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Post by MichaelRS on May 17, 2021 5:15:15 GMT
I don't know if this how other companies do it when one gets a sword from China to swords...Maybe somebody dealing with some place like Swords of Northshire has a different experience. But since others have recently expressed interest in HanBon Forge, I will just throw this out there.
To recap; I ordered my sword on April 15th and they told me it would be 5 to 6 weeks due to the "engraving" and the custom blade. Apparently requesting that the Bo-Hi is a certain length, in my case having it start 2.5-3 cm above the habiki, makes it a custom blade. It also cost me $20 extra. ⚠️ Caution digression ahead...
Not really sure how they apply the Bo-Hi. If they cut it in you would think there would be nothing really all that custom about that and it would actually save them time and effort by not having to cut an additional 3 cm on each side. Of course they would actually have to pay attention do not continue the cut, so maybe that makes it custom.
However, maybe blades ordered with a Bo-Hi are not cut but are stamped in play Separate process during the manufactur. And that stamp procedure a set length, so if that has to change THEN they have to do the cutting and so there you have a more custom blade.
Whichever it is, they're going to have a fun time with my next blade then, because it's intended to be 2.5cm from the Habaki and 8-9cm from the tip. Ok. End digression.
So anyway, from April 15th they said a minimum of five weeks and so I am pleasantly surprised when they contact me in 3 weeks on May 8th and said, "Ta-Da! (Or whatever the Chinese equivalent of Ta-da is) your blade is done." At which time they sent me pictures and ask me to approve it and told me that once I did that, which I did right away, they would ship it and send me the tracking number.
So I'm figuring they are going to start the boxing and shipping procedure from that point and maybe 2 or 3 days I'll have a tracking number.
Well, 8 days go by and I don't hear anything. So tonight, Sunday the 16th, I sent them an email asking Whazz up?...in so many other polite words. To their credit I did hear back in about a half hour, because it was a little before 11 Monday morning their time. They said that they have indeed already sent it to their UPS agent and they should have a tracking number from him for me in a day or two. Well, what can you say to that except, "Okay fine. Xiexie ni." ( sha-sha nee./Thank you very much)
So there you have it. Or rather there I have it. My sword, supposedly, is on the move.
So, for anybody else dealing with HF, that's how they roll when it comes to the shipping. Can't really judge it as I don't know what the industry standard is for such things.
As I said, I noticed some other people inquiring about HanBon Forge, anybody else put in their order in the last few weeks?
ADDENDUM: Midnight of May 16. Five hours after my earlier emails with HF I just heard from them again. YAO apologized and said that they just found my tracking number in their office. Apparently some of the confusion was that they sent my sword over to the UPS Agent late in the afternoon before the weekend. But the UPS people don't work on the weekends so nobody really in-processed it and it just kind of sat around there until this morning, Monday their time. (They are are 15 hours ahead of California. So my Sunday midnight is their Monday 3 in the afternoon).
Then they got the tracking number to Yao's office, but somebody there just kind of set it aside and nobody did anything about it until he asked somebody to follow up on it and they're like, "Oh, I have his tracking number here." If not actually what happened that is the gist of my understanding of how it went down.
So at least I appreciate his honesty as far his indirectly saying the sword sat around it his...office(?) all week before they dropped it off at UPS late before the weekend. And then admitting that somebody in their office screwed up by not processing my tracking number and getting it to me as soon as it came in like they were supposed to. So, there's really nothing to do with all that at this point except be grateful that the sword is on the move.
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Post by Lancelot Chan on May 17, 2021 6:00:18 GMT
Me. :) Ordered 3 custom swords. Will take many weeks to do so I'm on the waiting queue.
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Post by MichaelRS on May 17, 2021 7:27:18 GMT
Me. Ordered 3 custom swords. Will take many weeks to do so I'm on the waiting queue. At this point do you care to share what you ordered? What special things are you having done with them? Maybe like me they tell you one time and then have them done in half the time and you'll be extra happy. 😁
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Post by Lancelot Chan on May 17, 2021 7:37:41 GMT
hira zukuri katana and 2 x nodachi of different length. yes i want them fast and hopefully you get yours soon! otherwise i will be worried about mine. Me. :) Ordered 3 custom swords. Will take many weeks to do so I'm on the waiting queue. At this point do you care to share what you ordered? What special things are you having done with them? Maybe like me they tell you one time and then have them done in half the time and you'll be extra happy. 😁
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tera
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Posts: 1,655
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Post by tera on May 17, 2021 16:59:25 GMT
Not to defend them, but with many smiths folding and the remaining ones being overwhelmed, that sounds like a reasonable experience.
I imagine any time you make a custom request for the blade it gets handled completely differently. It's not like they have burger flippers reading orders and making different swords all day. They have gotten good at making the same pattern sword fast and cheap. Any deviation would require someone to at least mentally step off the 'factory line' and make sure your wishes were met completely.
As for shipping, that is pretty decent turn around. Just wait for the overseas and Customs delays. Believe me, a day or two delayed taking the item to UPS is nothing compared to that nightmare.
Now, I have never ordered from them and have no connection with them, but I have ordered parts from Chinese companies before and had WAY worse experiences (not even custom stuff, just wholesaler equipment). Some forges are even closed or closing due to Covid, so I recommend a view of loving-kindness to those craftsmen in China who risk their lives to forge.
I know we would all love to see a review of your order when you receive it. I may order from them as few others offer 9260 anymore. The Cheness modeld I liked are sold out, and I know they are ceasing new production, so Hanbon might be my best option. Looking forward to your thoughts and best wishes!
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Post by MichaelRS on May 18, 2021 1:26:40 GMT
teraThanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, I wasn't really angry or upset with them or anything like that. Just a little surprised and was really kind of like, "Oh, well, whatever". So what kind of Customs problems have you had? Because, based on the antidotal stuff I've read, I was kind of under the impression that there really was not much of a problem with that sort of thing coming into the states. Wrong? And of course I will be reviewing it, but it will be a monkey see monkey do kind of review, based on what I've seen others do, as I don't have the experience to evaluate the findings too much, unless I can move the ito an inch or something obvious like that. Anyway, according to the tracking, it's made it to Shanghai 👍
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Post by MichaelRS on May 18, 2021 1:31:48 GMT
hira zukuri katana and 2 x nodachi of different length. yes i want them fast and hopefully you get yours soon! otherwise i will be worried about mine. At this point do you care to share what you ordered? What special things are you having done with them? Maybe like me they tell you one time and then have them done in half the time and you'll be extra happy. 😁 👍
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tera
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Posts: 1,655
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Post by tera on May 18, 2021 3:04:20 GMT
Lately, a lot of packages coming into the US have been sitting around a but, is all. Thry won't freak out at finding a sword more than a roll of toilet paper, but I swear they are "quarantining" foreign packages for at least a few days. Given the pandemic and all, it wouldn't be unreasonable.
I had pre-2020 delays, but that was largely because I was ordering cheap components for small electronics. No idea why, but that also got consistent delays.
Once your package is in the hands of the US carrier, you will be good to go. A delay wouldn't mean a problem, but I was just trying to help manage expectations, so you wouldn't be disappointed. If it shows up on time, we can all celebrate!
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Post by MichaelRS on May 18, 2021 3:24:39 GMT
Lately, a lot of packages coming into the US have been sitting around a but, is all. Thry won't freak out at finding a sword more than a roll of toilet paper, but I swear they are "quarantining" foreign packages for at least a few days. Given the pandemic and all, it wouldn't be unreasonable. I had pre-2020 delays, but that was largely because I was ordering cheap components for small electronics. No idea why, but that also got consistent delays. Once your package is in the hands of the US carrier, you will be good to go. A delay wouldn't mean a problem, but I was just trying to help manage expectations, so you wouldn't be disappointed. If it shows up on time, we can all celebrate! 😄 Thanks
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Post by noktorn on May 18, 2021 3:32:25 GMT
"ADDENDUM: Midnight of May 16. Five hours after my earlier emails with HF I just heard from them again. YAO apologized and said that they just found my tracking number in their office. Apparently some of the confusion was that they sent my sword over to the UPS Agent late in the afternoon before the weekend. But the UPS people don't work on the weekends so nobody really in-processed it and it just kind of sat around there until this morning, Monday their time. (They are are 15 hours ahead of California. So my Sunday midnight is their Monday 3 in the afternoon).
Then they got the tracking number to Yao's office, but somebody there just kind of set it aside and nobody did anything about it until he asked somebody to follow up on it and they're like, "Oh, I have his tracking number here." If not actually what happened that is the gist of my understanding of how it went down.
So at least I appreciate his honesty as far his indirectly saying the sword sat around it his...office(?) all week before they dropped it off at UPS late before the weekend. And then admitting that somebody in their office screwed up by not processing my tracking number and getting it to me as soon as it came in like they were supposed to. So, there's really nothing to do with all that at this point except be grateful that the sword is on the move."
My question is, is it being shipped out of China via SF Express? I'm currently having a similar situation and have been given a different reason by two different forges, whose swords i'm waiting on. One is Yomikuni, who has been a nightmare to deal with. I ordered a Tachi from them a little over two months ago, and last Wednesday, I finally got a shipped notification. However, the tracking number is a duplicate per SF Express. I emailed them back asking them to provide the correct tracking number or sort the issue out. Yomikuni said they will call SF Express and sort it out. They never directly replied after that (something you'll learn from Yomikuni), and got a "general FAQ" email from their secondary account (with some other red flags included). The first question was regarding the tracking number issue. According to them, SF Express is renegotiating a contract(s) with whatever airline regarding "dangerous objects" and they expect the issue to be resolved this week. As of now, the tracking number still shows as a duplicate.
Regarding my Sinosword, I asked Van (the public/customer service guy for their business) for an update on a sword i'd commissioned back in January, same day last week. He said it's just waiting on the Saya to be finished (and gave me some photos of the sword he's snapped with his phone). I had also asked to see if it was going to ship via SF Express. He mentioned the same issue ongoing with SF that Yomikuni had, but that he expects the issue to be resolved within the week or two that it'll take to finish my sword.
I'm just leaving this here to offer my own current experience. I'm a little frustrated. My Tachi is in shipping purgatory, and i'm just hoping it doesn't wind up arriving with damage to the blade, after I paid for the damn Hamon Polish. It's almost certain at this point too, that it'll get released from the warehouses and show up on my doorstep while i'm out of town. At least with my Sinosword I can tell them to hold on shipping till I get back.
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Post by MichaelRS on May 18, 2021 3:58:05 GMT
noktornWell, the only thing I can tell you is they gave me that 17 Track tracking service, and I just checked again before replying to you here and there's still only one entry on it that says, China UPS and the last activity was "Shanghai Export scan" at 1830 on the 15th. <shrug> But man, you ordered your stuff last January? Wow.
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Post by noktorn on May 18, 2021 5:03:49 GMT
noktorn Well, the only thing I can tell you is they gave me that 17 Track tracking service, and I just checked again before replying to you here and there's still only one entry on it that says, China UPS and the last activity was "Shanghai Export scan" at 1830 on the 15th. <shrug> But man, you ordered your stuff last January? Wow. Either way, sorry to hear your stuff is in purgatory like mine. Seems generally like a staple of dealing with Chinese dealers. Vague answers, sometimes lies, sometimes both, and excuses that seem to change by the week. Although my interaction with Van from Sino has been pretty good. In regards to your initial post, I have a SoN Ko Katana. It's not bad, although they put the wrong tsuba on it. Their communication was prompt, but the 5-6 weeks I was told wound up being more like 11 weeks (which is something I quickly learned to accept. Rarely have I had something ship "quickly" from any of these places. My Lyuesword and the Wakizashi I gamble-purchased from Shinken-Sword being the two exceptions). I did order my Sino back in January. I did ask them to attempt to do a 1.25" Sori on a Shobu Zukuri. And in fairness, they were up front and stated it would take a while, including Chinese New Year. The sword is almost two weeks late from the estimate, but that's not all that bad. What is disappointing is that they couldn't accomplish the Sori I asked for (again, in fairness, they said they would give it a shot, did not guarantee they could do it). Sword still looks nice from what i've seen so far, and i'm looking forward to it. But man, I wish I had known about Huawei before I commissioned my sword.
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Post by bradc on May 18, 2021 5:25:34 GMT
Whichever it is, they're going to have a fun time with my next blade then, because it's intended to be 2.5cm from the Habaki and 8-9cm from the tip. OK I'm curious. Why 8-9cm from the Kissaki (tip)? It's unusual to see a bo hi end in that region. Are you going with a non shinogi zukuri profile, a large O-kissaki, or personal preference?
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Post by MichaelRS on May 18, 2021 6:46:27 GMT
Whichever it is, they're going to have a fun time with my next blade then, because it's intended to be 2.5cm from the Habaki and 8-9cm from the tip. OK I'm curious. Why 8-9cm from the Kissaki (tip)? It's unusual to see a bo hi end in that region. Are you going with a non shinogi zukuri profile, a large O-kissaki, or personal preference? Oh no, the answer is not at all complex. And I haven't totally settled on the 8ish cm from the kissaki. The distance may change, but it will just simply be something that's noticeable. Oh, and it's pretty much a standard 28 inch blade. Yeah, personal preference. Something, besides the etchings, that makes the blade more mine, so to speak. Actually, as I'm probably going to be using it as my iaito, I want to hear the "whoosh". Otherwise I would not have one at all. And I really should not have had one on the first sword I ordered, which is a 9260 blade, and is going to be more of a cutter. I mean some people say having a bo hi or not is marginal in affecting a swords cutting ability or its agility from the weight. But since pool noodles are notoriously slow when it comes to fighting back, I'd rather have the cutting weight rather than the agility a tad on my side. Probably will not have it in the wakizashis I'm going to order. Or if I do it might be some small little thing just as a design feature to more personalized my blade. Still, did not think of any of that when I ordered this first sword, but I've actually learned quite a bit in the month since. Thanks to help from most of you guys.
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Post by Lancelot Chan on May 19, 2021 9:57:05 GMT
My order was cancelled because they don't have license to sell to Hong Kong, even when I took the US forwarder route to receive the swords. :(
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Post by pellius on May 19, 2021 12:42:30 GMT
My order was cancelled because they don't have license to sell to Hong Kong, even when I took the US forwarder route to receive the swords. 😮
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Post by Lancelot Chan on May 19, 2021 12:45:04 GMT
My order was cancelled because they don't have license to sell to Hong Kong, even when I took the US forwarder route to receive the swords. :( 😮 So sad.
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pgandy
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Senior Forumite
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Post by pgandy on May 19, 2021 19:10:18 GMT
I just had an order cancelled also because my billing and shipping address are different.
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Post by MichaelRS on May 19, 2021 19:18:51 GMT
My order was cancelled because they don't have license to sell to Hong Kong, even when I took the US forwarder route to receive the swords. Are you talking about the swords you were talking about above? You ordered them months ago and they just now told you they were canceled!?
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Post by MichaelRS on May 19, 2021 19:23:10 GMT
Latest update just for S&G's Attachments:
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