I'm Canadian and I have ordered a scope from Tequipment a week ago and is being handled by Borderfree. I have just read mainly horror stories from people that had to deal with this company and I'm getting concerned about my choice to purchase this from them.
Here's the progress so far:
Sept. 28 (9:38am EST): Order received by Borderfree
Sept. 28 (9:50am EST): Order processed by Borderfree
Sept. 28 (5:38pm EST): Order shipping soon by Borderfree with this message:
"Good news, the below items are on their way to our international processing facility to prepare for shipment. Within the next few days, you’ll receive a Shipment Confirmation email with your tracking information when your order leaves our international facility."Oct. 1 (7:21pm): Shipping confirmation.
"Great news! Your order has shipped. Below you will find a link to your tracking information and details regarding the items in this shipment."With the latest email on Oct. 1st, they have attached a tracking number. I click on the tracking number and go to the Borderfree.com site where it shows the Tequipment order number with the "real" tracking number and it's labelled as Shipping via Standard. In here, there's a graphic showing 5 linear dots and only the first two dots are populated:
Dot 1 - Preparing package, Oct. 1
Dot 2 - Shipped, Oct. 2
I click on the tracking number on this page and go to another site - intelcomexpress.com it doesn't register a valid tracking number. This is the message I get from this site:
This tracking number cannot be found in our system.
This situation can happen if:
- We haven’t received the information for the shipper. In some cases, it takes a few hours between your order confirmation on the shipper’s website and the receipt of the shipment’s information in our system.
- The tracking number doesn’t start with the letters INTLCMA followed by a series of numbers. ***My tracking number DOES NOT begin with INTLCMA***
- The tracking number is over three months old.
If the issue persists, please contact us for assistance.BTW, I live just north of New York state in Southern Ontario so the package doesn't have to cross the country or anything.
It's only been 5 working days since my order with Tequipment so I'll just be patient but this transaction is starting to freak me out due to it being carried out by Borderfree. I did too much homework on the scope itself and not enough on this shipper and Tequipment's relationship with them before ordering. I'll update this post if/when there's any new info.
Update Oct. 5 (3:12pm): I called Intelcom Express and gave them the tracking number. Their reply was that the tracking number is valid as submitted by "Pitney Bowes" although they haven't received the item yet. So it hasn't crossed the border yet.
Update Oct 07 (9:31am): I checked the tracking like I do every morning and see that there is a third dot populated with this message:
Oct. 2, 2020 - Cleared Customs. WTF?!? It cleared customs on the same day as it shipped (see above) but I'm only getting the update now? The Intelcom tracking number link is still invalid. At this point, I could've walked to New Jersey and on foot and back, hypothetically speaking.
Update Oct 08 (2:15pm): Finally! The tracking information has been passed on to the local delivery company Intelcom Express "Package received at our local warehouse (11:32am). The package will soon be out for delivery". Yay!
Final Update Oct. 09 (11:00am): Received it in good nick. One small dent in the box but the scope was well packaged so no harm done. From ordering to delivery is 10 working days. Not the best but not to bad considering the B.S. C-19 virus crap. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that made it through unscathed by Borderfree, but I may be a small sample judging by the other stories out there about them.
Would I order from a retailer that ships with Borderfree again? Probably not if there are other shops that offer the same or equivalent devices with a few dollars of each other. But I saved over CAD$200 by buying it from Tequipment vs the local GW Instek dealer who wanted over CAD$660 before taxes. - for the exact same scope!
Now I'm going to make some space for it on my desk.
