MY Isatumi Bearing Order !!!

[Nessie Hunter]

Bear with me, this will be long, to try and get the facts right and explained properly & in order.

Isatumi Bearings, as most of you know had a FREE offer in Dec for $5 worth of bearings FREE, just pay shipping to test and evaluate the Bearings.
I looked at the prices and decided to take advantage of the offer for the $25 shipping charge.

First the Web Site would not accept my information?  
Me?? Dont know, tried it several times.
Decided to talk to Shelby Long (Member here at Alans site & Co Rep for Isatumi) and see if he could figure out what I was doing wrong.
I explained to him that Misc bearings in Odd sizes would do me no good.  
FYI ~ My Business has slowed down in the past year, but I still do some freshwater stuff for club members and a few other customers.   The Bearings I am using most are 2 sizes for Shimano & Daiwa Baitcasters..
I Gave him those 2 sizes and said I would be able to test & Evaluate them for him.
I Have a Club that I do work for and told the members what I wanted to do.  Several expressed willingness to participate - Salt & freshwater guys... GREAT!!!   I have testers now....
Noticing the prices of bearings at $0.26 average for the bearings I needed ~ I figured the aprox amount I would receive...

Dec 29, 2011 I paypaled the $25 shipping charge to Isatumi.  
Shelby warned me that it may take 4 to 6  weeks for delivery via EMS world wide shipping & USPS here in the States..
After I paid he told me they had a New Year holiday, then a Spring festival that is 3 days long & it may be delayed a few more days then predicted..   OK, no problem...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well time passed and Feb came around.  
I decided to give it till the 15 th and then ask Shelby what was up..  

Jan 31 Shelby asked me for my Phone number so the Courier could contact me for Delivery.
Feb 13th  Shelby advised me the package was at EMS Service center and could I help him.

2-13 Message:
"How are you? Your parcel had been in the EMS service center for 2 days but still not signed..can you please help to check that?"

I asked him what an EMS service center was & advised that I could find nothing about it on line in my area at all??? Other then that EMS uses USPS once in the US (our US postal Service)..
That should be a home Mail delivery???  Right???

2-14-12:
his is EMS tracking No.EE656177169CN   If you still do not get the parcel in 2 days,could you please contacted to your local EMS service center?
I feel weird,some of my customers in U.S,the EMS send the parcel to their houses,but some of them not. What's more,i had left your contact number on the delivery sheet,i am wondering why they did not call you.

OK, I now have a tracking number!!!  
Boom, says its at the local 92345 Post Office (my home away from home)...  LOL

Also says it was shipped on FEB 2, 2012?  
Over a month after I made & Paid for the order??  
But only 2 weeks to make it to local post office - Amazingly fast IMHO...  

Feb 15 Wed. I have to run to Post office and do some shopping etc.  So I take the Info and Tracking No with me...  
Piece of Cake, lady found it in short order...  
Marked "Unable to Deliver" No such address.....   Closer inspection found that the 5 was not clear 18528...  Looked like an l...??
We had a laugh as I had told her that it may be written in Chinese.   (well it was funny at the time)... LOL...

Get home and Open it up (after I put away the groceries of course, lol).  
Very well packaged with lots of Bubble wrap and in a  box. Several tiny baggies in a larger baggie.  Great packaging.....
BTW my Phone number was written on the outer shipping envelope also. Good job Shelby.
The USPS Lady said they Hold International packages for 30 days....  FYI...

Well, now we get to the Bearing Order...
Here are the sizes;
1   5x11x4  mm (will fit some Daiwa spools and Shimano Pinion Bearings)
1   3x10x4  mm  (will fit most Shimano spools)
2   5x8x2.45 mm
2    8x14x4   mm
2    7x14x5   mm
2    8x16x5   mm
2    9x17x5  mm    

14 bearings in Misc sizes.    Two that I ordered, 1 of each???
Although I will most likely be able to use the other in time, I currently have no use at all for them..   To say I am disappointed in the entire process and the order I received would be an understatement.....

Time from Order to shipping 33 days..
Time from Order to 'pick up'    1 1/2 months (48 days)..
No Tracking number when one was available. (until last Min).

Size of bearings ordered, was totally wrong & pretty much unusable to test or evaluate to any degree....  
Had I known this I would not have spent even the $25 for shipping....
(I had offered them to Club members at my cost, to evaluate them)..

I have no issue with Holidays, I enjoy them.  But over a month, for a business to virtually close down after running a promotion to International customers???   Bit much IMO...

1 1/2 months to receive the order,  I know its not overnight.
It only took 2 weeks from shipping to local delivery (or almost delivery - pick up).
This is very good In My Opinion.  To bad it took 1 1/2 months (over 6 weeks)....

I can understand the Written address mistake...
I was picturing a Large container being filled and shipped when full - EMS selling space and shipping when full or cost effective for them...

Unusable or unwanted bearings... Now this I can Not understand at all...
The numbers I gave Shelby are hard to confuse...
A promotion to potential customers to try, evaluate and test their product Went terribly wrong here!!!

Put it all together and I for one will not use Isatumi again.  
Value to customer service & time is just not there in my opinion..

The bearings.   I Have no opinion on them and probably never will......

I Advised Shelby I was going to write this review & also asked Alan prior to posting this.
I have a response from Shelby, But will not post it as a quote.  
It would just make his company look much worse In my opinion....

Shelby was very helpful and Isatumi seems to be a good company in many ways...
I do think they need to take some steps to improve their ability to deal with international orders if they plan to deal internationally....





.

[Irish Jigger]

Plaudits to you Nessie for placing an order in good faith with someone who  promised us good cheap bearings. Unfortunately you have been disappointed and I sympathise with you.  I think your testing has gone far enough. Better the Devil you know.............

[Alto Mare]

Hey Frank, sorry about your bad experience. At the same time, thanks for sharing the details, I'm sure you helped a bunch of us here. This whole thing is kind of strange You would think that if they were trying to get new business they would try harder than others, especially in the beginning stages. Oh well.

[franky]

I am shocked.  But yes, thank you Nessie for sharing your experiences with us and protecting us from the headaches as well.

In this case, the old addage...you get what you pay for...really comes to life. 

Again, we appreciate your findings....

[Paleoreelist]

Hi Nessie,

Sorry to read about your bad experience with Isatumi bearings, very frustrating!

However I would like to add I have purchased bearings from Isatumi (via Shelby) and must say I had excellent service,
delivery from China to the UK 3 days (EMS tracking all the way) and a couple more days in UK customs before arriving to me.
The packaging was very good and my address written clearly on it.

Oh, the bearings are very good for the price too!

Ron.

[Nessie Hunter]

However I would like to add I have purchased bearings from Isatumi (via Shelby) and must say I had excellent service,
delivery from China to the UK 3 days (EMS tracking all the way) and a couple more days in UK customs before arriving to me.
The packaging was very good and my address written clearly on it.

Oh, the bearings are very good for the price too!

Ron.

Ron, I am actually very glad to hear that....
Shelby and Isatumi do seem to be very dedicated to quality and service.. 

I can easily see where my experience could be an infestation of Murphy's law..
Whatever could go wrong DID.....  lol

Tracking Number: EE656177169CN
Date/Time   Location   Activity
2012-02-07  07:01:00   CIXI    Posting 
2012-02-07  18:04:28   CIXI    Arrival at Sorting Center 
2012-02-07  19:21:12   CIXI    Despatch from Sorting Center 
2012-02-07  23:41:42   HANGZHOU    Arrival at Sorting Center 
2012-02-07  23:52:18   HANGZHOU    Despatch from Sorting Center 
2012-02-09  11:19:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USSFOA    Arrival at Sorting Center 
2012-02-09  11:20:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USSFOA    Handed over to Customs 
2012-02-10  07:23:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USSFOA    Released from Customs 
2012-02-11  11:02:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 92345    Arrival at Delivery Office 
2012-02-11  12:15:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 92345    Attempted delivery 
2012-02-15  10:35:00   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 92345    Delivery 

Thought the Tracking info would give you all some perspective of how Fast the EMS is.
I was Impressed with the speed of this Shipping...
I See my memory was off on a few dates..   
Shipped on 2-7 arrived at my Local (way out in the boondocks) Post Office on 2-11   WOW!!!  Amazing.... 4 days from China!!

I wish I had the right bearings (or more common ones) so I could evaluate them properly.....




.

[RWS]

I sent Isatumi Bearings Co a order for 50 of one size bearings and they told me MOD of 5000 so I did not get my bearings. I also sent him a Anti - Rev bearing from a Daiwa Luna to see if he could match it and the sleeve, that was over 30 days ago and no answer back yet.

[Nessie Hunter]

I received this Email today.   
WOW they now have a USA office in Los Angeles, California...

Dear Sir / Madam,

Hope you have had a sweet Valentine's Day yesterday.

As a leading bearing supplier from Asia, ISUTAM has branch offices in China, Japan and Inida. Our factories are based in China and Taiwan. Now we have newly launched our USA office in Los Angeles to better serve our clients from America and Europe.

2012 will be a very important year for your esteemed company and ISUTAMI. We will continuously provide you with quality bearings at factory price to build a win-win business cooperation.

If you have any purchasing demand of bearings, or partnership plan with us, please feel free to write us at sales@isutami.com .

Hope to hear from you soon and wish you a promising 2012.

Best Regards

ISUTAMI USA INC

[franky]

Anybody like chance em?   

[alantani]

they were specifically instructed NOT to send unsolicited e-mails to members of this website.  did anyone else get that e-mail?

[Nessie Hunter]

Alan, I am sure I am registered at their web site... 
That is probably where the Email Came from.. 
Or at least I hope so after seeing what you said.     

[Paleoreelist]

No problem here, only PMs from Shelby regarding order.

[alantani]

glad to hear it. 

[Squirmypug]

they were specifically instructed NOT to send unsolicited e-mails to members of this website.  did anyone else get that e-mail?

They sent me an email, I have not used their web site or anything.This is my first post in this thread so I guess they got my email from searching other posts 

[wallacewt]

i also got an email today.never ever spoke to them.i unsubscribed