Discussions

Has anyone had any regular experience purchasing goods originating in China through Amazon? One order I placed was here within a few weeks, while another which was placed in November and SUPPOSED to arrive by first week of December is still in transit. Not sure what this is attributable to. The goods are shipped via China Post, so will assume they ship across the water and then to Canada Post once they reach Canada.

You're dealing with a variety of problems, including (but not limited to) global supply chain issues, clogged ports, brutal weather, not enough truckers, and an historic pandemic. Best thing you can do is lower your expectations, be happy you have food to eat, and possibly focus on at least second-world problems, not just whatever cheap junk you "need" from China right now. Lower your expectations, and realize how lucky you are.  
 
To directly answer your question, yes I have lots of experience ordering items that ultimately come from China (most of us do), and in normal times, they tend to arrive normally. These are not normal times.

What the person above said.  
 
However, I have a terrible time getting things from China. Roughly half never arrive, and then it's a hassle to get a replacement (also never tends to arrive) or get a refund. At least Amazon is good about refunds in there's a dispute.  
 
This has been the case for years, so not Covid. But there is supply chain issues, so...?  
 
As a general rule, I will no longer buy things that ship from China if it can be helped. Most things I can find a Canadian/Us/UK/EU distributor.

You get what you pay for. We save money by purchasing goods made in China, but it’s generally crappy quality compared to Canadian goods.  
 
Ordering from China is like rolling the dice. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose.

On the national news shipping containers lined up waiting to unload in Vancouver many from China with products for businesses and consumers. Local example: there was an interview in Brandon Sun for our local business The Greenspot where their Xmas items were on freighters waiting to come into port in Vancouver and shipments that were on the cargo ship that caught in fire.  
Cargo ships were shown on the news few nights ago sitting and waiting an available port to dock at to off load. There is a shortage of workers and truckers due to our world Pandemic of COVID 19.  
Cancel your orders through Amazon’s guarantee and get a refund.

I believe was the name of the department I dealt with getting an issue sorted? At the end of the day you’re purchasing from Amazon and if you go to them they will assist. Amazon doesn’t want their reputation affected by poor service and the vendor doesn’t want to be dropped as a seller thru Amazon so they’ll get it looked after.

It wasn’t through Amazon, but had one last year that took 23 weeks. If it comes by ship, it can be slow. The package looked like it had been lost behind something for awhile. Badly beat up but contents were ok.

The items that were ordered were snakeskin print cloth hat bands. The real deal would cost hundreds of dollars, so this was a way of having the look at a fraction of the cost. Not likely you would find something similar here in North America. I've Googled the term and come up empty.  
 
Edited by Alvin Hansen, 2022-01-03 15:00:35

The name of the Amazon vendor is GEMVIE