KTM-Parts/BongoUS warning

[Jay GTI]

Just a word of warning… this came up in a different thread, I can’t remember who, but someone bought a jacket from KTM-Parts and was stung by their freight forward ‘partner’ BongoUS… but I have further experience.

I’d had a nose through the KTM-Parts website and decided to buy some Moose riding gear and some other pointless crap that is difficult to find over here (scale model of a 350sxf, coffee mug etc). Then I read about the jacket freight costs and thought again. By this point I’d already set up an account with BongoUS and was merrily awaiting my order, but the order hadn’t shipped due to a couple of items being on back order, so I thought best to cancel. Sent an e-mail to KTM-Parts and awaited response. No response. Sent another e-mail, no response. Then KTM-Parts sent me an e-mail saying they had shipped my order. Well they had partially. No Moose riding gear, but my KTM mug, plastic drink bottle and model bike were on their way. Ok, figured that it’s a small order, won’t weigh much and should cost a lot less to ship than a bulky, heavy jacket, may as well go through with it. No so…

Although it’s almost impossible to calculate the actual shipping cost on the BongoUS website (you need to know the weight and size of the packaging, which isn’t obviously available when you order), I figured it would be at least semi-reasonable… but no. US$35 worth of goods will cost me US$120 to ship to my NZ address… The weight of the package as delivered to them is under 1kg. The shipping weight, once BongoUS add large lumps of lead to the package (I can only assume) is 4.5kg. Ok, so not a realistic freight charge, so I thought I’d have everything returned to KTM-Parts. That will be US$40… but yet it cost US$12 for KTM-Parts to send it to them. Then I will have the pleasure of trying to argue with KTM-Parts that I shouldn’t be charged the 20% restocking fee, because I asked them to cancel the order. If they don’t, it will actually cost more for me to return the items than it did to purchase the items. I have asked BongoUS to bin the items, as this is actually the most cost-effective solution, and will take it as a lesson learned. Which, for obvious reasons, I should share…

[Katoomer]

They should rename themselves Bogus.
I would never buy from overseas unless the freight is included in the total price. E-Bay have lots of traders that quote freight to here. I've heard of similar stories from guys getting burnt on shipping charges though.
It even happens a bit on tardme but to a lessor degree.
Thanks for the heads up.

[White trash]

Wrong. They don't add weight. Shipping charges for airfreight are based on the actual weight, or the volumetric weight, whichever is greater. USD120 door to door via express courier is more than reasonable, quit crying.

[Jay GTI]

Wrong. They don't add weight. Shipping charges for airfreight are based on the actual weight, or the volumetric weight, whichever is greater. USD120 door to door via express courier is more than reasonable, quit crying.


You really are awesome.

Where exactly in the post is the crying? What I said, in essence, was I’d made some assumptions and I got burned because they were wrong. Don’t really care if you consider the freight charge reasonable, or how freight costs are calculated, all I’m doing is sharing my experience with other people, so they can make an educated decision on making any of their own purchases using either company.

[nodrog]

The crying has arrived.

Fanny.

[White trash]

You really are awesome.

Thanks, I've been working out. Once, when I was at the public swimming pools in Dunedin, I tripped over and took a mouthfull of water. I was finding it really hard to get my footing back and kept slipping over, spluttering and choking on more and more water, rapidly losing composure. Luckily a life guard spotted my distress and waded into the kids pool to drag me safely to my feet and away from the dangerous six inch deep undertow. Between my inconsolable sobs on his shoulder he told me I was awesome and that lots of 19 year olds almost drown in the toddlers pool.


Where exactly in the post is the crying? What I said, in essence, was I’d made some assumptions and I got burned because they were wrong. Don’t really care if you consider the freight charge reasonable, or how freight costs are calculated, all I’m doing is sharing my experience with other people, so they can make an educated decision on making any of their own purchases using either company.

Sorry about that, I misread the situation, apologies. My own interpretation was that you were wingeing about the freight cost and that BongoUS were somehow diddling the figures in their favour unethically. Just wanted to point out how the figures are actually calculated to remove any doubt or confusion. No offence intended. FWIW, the volumetric for air freight is based on 1CBM = 167kg chargeable weight. Seafreight is accepted as 1CBM = 1000kg but some rogues will try for 1CBM = 333kg and charge 3W/M for a tonne of freight. Cnuts.......

As you were.

[takitimu]

I dunno, if you check fedex that is the quote for a 1kg package ( ok I did it from work in NY to Kerikeri ) & ups are not much cheaper.

International courier costs are steep, having said that btosports look to be doing a deal with UPS and are $40USD, which is not alot more than I'd pay to get it shipped to a hotel in the states.

[Jay GTI]

Sorry about that, I misread the situation, apologies. My own interpretation was that you were wingeing about the freight cost and that BongoUS were somehow diddling the figures in their favour unethically. Just wanted to point out how the figures are actually calculated to remove any doubt or confusion. No offence intended. FWIW, the volumetric for air freight is based on 1CBM = 167kg chargeable weight. Seafreight is accepted as 1CBM = 1000kg but some rogues will try for 1CBM = 333kg and charge 3W/M for a tonne of freight. Cnuts.......

As you were.

Nah it’s fair that you read what you did, reading back I could see where my post would make people think that. I’ve bought plenty of stuff from the ‘States before, but this is my first time using a freight forwarding company and I have learned the hard way that it is not good practice to assume anything when it comes to costs. Having read your explanation on how the freight costs are calculated it makes a lot more sense of where the US$120 came from, certainly made no sense to me, so thanks for that!

I just found it very hard to calculate how much the freight would cost, due to it being based on the size/volume of box the items would arrive in at BongoUS, and stupidly decided to go through with it regardless. Subsequently I have now got myself into a position where I don’t believe it is economical to receive my items and feel pretty stupid as a result. Sounds like the costs are in fact completely reasonable for the service, just if I’d been a little more diligent and slightly less mouse click happy, I’d have realised and not proceeded.

Oh and thanks for the pool story, that really was awesome!

[Str8 Jacket]

Oh, can we all hug now!!

[Jay GTI]

Oh, can we all hug now!!

Sure, but keep your hands where I can see 'em...

[Str8 Jacket]

Sure, but keep your hands where I can see 'em...

That's no fun!

[Jay GTI]

That's no fun!


Hmmm you sure? There's quite a few areas of me you could put your hands and I could see them...

[White trash]

Jesus you KTM guys are far too easy to get along with.

I'm off to bait some Honda riding homos...........

[Reckless]

Jesus you KTM guys are far too easy to get along with.

Na Its dirt bikers Jimmy you simply don't get the shit in here you do out in KB Land!!

We use KB how its supposed to be used "where you riding this weekend" and "how do I fix this?" Besides if we don't get along you'll just get ridden past when your stuck out in the whops with a fouled plug or in a bog up to your ass and you can't get your freckin bike out!!

[vazza]

Wrong. They don't add weight. Shipping charges for airfreight are based on the actual weight, or the volumetric weight, whichever is greater. USD120 door to door via express courier is more than reasonable, quit crying.

You have no idea.

Get clued up on international shipping more.

Sucks to be in your situation Jay. I used to order off ktm-parts quite a bit. Good to deal with, however the whole bogus thing sucks. Knew it would cost a fortune.. The jacket thing confirmed it for me.

[noobi]

I paid ~60USD for a 125 cylinder out of the states, delivered to my door in a week, and less than that for a front axle from the states, the cylinder was around 2kg and not in a small box. I believe that was with DHL or FedEx not UPS, one of the main stream ones, I also sent another 125 cylinder to Eric Gorr in Wisconsin for ~90NZD with NZpost.
So 120USD is a rip off somewhere.
Why do they do the freight forwarding crap?

[barty5]

id have to agree i paid 200usd to ship 1 1/2 XR600 motors mixed with a few extra spares so 120 is a real rip off

[FlangMasterJ]

Sweet jacket though.

[The Stranger]

1CBM

Ah, wots a cbm?

Anyway USPS, had all sorts a shit delivered ex US including 3 shipments this year from NY and none has been more than US $50.00. 2 weeks delivery.

[White trash]

You have no idea.

Get clued up on international shipping more.


Thanks for your question.

Once at school. a guy told me I had no idea about motorbikes, despite me clearly riding on the back of a really sweet moped to and from school every day. Simply because he was a couple of years ahead of me, I decided to teach him a lesson or two. So over the winter, I carefully deconstructed my bike in a neighbour of my dads friends garage. Religiously cleaning every nut, bolt and part. I spent two weeks of my school holidays painstakingly cleaning and sanding back the frame, ensuring every burr and high spot was flatened to perfection. We then painted the frame gloss black, I wanted to go purple because Purple Rain was a hit at the time but Mervin convinced me black was the action and that only a Honda rider would own a bike with a purple frame. After conceeding that little fau parx in motorcylce fashion, we lovingly pieced together my restored bike, even drilling and re-riveting the original frame tags to ensure no overspray ensued, rechroming the tank badges and replacing every bearing and seal that we could find. Eventually, after 6 long Dunedin winter months, the time had come to rebirth the beast and show the world that I did in fact know something about motorbikes. We had a freshly charged, new battery from McIver and Veitch installed, new fuses, new paint and a shitload of enthusiasim. It was the sweetest Suzuki A50 you ever saw. I wheeled it out of the garage, switched on the ignition and kicked my heart out. Nothing. Not even a piss poor attempt at firing. Mervin is bigger than me so he pushed me off the bike and furiously kicked the shit out of it in a way only a Taekwando black belt, cowboy boot wearing, Charlie Pride imitating kareoke star can.

Nothing.

Took us another week to discover that I'd installed the power band backwards. I guess I did know fuck all about bikes.

As for International freight. After deciding on a career change due to stress, a KBer kindly offered me an entry level job in an international freight forwarding warehouse in their 3PL department (that's Third Party Logisitics for all you interested onlookers not yet bored to tears). I was responsible for collecting wholesale Christian Dior orders from the shelves and packing them in boxes, then sending them off to retailers who (probably) sold them to overweight house wifes who's husbands thought they needed more expensive perfumes to make them slightly more attractive. After a month of this highly stressfull workload, my talents in accurately choosing the correct lipstick to match the order form were clear (my Honda riding buddies made it easy) I was moved to the "hard warehouse" for more difficult duties. These included more manly freight forwarding procedures such as packing and unpacking 40' containers, loading and unloading airfreight units and calculating weekly consolidation loads for airfreight of up to 30T, 120CBM (CuBic Meters Noel) between Auckland and Sydney. So proficient in our loading and space bookings weekly were we, that FedEx (that's Federal Express) contacted us to handle THEIR weekly booking. Six months later, after displaying above average skills with a calculator, I was once again promoted. This time to Key Account Exectutive, Oil and Gas. You may have heard of a little thing on the Taranaki south coast by the name of Kupe Oil and Gas field (http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/kupe/kupe2.html) ? Have a look at the picture of the site. 98% of the shit you can see, I put there. I had three charter vessels, and four part charters into Port Taranaki along with numerous part charter airfreight shipments into Auckland and carefull liasing with JD Hickman to ensure that all freight was on site, on time. The comissioning partner for the plant build was Technip, contracted by Origin Energy. They chose me to handle the logistics. Technip's on site logistics manager was Geoff Huddy, you're more than welcome to call him for a reference if you wish. BTW, Kupe was comissioned prior to deadline and under budget. As you pay taxes (I hope) you're a shareholder in Origin Energy. You're welcome.

May of heard of a little place just south of Whangarei called Marsden Point? Huge oil refinery there. Run by The New Zealand Refining Comapny. Only refinery in NZ it so happens, almost one of the most efficient in the world. They have a huge shut down there every two years, normally stretching for two weeks in which they burn, yes BURN over a million USD per day of shut. Guess who they call to make sure all their shut down freight is on site when they need it? Bet ya can't....... We're talking sixty 40' containers of precious metal catalyst here, values at over $130M. Still can't guess? Same guy also looked after all their day to day cargo and freight requirements for operations AND all the freight for the ambitious Point Forward Project, halfway to completion. Your contact there is Greg Johns if you need to ask for anyone.

Something eles I learnt at school from that 6 year old in 5th form, choose your battles wisely.

There's a couple of KBers you can ask if you want further recomendation as to my international freight expertise, PM me for details.

Now, where's my new RM powerband for the MVX..............

[gammaguy]

which just goes to prove-even genuises have a weakness


MVX:crybaby:

[CookMySock]

errrm why not cancel the transaction on your credit card?

[scott411]

Trash, nice cv you have there,

but $120 to send what he discribed is still drug money, compared to what other US based internet sellers are charging,

[Jay GTI]

Sucks to be in your situation Jay. I used to order off ktm-parts quite a bit. Good to deal with, however the whole bogus thing sucks. Knew it would cost a fortune.. The jacket thing confirmed it for me.

Does suck, but I've learned my lesson. I can live with losing what will be about US$50 though... glad it wasn't a larger shipment!

Interestingly, Bogus have offered to ship the items for US$56, if I upgrade my membership. Sadly that carries a US$15 per month charge and I'll need to be locked into it for 3 months. So still works out at US$100... live and learn, etc...

[White trash]

Trash, nice cv you have there,

but $120 to send what he discribed is still drug money, compared to what other US based internet sellers are charging,

Unfortunately, that's just what happens when a seller nominates a forwarder instead of dealing direct with the courier. There are advantages though. Forwarder is accountable for every step of the shipping and is a hell of a lot easier to get a straight answer out of than the courier company.

[Woodman]

I fully do not understand the overseas freight charges. Its just random as, but after a while it will average out I spose.

And Dangerousbastard can you change your avatar, cos i'm becoming obsessed with it and its worrying the wife :tugger:

[scott411]

Unfortunately, that's just what happens when a seller nominates a forwarder instead of dealing direct with the courier. There are advantages though. Forwarder is accountable for every step of the shipping and is a hell of a lot easier to get a straight answer out of than the courier company.

agree 100%, although KTM has come down very hard on US companies shipping genuine product overseas, so it is hard to get them shipped direct atm

[White trash]

agree 100%, although KTM has come down very hard on US companies shipping genuine product overseas, so it is hard to get them shipped direct atm

As well they should. It transpires that dealers in Europe, were buying their stock off US sellers as the prices were lower than they were getting directly off the factory. KTM needed to think really hard about the monster they'd helped create by offering stupid low prices to the USA in return for masive order volumes. I'd like to think this is being rectified. Personally, I think we're quite lucky in little old NZ that KTM here seem fairly reasonable to deal with and the prices aren't TOO bad. Imagine the shit we'd be in if Triumph NZ held the franchise.........

[scott411]

its not just KTM that have these problems, the whole industry has had a better buy price for the states and since the downturn the the US, their retailers have looked elsewhere to keep sales up,

[Jay GTI]

As well they should. It transpires that dealers in Europe, were buying their stock off US sellers as the prices were lower than they were getting directly off the factory. KTM needed to think really hard about the monster they'd helped create by offering stupid low prices to the USA in return for masive order volumes. I'd like to think this is being rectified. Personally, I think we're quite lucky in little old NZ that KTM here seem fairly reasonable to deal with and the prices aren't TOO bad. Imagine the shit we'd be in if Triumph NZ held the franchise.........

It's not just the price issue though. In lil' old NZ the KTM distributors simply won't bring a lot of the novelty stuff in because we're too small a market to make it financially viable for the dealers to carry the stock. Admittedly most of what I ordered was silly fanboy crap and most of it was just ordered simply because I could, but if it was sat on display in TMG, I'd still buy it at full NZ price.

[White trash]

its not just KTM that have these problems, the whole industry has had a better buy price for the states and since the downturn the the US, their retailers have looked elsewhere to keep sales up,

Granted. But the Japanses manufacturers don't seem to give a rats whereas at least KTM are making an effort to protect all of their worldwide dealers. For that reason, when I finally stump up the cash for my own dirt bike, it'll be orange.

[PeeJay]

Thanks for your question.

Once at school. a guy told me I had no idea about motorbikes, despite me clearly riding on the back of a really sweet moped to and from school every day. Simply because he was a couple of years ahead of me, I decided to teach him a lesson or two. So over the winter, I carefully deconstructed my bike in a neighbour of my dads friends garage. Religiously cleaning every nut, bolt and part. I spent two weeks of my school holidays painstakingly cleaning and sanding back the frame, ensuring every burr and high spot was flatened to perfection. We then painted the frame gloss black, I wanted to go purple because Purple Rain was a hit at the time but Mervin convinced me black was the action and that only a Honda rider would own a bike with a purple frame. After conceeding that little fau parx in motorcylce fashion, we lovingly pieced together my restored bike, even drilling and re-riveting the original frame tags to ensure no overspray ensued, rechroming the tank badges and replacing every bearing and seal that we could find. Eventually, after 6 long Dunedin winter months, the time had come to rebirth the beast and show the world that I did in fact know something about motorbikes. We had a freshly charged, new battery from McIver and Veitch installed, new fuses, new paint and a shitload of enthusiasim. It was the sweetest Suzuki A50 you ever saw. I wheeled it out of the garage, switched on the ignition and kicked my heart out. Nothing. Not even a piss poor attempt at firing. Mervin is bigger than me so he pushed me off the bike and furiously kicked the shit out of it in a way only a Taekwando black belt, cowboy boot wearing, Charlie Pride imitating kareoke star can.

Nothing.

Took us another week to discover that I'd installed the power band backwards. I guess I did know fuck all about bikes.

As for International freight. After deciding on a career change due to stress, a KBer kindly offered me an entry level job in an international freight forwarding warehouse in their 3PL department (that's Third Party Logisitics for all you interested onlookers not yet bored to tears). I was responsible for collecting wholesale Christian Dior orders from the shelves and packing them in boxes, then sending them off to retailers who (probably) sold them to overweight house wifes who's husbands thought they needed more expensive perfumes to make them slightly more attractive. After a month of this highly stressfull workload, my talents in accurately choosing the correct lipstick to match the order form were clear (my Honda riding buddies made it easy) I was moved to the "hard warehouse" for more difficult duties. These included more manly freight forwarding procedures such as packing and unpacking 40' containers, loading and unloading airfreight units and calculating weekly consolidation loads for airfreight of up to 30T, 120CBM (CuBic Meters Noel) between Auckland and Sydney. So proficient in our loading and space bookings weekly were we, that FedEx (that's Federal Express) contacted us to handle THEIR weekly booking. Six months later, after displaying above average skills with a calculator, I was once again promoted. This time to Key Account Exectutive, Oil and Gas. You may have heard of a little thing on the Taranaki south coast by the name of Kupe Oil and Gas field (http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/kupe/kupe2.html) ? Have a look at the picture of the site. 98% of the shit you can see, I put there. I had three charter vessels, and four part charters into Port Taranaki along with numerous part charter airfreight shipments into Auckland and carefull liasing with JD Hickman to ensure that all freight was on site, on time. The comissioning partner for the plant build was Technip, contracted by Origin Energy. They chose me to handle the logistics. Technip's on site logistics manager was Geoff Huddy, you're more than welcome to call him for a reference if you wish. BTW, Kupe was comissioned prior to deadline and under budget. As you pay taxes (I hope) you're a shareholder in Origin Energy. You're welcome.

May of heard of a little place just south of Whangarei called Marsden Point? Huge oil refinery there. Run by The New Zealand Refining Comapny. Only refinery in NZ it so happens, almost one of the most efficient in the world. They have a huge shut down there every two years, normally stretching for two weeks in which they burn, yes BURN over a million USD per day of shut. Guess who they call to make sure all their shut down freight is on site when they need it? Bet ya can't....... We're talking sixty 40' containers of precious metal catalyst here, values at over $130M. Still can't guess? Same guy also looked after all their day to day cargo and freight requirements for operations AND all the freight for the ambitious Point Forward Project, halfway to completion. Your contact there is Greg Johns if you need to ask for anyone.

Something eles I learnt at school from that 6 year old in 5th form, choose your battles wisely.

There's a couple of KBers you can ask if you want further recomendation as to my international freight expertise, PM me for details.

Now, where's my new RM powerband for the MVX..............

What are you doing sitting here in NZ?
A man of your awesome skills would be in high demand o'seas
Being able to setup 98% of a refinery yourself is an incredible achievement.
Many moons ago I worked on a couple of refinery projects in the Middle East
There were thousands of people involved with getting the places up and running.
Last one was 15 years ago, there were still thousands involved and the project overan $$$ and time
We could have done with you. Name your own price considering the dollars involved

[Crasherfromwayback]

I'm off to bait some Honda riding homos...........

What you gonna 'bait' em with mate? Your arse I bet.

[vazza]

WALL OF USELESS TEXT

I'm not even going to bother reading that shit.

It's obvious you don't have experience in small item international shipping. $120 is blatantly overpriced and everyone knows it.

Using a shipping forwarding company is going to tear you a new asshole regardless, they have to make their money somehow.(Hence the ripoff price) Keep to online stores that ship their own items.

[White trash]

What are you doing sitting here in NZ?
A man of your awesome skills would be in high demand o'seas
Being able to setup 98% of a refinery yourself is an incredible achievement.
Many moons ago I worked on a couple of refinery projects in the Middle East
There were thousands of people involved with getting the places up and running.
Last one was 15 years ago, there were still thousands involved and the project overan $$$ and time
We could have done with you. Name your own price considering the dollars involved


I'm not even going to bother reading that shit.

It's obvious you don't have experience in small item international shipping. $120 is blatantly overpriced and everyone knows it.

Using a shipping forwarding company is going to tear you a new asshole regardless, they have to make their money somehow.(Hence the ripoff price) Keep to online stores that ship their own items.

Fuck you guys have an "O" for Oarsome sense of humour :D

[Crasherfromwayback]

Jesus you KTM guys are far too easy to get along with.
.


You have no idea.

Get clued up on international shipping more.



Fuck you guys have an "O" for Oarsome sense of humour :D

Uh oh...the honeymoon is over...

[scott411]

Granted. But the Japanses manufacturers don't seem to give a rats whereas at least KTM are making an effort to protect all of their worldwide dealers. For that reason, when I finally stump up the cash for my own dirt bike, it'll be orange.

are they really fixing the problem tho, or just hiding it? as a dealer I can see that they are trying,

you can still get parts cheaper by either getting a mate in the states to send it, or go through a shipping company, the US price has not got dearer, or the normal nz price cheaper,

[IIIRII]

I dont understand the reference to Marsden Point, all I get out of it is that you are 10 rungs down the ladder from Noobies Uncle ...
Was that your point ?

Should I talk about my former involvment with NZ Steel Shuts then ?
In particular Primary plants ?
Unlikely I would because no matter how you read it , it would sound silly, self gratifying and all that stuff...

??
And generally dumb ....


:)

[vazza]

Fuck you guys have an "O" for Oarsome sense of humour :D

Your attempt at trolling is pretty shit