It is not my purpose to start a long thread about The Officials Choice but since I have put my two cents in to the fray before I would like to add my third and fourth cent to it now.

As many of you know, I was in Florida the entire month of July officiating in AAU and YBOA national basketball tournaments. On Wednesday, July 13th I placed a telephone order with The Officials Choice for two gray shirts with IAABO patches. Since I was in Florida I wanted them delivered to my Mother's home in Sanford, Florida. I was not charged any extra S&H and I received my shirts on Saturday, July 16th.

MTD, Sr.

My opinion hasn't changed. Just checked their site. Put a $2.88 shoe bag in my cart and checked shipping. Here they are!

Shipping options:

FedEx $39.07
(Standard Overnight )
FedEx $15.65
(Ground Home Delivery)
USPS $25.59
(EXPRESS)
USPS $29.80
(PRIORITY)
USPS $10.08
(PARCEL)

$10.08 to mail a item that weighs less than half a pound.

Sorry but that's bull$hit.

How much was the S&H on your shirts, Mark?


[Edited by BktBallRef on Aug 7th, 2005 at 10:28 PM]

So, how exactly has your opinion changed? :D

Remember, I'm in Canada
 

$1.75 US flag:

<li>FedEx - International Economy $42.86</li>

Edit:

Fedex's website, click on Rates, from ZIP Code 07961 to my Postal Code:

Fedex package, 1 lb. 2" x 2" x 2", $2 USD declared value:
<li>Fedex International Ground: $10.95</li>

Fedex Envelope, 0.5 lb., $2 USD declared value:
<li>Fedex Express / International Priority: $26.44</li>
<li>Fedex Express / Internation Economy: $41.93</li>

[Edited by JugglingReferee on Aug 7th, 2005 at 09:43 PM]

When I went down to Vegas for the coast to coast camp, I bought 6 striped shirts with the IAABO logo and a few of their new football shirts.

They shipped it next day to the hotel and it didn't cost me more than $10.

They also threw in 3 free CMG's. You can bet I'm doing business with them again.

Re: Remember, I'm in Canada
 

Your numbers are still goofy. Why is priority cheaper than economy? Did you reverse these?

I hope there were whistles inside the CMGs. ;)

Yes, the #s are weird.
 

No, sirree.

Chuck, I've had to replace my keyboard. The "n't" key doesn't work on the other one. :D

Why would a Candian football official order a US flag? :)

Why does Official's Choice have different S&H rates for phone orders versus online orders? :confused:

GWN = Great White North
 

Is that one of those fancy new keyboards with an "Any" key as well?

I am an American wannabee. ;) After all, I also do basketball, and here in Ontario we use Fed rules, where the rest of the GWN uses eirher modified FIBA or modified NCAA. And, for more American influence: I'm an IAABO official.

ref18 said that once before as well. I wonder if the people they use to operate the online ordering inflates the shipping prices to 'earn' some extra revenue.

They have done this with me also. I was going to place an order online, but, after seeing the price of shipping, decided against it. I gave them a call and asked for a price just out of curiosity of what they were going to tell me and surprisingly, it was cheaper. Now, if I order anything from them, I do it over the phone.

$10 is a good shipping price for overnight delivery of 6 shirts and 3 free whistles.

It's not a good price at all for standard delivery of one shoe bag.

I think that's BBR's point.

Re: GWN = Great White North
 

You have my sympathy. :)

I also suspect it would have been a different story had you ordrered from Canada.

Sorry, I bought a couple things from them - they're great, but with the outrageous shipping costs, it's not worth it.

Ordered 2 shirts from them early this summer. Total bill including shipping was under $50.

Unfortunately the shirts didn't fit and I had to have them replaced. I filled out the return and sent the shirts with a $10 check. They cashed the check immediately. It took 4 emails to get my replacement shirts. However, once they actually responded to my email it only took 1 day to get the replacements.

Total time for the entire series of transactions was 3 weeks.

I'm not sure if that makes good service or not. Either way, I'm happy with the shirts, and though it took some effort on my part, the service wasn't any worse than many other companies.

Re: Remember, I'm in Canada
 

As Tony said, why are you ordering an 'merican flag?

In another post, someone said this same stitch so when I wanted to place an order towards early Summer I called and they told me I needed to go online to place the order.

This is my first year in IAABO and I need some patches. Are they available and where? Or do I have to order shirts that are already embroidered?

Re: Re: Remember, I'm in Canada
 

The intent was the show the large disparity in shipping costs with possibly the smallest item able to purchase.

I've never had any problems returning anything with Honig's. If I've ever had a problem with my order (which in most cases as been a mistake whenever I placed the order), I just call them, they ship out what I need that day and I send it (my mistake) back.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChrisSportsFan

Quote:

Originally posted by brandan89 Quote: Originally posted by BktBallRef Why does Official's Choice have different S&H rates for phone orders versus online orders? :confused: They have done this with me also. I was going to place an order online, but, after seeing the price of shipping, decided against it. I gave them a call and asked for a price just out of curiosity of what they were going to tell me and surprisingly, it was cheaper. Now, if I order anything from them, I do it over the phone.

In another post, someone said this same stitch so when I wanted to place an order towards early Summer I called and they told me I needed to go online to place the order.

This is my first year in IAABO and I need some patches. Are they available and where? Or do I have to order shirts that are already embroidered?

[/QUOTE

Patches are available from the Canadian Honigs Location http://www.honigs-canada.com

Also your board secretary can order them directly from IAABO. There is an order form on the IAABO webpage. http://www.iaabo.org

The officials choice only sells them embroidered on their merchandise. The $20 micro-softer shirt with IAABO logo is a deal, and I just bought a few of them.

It appears that the difference with doing business with Official's Choice is.....BAD SERVICE & INFLATED S&H RATES when ordering "online" ---- GREAT SERVICE & Reasonable S&H rates when "calling the company directly". CORRECT?

If this is the case, I'm calling and avoiding the online ordering!

PEACE

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ult/472111.gif

I'm just going to avoid them all together. Why allow a business you take advantage of you whenever you order online? There're probably many people who are unaware of this. I don't know of any other suppliers that do this. I'll stick to the 4 stores I've had success with -- Honig's, Gerry Davis, Between The Lines, & +POS. Although if you recall, I did have one little problem with +POS, but that's water under the bridge.

Uh, oh. It appears I wasn't doing my homework before ordering. I finally broke down and ordered the OC patent leather 3/4 shoes on-line about two weeks ago. They were on sale for $49.95, with $13.80 for S&H, for a total of $63.75. I wonder what S&H would've been if I had called instead.

On a positive note however, the order was placed on a Wed., and the package was on my doorstep the following Monday. And, to top it off, everything was there - the laces, the soles, 1 left and 1 right... :D

Their new lanyard: $1.25
Shipping: FedEx $36.72 (Standard Overnight)
FedEx $15.44 (Ground Home Delivery)
USPS $20.97 (EXPRESS)
USPS $29.80 (PRIORITY)
USPS $10.08 (PARCEL)
-----------------------------------------
Not doing business with the OC: priceless

A fellow umpire from the US sent me a book (300 pages) for $1.85 through the USPS.

Crazy.