Hufglocken Shipping

[blue_heron]

No, I haven’t gotten it yet. They admitted it was probably lost and that they would replace it. This was like a week pre-Thanksgiving. Other than I know they were planning to replace it I’ve gotten no updates.

I also changed something about my order since I had the chance. There was a price difference and they owe me money. I haven’t been refunded the difference even though I mentioned it. I need to bring it up to them again. It was also during their Black Friday sale and it would have been cheaper for me to cancel the order completely and reorder it. They also didn’t offer to expedite production or shipping. I know the shipping isn’t really their fault, but still.

There was another thread on Facebook about how their customer service have been terrible lately. Some people were wondering if they just had too many orders and couldn’t stay on top of them. It seems like if that were the case they would stop having big sales all the time. Thankfully I shouldn’t need anything else soon so I won’t be placing another order with them once this arrives for the foreseeable future. It’s honestly just a huge pain in the ass and I shouldn’t have to contact them once a week to make sure my order isn’t being forgotten.

[deweydee]

Mine came in a few days ago, but I’m definitely disappointed in the service. I agree that it wouldn’t have been here if I hadn’t checked in when it was kicked back to them.

[findeight]

International shipping and Customs, particularly from Commonwealth members, can be a PITA BUT cant help thinking theres more to this story.

Not unheard of for some to hide behind Customs foul ups to cover supply chain problems or allow them to drop ship larger quantities instead of ship when ordered or completed in the case of custom orders. Then suggest the customer did not fill out their info correctly resulting in it being returned to sender.

But 3-5 months makes me wonder why this happens so much with a vendor who has a large number of International customers. One would think they should be experts on their side of the Customs requirements.

Used to travel to Europe and GB and ship stuff home often, sometimes custom orders that shipped within 30 days. Sometimes they were delayed in customs or by travel snafus but only 2 took more then 6 weeks from order to delivery. One of those was from Barbados the other Trinidad-Tobago, both were here in 8 weeks.

Can’t see that any savings in purchase price are made up by erratic delivery. Is their stuff really worth it?

And they tout 30 day returns on their website…how would that work when you get the wrong thing/wrong size/wrong color, which can happen with every vendor that ships, 3-5 months after ordering?

[blue_heron]

Customs and really slow shipping is a problem very infrequently for most people. Shipping times have pretty much bounced back from COVID delays now, too. You’re more likely to run into issues with customs with large orders that are worth a lot of money, especially if they’re concerned you’re going to sell commercially.

I bought a pair of custom boots this summer, right before August, which is vacation month for the Europeans. They took forever to make, but rarely does anything in Italy happen quickly. They arrived a few weeks ago, but my middleman is in the UK and the boots arrived 5 days after they’d been shipped, not express. I’m on the east coast of the US, so not that far away for international shipping, but seems a saddle pad should get here in less than two weeks.

Ordering from Hufglocken, especially if there’s a sale, is over 50% cheaper than ordering the items plain, no customization, in the US. Slow shipping is worth it. No shipping is not worth it.

[blue_heron]

Also, how can this company offer these pads at such low prices and seemingly no other tack store can? This has never added up to me.

[Critter]

Definitely worth the 50% cheaper…and I don’t mind waiting…but I do get a bit annoyed when I am told 8-12 weeks and it’s going on 5 months with no update (or, I should say and update that was wrong). When I did the August order, it was supposed to be the “will arrive for Christmas” order…luckily it was a present to myself! I have another order I placed…early November. Maybe that will show up for next Christmas! LOL I can wait…but I don’t want to either not get my order or not get refunded if they can’t provide it in a reasonable time period.

I have also wondered why they seem to be the only one with such a discount…though it may be in part due to the good exchange rate with the USD to AUS currency right now.

[blue_heron]

Hmm… there’s another FB thread complaining about them. I think I will be ordering from Europe next time. Still cheaper than the US…

[Critter]

I saw one pop up today on FB (maybe we saw the same thread…Dressage Tack Trader?)…and quite a few people commented about being worried about them going out of business or a bankruptcy. But they seem to be advertising new sales and deals on their website. I am going to try and ride this out as I really do want the pads I ordered…and I can make due with what I have for the winter (my 4yo mare is waaaaaay happier in these pads, so I was trying to stock up a bit since prices always seem to go up and never down).
I will share what I hear from them once they are back and answering messages.

[dr5627]

I ordered a core half pad from them in October with a ship time of 2-4 weeks, it did end up shipping right at the 4 week mark and arrived mid November. But that wasn’t a fully custom item.

[blue_heron]

Both items I ordered were “in stock” and not custom. I really wish they hadn’t gotten lost in the mail, though I’m kind of dubious of that. It’s prolonged this whole thing by months.

[findeight]

Be careful. When some places get into financial trouble, they often market very aggressively to meet their increasing obligations. Their suppliers don’t trust them to pay and will only ship to them after full payment and that can be a reason they are so slow filling customer orders. They slash prices, push loyalty programs you have to pay for and offer extra perks for gift cards. All to get cash to keep going.

Remember BB&B? After years of good service in stores and online, they quit carrying most of their traditional goods in stores, closed some stores and pushed online sales only. Online, popular items came up out of stock or 6-8 weeks shipping with no express shipping available or only with a considerable fee. Turned out it was because they couldn’t pay their bills or suppliers.

Always wonder if some mainly online under market price outfits operate by taking orders and waiting to order from their suppliers until they have a large number of items and the cash, from their customers, to pay the supplier. Its not an uncommon practice for “middle man” type companies even include drop shipping . Thats when the retailer never sees the item, it ships direct to customers from supplier or third party shipper/handler. The time between oder and fulfillment can be increased substantially compared to dealing with those that have adequate stock and operating capital.

Adding International shipping to this does not help speed things along but that alone can’t fully explain such extensive delays…and how in the world can you return anything?

That said, not sure of the specific company in the OP but this is something to consider.

ETA drop shipping is not a bad thing when dealing with reputable, financially healthy retailers online.

[coffeehag]

I placed my order Aug 2, emailed them Oct 17 for an update and was told it was in production and would ship in 2 weeks. Nothing happened. Followed up again Nov 9, was told it was currently in production and would ship in 3 weeks. Followed up again Dec 8, no update, and just wound up cancelling my order.

I know that my experience won’t make you feel better but at least you know it’s not just you… They were super kind in all their communications, but a delay of that length to me is unacceptable, especially when it’s been in production, supposedly, for months…

[findeight]

@coffeehag

Followed up again Nov 9, was told it was currently in production and would ship in 3 weeks.

But where was it in production and where would it ship from? Aus or India or similar? Do they actually make them in house or does it ship from factory to them then they ship it to you? That could explain some of the shipping delays…and excuses. Acting as a middle man, perhaps waiting until they have a large order to get a better price before starting production.

[dr5627]

Hufglocken sells Mattes brand items, made in Poland. They are very clear on their website about how it could take months for the items to be made and shipped to Australia.

[outerbanks77]

@findeight

But where was it in production and where would it ship from? Aus or India or similar? Do they actually make them in house or does it ship from factory to them then they ship it to you? That could explain some of the shipping delays…and excuses. Acting as a middle man, perhaps waiting until they have a large order to get a better price before starting production.

I believe they get the custom orders shipped in bulk from Poland to Australia, then they package the individual orders and send them out. I ordered custom Cavallo boots through them and they were shipped from Australia, IIRC.

[Critter]

I actually got a response from Katie today that she would check on it and get back to me, and they apologized for the slow response because of the holidays. I actually didn’t expect any response until the 8th when they are back in the office, so I was surprised to get an email today.

[Absolut_Equestrian]

@blue_heron

Both items I ordered were “in stock” and not custom.

If you are looking for non-custom Mattes options, try equishop.com. They are based in Poland, where Mattes is made.

[blue_heron]

Great prices but they didn’t have what I wanted. I just placed a new order with HypoStore. They had a 20% off discount and after paying shipping it was only $45 more than at Hufglocken and both my items said they would ship within 1-2 weeks. I emailed Hufglocken to tell them to cancel my order. We’ll see when they get back to me.

[blue_heron]

Update: items from HypoStore shipped right after the holiday and are currently sitting in US customs an hour from me. Really hoping the items are as I ordered.

Hufglocken never returned my email for a refund. I filed a PayPal dispute this morning and was refunded a few hours later. Go figure. Not sure what to make of all of this.

[Critter]

Well, Katie told me she would follow up at the end of the week (due to the holidays)…so I figured I would wait until after the 8th anyway. Still no word, so I just sent another email asking for an update. Now past the 5 month mark.