Consumer Info - Price USA

[Brad M]

I have had experience using the Price USA service; I was going to keep this experience to myself and anyone I know and  know a few of you. But, given the customer service I have experienced, I felt it was important to put the story out there. It's not a short story!

If you didn't know Price USA facilitates the purchase of good in the US and have it forwarded on to your address in Australia.

First time using PriceUSA I ordered a pair of bicycle storage poles to hang my bikes on, I was renting an apartment so the non-destructive solution was perfect. As with some products, the fancy bike racks weren't available to Australia at the time. I was not merely trying to save money because of the typical higher Australian prices. The service was good enough for me to think the next time I need something from the US; it would be my first and only choice.

Early last year I decided I wanted to replace the head phone pads of my Bose Quiet Comfort 2 as they were falling apart, these aren't cheap headphones and they were too good to dump because of a little wear. Bose Australia, as with many other companies, had a very basic internet presence and no facility to order these replacements online.
I saw the Bose US site had the replacements available, but would not deliver to Australia. So I thought of PriceUSA straight away, I now wish I'd just gone to the Bose shop and asked how to get a replacement set locally.

I entered the required details of the 2 sets of replacements (what the heck, I don't want to do this again in another 2 years ... thanks for the quality Bose, no seriously they sound great). I filled in what Australia Post defines in their guidelines as the necessary delivery address details. I even included a deliver contact number, but didn't put in my Company's Name.  You know what? The Order Form screen didn't force the issue and I was given no consequences for leaving the Company Name field blank when delivering to a business. This was on the 16th February, last year.

First email (16th Feb 9:18pm), was 350 words confirming the order. Amongst the email was a paragraph stating words to the effect the business name is critical, if not often the parcel goes back to the US.

Second email (16th Feb 9:19pm), was 2,358 words detailing the quote with payment details for the order. Amongst this email (and later I noticed in the first as well) was a paragraph stating words to the effect the business name is critical, if not often the parcel goes back to the US. I glossed over it thinking, if it was so critical why was it optional 5 minutes ago in the Order Form screen? There was no consequence and it was after 9 and I had to get to my beauty sleep.

Third email (18th Feb 8:31am), was 171 words thanking me for my deposit.

Fourth email (18th Feb 10:04am), was 50 words introducing the person handling the order in the US.

Fifth email (18th Feb 10:07am), was 375 words stating the order was placed by the person in the US.

Sixth email (21st Feb 3:22am), was 509 words stating the order was shipped to the person handling the order. Amongst this email was confirmation of my delivery address.

Seventh email (29th Feb 1:34pm), was 487 words asking for the remained of the money to cover postage.

Eight email (2nd Mar 2:37am), was 98 words thanking me for the balance payment.

Ninth email (2nd Mar 7:12am), was 385 words stating the package was on the way and with a comment that I should let them know when the package arrives. At which point no think, that's highly efficient customer service, making sure all is OK.

Then, crickets are all I heard.

[Brad M]

So after nearly 2 months of excitedly checking the mail point at work, I sent my first email to Price USA (3rd May). I stated my order hadn't arrived. Over the next couple of days PriceUSA "support" raised the issue that I hadn't included a business name and apparently Australia Post will send it back to the US because it's undeliverable.
Sounded like rubbish to me, considering the delivery address supplied met the minimum stated by Australia Post (http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/addressing-guidelines.html), and there was only one company at the supplied address. Australia Post manages to get similarly addressed items to other people here at work on a daily basis. Did Australia Post have something against me?

PriceUSA "support" stated it would take the package 3-4months to get back to the US sender and they would let me know when it did. Expecting to get an email in a month or so, I was resigned to not using my Bose QC2 for a while yet and probably having to pay more postage.

Then, crickets are all I heard (again!). I needed the noise cancelling Bose QC2's back in operation. I relented in October and bought the Blue Bose QC15, thinking my wife and I can now have a pair each once PriceUSA fulfil their promise.

[Brad M]

After a further 6 months I initiated another conversation with PriceUSA "support" (11th Nov). I was told "support" would ask the US sender again, and I was again resigned to waiting for an update.

Then again, crickets are all I heard ... when I wasn't wearing my Blue QC15.

After a further 2 months, I initiated another conversation with PriceUSA "support" (17th Jan). I was told "support" would again ask the US sender again but I was told the package was probably lost. US sender of the package confirmed this time, it hadn't been returned.
Great! 11months down and still nothing to show for what I paid.

3 days ago (2nd Feb), I lost patience and asked when do I get a refund?
Price USA "support" responded that because I allegedly gave an incorrect address it was my responsibility. I have the following issues with that statement;
•   There was no warning during the process that skipping the Company Name voided any Delivery Protection.
•   Their Order Screen failed to enforce a mandatory entry of the Company Name when delivering to a business address.
•   If it wasn't lost, it should have been back in the US, it was nearly 12 months.
13 emails followed between PriceUSA "support" and me, where I have maintained the above issues with their decision.

This morning I noted a paragraph has been added to the Price USA website FAQ in the last 2 days, stating specifically that skipping the Company Name voided any Delivery Protection. This confirms my view that customers cannot be expected to guess what you may mean, you need to be clear and PriceUSA weren't, or were they just making it up as they went along.

No resolution has been agreed by this point, and in the last response from PriceUSA "support" they were looking forward to seeing my arguments at VCAT. I'm especially looking forward to the explanation as to why the PDF copy of the FAQ I took 2 days ago, doesn't have a paragraph stating specifically that skipping the Company Name voided any Delivery Protection.

[Evan Bottcher]

Serves you right for trying to rip off the battling local retailers you should be ashamed its just bloody unaustralian.

[Brad M]

Serves you right for trying to rip off the battling local retailers you should be ashamed its just bloody unaustralian.

I won't do it again!!!  Promise

[aggie57]

We've been using myus.com for a 4 years or so. Get stacks of stuff through them from magazines subscriptions (Motor Trend) to car parts and even a desk. No issues, great service, ok costs. 

Sorry you've had a bad experience with PriceUSA Brad. But at least you had an excuse to by the QC15's. How do you find them compared with the QC2?  My QC2's are also on to their second set of pads. Use them constantly. Wouldn't fly without them now.

[Brad M]

Hard to compare the QC2 v QC15 at the moment until I get my new pads.

The QC15's are Blue, so they are already way cooler than the standard grey