Rakuten ordering problem

[velotrain]

. . . and how do you really feel?

[cteno4]

Keio,

 

Sorry to hear of the problems. Good to hear the full experience. I think I've had 4 rakuten purchases and all went ok except one where the billing info went missing after an order was placed. It looked like the order went thru but about a week later they emailed asking how I was going to pay for the item. After a few emails it got straightened out ok. I've pretty much stopped using them as even though they are inexpensive, like you say everything is an attempt at automation and with this sort of stuff that has lots of issues when fully automated and being inexpensive it means not a lot of staff fixing and upgrading all the time. I now just use other services when I really want something off the beaten track. Costs a bit more but much more straight forward and a human at hand usually if needed.

 

Btw, rakuten bought buy.com a while back. Buy.com was a pretty good retailer and storefront competitor to Amazon for quite a while there. I use to buy a lot of equipment from them as for a long time they had better prices than Amazon. When rakuten bought them it seemed to go much more toward the storefronts and then much harder to determine shipping, returns etc and prices were the same at Amazon and amazon really ramped up customer service and then prime shipping...

 

Jeff

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

I read this thread with amusement.  The trouble some of you go to to save a few yen is astounding.  Why not stick with a reputable supplier and avoid all the drama?

[velotrain]

Hello,

 

I read this thread with amusement. The trouble some of you go to to save a few yen is astounding. Why not stick with a reputable supplier and avoid all the drama?

1. I was initially just investigating other options, including items that the "reputable suppliers" may no longer have in stock.

 

2. I paid 11,840 yen for the Kato Allegra from a "reputable supplier".

I later found it on Rakuten for 8,813 yen.

 

Do you really consider 3,027 a "few yen" ?

If so - could you spare me a few yen?

 

Edited July 15, 2015 by cteno4

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

Kato 10-1273 list price is ¥14,800.  The street price would be 20%, which is exactly what you paid.  I'm quite sure that only wholesale retailers, such as Bigman in Gifu and AmiAmi could do a better price, but neither is.  In fact, AmiAmi is only offering 7%, which surprises even me.  Even Yahoo does not have sub ¥11,000.

 

Perhaps you were mistaken, or perhaps the product was not new.  I sincerely doubt anyone would retail new product at 41%.

[velotrain]

My mistake - I thought I had seen the Allegra, but it was the Alpine Express instead.

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

Mistakes can happen.  Perhaps you don't feel so bad about the price you paid for Allegra.  I don't have that model but I think you paid a fair price.

 

In the past, I have found value in the loyalty I've established with the retailers I use has exceeded the saving I might have made hunting around for an extra few percent savings.  That, really, was the crux of my earlier comment.  I also value my time and have, in the past, wasted hours on line or walking the streets of Akihabara hopping from one store to another in search of a better price.  Half a day later I had saved my ¥251 ... hahaha ... never again.

[velotrain]

No - no regrets over the Allegra.  However, I recently had an experience where I paid about 35% more for something than I later discovered AmiAmi had it for - and this was indeed the identical product.

 

As suggested, I initially ended up at Rakutan due to a search finding some models than no one else seemed to have.

 

Unfortunately, it was a store that only sold in Japan, and they have since left the "Global" market - for whatever reason.

 

Since others have reported good dealings with selected stores at Rakuten, I don't know if the entire site can be condemned, but I will approach it with care.

 

I have received excellent service from the "Big 3" mainstream dealers who welcome international customers, but after my recent discovery at AmiAmi, I plan to make my purchases more cautiously.  In particular, verifying for myself that a given product isn't "generally available".