Hoof boots, international shipping, and bears, oh my!

[Caol Ila]

This is mainly a whinge post about first world problems.

Hermosa's Renegade Vipers are wearing through their soles. Fair enough. They've done the mileage (and more!) they said they would do.

I check on Hoof Boutique's website and see that I can get a whole new set of boots, or just the soles, which is all that needs replacing. Except they don't stock soles and it would be a 4-6 week lead time. Not ideal.

A friend in Glasgow has told me she's bought them straight from Renegade in the US, and it hasn't taken long to get here. I pop onto their website and see that not only can I get soles for cheaper than Hoof Boutique, I can also get bright orange boots. All I ever wanted! And they tell me they will use UPS Worldwide Expedited delivery, and it will be here in 2-5 days. What's not to like? I buy bright orange boots and an extra set of soles. Confirmation email affirms they will be sent via UPS Worldwide Expedited.

Did I think about sending them to my parents or other friends in the States and then having them send them onwards? Of course I did. But because Renegade said they were using UPS, I didn't see any sense in adding a middleman.

How wrong was I.

Do Renegade use UPS? The f*ck they do. I get an email notifying me that they have been sent through the US Postal Service, which is obviously not the same as UPS, the latter being a private international courier company and the former, not so much. The email tells me 6-10 days. Not what I'm expecting, but fine. I get this on Oct 2nd.

As I write this on October 17th, they have still not appeared. Tracking tells me they are somewhere in customs-land and may or may not have left London. I've written to Renegade, and they have, so far, been completely useless.

If their website had not stated in clear English that they use UPS for international shipping, I would have (a) bought them from Hoof Boutique or (b) got them sent to my parents who would have used bloody UPS, FedEx, or DHL to get them to me in a timely way. They can get sh*t to my brother in Namibia, so I think they could have done alright at sending stuff to Scotland.

I'm so f*ckin annoyed.

 

[Irish Sally]

Could you call renegade? They might be more helpful that way.

 

[Caol Ila]

It costs an arm and a leg to call a company number in the States, so I've emailed and used FB messenger. Nae answer on email, but they responded to my FB message saying, "If an order has already shipped and is in transit there's usually not much we are able to do from our end, especially if it's left the country -- the best thing to do would be to contact Royal Mail and do a parcel search with them to see if they are able to locate it."

I then wrote, "I did note on your website that I paid for the parcel to be sent via UPS, which could have been tracked from AZ to Scotland, so I am concerned that it is now with Royal Mail and lost tracking information."

No answer to that.

 

[Irish Sally]

It costs an arm and a leg to call a company number in the States, so I've emailed and used FB messenger. Nae answer on email, but they responded to my FB message saying, "If an order has already shipped and is in transit there's usually not much we are able to do from our end, especially if it's left the country -- the best thing to do would be to contact Royal Mail and do a parcel search with them to see if they are able to locate it."

I then wrote, "I did note on your website that I paid for the parcel to be sent via UPS, which could have been tracked from AZ to Scotland, so I am concerned that it is now with Royal Mail and lost tracking information."

No answer to that.

No wonder you're frustrated. Sending good vibes. Hopefully it'll sort itself out soon.

 

[teapot]

Frustrating! Though if they're stuck UK side in customs etc they can't do much about it now, and from what I've heard/read elsewhere even the better international carriers like UPS are getting caught UK side at the moment.

Apparently international post/trade is as messed up as everyhting else is at the moment

 

[Caol Ila]

It doesn’t help that her current boots are held together with prayer at the moment, and our trails are so rocky that I really need them.

 

[ycbm]

What size do you need CI? I think they'll probably be too big but I can send you a pair of 140x130 to keep you going. Charlie's feet have shrunk.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I will NEVER purchase anything from europe or worldwide ever again after purchasing the nalanta bridle and having to wait 10 weeks to get a refund as it sat in customs….tried to charge me another 80 to get it into the country. Costing a humungous £300 for a blinkin bitless bridle

 

[planete]

It does sound as if the delays are being caused by our customs system. I think sellers are getting as fed up as customers. Do companies like UPS have an agreement with our Customs?

 

[SpeedyPony]

I've not bought anything from the US for years now, but on the odd occasion that I did it took weeks and I also had to pick it up from the sorting office (got a slip through the letter box when it arrived at the local sorting office) as I needed to pay the import duty. Possibly customs are taking their time trying to decide how to categorise hoof boots?

 

[paddy555]

I had thought of doing this but are they a lot cheaper by the time you have paid VAT, customs duty on the boots, the shipping and everything else they can find to add on?

I have been caught in the past buying stuff from the US. A lot of delays and nightmare charges.

 

[Landcruiser]

I hope they don't take as long as my Arctic Horse riding skirt that was shipped from Alaska. I was able to track it for the 6 months it took to arrive. It visited the UK, was returned to Alaska by UK customs, had a diddle around up there, took a spin to California, bizarrely made a stop in Japan, before heading BACK to Arctic Horse near Anchorage, being repackaged and resent, and finally reaching me in Wiltshire about a fortnight later. It was ordered as the pandemic first broke, so I think that had a lot to do with it. Good luck OP!

 

[tyner]

It costs an arm and a leg to call a company number in the States, so I've emailed and used FB messenger. Nae answer on email, but they responded to my FB message saying, "If an order has already shipped and is in transit there's usually not much we are able to do from our end, especially if it's left the country -- the best thing to do would be to contact Royal Mail and do a parcel search with them to see if they are able to locate it."

I then wrote, "I did note on your website that I paid for the parcel to be sent via UPS, which could have been tracked from AZ to Scotland, so I am concerned that it is now with Royal Mail and lost tracking information."

No answer to that.

For next time you can try using Google Voice to call US numbers over the computer for free. But if course they have to pickup the phone.

I really hope you get your boots soon.

 

[Reacher]

I had thought of doing this but are they a lot cheaper by the time you have paid VAT, customs duty on the boots, the shipping and everything else they can find to add on?

I have been caught in the past buying stuff from the US. A lot of delays and nightmare charges.

I had toyed with importing something from USA (second hand) but the duty / tax etc put me off.

 

[tyner]

I had toyed with importing something from USA (second hand) but the duty / tax etc put me off.

Yes and the way customs charges/evaluates it can be wildly random.

My parents ship me a bunch of old stuff ie horse "personal effects" via FedEx and have been charged various things for import costs. Sometimes it's 0 and sometimes it's been up to 50. The expensive event saddle? 0 customs. The box of pony club leg wraps? 35 gbp customs. I don't understand it at all.

 

[Caol Ila]

In hindsight, I should have got them sent to parents, who could have taken them out of their box and made them look used. I've been able to get stuff from them within a week. Argh. Both their website and UPS' website had suggested that I would not have major issues getting them in under 10 days.

What size do you need CI? I think they'll probably be too big but I can send you a pair of 140x130 to keep you going. Charlie's feet have shrunk.

That is a lovely offer, but she is 130x120.

If any has a spare set of those going.......I would be the most grateful person on the whole internet.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I could lend you a pair of scoots size 3 but I would need them back

 

[tyner]

There should be a hoof boot library!
To check things out etc for trial.
None of the existing schemes are really workable.

 

[Caol Ila]

I could lend you a pair of scoots size 3 but I would need them back

Cheers, but she didn't like Scoots when I tried some. Don't think she's into the plastic bit at her heel bulbs.

There should be a hoof boot library!
To check things out etc for trial.
None of the existing schemes are really workable.

That would be useful, wouldn't it. Like how you can hire ski boots.

 

[little_critter]

Cheers, but she didn't like Scoots when I tried some. Don't think she's into the plastic bit at her heel bulbs.



That would be useful, wouldn't it. Like how you can hire ski boots.

Isn't this what Hoof Boutique do? They have a hire scheme

 

[Caol Ila]

Isn't this what Hoof Boutique do? They have a hire scheme

Kind of. You have to pay the full purchase price of the boot + £50. You'd get the purchase price back if you returned them within 14 days.

 

[nikkimariet]

Is anyone selling them second hand on Fb? I got Figs boots (and then resold them) at bargain prices.

 

[Caol Ila]

Is anyone selling them second hand on Fb? I got Figs boots (and then resold them) at bargain prices.

Found one set going in her size. I've messaged the seller to see if they're still available.

 

[Caol Ila]

Nevermind. Seller says she's not in the UK even though the location on the ad is near Nottingham. Gah. What's wrong with people.

Back to square one.

I'm going to have to do something. If the boots clear customs tomorrow, it would be grand, but they've been there since the bloody 9th of October, and I'm not feeling optimistic. I'm amazed that the current ones are still intact but I don't know how many more rides they have left in them.

 

[Reacher]

In hindsight, I should have got them sent to parents, who could have taken them out of their box and made them look used. I've been able to get stuff from them within a week. Argh. Both their website and UPS' website had suggested that I would not have major issues getting them in under 10 days.



That is a lovely offer, but she is 130x120.

If any has a spare set of those going.......I would be the most grateful person on the whole internet.

Shame, I have some renegades (classics) I’m wanting rid of but too big for you.