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Thanks!
I recently use the "Customer Service" : "Replacement parts" area of the website. I selected a number of parts and described them as "lost."
A few days later I received the email with a price quote. The email also suggested using PaB, but a number of the parts that I could get as replacement parts were not in PaB.
Thanks!
I have been buying sets from LEGO [email protected] for a very longtime. In the past years I had maybe an damaged box every 30 shipment or so. Recently I had 3 in the past 5 orders. Usually the root cause is because they packed too much "air bags" that crushes the box inside or shipping a polybag/small set with a large set making damage to the smaller set. I just received town hall with the box badly pressed/damaged by the air bags and the mini sopwith camel tear open... Anyone has experienced those lately ?
Thanks,
And no, I still haven't called for it yet. I'm trying to get a comprehensive list together, but I'll post here when I do try to get the mini fig parts.
My intent is to not have the international shipping charges ordering it from the US. Also there is a time consideration involved - I need it there sooner rather than later.
Thanks
Draddog
it seems to me, shipping and tax , deals double whammy to sales at [email protected] other major online retailers offer free shipping and no tax.
for example, a larger box at 99.90 having shipping at $27 not including tax yet. evening with double VIP point deducting $10 off the shipping, you are still losing $17 and tax.
[email protected] has some exclusives, so that's the primary reason for using them. You have to calculate total cost, including the value of your VIP points, to know where you'll get the best deal.
Shipping in [email protected] is temporarily free for orders over $75, by the way.
- Special sales like May the 4th and Black Friday
- Times when exclusive bonus add-ons are offered with certain sets or order minimums (exclusive minifigs, pick-a-brick boxes, etc)
- Clearanced items
- Combining the above with credit card or cashback site bonuses...last year Discover had like 5-10% back during 4th quarter, for example
On a normal, day to day basis you are right, other places will have better deals
Yes, I know you probably don't care, and that is ok, but keep that in mind before you bash [email protected] for doing what they are supposed to be doing.
BTW, it won't last, within the next few years we're bound to have a national system in place to fix this issue, to level the playing field. I don't like it, but I understand it.
So that $99 set from Amazon.com still has tax owed, Amazon just isn't collecting it for you.
If you want lower taxes, tell your government to spend less money. :)
This is why I continue to be amazed at how many Canadians complain that because the Canada Dollar and US Dollar are about equal, then Lego sets should cost the same on both sides of the border. This is nuts, they never will because of taxes, which are higher in all respects in Canada and this is reflected in the price. But it is also reflected in the higher level of social services Canada provides its citizens.
Right now, I have no health insurance. If I wanted to buy a decent policy to cover myself and my family, I would have an out of pocket cost of $1,000 a month, and an annual max out of pocket cost if we actually use all the services of about $26,000 (including the cost of the policy, plus deductible).
But I get cheap Lego! :)
I agree something will likely happen, but file it under one of those "careful what you wish for" kind of things. (not saying you want this, just that you recognize congress will eventually act). I have no doubt whatever they come up with will be worse than the status quo. My preference would be for congress to require big/sophisticated online stores to collect the taxes for all customers (amazon, target, tru, wal-mart, etc), but that small-time operators would still be allowed to continue as is, and the self-reporting mechanism would be maintained for buyers who frequent those merchants. Just hitting the big guys with these regulations would catch the biggest piece of the pie, without killing small businesses with administrative hassles.
However, if you meant some sort of national sales or VAT, then I say hell no!!!
Keep in mind that America exists because of British taxes, we went to war to free ourselves of excessive taxation. (or really, taxation without representation)
Of course, the grand irony in this is that the taxes of the day in 1775 were nothing compared to today, but then again we live in a very different world today so you really can't compare the two.
Our national income tax was never supposed to be over 6%, if you actually go back and study the original law, you'll see that was the promise. Ha!
I trust our government with our money about as far as I can throw it. Tax and spend, tax and spend, that is all they know how to do. Grr... And both sides are just as guilty...
Also, our federal system (at least prior to the 1930s, but let's not go too far down that road) was historically set up to only empower the federal government the responsibility of providing very specific and limited things, leaving the rest to the individual states to handle separately according to their own local wishes. We've gotten further and further away from this federal system over the past century, and more and more control of things is being done at the national level - some think this is a good thing, some think this is bad. Truth bet told, there's probably some good and bad, depending on just what is being regulated or managed.
To circle back, if a national VAT were introduced, there is no constitutional authority that would prevent states from keeping and adding to their individual sales' taxes as well. and since the national VAT would go to Washington, and most states are in the red already, they certainly aren't going to just give up all that revenue to be nice. Everyone would essentially be hit from both sides. And it doesn't help the retailers either, who now have to collect both national and state sales taxes.
The simplicity and (in this online world) necessity of a unified single sales tax rate across all states will be clear for all to see, but it won't happen. So a system will be left that increases the administrative burden, leaves much tax unrecovered and remains baffling and uncertain even to those that work in retail. (See some of the US shopping threads for examples of that).
Having said all that - I'm an outsider looking in and have no real say or perhaps even right to say and I'm 100% sure that someone looking in at how almost any country operates would find things just as strange (well almost anyway).
- Don't buy into all the media-driven propaganda you read, see, or hear. EVERYTHING you see/hear from the media about US politics represents the extremes of both parties - the 15-20% on each end. the middle 60% are generally pretty reasonable, agree on most things, and where they differ is often on those types of issues (fiscal, social, defense, etc) that are more important to any certain individual. But the fringe elements on the left and the right frame the public debates, so that presents a pretty skewed and extreme image of both "sides"
I'd also like to add in regards to healthcare - nothing is free. There are VERY few Americans who don't believe our healthcare system is a mess. it very much is, and 90%+ of Americans know it. There are just very different ideas on how we should go about fixing it, and how of course it all gets paid for. This means we end up with time and money wasting debacles like the ACA, which don't really solve the problem at all, but attack a few hot-button items that appeal to people.
In regards to guns, again very few people believe fully automatic assault weapons should be easily accessible, just like few people believe all weapons should be banned and confiscated. Most Americans believe in pretty sensible gun regulations.
Lastly, in regards to teaching, the general arguments in this country center more on the proper role of government-run schools in teaching potentially controversial subjects, or whether those should be taught at home according to individual parent's beliefs. Many of us have a good and healthy fear of having our children be propagandized by state-run education systems. Especially when so many of our kids aren't even being taught to read or write...