[sander99]

Just looked at my DHL tracking. The notation is that the package is being returned to shipper.

" "
(speechless)

 

[Fox1977]

Just looked at my DHL tracking. The notation is that the package is being returned to shipper.

You seem to have a very bad karma about it all, or the universe is trying to tell you something, maybe
More seriously, i really sympathize for you, that's quite the nightmare for you... first UPS loses you unit, now DHL messes i don't know what up and it's being shipped back to Nothern Ireland
Have they even explained really why they were holding your parcel in customs ? at first they mentioned "awaiting further information" that's very vague... nothing more detailed ?

 

[Litlgi74]

Hi...

Is there anywhere to demo one if these units? I'm very intrigued.

Thanks

 

[dsperber]

With all of these horror stories about UPS and DHL, related fees and duties, etc., I'm honestly surprised that Fedex International Economy has not been used by anyone, in either direction.

I guess I was fortunate to have pursued that method as my own story from way back regarding the return of my SR-009 headphones to Stax in Japan for repair, using Fedex International Economy. Same exact fundamental issues faced by everybody who shipped their A16 back to SR, regarding an item more expensive than $2500, export license, commodity ID, customs paperwork and forms identifying "for repair" rather than "purchase", etc., except that for me the destination country was Japan and the carrier was Fedex.

I used Fedex sending to them, and it took about 3 days to arrive in Japan, pass through customs, and get delivered to the addressed recipient at the factory door. Same upon return from them a month later, again using Fedex and again taking about 3 days to arrive in the US, pass through customs, and be delivered to my front door. I paid a total of about $110 to send, and Stax paid for the return. Totally problem free. No lost items, no crazy duties or fees and paperwork to claim a refund after-the-fact... it was just use the Fedex web site and "international shipping wizard" to do everything required (including getting export license because of excessive value, etc.).

Granted, all pre-covid. But still... maybe Fedex is just superior.

Nevertheless, my sympathies to all who have had less than wonderful service from their UPS and DHL experiences.

 

[GeorgeA]

Thanks for your consideration.

I'm not as unlucky as @phoenixdogfan yet. As I wrote before, the parcel with my Realiser A16 arrived at the DHL Sort Facility Budapest – Hungary on September, 09 2020. From there, DHL sent my parcel to Slovenia instead of Romania. Two days later, the parcel arrived at DHL facility in Budapest – Hungary once again and on September 12, 2020 departed from there. At the time of writing this post I don’t know whether or not the parcel was sent to my address or returned to Smyth Research as in the case of @phoenixdogfan.

Some posts behind, @Om ma Ni posted a link to a Trinnov guide recommending the best practice for speaker placement. There are also Trinnov 2020 trailers that have been mixed natively in immersive sound and encoded in Dolby Atmos and DTS:X Pro. Further information at the following link:

https://www.trinnov.com/2020/02/15/trinnov-2020-trailer/

 

[badgeratu]

Hey guys, not sure about etiquette here but as we’re all Smyth enthusiasts just wanted to let you all know while I wait for my A16 I’ve decided to part with my venerable HDMI A8. You’ll find it on the UK instance of everyone’s favourite tat bazaar auction site. Any questions/interest drop me a PM

 

[Fox1977]

I just watched Godzilla God of Monsters in Atmos, and combined with the BassMe, it was quite impressive !! Complete immersion !

 

[kh36267]

I just watched Godzilla God of Monsters in Atmos, and combined with the BassMe, it was quite impressive !! Complete immersion !

glad you're enjoying the equipment. did you find it fairly easy to connect your BassMe to the A16?

i have the BassMe from earlier in the year......but I had sent my A16 back to James for upgrading in April and never had a chance to try it out yet. i'm looking forward to utilizing it if/when I ever get my A16 back in my hands

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I just watched Godzilla God of Monsters in Atmos, and combined with the BassMe, it was quite impressive !! Complete immersion !

If I ever get mine I'm gonna use the Subpac S20 which really worked well with OOYH.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

You seem to have a very bad karma about it all, or the universe is trying to tell you something, maybe
More seriously, i really sympathize for you, that's quite the nightmare for you... first UPS loses you unit, now DHL messes i don't know what up and it's being shipped back to Nothern Ireland
Have they even explained really why they were holding your parcel in customs ? at first they mentioned "awaiting further information" that's very vague... nothing more detailed ?

It arrive in customs in Cincinnati, Ohio. DHL sent a text message to my phone late Friday which told me the package was being held pending further information from the importer, and listed a hypertext site with a url. When I imput it, it came back to the generalized tracking site, which told me it was being held for further information, and I needed to contact somebody about it, but it gave no email, no phone number, no contact information, nothing that would allow me to contact a live person to talk about what the situation was. I researched the number of customer service, but they were closed for the day on Friday, and I was told it would not reopen until Monday, which turned into Tuesday, because Labor Day (Us national holiday) was Monday. I tried calling Tuesday, went through being on hold for two hours, before I finally got hold of someone who was able to tell me I needed to provide DHL with a completed and signed Power of Attorney form. I got the forms, and spent a good part of the day figuring out how to get data onto the pdf form, before I came up with a solution. Finally sent it late Wednesday, but the mailing form did not allow me to sent the copy of the SS card, so I had to call them Thursday, finally got a way of getting the front and back to them by Friday and they told me they would review the documents and deliver them to customs. Saturday, I got the tracking information. Fired off a pissed off letter to the Ceo's e-mail. Apparently it was taken by his executive assistant, and she asked me to send the forms to her. She's going to try to stop the return and get it through customs, if it's not too late.

At no time did they inform me of their deadlines, or try to personally call me to tell me specifically what they needed. If I would have waited for them to come to me, they wouldnt even have my documents. Eveything would have been shipped back and the only thing I would have had was the text message left on my phone on Friday, Sept 4th, the last weekday and business day before Labor Day. A**holes!

 

[arnaud]

From this article, things used to be bad for DHL...
<<Every second of every day, approximately 17 direct interactions take place between a DHL employee and a customer. Our employees define the customer experience. Recognizing this, our focus strategy positioned our people as the key part of a four-link chain of success: Motivated employees (1) would provide great service (2), leading to loyal customers (3) and, ultimately, a profitable network (4).>>

oups, looks like DHL hasn’t learned the lesson after all...

 

[arnaud]

I don’t use dhl myself but is this possibly a US specific issue? This was linked in the comments of the earlier article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ackage-giant-dhl-leaves-idUSTRE58H0PH20090918

Doesn’t resolve your issue @phoenixdogfan but maybe food for thought for smyth next time they ship to the us.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

From this article, things used to be bad for DHL...
<<Every second of every day, approximately 17 direct interactions take place between a DHL employee and a customer. Our employees define the customer experience. Recognizing this, our focus strategy positioned our people as the key part of a four-link chain of success: Motivated employees (1) would provide great service (2), leading to loyal customers (3) and, ultimately, a profitable network (4).>>

oups, looks like DHL hasn’t learned the lesson after all...

Looks like they haven't gotten past item 1.

 

[Phil86OSU]

Any pre-orders out yet? James indicated they had around 100 ks units to ship out in late June.

Pre-order 66 here.

Thanks!

 

[Camano]

Any pre-orders out yet? James indicated they had around 100 ks units to ship out in late June.

Pre-order 66 here.

Thanks!

Two questions:

first how do you know what your pre-order number is and
second what is the date of your pre-order?

Thanks,
Kim