Anyone ordered from Russian site DIY-Tubes?

[Reg18]

I have ordered a few germainium transistors and other capacitors etc from
Them and the shipping seems to be taking a while, getting a little nervous they might not be legit?
On another note, where do people source germainium transistors and carbon comps etc?
I'm in New Zealand and the shipping can be really expensive if going through eBay.

[EBK]

I ordered some stuff from them a few years back.  They're legit.  New Zealand is a long way from Russia.  Cost-effective shipping with various customs hurdles could take a couple months, perhaps.  How long have you been waiting?

[POTL]

I bought in diy tubes several times. Their service is excellent. there was a case when I ordered cases, but one arrived with severe cosmetic defects and no thread for the bolts. They changed, they sent me a new building for free, and they did not take away the marriage. It was 2 or 3 years ago, it is possible that the control has improved now. otherwise no complaints. As for germanium transistors, in Russia they are still sold in large stores (not pedal diy), they can be bought at a price of 10-20 cents per piece, or even cheaper.

[duck_arse]

I'm a bit closer, Reg, and I've ordered twice from Ivan. one knob was missing a screw, but I let that go. I got some germs from him - he sorted for gain and leakage ranges, i only had to ask.

if your stuff is coming via dhl, it's probably lost between a northern dhl waypoint and the enzed dhl system. could be quite a while.

[davent]

I have ordered a few germainium transistors and other capacitors etc from
Them and the shipping seems to be taking a while, getting a little nervous they might not be legit?
On another note, where do people source germainium transistors and carbon comps etc?
I'm in New Zealand and the shipping can be really expensive if going through eBay.

Paul's in Australia, haven't ordered his transistors but have placed other orders and shipped to Canada with no issues.

Germaniums  http://www.diyguitarpedals.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

[garcho]

There is a massive global shipping backlog, everyone is waiting for everything.

[FUZZZZzzzz]

I ordered two preamp kits from that site a couple months ago. Waited for a month (im in europe so it shouldnt take that long). Finally track and trace showed it spend almost 3 weeks at customs. Communication with them was terrible (diytubes). None of their email adresses seem to work. Contact via paypal. Does the trick. Finally got the items, but they've send two different preamps. one not the one Ive ordered, but a much cheaper one. Human error can occur. No big deal. But, I still cannot contact them though to resolve this. all emaildresses bounce. filed a dispute via paypal to contact them, but their website (paypal) is so horrible Im no step further then I was when Ive started. You cannot contact them by phone anymore.

It seems like I will just record my drummer in mono and wait for my handwritten letter to arrive in Russia.

(If someone from diy-tubes reads this, please contact me.)

[EBK]

You could try sending Ivan a PM.  He is/was a forum member, username: diy-tubes.

[FUZZZZzzzz]

thats some solid advice. thank you!

[Reg18]

My package has now been in transist 68 days, last update is 7.3.21.
Now I understand this is most likely the courier company's issue but I'm now getting no replies from DIY-Tubes either.
What's the done thing here? I don't know which courier company to contact to get a refund and DIY-Tubes have gone silent. What's reasonable?

[vigilante397]

My package has now been in transist 68 days, last update is 7.3.21.
Now I understand this is most likely the courier company's issue but I'm now getting no replies from DIY-Tubes either.
What's the done thing here? I don't know which courier company to contact to get a refund and DIY-Tubes have gone silent. What's reasonable?

If DIY-Tubes isn't responding, I would vote go through paypal (assuming that's how you paid) for a refund. At the very least filing a paypal claim is a good way to get the attention of an otherwise unresponsive seller.

[Reg18]

I have now made a claim
Through PayPal, was hoping to not come to this but it looks like there is no other way.
In other news, can anyone point me in the direction of a reliable seller for Russian germanium
Transistors and axial caps?

[Bunkey]

Not sure this is useful re: the shipping costs but I've bought in bulk from a few good sellers on ebay:

alexer1
jacklocman
Recently, mm19742014 (Bulgaria)

There are some other 'big sellers' I would avoid again either for sending non-genuine items (like 70 white dotted Si's mixed in with 30 D9K's) or just because they cop onto trends and charge double because they can...

A few suspicious things too; there's one large outlet charging inflated prices then a few smaller sellers in the same location charging much less for repackaged items with duplicated descriptions (reshuffled identical phrases, same grammatical errors, key words exchanged) - Maybe they just copy each other but it does make me a little cautious about people picking out the good for a premium then palming off the rejects under a different account. Likewise, a few Russian sellers who specifically don't post to Russia.

On the other hand, Russian Ge's are pretty consistent devices so there's not much of a margin to worry about.

It is a lucrative business though. I wonder how much these things actually cost within the country - Maybe another reason for 'export only' listings!

[WoundUp]

I've not ordered from Russia. Only China. But I've waited 3 months for stuff to get here, to the US, from China. I finally realized that complaining to the seller really didn't do any good because they fulfilled their part. They shipped the item quickly. I also try not to ask for a refund because the item is already on the way.

If it's something they have no control over, I'm not going to take money from them and end up getting what I ordered for free because of something out of their hands. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt after I did do that once, thinking it wasn't coming at all or was lost, etc... The item showed up and I had gotten a refund. So in the end, I ended up with the product and didn't pay for it and I felt pretty crappy about it.

I've also requested refunds for counterfeit products only to have the manufacturer tell me later that what I have is 100% authentic and sold that way, with no packaging, because it was a guitar manufacturers bulk overstock. I felt really crappy about that one, too.

[Reg18]

I have ended up requesting a refund as there is still no movement from tracking, last update on 7th March. (90 days in transit)
I ordered similar products through a different Russian supplier who was recommended by a friend and the parts got here in 2 weeks so I at least now have the parts I wanted but still no sign of my order from Feb.
I understand it's not DIY-Tubes fault that the shipping company have lost the package however it is the fact they just stopped responding once I queried it.
At least some communication would be good.
I'm happy I have found another supplier with fast shipping for the same products at least.

[POTL]

I have ended up requesting a refund as there is still no movement from tracking, last update on 7th March. (90 days in transit)
I ordered similar products through a different Russian supplier who was recommended by a friend and the parts got here in 2 weeks so I at least now have the parts I wanted but still no sign of my order from Feb.
I understand it's not DIY-Tubes fault that the shipping company have lost the package however it is the fact they just stopped responding once I queried it.
At least some communication would be good.
I'm happy I have found another supplier with fast shipping for the same products at least.

which supplier did you choose? guitaramania?