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I called DHL today and they still have nothing coming my way. Are shipments to Canada being shipped with DHL?

My order number is around 150. BitSyncom / Yifu won't reply to my many polite and respectful emails.

Do you live in Canada? Did you get your batch #1 Avalon? 

Yifu / BitSyncom please respond.

I am starting to wonder the same thing myself. I am surprised to see nobody from Canada has come forward saying they got theirs.

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread as I am considering a batch #3 order.

Edit: Just saw the new price.

It's looking like Canadians are getting no asic love. I continue to receive no response from the Avalon team.  :(

I have a tracking #, but its still showing its in HK

Someone in customs is mining Bitcoins.  ::)

Oh good. What was your order number?

I wonder how many Canadians there are in batch 1.

By the way guys, I don't think you will get any notification of shipment from DHL. I called them up and found out that once packages make it into Canada they are handed to some company called "Loomis Express" So the package will come from Loomis Express.

So basically what I'm saying is that you have no way of finding out IF you are due to receive it BEFORE they actually make the delivery attempt.

Hmm, now that I think of it I would've preferred (and paid) if they sued FedEx or UPS or some other bigger shipping company.

Oddly enough, if you get a delivery attempt notice from Loomis Express and write a cheque out to Loomis Express for the brokerage fees as instructed on their notice, they'll now reject it because they actually need a cheque made out to DHL Express.

Or at least that's what they told me in December when they delivered a package to me. Either way they apparently lost what I gave them and sent it to collections anyway. YMMV.

At the last Vancouver Bitcoin meet-up, I was told by someone I believe is likely a reliable source that someone he knows, in BC, had received two Avalon batch #1 ASICs. This was march 6st. Second hand information, so take it for what it's worth.

Does it show a link from China to Hong Kong or does it just show HK as the start of the journey?

lol failsauce their part...

I wonder why DHL doesn't have a Canadian presence. Are there some protectionist regulations preventing them or?

Hmm, did some googling and found this:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DHL+Worldwide+Express+Purchases+Mayne+Group+Canada,+Inc.,+%60Loomis,'+a...-a093760923

So I presume your experience was due to them probably not being done with integrating the two companies.

If I get a delivery notice and I miss the shipment I intend to bring cash as I don't feel like being hassled by a collections agency.

DHL's canadian operations were recently purchased by transforce, and re-named loomis express. They operated as DHL for some time and had a considerable presence.

Ah, thanks for the info. I was not aware of that.

"Montréal, Québec and Toronto, Ontario, June 27, 2011 – TransForce Inc. (“TransForce” or “the
Company”) (TSX: TFI) and DHL Express (Canada) Ltd (“DHL Express Canada”) jointly announced today the
formal closing of their previously announced agreement whereby TransForce, a North American leader
in the transportation industry, has purchased the assets of DHL Express Canada’s domestic business and
will be operated through a newly established subsidiary, Loomis Express. With the closure of the
transaction, Loomis Express and DHL Express Canada will begin operating as two separate companies,
providing a completely integrated domestic and international suite of innovative and strongly
competitive logistics and shipping services.


Under the strategic alliance, Loomis Express will focus on providing expanded domestic operations in
the Canadian package and courier sector, allowing DHL Express Canada to leverage its core strength and
focus exclusively on the Canadian international shipping segment."

I wonder if they'll still use DHL for batch 2 or whether they found an alternative.

For Batch #2, you can choose between EMS or DHL. Being canadian, I chose EMS because, in the past, I always had to pay customs fees/taxes with DHL compare to EMS.

Yep, I favor EMS as well. When they shipped me my Icarus miners I had to pay no customs fees :) (big brother if you're watching not to worry you get plenty of taxes from me) lol

 I too favour EMS and selected them for my batch 2 unit.

I called DHL again today for order 15X and still nothing. Ordered and paid for on September 23, 2012.

What was the point of ordering early, paying quickly and taking the risk??

You don't have to pay 6 grand like batch 3 orders  :D

Look at it this way. your batch 1 order is worth 6-10k delivered or not, right here right now. a day 1 BFL order still isn't worth jack shit. a day 1 bASIC order would have you out a grand. You're in an awesome position, embrace it.

I understand what you are saying. It's not an awesome position if I don't have it mining. I placed orders with all three companies and got refunds from the other two early on. So I thought I was sitting pretty with my early order Avalon. I figured since I had an early order and paid quickly I would be getting it sooner than others with orders numbers 800+. What's the excuse for shipping orders in this manner?

Have you emailed Yifu? My early batch 1 order was MIA too and I emailed him and did get a response within a day.

I still haven't received my units or a tracking number but he did confirm my units were going out.

What is your order number? I have emailed him, private messaged him and opened a support ticket. I emailed him numerous times. All correspondence has been polite. No response from him at all.

What else can I do?

Well now im getting worried I picked the default DHL for batch #2. The only thing I was thinking about was trying to make the payment as fast as I can so I can be one of the early batch 2 owner and signed in as a guest but I did get an email from both avalon and from 4 emails from walletbit...

Well, if it makes you feel any better the amount of BTC it will earn in its very first DAY of operation will pay for the duty fees 10x over.

Batch 1 and Batch 2 customers are sitting pretty either way. Not so sure about batch 3 though. It all depends on how much new hashing power is added to the network.

I forgot to mention earlier but I just received my batch 1 Avalon yesterday. So chalk one up for Canada.

Congratulations. What was your order Number? Did you have to pay duties to DHL? Did DHL call you before delivering?

Thank you.

order # 200000333

not sure if that's one of the very first or not...order was placed Oct 12 2012

I did have to pay $50.91 to DHL, well specifically to Loomis Express as they were the company that did the actual delivery. I believe DHL hands off all packages intended for Canada to Loomis Express.

No, nobody called me before delivery. They just showed up. Unfortunately I was not home when they attempted the first delivery so I had to go and pick it up myself from one of their local warehouses which belonged to yet another company (Medex Shipping or something like that). Quite a hassle but hey in the end it's worth it. For batch 2 I chose EMS.

I'm hoping mine shows up in the next week (Order # 20000015x). My emails and pm's continue to go unanswered though.

All the best to my fellow Avalon batch #1 Canadians!

Hmm  yeah I heard they don't like to be bothered by such silly things as answering e-mails. I'm kidding of course as I have no expereince with their customer serivice, but yeah I think you should get yours next week.

Btw guys if you're on btcguild join the Canadian team :) This way we can be good at something else other than hockey :)..

*if* and hopefully *when* I receive my batch 2 product, I will join this team. Although hockey is the most wonderful sport played on ice, *( GO OILERS!!! )*  it would indeed be nice to "branch out" into other endeavors...  ;)



in the meantime, I'm sticking with coinlab (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99643.0), (totally unsolicited endorsement incoming) - yes, it's 5% PPS, but has extremely low stales, and I'm fully expecting that they will honour their commitment to pay $2.5 per GH/s per day, until my "loyalty points"* are expended. ((once it becomes less profitable to mine with GPU of course))

*note: loyalty points are no longer available to be earned, only redeemed.

The bad news with batch 2 is that the Avalon team said they need a break before they start working on or shipping it (batch 2 units).

That is bad news. Or at least, unfortunate news. Still better than the "news" coming from the other camp...

The "good" news is that with the track record of the Avalon team, the term "a break" means a week or two, whereas with the track record of the "other" team, the term "a break" would mean 4-6 weeks, and at the end of 6 weeks, another 4 to 6 weeks... repeat indefinitely.

 :D Oh sick burn on BFL!

Yeah but all that wait will be worthwhile because the BFL chips are powered by magic! They will be able to hash all the bitcoins!

Now back to the serious business of bitcoins, I'd say that they deserve the break.

1 of 2 delivered... left HK on Friday, showed up Tuesday late afternoon. Customs/Duty was $43

order # was under 200, but my units had been held back due to a shipping problem.  :(

From the looks of things this unit was in use for awhile, or run in a very dusty environment as cables in airflow had a pretty good buildup of fine dust..

but bottom line: I have it, it works! :)

 Y E S !


 

Congrats!

Did you ever get a tracking number?
Also how many days did it take from the time of shipping to when it showed up at the door.

Thanks

At first I thought I did not, but apparently ngzhang e-mailed me the DHL tracking number but sadly it ended up being flagged by gmail as spam (go figure) so I did not notice it until much much longer after.

So those of you who are waiting please check your spam boxes and mail filters..you just may have something from the avalon team.

allinvain,

May I ask if you could please check something on the DHL tracking number for your received Avalon shipment?-- How many days between the first "shipment information received" event and the next tracking event (presumably package pick-up)?

3 days.

allinvain, did it show any tracking progress or did it go from waybill created to delivered? Thanks.

I dont to stress you.... but at this point ... most likely your package has been lost (mishandled)

The only thing can help you is Yifu gives you details info of the shipment, pray that he bought insurance for it.

Its not uncommon when they use HK forwarder.

My relative used import goods from wholesaler in China thro DHL.

Well, like I said, I did not have the tracking # until AFTER I got the unit, so I wasn't able to follow the package on its journey.

Have you tried to contact the Avalon team, check your spam folder, call DHL or Loomis Express( the company which will deliver your unit!).

I think you misunderstood my question. Can you see the progress of the package on the DHL website or did it go from waybill created to delivered? I have a tracking number but it hasn't moved or been picked up in 3 days.

Oh sorry, yes I did misunderstand your question. Yes I can see the progress of the package. Hope this helps in some way.

allinvain:

On your Avalon shipment destined to Canada, what was the update "Location" on first package scan when reaching the Americas?  Was it a US city or Canadian?

I'm curious if they're landing in a city on the west coast first like Vancouver, or some U.S. hub of theirs before coming to Canada.

Thanks.

 I wonder if there is some sort of issue with Canadian customs versus US and other countries.  I am wondering about the turnout in South American countries and Eastern Europe as well.  Hope you receive your units in a timely manner, will be following your posts.

ST

I would imagine it all depends on where the package is destined to go. I bet they have multiple sorting facilities/hubs. For me it says "Arrived at Sort Facility CINCINNATI HUB - USA" So it's hitting USA first. I do not know if they even have a sorting hub in Canada.

Hey Tripper,

Did you end up getting your units yet?

I'm in Canada.

Avalon Received: March 21
Breakeven (USD): March 24
Breakeven (BTC): 75% there as of this post. Estimated BTC breakeven will be April 12th which accounts for the expected difficulty jump to ~7.8M tomorrow.

Not yet. My miner is still in Hong Kong.