Shipping boxes and tracking numbers issues

General
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Liz and whoever is in charge of shipping and sending out emails, it’s time for you to rethink changing shipping companies and stop using Chinese shipping companies and look at using either DHL, FedEx, or UPS also you might want to look at changing where you source items for the boxes since most likely theirs a big trade war about to start with China.

Also, boxes need to be shipped within 72 hours of full payment not wait till the end of the month, I never received my Oct. box and yes I sent you an email and your email states that USPS delivered it on Oct 30th as I said in my email to you I never got it and have requested replacement box, may I suggest that going forward that all boxes must be signed for to make sure the person gets their box(s).

Also, I know I’m not the only one who has complained about not receiving a tracking number email, I haven’t received one in 5 months and no they’re not in my spam folder, Since most packages that come from the Far East end up having two different tracking numbers I think you need to have a dedicated team that all they do is send out emails and to make sure we the costumers receive the email we need need to send you back a confirmation email that way both parties know they’ve gotten the tracking information

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It is posted, very publically, you’re basically paying for the “next box” when you buy the box, as they all get shipped at the same time. EX: If you paid before a certain date, you get the next month box (EX: If you paid by Oct 7, you got the box that was sent end of Oct. Otherwise, it’s the end of Nov box)

As far as the tracking, I do agree, the tracking system is lax, as I did not even get an email tracking this time around, unfortunately.

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Don’t know how long you’ve been a subscriber (I’ve been with Otaku almost from the beginning) but I assume you know that items are made based on voting? I think there is an article about this somewhere in FAQ.

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DHL delivers my boxes in EU. Not sure who delivers in the US.

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US actually comes through USPS, at least from my experience. (regular post)
I’m sure they use some Chinese post until they get it at the post office though.

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Postal service delivers mine.

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I agree with the tracking. I order the 3 months suscription and only had 1 tracking number for the first box. The other second there was no tracking and arrived on a Sunday(very surprised). Usps doesn’t work on Sundays( only Amazon Packages and express items; I work there). I think Nov box ship the 24th if not mistaken

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In the part about signature, if she use USPS, to request signature you need to paid $4.05 extra for that service.

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I’m 99% certain she just uses a vendor/agent to handle the distribution itself, so doubt Liz can actually do much to change it.

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I think a lot of the tracking issues happened shortly after she changed the format of the emails sent out a couple months back

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DHL is expensive but fast, I know I use it when I make purchases on AmiAmi all the time. UPS and FEDEX are not very reliable and just as slow as USPS. May things can slow down shipping, from delays with weekends and holidays, and customs being cleared, etc.

Every box is shipped out at the same time (the 24th) unless you are a new subscriber and purchase your first box on a later date. Once a shipping company takes the boxes, it’s out of Liz’s hand when they arrive!

Going with any of those other shipping company options only increases the cost when it comes to shipping anyway! I’d rather not pay extra for something that does not make much of a difference.

The boxes are made and shipped from China, so of course they are gonna use whatever is available there. Could be worse, as it could be multiple month long shipping times like with Wish or Temu (I never use either). Most anything your order from China takes a while to arrive, as their logistics are slow, but most times cheap, when It comes to shipping!

As for a pending War with China and possible embargo? I doubt that will happen as to many goods are materials that the rest of the world relies on come from China and would only hurt the nation in return, besides that is all politics which I’d rather not get into here as I have very strong feelings on the matter. Also whatever happened between the US and China shouldn’t really matter between subscribers who are NOT US citizens anyway, which there are many in Europe, South America, Australia, Etc.

As for tracking? Yeah that has always been an issue, but I’ve never not gotten my box! and I’ve been subbed for over 4 years and receive not one, but two boxes (for review purposes).

The only gripe I had was with the none upgraded boxes (cheapest option) getting beat up in shipping because they were shipped out in padded bags instead of boxes so Item’s sometimes got damaged in shipping, but that seemed to be addressed with Octobers box as it was shipped in a mini box instead of a bag.

Seems to be a trend lately with entire posts or threads doing nothing but complain on the forum due to impatience not not being able to contact support correctly, or reading the FAQS on the website before publicly complaining and griping on the forum. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m beginning to find is a bit annoying myself.

You wanna talk about bad shipping? The Crunchyroll Store still hasn’t sent me a tracking number or shipped out an “IN STOCK” (according to their website) figure I ordered back on the 17th of October! And their werehouse is located in Texas, I live in a Neighboring state! Their support is a joke as well as it takes 2 weeks to get an unhelpful response from them! I’m about to just go the direct route and get a charge back on my bank account instead.

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I can somewhat attest to this, but not by much. USPS lost one of my TOBs a few months ago, but they thankfully found it a few weeks later after I inquired about it. And Liz was on the verge of having to send a replacement too if they couldn’t.

Aside from that, I haven’t had many issues other than the standard tracking issues and missing items, each of which only occurred once or twice for me.

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The only time I ever had a package lost in the mail was with FEDEX as the shipping partner. UPS just has slower service and loves to make people sign for packages, (I’m not home during the day most days) and you can’t signiture release the package online with UPS unlike with DHL. Most my packages from UPS are dusty AF also. USPS seems to be the most reliable for me!

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Agreed, the ups signing is annoying and they always tend to show up when im at work

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Seth Meyers Throwback GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
Lol i mean i agree joking aside, things happen that are outside of anyones control

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Except you’re talking to someone who has been shipping musical instruments all over the World for 35+ Years including the Far East and if you read what I posted first the fact that the United States and China are about to get into a huge trade war ( I guess everyone seems to have missed the whole china demanding that all the Panda’s on loan to the rest of the World be returned and the fact that the Chinese Leader has basically said after they return then China is going to raise tariffs on all items being exported out of China) that’s why I stated that Liz needs to find a new source’s for stuff maybe actually get stuff out of Japan. As far as DHL vs UPS vs FedEx I’ve used them all and they all are about the same when it comes to shipping from the Far East all three have headquarters in Japan.

Oh by the way what actually happens between China and the US when it comes to trade affects the World very much I take it you have never dealt with international shipping and how much World Trade depends on the US and China trade relationship which happens to be the largest in the World money wise.

As far as the rest of what you wrote well I don’t buy anything from Crunchyroll and yes I’ve read the FAQ forwards and back and what I’m saying is that if we have to have order orders in by a certain time each month then stuff should be sent within the first week of the month because that’s how the rest of the world worksand getting stuff from China I can get stuff works and sent our London, NYC and LA Offices within 48-72 hours and that’s with UPS and FedEx.

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You do know that USPS, FedEx, DHL, and UPS have a form that you can fill out with your signature on file that lets the driver drop the package off right

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That’s how most stores work, yes. But this isn’t a work. It’s a pre-organized, pre-packed box, that gets sent out once a month. Thus, the schedule is different.

As far as all this Trade War, misc stuff? It sounds more like some personal dislike over China over anything, as that is definitely over-hyping everything that is going on by a large degree. Thankfully, Liz has managed to maintain her pricing through inflation and everything as much as she could as a whole, so expecting her to entirely rethink th entire process, find new sources, and all that, would not only disrupt the cycle, it would likelyresult in increased costs, and who knows what else.

Honestly, it just sounds like TOB may not be for you, though many “box” services operate the same way of sending out once a month, and what not. The thing I do enjoy about TOB is the “ecchi” options, and the voting, so I opted for a year when I signed up. Never had issues with delivery as a whole, just the lack of reliable tracking. And, ironically, I’ve had the best reliability with deliveries via USPS (I know! Shock!), so it works out for me. No carrier is perfect, and they all have their problems, and ultimately comes down to personal preferences and regional reliability.

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This right here!
rob5b

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