Raspberry Pi 3 foundation development board $24.49 and free shipping from arrow.com

Suckit

Not harsh.

Banggood and Tomtop are also chinese sites, with the exception that they provide good support.
There are a lot of Chinese bases sites i could recommend, Gearbest is not one of them.

Phibsboro

Suckit wrote: »

Not harsh.

Banggood and Tomtop are also chinese sites, with the exception that they provide good support.
There are a lot of Chinese bases sites i could recommend, Gearbest is not one of them.

The problem is that it appears that pretty much every Chinese site has a poor customer service record. Here is a review site full of warnings about banggood being a scam site for example :

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.banggood.com

Gearbest definitely has form in this regard, as I'm sure you know they were banned on this very forum for shilling at one point. But as things stand today they are my go-to Chinese site if only for the Priority Line shipping. If they are all much of a muchness (which I suspect is the case) then getting something in a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months tips things in their favour.

I think we may have different use cases here anyways, I can't imagine spending 300e on one of those sites. At that money warranty, ability to return etc become crucial and I'd buy locally.

loki7777

Gearbest banned here? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1757

I spent more than 300€ at once on gearbest without any problems(2 xaomi phones) after then i bought few android boxes for me and friends-no problems as well.
BUT all was paid using paypal.

RossieMan

Gearbest are fine until you run into a problem. Then you're ****ed. Of something gives missing in the delivery, they'll offer you a 15 euro voucher off your next order. Youve to fight with them to get your money back. Stick to aliexpress, cheaper and safer.

Phibsboro

loki7777 wrote: »

Gearbest banned here? http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1757

I spent more than 300€ at once on gearbest without any problems(2 xaomi phones) after then i bought few android boxes for me and friends-no problems as well.
BUT all was paid using paypal.

Gearbest were miraculously unbanned when they opened up a paid Sponsored Forum You actually couldn't even mention their name in BA threads, they became known as the "site that can't be mentioned'

Some chat about it here on reddit (aka that other forum site that can't be mentioned :P )
https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/4m0pwu/boardsie_are_sellouts_allowing_a_site_banned_for/

Suckit

Their name was ********** asterisks...
They are terrible. They are the worst of all of the Chinese sites. I wish nothing bad on anyone, but if you continue to use them, you will experience how bad they are.
Some advice if you are going to continue using them, do not buy anything over an amount that you can afford to lose.
I am not telling anyone to stop using them, so please do not recommend them.
They have paid (using money that they ripped off people) to get their name out there.
They are dirt.

I would not in a million years class them with bad Chinese sites, they are in a league of their own.

They are unlike others and they have appalling practice. They are bad through.
Also if you read the reviews, you will see often that the customer is at fault, but it is a different type of complaint with Gearbest.
Not comparable.

scamalert

got my pi today,have to say its really fast for what it is ,loaded rasbian os on it,boots as fast as my win 10 desktop on full hd gui interface.

as casing goes think ill cut out few plexi glass squares and make some sort of sandwich ,runs quite cool with little heat.

All in thanks OP, whoever needs unix given it can be powered of any samsung charger 5v its handy to have.

Suckit

I (just) asked on chat would they be repeating that promotion, i was told that they always have a similar promotion "sporadically, every month".

Worth keeping an eye out for maybe.

lau1247

Anyone got the following from Arrow?

Attention: Accounts Payable

The attached letter provides a list of transactions which have exceeded the payment terms on your account.

Arrow Electronics values your business and is available to discuss any concerns regarding the identified transactions.

Respectfully,

Financial Services Team
Americas Components
Arrow Electronics, Inc.

I paid with Paypal and everything has gone through which is strange. They must have a sh1te system for logging payment. Anyway thought I'd ask in case anyone come across the same.

I wouldn't pay it any heed, it's being reported they sent it by mistake. Arrow seem pretty disorganized.

niallb

lau1247 wrote: »

Anyone got the following from Arrow?

I got the same.
I forwarded them the paypal transaction number and told them the account was paid. Case closed as far as I'm concerned.

I did notice that they were looking for the amount in USD$ which I had paid in €URO, so maybe that had something to do with the confusion.

Suckit

Nope, i did not receive any email from them.

lau1247

niallb wrote: »

I got the same.
I forwarded them the paypal transaction number and told them the account was paid. Case closed as far as I'm concerned.

I did notice that they were looking for the amount in USD$ which I had paid in €URO, so maybe that had something to do with the confusion.

Thanks, yeah I noticed that it was in USD also.

Anyway I sent them the transaction ID from paypal and copy the webmaster mail for precaution.. got a confirmation mail that it checked out ok and case close.

Time to play around with retropie

scamalert

just got email tonight with this anyone else receive anything simillar ?

Dear Valued Customer,

You may have recently received a Notice of Invoices Past Due from Arrow.com and/or Verical. Our billing system sent this notice out in error. Unfortunately, we did not accurately account for your recent PayPal payments or credits. We apologize for our mistake.

This account with Arrow.com and Verical is paid in full and you owe us nothing. To help make up for our error, we are sending you a free Raspberry Pi Zero W, the latest and most compact single board computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

We will continue to update you with additional shipment details, including your tracking number. Your Raspberry Pi Zero W should arrive in 5-10 business days. Arrow will cover the costs of shipping, duties and taxes

Mica087

scamalert wrote: »

just got email tonight with this anyone else receive anything simillar ?

Dear Valued Customer,

You may have recently received a Notice of Invoices Past Due from Arrow.com and/or Verical. Our billing system sent this notice out in error. Unfortunately, we did not accurately account for your recent PayPal payments or credits. We apologize for our mistake.

This account with Arrow.com and Verical is paid in full and you owe us nothing. To help make up for our error, we are sending you a free Raspberry Pi Zero W, the latest and most compact single board computer from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

We will continue to update you with additional shipment details, including your tracking number. Your Raspberry Pi Zero W should arrive in 5-10 business days. Arrow will cover the costs of shipping, duties and taxes

Yeah I got that email too...

alias no.9

Same here

Suckit

Not me. 
Hopefully i will get one. Checked my spam folder and everything .

niallb

I got the freebie mail too

scamalert

well that would be really nice touch of arrow,even thou i had no issues like others did.

lau1247

yes got the same email. Can't wait to try it out

Did you all get the mail at the same time as scamalert (Wed night/Thu morning) or have they been arriving in dribs and drabs?

lau1247

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you all get the mail at the same time as scamalert (Wed night/Thu morning) or have they been arriving in dribs and drabs?

wednesday night for me

Suckit

Tempted to email them and ask if the people getting the zero were chosen at random, or is everyone that got charged getting one.
But not sure. I can not really ask, but am reminded of 'if you do not ask, you do not get'.

lau1247

Suckit wrote: »

Tempted to email them and ask if the people getting the zero were chosen at random, or is everyone that got charged getting one.
But not sure. I can not really ask, but am reminded of 'if you do not ask, you do not get'.

did you pay by paypal and that they email you to ask for payment again?

If not then i guess you have the answer.

Suckit

lau1247 wrote: »

did you pay by paypal and that they email you to ask for payment again?

If not then i guess you have the answer.

Ah, I  did not realise some people were asked to pay twice.
I did pay by paypal but was not asked to resend the payment again. Ah well...

I would not have asked them anyway, would not have known how to word it, can not help feeling i did not get as good deal as others...
Them's the breaks.

I paid by paypal and got the subsequent email claiming payment was still due. I didn't hear anything about a free Pi Zero.

I think it's random, I doubt they can afford to send one to everyone. Apparently these emails were sent out en masse by a new employee.

Not too bothered anyway, the initial deal was very good and I have not (touch wood) received any invoice from Fedex asking for customs.

Phibsboro

Arggg - I got the dreaded FedEx letter this morning! 26.20 VAT and fees. Has anyone else got through this process yet? Did anyone manage to get the VAT/fee undone?

Ninjini

Also received an invoice this morning. Disbursements out of the scope of EU VAT: 10.18
Clearance administration charge vatable at 23%: 12.50
VAT amount due: 2.88
Total amount due : €25.56

scamalert

cnuts fedex, id imagine most of us will get the letter then
anyway heres link to write them directly also has email so use that to send your invoice from paypal to them,also if gotten recent letter include that as well from arrow.

https://www.fedex.com/ie/contact/writefedex.html

Suckit

I do not know why mine went through UPS, but i would imagine it is the same process (From the 2nd page onwards, of this thread).
I had to get another invoice from Arrow with the correct price including discount on it, and free shipping.
I sent that in to them and i had to point out that it was below the negligible threshold.
The tax site has since changed, so the 'negligible' link in the 2nd or 3rd page no longer works, i could not find it the other night.