# Borderfree Experiences?



## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

Hi, thought that I would begin my forum experiences here by discussing what's on my mind right now that is guitar-related.
I bought a hard case from a company in the US called "Musician's Friend" largely because the website seemed to portry a professional company.
The case was reasonably priced and IN STOCK and the shipping seemed reasonable for a change. They did business in CAD and briefly mentioned "Borderfree" as an improved shipping method without disclosing what it was or what would happen if you purchased from them.
After the purchase something didn't seem quite right so I did some research and discovered a huge number of negative reviews for both companies. So much so that I decided to immediately contact Musician's Friend and cancel the purchase. 
While the CS person assured me that the cancellation would take place, he was about the rudest CS person that I ever spoke to. He told me that Borderfree was kind of funny and that I should just wait a few days to hear back from them.
Further research revealed that Borderfree isn't an expedited shipping protocol. They actually buy the merchandise from the vendor and then are entitled to your payment by any form.
Well, you guessed it. A few days later I got an e mail informing me that my case was being shipped by Borderfree.
A full week after that it was finally actually shipped by a courier in Canada. Pretty slow.
While I feel better that it's out of their hands, I can't forgive the fact that the vendor CS apparently lied to me about the cancellation, and that the details of Borderfree were not made clear at the time of sale.
Live and learn, I guess. 
If these companies want to discourage repeat business, they have achieved their goal with me.
But, don't take my word for it. Look up the reviews.
Have any of you had similar experiences with these guys?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Interesting and very educational. 
Thanks for sharing.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)




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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Musicians Friend is a joke and they’ve been experiencing hard times for awhile. They’re owned by the same people as Guitar Centre and Music Zoo (or whatever it’s called). They push their own products which is usually Chinese crap. I suspect you could have bought a decent Yorkville case or similar from Long and McQuade locally or online for only a few bucks more. It’ll be interesting to see if they stiff you on brokerage or some similar garbage.

If you need a decent US seller Sweetwater is usually good to deal with.


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## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

BSTheTech said:


> Musicians Friend is a joke and they’ve been experiencing hard times for awhile. They’re owned by the same people as Guitar Centre and Music Zoo (or whatever it’s called). They push their own products which is usually Chinese crap. I suspect you could have bought a decent Yorkville case or similar from Long and McQuade locally or online for only a few bucks more. It’ll be interesting to see if they stiff you on brokerage or some similar garbage.
> 
> If you need a decent US seller Sweetwater is usually good to deal with.


Fortunately, it was only a soprano uke case for my granddaughter costing $75.00 CAD. And, you're right there are Canadian suppliers who could have supplied something similar for a similar price.
By the looks of it, it is the same as most such cases and made by the same Asian maker. But we will see.
I have been keeping tabs on the shipping and the CS at Purolator says that it is being shipped without any fees being owed, which was a concern.
They say that it will just be left at the door and that no signature will be asked for.
The interesting thing is that I used PayPal directly from my bank account and they were completely unwilling to assist in cancelling the transaction, even though the money had not been withdrawn from my account and was in a Pending Status. So, if you think that they are on the buyer's side, think again.
It may be safer than a credit card but they won't help unless you actually get stiffed, and then only minimally.

Borderfree deals with many companies of all kinds, and the reviews are universally very negative.
My advice is to only purchase from a handful of U.S. companies that you know well, who have a well-known reputation for reliability and honesty. (Like Stewmac)
And, if any third party name shows up during the shipping process then run like hell.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Turns out that Borderfree is a part of Pitney-Bowes. I gave up on them many years ago when they became the ebay default shipper.
Basically a pre-paid customs & tax thing, so you can pre-pay for things you may not even be subjected to.
No thanks, I'll be avoiding Borderfree. Thanks @Stringfellow for the heads-up.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

You can get pretty much anything you need up here or have something like Cosmo or L&M bring it in for you.


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## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

Wardo said:


> You can get pretty much anything you need up here or have something like Cosmo or L&M bring it in for you.


How is Cosmo to deal with?

I have become a bit wary of dealing with any large dealer that I have had no experience with. 
For example, if they say it's in stock, is it usually?


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## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

jb welder said:


> Turns out that Borderfree is a part of Pitney-Bowes. I gave up on them many years ago when they became the ebay default shipper.
> Basically a pre-paid customs & tax thing, so you can pre-pay for things you may not even be subjected to.
> No thanks, I'll be avoiding Borderfree. Thanks @Stringfellow for the heads-up.


Back in the 1980s I worked for Pitney Bowes. That's when it was still a nuts and bolts postage meter machine, postal scale, and copying machine sales and service company.
They had been around since the days of bullet-proof cast iron machines with grey crackle paint and art deco chrome, and had always been highly regarded.
Until the 1980's that is, when the company changed.
IMHO, they then became sketchy in their business practices. They started using aggressive sales practices that included outright lying to get demos on new equipment. As a shop technician I was asked to create bogus and inflated estimates on perfectly good equipment in order to facilitate sales. As we accumulated trade-in equipment, we were instructed to destroy it with sledge hammers, even if it was in almost new condition. (I kid you not) The reason? They said: "We do not want this to get back out on the market. We don't want to compete with ourselves."

Over time, after I gladly departed the company, I watched Pitney Bowes flounder, going from a machines sales company into a computer software company, and finally into whatever it is today.
I'm not surprised that they would lend whatever remains of their reputation to sketchy companies like Borderfree.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Stringfellow said:


> I'm not surprised that they would lend whatever remains of their reputation to sketchy companies like Borderfree.


I was thinking it's more like Borderfree _is_ Pitney-Bowes (the shipping co.) and they've come up with another name so people don't associate it with the ebay fiasco.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Stringfellow said:


> How is Cosmo to deal with?
> 
> I have become a bit wary of dealing with any large dealer that I have had no experience with.
> For example, if they say it's in stock, is it usually?


On their site it will say if it’s out of stock and you have the option of ordering it anyway.

I’ve had good luck ordering online from them and will order stuff delivered to my office even though they are not that far from me.

I’ve ordered things that were out of stock and they arrived no problem.

When I’ve called to check on the status of an order the staff have been pleasant to deal with on the phone.

Store staff are good too and a couple of times the guitar techs have done a setup for me while I waited.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Stringfellow said:


> As we accumulated trade-in equipment, we were instructed to destroy it with sledge hammers, even if it was in almost new condition. (I kid you not) The reason? They said: "We do not want this to get back out on the market. We don't want to compete with ourselves."
> .


In 2000 I worked for a company the renovated Starbucks stores. Three of us were sent to a warehouse with sledgehammers and smashed up 4 stores worth of things. Starbucks had changed their colour scheme and didn't want tiles, tables etc. to be sold.


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## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

Wardo said:


> On their site it will say if it’s out of stock and you have the option of ordering it anyway.
> 
> I’ve had good luck ordering online from them and will order stuff delivered to my office even though they are not that far from me.
> 
> ...


Good to know. I had been looking at them as a source of instrument cases.


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## Stringfellow (Jul 18, 2019)

jb welder said:


> I was thinking it's more like Borderfree _is_ Pitney-Bowes (the shipping co.) and they've come up with another name so people don't associate it with the ebay fiasco.


From what I read Pitney Bowes bought Borderfree a few years ago. In that sense, they are indeed Borderfree.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

jb welder said:


> I was thinking it's more like Borderfree is Pitney-Bowes (the shipping co.) and they've come up with another name so people don't associate it with the ebay fiasco.


The eBay fiasco is still on-going, so we all still know it’s all Pittney-Bowes.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Buying from the USA has its pitfalls for the uneducated. For the educated, it is often the best way to go. 

I will say this. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let the seller be responsible for the mode of shipping, customs and clearing of your product. Do your due diligence and then take care of the details yourself. The best way is to ship it to the border and then pick it up yourself or have a company that does this for a nominal fee do it for you.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Piney Bowes is not the only company doing this style of shipping. There are actually 4 others authorized to do the same thing. Endicia, Neopost, DataPac and Hasler....


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