In 2010, I shipped two lasers back to CNI for repair. They included one 400mW "GLP-980-400mW" infrared laser and one 80mW green 80mW "GLP-532-80mW" green laser. I had paid $185 and $140 each for each laser, respectively, for a total of $325.00.
"Lu Wang" ([email protected]) of CNI had provided me with the return shipping instructions: Ship to CNI's address in China...declared for only $20.00 total...with the RMI number written on the outside of the box.
I packed up the lasers carefully, followed CNI's instructions, and shipped the package to China via USPS Priority Mail International Parcels (Label/Receipt #LJ53 4862 697U S) on October 12, 2010.
I didn't hear anything for over a month, so I checked with the USPS and found out that although a small flat rate box shipped via "Priority Mail International Parcels" cannot be tracked all the way to its destination, but they did confirm that the package had arrived in China.
On November 18 I emailed CNI to inquiry about the status of my repair. Lu Wang emailed me back and asked me for a tracking number because they hadn't received the package yet. I sent them the Label/Receipt # and again they claimed they hadn't received anything.
Over the course of the next month I exchanged a series of emails with CNI, where I provided all the information I had about the shipment, and they continued to deny they had received anything. The last email I received from them was on December 12, when Lu Wang wrote to me:
"However, we can not check out the shipment with the nubmer you offered, our post office said there is no such label/receipt nubmer of your package.
Can you recheck the nubmer, and see if it is wrong? We will contact our office again to see if we can find it.
Usually it can not be lost, please do not worry."
I wrote CNI back again, providing the Label/Receipt # again, as well as the receipt from the USPS.
At that point, I stopped hearing from CNI.
To sum up this ordeal:
1. I lost both my lasers, worth $320.00.
2. If I make a claim with the USPS, I can only recover the $20.00 that I insured the lasers for (as per the instructions provided by CNI).
3. I suspect that even if my lasers WERE delivered to CNI, there's a chance they're not being honest about receiving it. They have no motivation to tell me, because they know that the USPS cannot confirm whether the package was delivered to their facility. Therefore, they can claim the package was lost and they don't owe me anything.
I've shipped many things to various countries using a variety of methods during the past ten years, and I've had nothing get lost. Even if my package was held in customs for a long time (which is probably the next most plausible scenario), it should have either eventually been cleared for shipment to CNI, or returned to me in the United States.
I hate shipping packages to China via the private carriers (DHL, Fedex, or UPS) or the more expensive USPS "Global Express" because the cost can frequently exceed the value of the item. But in this case, shipping to China via Priority Mail International may have given CNI an easy scapegoat.
The fact that CNI stopped communicating with me about this issue is really frustrating. I'm REALLY disappointed with CNI. I feel like they may have really screwed me over.
"Lu Wang" ([email protected]) of CNI had provided me with the return shipping instructions: Ship to CNI's address in China...declared for only $20.00 total...with the RMI number written on the outside of the box.
I packed up the lasers carefully, followed CNI's instructions, and shipped the package to China via USPS Priority Mail International Parcels (Label/Receipt #LJ53 4862 697U S) on October 12, 2010.
I didn't hear anything for over a month, so I checked with the USPS and found out that although a small flat rate box shipped via "Priority Mail International Parcels" cannot be tracked all the way to its destination, but they did confirm that the package had arrived in China.
On November 18 I emailed CNI to inquiry about the status of my repair. Lu Wang emailed me back and asked me for a tracking number because they hadn't received the package yet. I sent them the Label/Receipt # and again they claimed they hadn't received anything.
Over the course of the next month I exchanged a series of emails with CNI, where I provided all the information I had about the shipment, and they continued to deny they had received anything. The last email I received from them was on December 12, when Lu Wang wrote to me:
"However, we can not check out the shipment with the nubmer you offered, our post office said there is no such label/receipt nubmer of your package.
Can you recheck the nubmer, and see if it is wrong? We will contact our office again to see if we can find it.
Usually it can not be lost, please do not worry."
I wrote CNI back again, providing the Label/Receipt # again, as well as the receipt from the USPS.
At that point, I stopped hearing from CNI.
To sum up this ordeal:
1. I lost both my lasers, worth $320.00.
2. If I make a claim with the USPS, I can only recover the $20.00 that I insured the lasers for (as per the instructions provided by CNI).
3. I suspect that even if my lasers WERE delivered to CNI, there's a chance they're not being honest about receiving it. They have no motivation to tell me, because they know that the USPS cannot confirm whether the package was delivered to their facility. Therefore, they can claim the package was lost and they don't owe me anything.
I've shipped many things to various countries using a variety of methods during the past ten years, and I've had nothing get lost. Even if my package was held in customs for a long time (which is probably the next most plausible scenario), it should have either eventually been cleared for shipment to CNI, or returned to me in the United States.
I hate shipping packages to China via the private carriers (DHL, Fedex, or UPS) or the more expensive USPS "Global Express" because the cost can frequently exceed the value of the item. But in this case, shipping to China via Priority Mail International may have given CNI an easy scapegoat.
The fact that CNI stopped communicating with me about this issue is really frustrating. I'm REALLY disappointed with CNI. I feel like they may have really screwed me over.
