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Post by rjodorizzi on Dec 22, 2010 20:40:38 GMT
Just felt the need to say that I really enjoyed ordering through them. I received my Hanwei Tac-wak in a day (granted I live in Wisconsin so I'm not to far from their location), but still amazing processing time. The order was well packaged and everything was handled without a hitch.
I will absolutely order from them again. This post really has no purpose other than to heap praise on KOA!
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Post by Anders on Dec 22, 2010 21:31:40 GMT
I have yet to order anything from them myself, but I don't think I've ever heard anything but praise for KoA.
Me, I like visiting their site simply because of the typically very comprehensive list of stats they include for each product.
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TomK
Member
Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,377
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Post by TomK on Dec 24, 2010 0:49:37 GMT
there have been a very few members with bad opinions and or experiences with KoA but it is impossible to please everyone and even when you have a good company they don't meet the needs of everyone.
your experience seems typical to me and certainly the couple times I ordered from them I was very happy with the service.
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Post by steelhound on Jan 3, 2011 10:11:56 GMT
I've bought a fair number of blades from KOA and have had nothing but great experiences with them. They usually have some of the best prices on the net, offer price matching if they don't, and if you live here in the Midwest your package will show up almost immediately. Most of mine have arrived within a day or two.
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Post by Major, Cory J on Jan 20, 2011 5:12:14 GMT
Their "Price Match" guarantee is awesome too! I recently Asked if they could match a price on a Hanwei Bone Handled Swept Hilt Rapier from 150 down to 140, well they put their price to 134.95!!!
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 20, 2011 7:31:58 GMT
My only complaint is that shipping from them costs me about $30-40 dollars to me. Ah well.
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Post by rvhernandez on Jan 21, 2011 3:34:10 GMT
LittleJP...guess you just need to move, huh...  Kult of Athena is great. No complaints. Some of the better prices around. |
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Post by Maynar on Jan 21, 2011 3:46:19 GMT
That's the best price to Canada from the US I can find. I for one am grateful to ONLY pay $30-40 for shipping. Been bent over too many times in the past.... And with KoA's best price policy, I'm in sword heaven these days. Bought three swords from them and looking forward to many more. Just sayin' |
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 21, 2011 5:08:50 GMT
Aye, it is still quite a bit, but it's better than paying $90 dollars in brokerage fees from UPS.
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Post by chuckinohio on Jan 21, 2011 11:18:05 GMT
I never realized that you guys up in Canadia had to pay out like that to get something shipped in. They act like you guys live in Narnia or something.
90 bucks is robbery, you have my sympathies.
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 21, 2011 17:44:54 GMT
It's actually $90 dollars plus the price of shipping itself. Which usually works out to $130 or so. About 80% of the order. Last time I ever use UPS.
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Post by chuckinohio on Jan 21, 2011 18:26:16 GMT
I can surely understand why, that is nothing short of ridiculous.
The fees are imposed by UPS, or by Canadian customs, or what?
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Post by Maynar on Jan 21, 2011 22:40:40 GMT
It's the fee UPS charges to broker the item through Customs. FedEx is lower, but still pricey.
USPS is the way to go. Canada Post doesn't even charge customs duty most of the time, and if they do it's like $10 or $15.
That, I can live with.
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 22, 2011 0:47:31 GMT
They usually just charge the HST/PST/whatever sales tax is in your area.
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Post by Major, Cory J on Jan 22, 2011 4:07:14 GMT
If they use the Packages "worth" on the paper work. But they are within their right to open the package and "evaluate" its worth by checking online. And they don't look at a VA sword and go hmmm, well thats a VA Signiture series Kreigschwert. They look at it and go hmmm, a functional sword. Type in Sword and they could be led anywhere, Albion, Christian Fletcher or even overseas Dealers and take their swords value and apply it to our order.
Doesn't happen to often but it does. Just remember to have whoever is shipping you your item mark the package with a BELIEVABLE value on it.
Sure, sometimes you can get it through (I got a 300 dollar compound bow through customs, while unbeknown to me, the shipper marked it as 20 dollars value, and I only paid like 3 dollars in Duty), but why take the risk.
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Post by Maynar on Jan 22, 2011 4:41:11 GMT
If you buy from a vendor they are legally bound to declare the full value of the item, they will suffer penalties if they lowball it. Ask them and they will tell you this. That said, KoA ships their blades as "decorative sword" which is no doubt to the letter of the law, but probably sidesteps some sticky questions if the blade was described as, say, "martial arts weapon" or some such. My postal carrier says that a tipoff for the customs ppl at the Post Office is if the sender is a company, as opposed to a private individual. Not much anyone can do about that, but Customs at the Post Office are usually so overworked that it doesn't much matter. A lot of the time they just shove stuff out the door for delivery because they simply don't have time to assess the few dollars tax/duty that may be owing. Yay for us!  |
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Post by Major, Cory J on Jan 22, 2011 4:48:48 GMT
Yup YAY FOR US! I am looking forward to a purchase from KoA soon, but unfortunately a certain somebodies wife had a "fender bender" with the neighbors car...... |
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Sébastien
Senior Forumite
Retired Moderator
Posts: 2,967
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Post by Sébastien on Jan 22, 2011 16:27:34 GMT
I had an experience similar to JP's with UPS. When I ordered a large bowie knife from Atlanta Cutlery, I paid about 40 $ for shipping and UPS charged me an extra 65 $ at my doorstep. It was the only time I had to pay more than 35 $ at my doorstep for a shipped box. I have no clue where that money comes from. Custom fees are supposed to be equal to the sale taxes of Canada and its provinces (which is total of 15% of the items value).
Anyway, my personnal guess is that UPS is making a large profit and that we are getting screwed.
I try to always ship by USPS now, it saves me trouble and money.
Oh, and Kult of Athena rocks. I ordered about 3 blades from them. A1 Customer service and quality control IMHO"
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Post by Maynar on Jan 22, 2011 18:05:38 GMT
Aye. My personal theory is this is how UPS gives absurdly low rates/fast service in the lower 48: by anally raping anyone outside the US and plowing the money into their general revenues.
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 22, 2011 20:41:14 GMT
Aye, Customs is careless at times.
I had some custom work done on a sabre by A & A, one month later, it still hasn't arrived.
Apparently, it got to my post office, yet customs filled out no forms, so they sent it back. Customs decided to shove it back into the states, and I'm still waiting for my delievery. One month and counting. Damn customs.
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