door . . . we're closed for remodeling.

Apparently was closed in 2020 when covid hit it's stride . . . not one word on any of the Weaver site about the showroom being closed.  Today . . . go to their website . . . still not one word about it being closed.  You make the trip . . . you are out of luck.  I had in mind to purchase a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff plus leather . . . wound up buying one hide . . . and I only did that because I wanted to see if Herman Oak is as good as I've heard . . . or if I'd rather play with the Tandy stuff.

On top of it . . .  I spoke personally to five different people . . . assured me they would address the closure . . . yeah . . . don't hold your breath.

Top if off . . . checked my bill . . . I was overcharged . . . not much . . . but overcharge is overcharge . . . 

Anyway . . . so much for my gripe . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

[Spyros]

We have one big leatherworking shop in my city (I'm not gonna name names but it's well known), and all I can say is I really wanted to like them, and I tried, again and again.  I looked past the traditional Aussie price gouging and the 1 hour drive to get there, and I tried really hard to give them my money, but these people are making it impossible.  First I tried to go there a couple of times, and I kid you not, in the year of our lord 2022 they actually do NOT have price tags on their stuff.  I had to literally go find someone, take them by the hand and make them walk with me, and ask them how much everything costs.  And they're nice people, they actually did that, except when I took a different person I got different prices LOL

So that wasn't working.  Then I tried their online shopping, and when I logged on to their horrible website which looked like something out of the first days of the internet, my first reaction was where the hell is everything?  From all the stuff that I know they have on stock, because I saw it with my own two eyes, about 2/3 was simply not listed online.  I mean if they can't be ****** to put price tags on things of course they wouldn't be ****** to take photos and list them online.   Anyway I looked past that too and I ordered something from the remaining 1/3 that appeared on their website as "in stock".  And guess what?  it wasn't LOL.  And what did they do?  They took the money, and they sent me a package with that item missing and an invoice that included that item.  I mean, yeah, nah.  Thanks. Bye.  Nowadays I'd rather pay $100 to DHL to send me one rivet from the other side of the planet than deal with those idiots again.