Last week I had a disaster of an experience with Aramex since they had misplaced a package of mine. What actually pissed me off was the lack of transparency from their support team. My package was coming from Germany and like all Shop & Ship packages stop in Bahrain before heading to Kuwait. On February 13th my package left Bahrain and after no updates for a few days I decided to contact support via their live chat. According to Aramex, my package was clearing customs, no biggie so I continued to wait. By February 21st, over a week after my package left Bahrain my tracking number had still not been updated. So I contacted support again and they told me they’ll check on my package and have someone call me.
Since I was frustrated, I decided to vent my frustration to Aramex on their twitter account. They replied back telling me they had checked on my package and it was currently clearing customs. That didn’t help with my frustration since my package was just a pair of sneakers and I didn’t know why it needed 8 days to clear. Since it wasn’t urgent though I was like whatever. Then, a few minutes later I get a call from Aramex telling me that they can’t find my package and they needed a few days to try and figure out where it was. I was like WTF? You guys just told me on twitter that my package was in customs. The guy over the phone told me the people managing the twitter account didn’t have access to check my package status.
So I went back on twitter now noticeably upset since I couldn’t understand why they would tell me my package was in customs while I was also being told my package was lost. In the end though it looked like the twitter account people were right while the person that called me was wrong since my package ended up getting it’s status updated then then delivered the following day.
For some reason, Aramex have recently turned into a big mess and I just wish they were more transparent. Things happen and consumers are mostly understanding. When my internet connection at home is down, first thing I do when I call support up is ask them if the problem is from their side or mine. If they’re facing issues I just reply telling them ok just wanted to check and then hang up. If my package usually takes 3 days from Bahrain to arrive to my door in Kuwait and now suddenly it’s been 8 days and my package was still not delivered, something is clearly wrong so fill me in and don’t act like it’s business as usual. If you’re having issues with flights from Bahrain, local customs officials being lazy or whatever the reason, I’d like to know so I can be understanding.
In any case the reason I wanted to post about Aramex in the first place is that we can now finally pay online with Knet. You’d think this would have been their first feature on their website but up until now we could only pay by credit card or PayPal. Knet obviously makes things a lot more convenient.
37 replies on “Shop & Ship & Knet”
I was having a problem with Aramex last month. I have a package delivered and the tracking was not updated. So it ended up being with the security guard for three weeks. He forgot he had it. Everytime I ask them about it they say it might be in customs. First and last time I use Aramex. I usually get DHL or FedEx. Even for packages from the US.
I’ve had no problems with Aramex; but your account here amplifies the stories I’ve heard from colleagues concerning customer service run arounds and lost packages. It is a shame as Aramex is considerably cheaper than Borderlinx and MyUS for single shipments(when package consolidation is not needed).
Wouldn’t it be great if standard post was reliable a majority of of the time?
one week after I tried mybox, I left my aramex boxes collecting dust, never ever again I’m going back to aramex.
mybox for life, 78 shipments, from a bracelet to an entire honda accord engine, never had 1 issue, ok maybe 1 but it was solved same day.
How much did shipping cost for the Honda engine??
+1(?)
The prices for MYBOX/PostaPlus seem on par or more expensive than MyUS.
DO NOT USE POSTA PLUS WITH AMAZON!
postplus has a big huge massive annoying problem. They don’t consolidate by weight. So if you are getting 5 packages, each weighing only 100g, you will be charged for 2.5kilos. You might think to yourself, okay I will just order everything together, but you’d still be wrong….
What really fucks things, is the way Amazon delivers to NJ. Amazon has its own delivery in NJ, and therefore they don’t care about consolidating your order (in fact you can’t choose to group your order in one package if your address is NJ). It doesn’t matter if you make sure that all the items are prime and fulfilled by amazon, it will still not ship together. Last week I ordered 4x the same item, and even that didn’t help. 2 were shipped one day and the other 2 the next day.
So in conclusion, posta plus is lovely for not charging volumetric weight, but don’t use them for Amazon if you are ordering more than 1 item, even if its multiples of the same item.
Thats how all shipping companies work UNLESS they have consolidation option and not all of them do. Shop and Ship doesn’t consolidate either.
Yes I agree, but you missed the point about how Amazon delivers in NJ. That just compounds the problem massively. That’s why I don’t think anyone should use them with Amazon.
Just to be clear, because I think it might still be confusing. Amazon has its own delivery network in NJ (where the postaplus address is located). Because Amazon have their own delivery service, they don’t care about sending your order out all in one package. There is no way to make Amazon send all ur stuff together if your address is NJ. Hope that’s clearer.
that happens even when its not a NJ address since they might not have all the items located in the same warehouse.
lol…
rant rant rant… Oh and they now support knet. hahah
I use aramex for both domestic and international deliveries at work and they are fantastic, and have been using shop and ship for over a decade now with hardly any problems too. Sure there are occasional glitches here and there, but that comes with the territory since they keep changing the customs laws and procedures here in KT. I’ve tried a few of the other companies like Posta Plus and Borderlinx and Mr Babu, but there’s no comparison…..
I’ve been using SNS for about 3 years, and overall they have been pretty reliable. I have noticed a slowdown in service lately though so hopefully they get that sorted out. I like how they have like 15 mailbox locations now which is really an advantage.
Besides the habitual delay, they did misplace my packages several times.
I agree, I have recently several delays in the delivery and in updating the package’s status at the overseas offices and after it reaches the customs, of-course compared to what it was 6 months ago. Initially I thought it is only with Germany and Spain, but then I realized it is for all after few US and UK packages.
Why do you still use them? I learnt from you to use MyUS and never looked back!
Because Shop & Ship is a lot cheaper and have addresses all over Europe. I just use MyUS for my urgent or important stuff.
+1
the main thing i never liked about aramex is their tracking updates are very slow, nothing like UPS, DHL or FedEx which is the main reason i try to avoid them.
Has a similar problem, their chat service is run by monkeys and have no clue what they are talking about. I received 5 packages on the same day and only 2 were updated into my account. I got the usual wait 2 business days for them to be updated but I told them since 2 were already in my account why haven’t the other three been updated?
In any case, waited another 3 days and to my lack of surprise, no update in my account. Contact their chat service again and they say that they were not delivered. Pardon my language but these retards have been telling me to wait and now they tell me they haven’t been delivered? They also tried to switch the blame on amazon and told me to contact them, I said no and filed a complaint. 1 day later one of the packages out of the three was updated into my account.
That leaves 2 more right? I was told that the 2 other packages were there but they needed proof of my ownership of said packages. So I gave them proof, receipts etc.
Another couple of days and the packages finally update into my account! But is that the end of their stupidity? Hell no. Once they finally arrived to Kuwait they delivered 4 out of the 5 packages. I called and asked why the 5th was not delivered and was told their monkey’s put a note on the 5th that it should be delivered to a Saudi Arabian customer and not me, yet somehow the Saudi Arabian customer had my exact name! Another dumb ass mistake done by their chat service. I told this entire story to an Aramex representative here in Kuwait and he said this is not the first time their support service has messed up like this and if anything is wrong with a shipment you should always contact your local branch first.
I haven’t ordered anything with them since then, fucking horror story lol.
I don’t usually buy stuff online, but if I want something, I first check its price at mrbabu. If I feel like it’s good (it sometimes is tbh) I just buy from them… No hassle at all 🙂
But it takes at least 2 weeks.
Yea, but I don’t mind waiting. Sometimes 3 lol.
Hi Mark, I read your previous post about MyUS and tried to register by my Amex card, but they said to get the 2 year offer you will have to contact American Express.
How did you register?
I used this link https://www2.myus.com/amex
You get these benefits:
Waived set-up fee ($20 savings)
2 years complimentary Premium Membership (a USD $60 saving per year)
30% off already discounted FedEx, DHL and UPS shipping rate
Dedicated customer service
I am guessing the discount is permanent?
yup
They are and have always been terrible when it comes to customer service. They can deliver an item from point A to point B with the cheapest price but just pray nothing during the process goes wrong…no matter what the situation is, they will fail miserably in giving u any solution or straight answer. They are only in business because of their low prices, in return they hire monkeys for peanuts. Full stop
Where to begin? They mis weighed my package in US and charged me twice what it should have cost. No apology and no reweigh at Kuwait depot despire customer service telling me 100 % that it would be done on two seperate occasions. Had to give package back to driver to get it reweighed. Customer service got rather an earful. I wanted the entire cost of the package credited to my account NOT the difference in cost as it took a lot of time for me to deal withthis entirely unsuccessful. Threatened to send THEM an invoice for MY time wasted.
Second event was even more traumatic. We paid to send a large package to my wifes daughter who had recently seperated from her husband with a court order attached due to potential violence. They delivered it to HIS address even though given the actual address to send it to. The previous address was in their computer so they used that. WTF. Entire package lost as ex hubby obviously signed for it and then burned the contents. Their response was to allow us to ship the exact same weight for free to USA. Nothing else, no apology, no offer to give us the value of the package that THEY delivered incorrectly. Absolute bastards. I would sue them if I could. Absolute incompetants with zero customer service.
I am more thankful for the APO every day.
hi mark. I’m new to shipping websites. which website do you recommend if i would like to buy a product from amazon. (least cost)
Shop & Ship
Good news. My complaint about incorrect weighing of my package has been elevated to the manager. He will get back to me by the end of the day. It is the end of the day. Not surprisingly, he didn’t get back to me.
If they would just be honest, instead of double downing on the lies, I would be happier.
I’ve had the same exact problem with them. 6 days at customs, and during one of the calls to them, they said it was lost. Only to be delivered during a day. I posted a tweet, two shipments, from the US to Kuwait, SNS = 11 days, BorderLinx = 2 days.
Now I only use borderlinx for smaller items, and the rest on SNS cause of the price.
Been a SnS subscriber for long time at least 10 years and I spend 90% of my shopping online from US/EU websites. I use SnS as a last resort nowadays. They are so cold and they take their time delivering. A lot of times a package stays in hold for 3 freaking business days in their Kuwait office before delivery! I’ve seen more than 3 days sometimes.
I know this is an old post, but I wanted to share my recent experience. I have been using SnS for the past 10 years or so and never had any problems or delays with any of my shipments.
I have a shipment containing very expensive stuff (over $4000 worth) and the SnS tracking has not been updated in over 8 days. It still shows that “Dubai UAE: Departed Operations facility – In Transit”.
I tried contacting them using the LiveChat as well as through their call center. They have been giving me different responses. Sometimes I am being told that the shipment is still in UAE, sometimes they say it is in Kuwait Customs Clearance and some other times they say they are not sure where exactly is the shipment.
Yesterday I asked to be put in touch with someone senior who can give me the correct status of my shipment. I got a call from them today morning and they finally told me that they are short of some shipments in this batch and my shipment could be one of them. So they officially accepted that my shipment has been lost. Now the person on the phone told me they need a few days to check and make sure that my shipment is indeed lost and then they would issue me a refund based on the original invoice and the shipping I paid. I am not sure if I take this person’s word on this matter. Let me know if you have any other contacts in SnS Kuwait.
Thank you.