In-case you missed Part-1 of the Camera saga you can find that here http://shaddowofadream.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-camera-woes.html
If you're like me and kind of lazy, here's a tl;dr version
- Wanted a DSLR
- Found online retailer with a good price
- Shipping company really dropped the ball at the end of the journey
- Camera itself ended up not actually working properly anyway
- Lodged RMA with online retailer
Okay now that you've caught up, I can start explaining how much more fun this tale becomes....
So the online retailer, who I'm happy to divulge at this point in time is B&H Photo/Video based in NYC and for their part have been exceptionally understanding and helpful in all aspects of the purchase (with the slight exception of sending me a faulty unit, but that isn't entirely their fault).
So they reply to my RMA request saying yep, camera looks defective, send it back and we'll organize a replacement (YAY), they even comment that they will cover the cost of shipping it back to them, despite the website saying otherwise (here's hoping they actually follow through with that!)
So now I just needed to find someone willing/able to post my package to the US for me that can do it fairly quickly (the RMA has a 10-12 day expiry on it), cheaply (in-case they don't follow through with reimbursement) and that I could track/insure (it is a $2000 camera after all).
My initial thought was to try Australia Post, they are usually fairly reliable and their online prices don't look too terrible... and I can track and insure it too, wonderful...
-I feel I need to interject here-
Anyone who has never been to an Australian Post outlet might not quite comprehend the sheer frustration of the queuing system, I'm not sure what it is but it seems every single Australia Post outlet is ALWAYS busy
-End Interjection-
Where was I, okay so I went to Australia Post and lined up like all the other complacent sheep in the store, waited my turn (felt like eternity, was probably only 10 minutes) only to be told by the kind cashier that since my package contained a Li-On battery they would not be able to send it for me (more details on that here)
She mentioned if I wanted to send it I'd have to remove the battery from the package and send it separately, something I'm fairly sure that B&H wouldn't appreciate in their RMA process...
After heading back to work with my continued defeat in tow, I tried calling a few other international courier companies (DHL, Fed-Ex etc) only to be told the exact same thing, it seems Lithium batteries were seriously scary shit!
There is one shipping company which is allowed to send Li-On batteries but their prices aren't exactly the cheapest, so... I've contacted B&H again and asked them if they are okay if I just send the camera sans battery and they can just dock the battery out of the replacement kit, however given they are about 23 hours behind me I wont find out until tomorrow morning....
The real icing of the cake in this situation is that if they don't declare the replacement camera properly I'll likely have to pay import duty & GST again, so to heed that off I'm going to try and make it super clear that they do that for me.
tl;dr
- It's okay to send Lithium batteries INTO the country via air, but you definitely can't send them back out again, no no!
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