Jlaa

Hi Kiwi911 --- I'll be using my existing "porsche silver" center caps and will weigh the wheels once I receive them. Tramont is at http://www.tramont.fr --- and Christine Jacquet there is very very helpful. Having them take your money and make the wheels is the easy part!

Hi Magdaddy,

Thanks for the tip on the great rates department - they are open 7am-7pm CST M-F so I'll be calling them tomorrow.

I've gotten a little taste already of your observations about Fedex being an interesting company to work with at the pre-sales level. I've been calling 1.800.247.4747 to contact international rate quotes --- twice they've quoted my ~$800 and both times they've told me that it is not possible to get a confirmation number for the quote. The rate may be because even though this is under a business account, I am having Fedex quote a scenario under which they deliver to a residential address in the USA. I am going to start asking about international economy rates which drop off the packages at a fedex depot .... or perhaps I need to find a different number to call.

Certainly the pre-sales component is somewhat discombobulated. Sometimes the people on the other end of the phone are clearly that that knowledgeable, sometimes the phone system transfers you several times to a hang/up dial tone, etc.

Magdaddy

If you are using your company's acct, and cannot have them delivered to work, find another commercial location. How about the shop were you get your car serviced, perhaps the shop that will mount the tires to them.

The delivery address MUST be a commercial one, that could be accounting for the $$ difference. Demand a confirmation number, three of us called asking for quotes...and they always gave a number. It wasn't till I called, and questioned why there was such a price difference between quotes, that the Fed-Ex rep told me that international small package was all the same price...and no confirmation number was needed.

Again, every time you call, you will get a different quote.

So, commercial shipping acct...check
delivery to a commercial address...check
call multiple times to compare rates...literally hang up the phone and immediately call back. Funny stuff, but you'll save hundreds.

Best of luck

Jlaa

Thanks Magdaddy!

Hmmmm.... ok, I called 800-247-4747 three times. Two times I got hard-to-speak-with people and one time I got a very articulate person. All three times I used the same fedex commercial account #. I mentioned delivery to a commercial address ... and fedex indicated that shipping to commercial addresses saves $2.50 per package.

Anyways, all shipping quotes are based on $2900 declared customs value and $2900 value of insurance. All shipping quotes are using international economy (Fedex) with delivery to California.

Quote 1 $841.73 (hard to speak with person)
Quote 2 $889.04 (hard to speak with person)
Quote 3 $841.72 (easy to speak with person)

The last person did say though that since the packages are 24"x24"x24" that the packages would then be charged at the 199lbs rate (since the dimensions were too big)



Hmmmm.... time to explore Great Rates and Clear Freight.....

P-track

Awesome set of wheels. Hope you can make the shipping work out.

Jlaa

OK - thanks!

MagDaddy --- appreciate you putting me on to the great rates department. Apparently the FedeX GR department can ship intl priority at a cheaper rate than intl economy! So my mistake was in assuming that economy is cheaper than priority.

So --- through the Great Rates Department, International Priority through Fedex with a business account, shipments costs are $568.75. Much Better! I'll pull the trigger on this.

Question for you, Magdaddy, if you don't mind

+ Did Tramont create the commercial invoices or did you/Opo do that?
+ Did you have to fill out USA Dept of Transportation Form HS-7 (regarding importation of auto parts / wheels ?)
+ Did you create the fedex international airwaybill and email a pdf version to tramont, or did tramont do that themselves?

Many thanks!

pirahna

Beautiful wheels, too bad there isn't a retailer in the states to help with the logistics. After reading all of Magdaddy's issues I would never bother trying to get a set.

Cactus

+1,000,000. With the **** luck I have they would send me a set for a 75 Buick.....

pirahna

At least you already have a good shop to do your road force balance.

Cactus

The battle continues

Magdaddy

Not sure I can really answer your questions et all...

+commercial invoice for what purpose...valuation for custome/shipping? Both Dick and I initiated the shipment with Fed Ex, size, weight, quantity of packages, declared value, delivery address, etc. I have no knowledge of what Tramont provided the shipper upon pick up. Lots of "stuff" came attached to the box's when delivered, Tramont's and Fed-Ex's stuff.

+Fed Ex import services will fax/email you all the appropriate customs and DOT form, as well as guide you thru any questions filling them in. They were far and away the most competent to work with...and you get a DIRECT phone and email for who you are dealing with there.

+Tramont or Fed Ex takes care of the airway bill...I assume the shipper does most of this detail.

Congrats on the price, now get em coming.

Jlaa

Hi Pirahna,

Actually after reading through Magdaddy's epic of woe, I believe a majority of the pain he went through was a result of the initial shipment being palletized. Subsequent directives to FedEx to send back / cancel sending back the shipment were then processed too late, thus considerably exacerbating the fubarness of the situation.

Furthermore, and this is from my outside perspective, my feeling is that Magdaddy spent a massive amount of effort just researching the shipment options and putting the deal together. It seems he spent at least 45-60 days just putting together and figuring out the transaction details, batching up rennlist interest, and coordinating logistics. So, when the transport logistics fell apart after such tedious coordination, i can empathize with the degree of frustration Magdaddy felt. I am sure the 2 damaged lips seen by Magdaddy and 1 damaged lip seen by Dick in TN after final receipt of the wheel shipment was again frustration compounded upon frustration.

I am making some small assumptions here but it sems through Ms. Jacquet's communication that Tramont has learned much and is eager to ensure future orders to the USA are completed in a much smoother manner. FedEx is now a known quantity to Tramont.

Additionally, I am shamelessly learning from past experiences to re-use the same carrier (FedEx) with the same rate structure (biz account, priority) and also eliminate complexity (avoiding a double-stop shipment first from France to Opo in TX and then from TX to either NY or TN) by shipping directly from France to CA.

I will also note that I have diverged a bit from Magdaddy's experience in other ways too in an atttempt to minimize variables and misunderstanding. For example, in Magdaddy's case, Tramont had to create the air waybill and handle documentation. In my case, the holder of the biz account has created the waybill and also created the commercial invoice that notes customs value. In addition, I am an agent of the business that holds the account.

My hope is that the process goes smoothly and that i can boilerplate this process and write it up in a concise way for other rennlisters.

Jlaa

I received the Tramont Cups today. Upon first glance (must wait until later this eve / this weekend to look closely) everything appears to have arrived without any damage! The wheel set is beautiful and I have thank both Dick in TN and Magdaddy for their guidance and support --- the transaction was smooth and relatively painless.

Some pictures are below. In the meantime, here are some details of my particulars ---- I will be happy to write up a "Primer on how to order wheels for Tramont" if there is demand:

• Tramont Cup - Porsche licensed replica of 993 RS wheel by Tramont SA in Culoz, France

• 18x8.5 ET+52 Front (recommended by Tramont)

• 18x10 ET+58 Rear (1mm more poke / less offset than recommended by Tramon - on advice of Alps and P-Track )

• Wheelset Cost = USD 2927.40 (EUR 2091) by wire transfer

• Shipping Cost = USD 568.75 - FedEx Intl Priority Great Rates w/ business account

• Elapsed Time from Wire Transfer to Receipt of Wheelset = 26 days

pirahna

Very pretty, can't wait to see them installed.

Magdaddy

you swapping rubber, or buying new? Lots of brands on sale now...well $50-80 rebates anyway.

They'll look spectacular on AG

you didn't list the international wire transfer fee, or customs charges. About $150 total for both IIRC. In the end, a whole lotta wheel for reasonable money.

Jlaa

Thanks magdaddy. My bank ended up doing the wire transfer gratis. The customs fee .... I havent seen the final billing from fedex yet and I will be curious to see what this results in. Deviating from your experience, I attached had a commercial invoice attached to all the packages ... I dont know if that makes a difference.

I will be swapping potenza s04s that have 1000 miles on them ...