[FullCircle]

Quote:

@bangkokkid
 
Thanks for the clarification. Once the CIEM's are near shipping I'll have to email whomever in China and ask for my shipping address to be changed. I did some quick nosing around and found out that UPS doesn't have access to my PO Box which is the address I used. I'm guessing I'll have to use the address of one of their UPS stores.

 
      e-mail service@micro-dsp.com to clarify this ASAP

 

[bangkokkid]

Quote:

@bangkokkid
 
Thanks for the clarification. Once the CIEM's are near shipping I'll have to email whomever in China and ask for my shipping address to be changed. I did some quick nosing around and found out that UPS doesn't have access to my PO Box which is the address I used. I'm guessing I'll have to use the address of one of their UPS stores.

 
Yes, private carriers like UPS and FedEx cannot service PO boxes. You can request UPS to hold your package at one of their distribution facilities, or you can also arrange something with a UPS store.
 
Please note however that UPS stores are not actually owned by UPS, they are franchises.

 ​

 

[twistedheaven]

Had my 3.AI's for 2 days now and I absolutely love them!! I love how light they are compared to my gold pro turbines, the cable is also very nice. They are absolutely superb.
 
When listening to 'The Weeknd - House of balloons/glass table girls', the bass and detail is just phenomenal. So much better than anything I've tried before. I've been trying them out with a selection of my favourite tracks and it's as though I've never heard the songs before. It's a whole new experience for me, especially as these are my first really good pair of headphones.
 
The gold pro turbines or the SE215's I've had before, don't even compare.
 
My cmoybb amp isn't useful for these at all, they get distorted at even moderate volume levels, so maybe I should invest in a new amp to take these iem's to their full potential. 
 
I've just been completely lost in any music I've listened to with these on, hearing things I've never heard before in songs. If I have the cash, I'll definately make the jump to the 8.Ai's if I can in future.
 
Thank you Heir  
 
The only problem I have is not being left alone by my family to keep listening to music

 

[serious7]

On a side related question regarding duties and taxes, if I have to do a refit, would I be charged duties and taxes the second time the CIEM comes back to Canada?

 

[anoxy]

Ok, first of all, Sunny is not a member on Head-Fi. The only members of Heir Audio that are on Head-Fi are The Wizard and myself (Tao is also around, but does not post), so I just thought that I would clarify this to avoid any future confusion and people wondering why Sunny never picks up on their messages here. If you would like to get in touch with Sunny, please email her at: sunny@micro-dsp.com. She is also based out of the labs in Chengdu with the Wizard (as are Nancy, Echo, Keiser Soze, etc...), occasionally I get phone calls from people asking to speak to Sunny .

"UPS Ground," or "UPS Standard" if you are shipping internationally to another country that they can drive a truck to the point of pick up to the point of destination, is the entry-level form of UPS service and it is with this service where UPS has a tendency to hit customers with lofty brokerage fees. Please note that I said "tendency" as they do not always hit customers with lofty brokerage fees, for instance there are obviously no fees shipping Ground within the US and we have had experiences where there have been little fees for Canadian customers as well. It is important to note that, in the case of shipping from San Diego to Canada, the next shipping option up UPS Worldwide Expedited is priced at about 3 times as much ($80+) as UPS Standard and here the brokerage fees are essentially zero. Obviously, brokerage fees under UPS Worldwide Expedited and higher are factored into the price and with this in mind it comes as little surprise that brokerage fees are charged separately with UPS Standard.

For our US based customers that order IEMs and other accessories that are stocked readily in San Diego, we ship (and have been for some time) via UPS 2-day Air shipping which is a very premium service that falls just under 2-day Air A.M. (technically still 2-day) and Next Day Air (overnight). However, for our Canadian customers, UPS Worldwide Expedited (one up from UPS Standard) is simply priced to far above what we charge for shipping ($29) to justify and we forced to ship UPS Standard if we want to stick with UPS. Now, the question is, why don't you ship via EMS, USPS, FedEx to Canada? The answer: volume. While the case could certainly be made that some of our best customers reside in Canada, perhaps 5-10% of our shipments from the US location head to Canada. It is much easier to ship all 10 packages that you are shipping with UPS, than to ship 9 packages with UPS and 1 package with another carrier. This may come across as being lazy and not to come off as pretentious, but we are really busy folks. I work all hours not because I choose to, simply because there is work to be done, questions to be answered, things to be discussed and planned. Still I digress, however, if you are a Canadian customer ordering a non-custom product and/or accessory (shipping from our US location) and would like it to be sent out via another means, please let me know and I will accommodate your request. There are members here on Head-Fi that have done this and in every case we have obliged. I cannot however look out for everyone, especially if they are not looking out for themselves, the train I drive cannot afford to stop.

Now, onto international shipments. As you cannot drive a truck from Chengdu to Canada, UPS Standard is automatically ruled out as an option here and therefore, so are potentially lofty brokerage fees. UPS presents two options here, UPS Worldwide Saver (Express) and UPS Worldwide Expedited. I am not sure which one HQ uses, Echo would know, both of these are very fine shipping options and cost much more than $55. Incase you are wondering, the spread between the two is less than or equal to 2%, they are essentially the same option price wise. As stated in our FAQ, the price of shipping does not include any customs fees or fees associated with bringing the product in country. So, while you should expect to pay customs fees just as you would if we shipped with another carrier, you should not expect to pay any more/less.

When it comes right down to it, the whole point of using UPS is not to save everyone money, it is to save everyone time. UPS is as good if not better than everyone out there when it comes to getting things from point A to point B in a timely fashion. This is not secret and while I am sure there are certainly one off instances where USPS outperforms UPS, these cases are outliers. If you gave me a choice to work with somebody that was very good 95% of the time or somebody that was immeasurably excellent 20% of the time and mediocre (or worse) the other 80% of the time, I would choose very good 95% of the time. That is what UPS represents and that is why we use them.

So, I hope that answers most, if not all, of the questions people had regarding shipping with Heir. As always, if you have any more questions please feel free to post them here, or email me, or text me, or call me, or fax me, or mail me a letter, and I will get back to you at my earliest possible convenience.

---

DigitalFreak: Changing from UPS to EMS once your customs arrive in Canada would need to be done manually and therefore cannot be done as we do not have anybody on the ground in Canada in this present time.

 ​

How about we sticky this post to the first page so that people can always refer to it when they bring up the same shipping questions again and again

 

[FullCircle]

Quote:

On a side related question regarding duties and taxes, if I have to do a refit, would I be charged duties and taxes the second time the CIEM comes back to Canada?

 
no

 

[serious7]

Quote:

How about we sticky this post to the first page so that people can always refer to it when they bring up the same shipping questions again and again

 
I actually tried searching in this thread about UPS vs EMS shipping to Canada  and I was not able to find anything useful on it. I was able to find my answer by asking people directly on this forum via PM.

 

[anoxy]

Sorry if that sounded antagonistic in any way. I just think it's a good idea to have that information readily available to save the Heir reps the trouble of answering shipping questions that may have previously been asked and answered.

 

[serious7]

Quote:

Sorry if that sounded antagonistic in any way. I just think it's a good idea to have that information readily available to save the Heir reps the trouble of answering shipping questions that may have previously been asked and answered.

Don't worry you did not sound antagonist. Instead of having it stickied on the thread, I think Heir Audio should consider revamping up their website to include all the appropriate information in an easy manner. In addition, the order form should be more organized and responsive. If this is done, I believe most of the redundant questions we ask can be avoided. The order form should definitely be updated because Heir Audio has a LOT of customization abilities and the way the form is designed makes it extremely confusing for the average consumer to use it. For example, if I were to select an exotic wood with my CIEM, I should have the heir logo option automatically disabled from the order form so that I don't accidently select it and have a ugly product being returned back. In addition to that, why not have an automated e-mail response to receive receipts when an order has been placed? That would be awesome for the shopper to feel more comfortable that an order actually has been placed. I unfortunately had to send an e-mail to ask for confirmation that a order has been placed and that all of my options were properly selected.
 
Aside from the order form troubles, most of the information that I found on Heir Audio has been answered on this thread but not on the main website. 
 
So in summary, due to the highly customized nature of products that Heir Audio sells, I think it is in their best interest to have a fluid website that can make this process easier for the end consumer along with more fluid information on everything about the order process. That way, we won't have to bother Sunny or Bangkok kid and they will have more time to do more important things. 
 
Another cool feature we can have is within the order form, be able to upload pictures of your impressions and have it validated ON the website so that we don't have to hunt for Bangkok kid or the Wizard on head-fi to check if our impressions are ok or not BEFORE sending it out via PM. Things like this would be great because currently everything is scattered all over the place from e-mail to this head-fi thread to head-fi inbox system.
 
A long shot idea but if Heir Audio does want a better site but need help to achieve that, maybe some developers here can get together and work on one in their spare time? I don't mind volunteering my time in this either if needed.
 
http://cosmicears.com/ is an example of a nicely designed CIEM website. They at least have the basic necessities such as a shopping cart which is pretty much standard practice in majority of e-commerce sites. 

 

[TheRealCJ]

My 4.Ai+ arrived this morning!
 
 

 

[LFC_SL]

That's pretty sexy
 
Yes, Heir site could do with being updated. For starters we need better, higher res shots of wood. I went with a different option to TheRealCJ but probably because had to go on the website shots and head-fi postings! And the site needs to make it clear only Paypal or international bank transfer is possible right now, you do not find out until you click through
 
And after running around to reactivate my Paypal account on the + sale is still running, ha. Don't want to see mine until Feb though please Heir so I can put the import charges on next month's wages

 

[FullCircle]

Quote:

. For example, if I were to select an exotic wood with my CIEM, I should have the heir logo option automatically disabled from the order form so that I don't accidently select it and have a ugly product being returned back.
 

 
      It is hard to fathom, but some people want the logo on their wood face plates (But we do try to discourage) Apparently, some people like the logo and are proud to own an Heir Audio product. Ultimately a CIEM is a "custom" product and the customer has the ability to pick a choose what he or she wants.

 

[ardgedee]

I've seen the logo put on the side of the shell for Wizard-signed designs, and I've liked that approach, because it keeps the maker's mark without interfering with the design. Is it possible to make that a general option, or is it too difficult to implement without added cost?

 

[FullCircle]

Quote:

I've seen the logo put on the side of the shell for Wizard-signed designs, and I've liked that approach, because it keeps the maker's mark without interfering with the design. Is it possible to make that a general option, or is it too difficult to implement without added cost?

 
 
All 8.A's carry the crown at the top portion the the shell, that is a standard feature that is only applied to the 8.A. 

 

[DigitalFreak]

Quote:

 
      e-mail service@micro-dsp.com to clarify this ASAP

Thanks Doctor, I've just sent an email with a UPS Store address. Many thanks for the link.