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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: acidjack on October 29, 2012, 11:25:58 AM
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Some newly-acquired mics of mine had some issues when purchased that need to be fixed. I've been instructed to send them back to Germany myself, rather than through a U.S. dealer.
What's the preferred way to do this? I'm assuming FedEx, but let me know if there are better ways. Seller is paying the fees.
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AJ, would you please PM me what the problem is? If you'd rather not, I understand
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The obvious stuff- pack well and insure. FedEx works and is what three of us used when we pooled our Gefells for return last year. We each packed our own mics in return boxes then consolodated those into one large box shipped over to Germany. The paperwork for customs will need to state the equipment and it's value.
The not obvious stuff- Payment of German/European VAT tax is required for parts and work performed for individual customers, even those outside the EU. VAT does not apply to business to business transactions, so if everything can be done under a company umbrella- ie. correspondance and shipping address in a US company name, VAT will not apply. Our contact at Microtech Gefell was very helpful with all this.
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I think you may find that all the items in your shipment will need to be returned as one shipment after they've been repaired, so that the incoming and outgoing manifests are the same. Otherwise the manufacturer will have to do a lot of explaining to Customs. So if there's any one item that you think might take a lot longer to fix than the others, you might want to check with the manufacturer about setting it aside and shipping it separately, so that all the others aren't held back.
While I personally lean toward FedEx for most things, other people (and companies) I know use UPS for shipments to and from Germany, and it seems to work well for them. DHL is also interesting because of its close integration with the German postal service.
--If you wouldn't mind saying in some general way, why do you need to ship the items to Germany yourself rather than via the manufacturer's distributor? I know that at least two German manufacturers don't currently have U.S. distributors; was the equipment made by one of them?
--best regards
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I think you may find that all the items in your shipment will need to be returned as one shipment after they've been repaired, so that the incoming and outgoing manifests are the same. Otherwise the manufacturer will have to do a lot of explaining to Customs. So if there's any one item that you think might take a lot longer to fix than the others, you might want to check with the manufacturer about setting it aside and shipping it separately, so that all the others aren't held back.
This is what the three of us here did last year. Mics were packaged and shipped to one member who consolidated the boxes into a single shipment to Germany. Same in reverse- the repaired mics were boxed seperately for the three of us but consolodated in one large box and shipped back to me and I then shipped the idvidual boxes back to the other two from here. The three of us payed seperately, but the repair and return shippment was handled in my company's name. The shipping manifests matched both ways and we had no problems clearing customs.
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--If you wouldn't mind saying in some general way, why do you need to ship the items to Germany yourself rather than via the manufacturer's distributor? I know that at least two German manufacturers don't currently have U.S. distributors; was the equipment made by one of them?
--best regards
The mics in question are used MBHO 603a bodies, both of which were purchased (unknowingly) not in working condition. They are 3dB off from each other, and also about 20dB less sensitive than properly functioning bodies. As has been widely reported on the board, unfortunately, MBHO is not known for having a robust service network the way Schoeps and DPA do (and I would assume Neumann/Sennheiser, but I haven't owned those).
In any event, Dale Pro Audio is now the main U.S. distributor, so I reached out to them, and they in turn reached out to the guy who used to be in Brooklyn but now is in the UK but still in charge of U.S. repairs. He sent me an address in Germany and told me to ship them directly, so that is what I plan to do.
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Best of luck bro!
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I used DHL when I shipped my Gefells back to Germany for repairs. The shipping costs + insurance were almost as much as the repairs so watch out. No problems with the DHL service either way, there or back. As Mr. Satz said above, I like using DHL when shipping to / from Germany because it is a German company. I'm sure that FedEx would work out fine as well. You may want to compare the costs of each company, but my hunch is that they are similar.
Good luck with the repairs and be sure to coordinate everything with MBHO Germany.
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If at all possible I would send through the US distributor as the typically have a fast track through customs and can get better deals on duties (I.e. you won't get overcharged)
I have always gone through my US distributor for repairs but have heard it's crap shoot when not.
Shipping to and from Germany is pretty safe and fast though (not like Italy, Spain, France(safe but not fast sometimes) or the Netherlands (safe but a customs nightmare))
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A good idea to use the distrubutor, yet AFAIK duties apply to the importation of new items, not mics sent back for repair. I know we were not required to pay duties last year on our repair shipment to Germany and back.
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DHL and UPS are probably your best choices here in Germany.
DHL is a subsidiary of the German postal service and very fast/reliable. However, they will hand over your package to customs for inspection. This could take a few days, depending on the supplied paperwork.
As far as I know, UPS offers some kind of customs service with which they will not hand over your package to customs. Instead, they'll make all the customs declarations in your name. UPS is also very reliable and as fast as DHL.
I would not recommend FedEx. They might be able to process shipments to Germany, but they are not as common here as DHL and UPS. I rarely see their trucks on the streets (and I'm less than an hour from MBHO) and I see DHL/UPS trucks all the time. That being said, I don't have any personal experience with FedEx.
If it's just the 603a bodies giving you troubles, it might be easier/cheaper to just get a tinybox instead :D
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--If you wouldn't mind saying in some general way, why do you need to ship the items to Germany yourself rather than via the manufacturer's distributor? I know that at least two German manufacturers don't currently have U.S. distributors; was the equipment made by one of them?
--best regards
The mics in question are used MBHO 603a bodies, both of which were purchased (unknowingly) not in working condition. They are 3dB off from each other, and also about 20dB less sensitive than properly functioning bodies. As has been widely reported on the board, unfortunately, MBHO is not known for having a robust service network the way Schoeps and DPA do (and I would assume Neumann/Sennheiser, but I haven't owned those).
In any event, Dale Pro Audio is now the main U.S. distributor, so I reached out to them, and they in turn reached out to the guy who used to be in Brooklyn but now is in the UK but still in charge of U.S. repairs. He sent me an address in Germany and told me to ship them directly, so that is what I plan to do.
When I had MBHO's I sent them to Marcus Demuth (MBHO dealer) in NYC. He did the shipping to Germany. It all worked out very well.
Edit to add Marcus Demuth's contact info:
http://www.mbho.de/sales03.htm
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Brief update on this saga:
Yes, I'd have loved to use the U.S. distributor (Dale Pro Audio, who have been nothing but helpful to the extent they can be) but Mr. Demuth (who now lives in the UK) instructed otherwise. The shipping spot I used could not do DHL (which I wanted) so I had to go FedEx. Price was absolutely brutal at $126 to ship international with $800 insurance. And German customs has apparently asked MBHO to pay duties on it despite it being marked as manufactured in Germany and as a return for repair.
On the plus side, at least MBHO has the mics. Which, by the way, offer a really nice change of flavor from the Schoeps and are a great "situational mic" from what I've found using borrowed bodies.
I have to say, it's probably lucky for me that I didn't intend for these to be my primary mics, given that servicing them is, as has been documented a bunch of times here, not exactly at the more routine level of Schoeps and DPA. That said, Marcus has been responsive and seems to be doing his part on this. Partly it's a price of doing business with a lesser-known manufacturer.
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I LOVED my HO's when I ran them. Ran them from 2007>2011. Havent looked back since I got my Schoeps tho ;)
Check out some of my Phish pulls, and a TON of All Good from 2007 came out SMOKIN' the first time I used them. Got them from tonedeaf AT All Good 2007 so I decided to run them that weekend :)
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I LOVED my HO's when I ran them. Ran them from 2007>2011. Havent looked back since I got my Schoeps tho ;)
Check out some of my Phish pulls, and a TON of All Good from 2007 came out SMOKIN' the first time I used them. Got them from tonedeaf AT All Good 2007 so I decided to run them that weekend :)
Actually I think my favorite of yours is some indoor moe. show, I want to say 2009 or2010. Clearly FOB. Tape is absolutely sick. ;D
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I LOVED my HO's when I ran them. Ran them from 2007>2011. Havent looked back since I got my Schoeps tho ;)
Check out some of my Phish pulls, and a TON of All Good from 2007 came out SMOKIN' the first time I used them. Got them from tonedeaf AT All Good 2007 so I decided to run them that weekend :)
Actually I think my favorite of yours is some indoor moe. show, I want to say 2009 or2010. Clearly FOB. Tape is absolutely sick. ;D
Sweet! Glad you enjoyed it ;D