e-bogo.com Shinai

[Ross]

Hi

I have just started Kendo and need to purchase a Shinai or two.
Nobody here in South Africa is able to provide me with Shinai at this time.

I have bee surfing the web and found what I think looks like a reasonable deal from e-bogu.com. The shipping etc looks good and is well within my price range at the moment (for two Shinai in case I break one).

Any comments on e-bogu.com products?
The item I am looking at shipping is:

http://store.yahoo.com/kendobogu/ketawesishoo39.html

Thanks for any advice...

Ross

[R A Sosnowski]

[SNIP]
Any comments on e-bogu.com products?
[SNIP]

I have gotten Kendo Kote, Naginata Uwagi, and Kendo books & Tapes from e-bogu. Service is great and the quality of the merchandise has been very good. I had a chance to meet the owner and his assistant at 3WNC in San Jose, CA, last June -- both were very friendly and very helpful.

HTH.

[Ross]

I have gotten Kendo Kote, Naginata Uwagi, and Kendo books & Tapes from e-bogu. Service is great and the quality of the merchandise has been very good. I had a chance to meet the owner and his assistant at 3WNC in San Jose, CA, last June -- both were very friendly and very helpful.

HTH.

Thanks Ray

I placed an order today and look forward to getting my equipment.
Will let oyu all know what the service to South Africa is like.

Ross

[stuartwilson]

I have bought most of my equipment from these guys as well as bogu and shinai for my son. The service is fast, the quality is very good (I have a 2mm set, from their "Combination Set 2" that I have been wearing about a year and a half. They are very responsive to inquiries, too.

[Brian C.]

I too have to say that they were great. I just placed a large order with them and it was here really fast. I know lots of people who use E-Bogu and they too are all very happy. Not to mention that they have really nice items. Good luck to you. Its a small world out there, my wife happens to be from Jo-burg . Take Care.

Respectfully,
Brian C.
St. Louis, MO

[Ross]

Just some feedback about using e-bogu.com as an international customer... DON'T!!!

I ordered 4 Shinai and 2 Shinai bags last week Thursday morning South African time. The order was recieved by e-bogu.com at 21:49 on Wednesday evening e-bogu.com time.

Their web site clearly states that if the order is placed before 11am on that day, it will be shipped on that day. If not before 11am it will be shipped within 24 or 48 hours. I take it my order was well in before 11am Thursday their time.

Shipping according to e-mail from e-bogu.com should take 7 to 9 days. About where we are now.

Yesterday I queried my order and was told that it should be shipped yesterday. That is 8 days after I placed the order. That is pathetic service as far as I am concerned.

Now all I have to do is find out from my Credit Card people if I can withdraw the payment.

Anyway, international customers, stay away from e-bogu.com.

Ross

[Chopstix]

Ross,

That's abit drastic don't you think? Perhaps the people at e-bogu has an explanation?

[Hai_hai]

Just some feedback about using e-bogu.com as an international customer... DON'T!!!

I ordered 4 Shinai and 2 Shinai bags last week Thursday morning South African time. The order was recieved by e-bogu.com at 21:49 on Wednesday evening e-bogu.com time.

Their web site clearly states that if the order is placed before 11am on that day, it will be shipped on that day. If not before 11am it will be shipped within 24 or 48 hours. I take it my order was well in before 11am Thursday their time.

Shipping according to e-mail from e-bogu.com should take 7 to 9 days. About where we are now.

Yesterday I queried my order and was told that it should be shipped yesterday. That is 8 days after I placed the order. That is pathetic service as far as I am concerned.

Now all I have to do is find out from my Credit Card people if I can withdraw the payment.

Anyway, international customers, stay away from e-bogu.com.

Ross

Heyta,
Maybe you should wait until your order arrives. Unless no shipment is made, your credit card company doesn't have to do anything. Because you are in a country that doesn't have easy access to kendo items, maybe you should purchase things ahead of time.

[Smokeblender]

Well... I ordered my Shinai from them 4 days ago and they still havent sent it...

So, I guess ill have to wait for at least 10 - 15 days more... thats a bit unfair.

[aru-ma]

I have a question for those who had ordered shinais of e-bogu from outside the US/Canada, did your shinai actually arrive within 2-3 weeks? I need to know because I'm about to order a bulk (about 10/20 pieces) for my club.

Thanks

[JSchmidt]

I ordered some videos and books from E-bogu and it did take them a few days to actually ship it.
I suspect that they may not ship international orders everday, but service was still 'quick enough' for satisfy me.
Now, Tozando, on the other hand....(took them over 2 months to ship 2 shinais, despite telling me several times that they had been shipped)

[Smokeblender]

Well... I take everything back I just said about Eöbogu, my Shinai just came. Didnt have to wait long

[orayakab]

Having internet shopping is great but unfortunately people tend to want to receive the items just as fast as they order them..

They take it for granted and forget that if shops such as e-bogu didn't exist, they wouldn't have access to purchasing quality Kendo equipment and shinais without having to go to Japan.

Considering that in the past, if you wanted a good dobari shinai for shiai, you would have to purchase them in bulk when you visited Japan or have someone purchase and send or bring back shinais to the states....

Now you can order online and even select the type of shinai you wish to purchase such as dobari, koto, standard, women's, etc...you can even visit the showroom to select your shinai....something that was completely unheard of in the U.S. until 3 years ago....

Considering the past options, I think it's reasonable that products arrive within a couple of weeks.

Orayakab, U.

[Ross]

Having internet shopping is great but unfortunately people tend to want to receive the items just as fast as they order them..

Orayakab, U.

Yes I agree with you, BUT when the web site states a certain time period and you receive a e-mail confirming this period, then I do not think it is unfair to expect them to follow through on their promises.

If they can not make these times, fine, just do not tell people they can, rather put up the real times and people will not complain as much.

I finally have a tracking number some 14 days later and my shipment is still sitting on US shores. Apparently there was an issue with the length of the package. Surely it is only common decency to inform the buyer (me) that there was a problem and that they would sort it out as soon as possible. If they had done that, I would have no issue as I understand that things do not flow smoothly all the time.

It is a pity really as I was ordering the Shinai to see what the service was like and would have been placing an order for my full Bogu once I was happy. A simple e-mail explaining the problem would have made me a avid supporter, a failure to send such an e-mail has lost them a customer.


Ross

[amatsuda]

Yes I agree with you, BUT when the web site states a certain time period and you receive a e-mail confirming this period, then I do not think it is unfair to expect them to follow through on their promises.

If they can not make these times, fine, just do not tell people they can, rather put up the real times and people will not complain as much.

I finally have a tracking number some 14 days later and my shipment is still sitting on US shores. Apparently there was an issue with the length of the package. Surely it is only common decency to inform the buyer (me) that there was a problem and that they would sort it out as soon as possible. If they had done that, I would have no issue as I understand that things do not flow smoothly all the time.

It is a pity really as I was ordering the Shinai to see what the service was like and would have been placing an order for my full Bogu once I was happy. A simple e-mail explaining the problem would have made me a avid supporter, a failure to send such an e-mail has lost them a customer.

Hmm...I'm sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the service. I'm sure that with any business, systemic hiccups can and do occur from time to time. Their business is continuing to mature and their customer base is growing rapidly so perhaps there may be a backlog of orders...I don't know...

I have found their service pretty good...and the relative speed of the orders arriving after ordering have been acceptable...My first bogu order came within 2 months, the second one took 3 months after placing the order...

Before companies like e-bogu, I had to have my Sensei in Japan guess what type of shinai I preferred and buy them in bulk and ship them to me...Now, I can buy a variety of e-bogu shinai at a tournament, online, or even fly down to LA to buy shinai...In the past, if your shinai broke the first few practices...basically you were SOL. However, when I had some problems with a shinai splitting on the outside...Taro replaced it no questions asked...

Also, for bogu orders..in the past I waited anywhere between six months to almost a year for my orders of various bogu parts...They would take a while for them to be made and if I wanted to inspect the merchandise before taking possession, I would have to go to Japan.

When certain things were not right with my e-bogu order, they corrected them right away...For example, I ordered a black/grey Same Do and when it arrived it wasn't quite the color we had expected...it was a weird lime green/beige color...This is the one that was on their clearance section forever...I heard someone from southern california purchased this Do...anybody know who?

They ordered another Do right away and the made sure that I got the one I would be happy with...

Even if you have to wait a few weeks, it's still easier than flying from South Africa to somewhere like Japan to buy a shinai. Sometimes even with the speed of the internet and technology I guess you just have to be a little patient.....someone still has to physically pull the merchandise or create the bogu...To give you some perspective...The current Do that I have on order is going to take another 3 months minimum to complete....

amatsuda
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sjkendo

p.s. - I don't think that they are sitting around on their laurels drinking coffee...if you watch the webcam those guys are like sharks in an aquarium..they are constantly moving...