Just thought I'd share my experiences using e-go to transport secondhand windsurfing equipment. I was quite concerned giving other peoples' negative comments, but it was the only affordable way to transport the gear to Hobart -- e-go depot-depot was less than half the cheapest competitors price.
1. Mast from Sunshine Coast, 12 days (7-8 estimate), cost $10 depot-depot
2. Mast from Sunshine Coast, 14 days (7-8 estimate), cost $10 depot-depot
3. 3 sails from Wollongong, 6 days (8-9 estimate), cost $100 door-depot
4. Board,sail,mast,boom etc. from Coffs Harbour, 6 days (10-11 estimate), $150 plus $45 insurance, depot-depot
I did submit an enquiry about the second mast (email is the only way to communicate with e-go). I received a reply saying the mast was at the Hobart depot. When I went there it took them a couple of attempts to find it, after I kept insisting (apparently the tube had rolled behind something else). So I suspect that e-go's reply is a standard response aimed to get you to check at the depot yourself. (i guess for $10 you can't expect too much)
So it worked out alright for me. The online tracking is useless, you get sporadic messages. According to tracking only one of my items has arrived, two are in Brisbane and one is in Melbourne! I strongly suggest writing the consignment number and delivery address on the package, some of my consignment labels were barely hanging on!
Also I wonder if anyone has ever made a insurance claim through e-go? I was a bit worried as the invoice (and none of the other papwork) does not state that you've paid for insurance. Might be worth taking a screenshot of the quote when you pay for it...
Anyway hope that helps someone.
Got a sail delivered from Melb to Brisbane in just a few days via E-Go, was about a month ago. Arrived at the door and all very good service. Maybe I was just lucky.
Cheers - Greg
its mostly bad news and bad service.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=79092&SearchTerms=hunter,express
Yeah, I read that thread and a couple of others before using e-go. It is always difficult to make an accurate judgement call from these threads because people only tend to write about bad experiences. I did find a couple of online retailers who stated they had used e-go for dozens of shipments with minimal problems.
All up I saved about $300 in shipping (in actual fact, if e-go didn't exist I probably wouldn't have bought this gear and would still be stuck with my 1980s Alpha Waikiki). So for me it worked.
The service is crap (non-existent), they can be slow and I worry how a warranty claim might work out. But I do doubt that their actual loss/damage rates are much different to most other road couriers. After all they subcontract to the same couriers many other companies use -- e.g. at the Tassie end they subcontract to Road Runners as do quite a few other couriers I've used in the past!
Also many complaints are about pickup and dropoff, so if you go depot-depot you get rid of all those concerns.
I have only had good experiences with e-go, but I use insurance every time and pack it like I would expect a courier to throw it around.
If you want things handled with kid-gloves and all organised for you, you can pay a lot more through another courier. If you want to save money, you have to do a bit of it yourself.
I worked in the IT department for a large courier company once, and I saw what they could do to their own equipment, so I know to use insurance.
I've used them a number of times for boards, sails and masts. Have not had a problem. Where I am everthing goes through other couriers anyway so in the end I can't see the difference.
The only problem I've ever had is with a major courier.
I've used them twice
- once to receive a sail, had no idea where the sail was, but it did arrive from Sydney to Brissy in a week
- once to send a sail from Brissy to Melbourne, had a problem paying with Paypal but after that OK
It appeared from the website that eGo uses Hunters
I did'nt use insurance, prob should have in hindsight. Would rather pay more and be certain the goods do get there
I've had no problems with e-go. Twice to recieve via depot-to-depot and once via depot-to-door, all under 6 working days. Prices very cheap if depot-to-depot, others OK to 'just like everyone else' for door to door. It's good to have a choice! I have no reluctance to use 'em again. They have a local depot so it's very convenient.
The latest parcel (a sail) took 17 days from Geelong to Hobart. First I tried the normal e-go support route with half a dozen emails back and forth regarding item description etc. Then I gave the local depot a call, two minutes later they found the sail, apparently they just hadn't got around to giving me a call. So the e-go support team didn't seem to have tried very hard to find the item.... Oh, and the item arrived perfectly packaged and absolutely clearly marked.
So this one had me a little worried, but at $20 shipping for a sail, you can't complain.
