Option-O Remi - Hand Grinder - Ordering Issues

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Valo_Soul
Posts: 158
Joined: 6 years ago

#1: Post by Valo_Soul »

Has anyone ordered or received one of these units yet? It is the direct replacement for the now discontinued Helor 101, for those who don't know.

I ordered mine on the 5th of September, while "In Stock", and didn't receive a shipping notification even 10 days later. I wrote to the company and asked about it, where I was told by Hayden to "rest assured", my grinder had shipped on the 10th of September. He followed this by saying the shipping notification would be sent out within a couple of days.

Fast forward to the 21st of September and still nothing. I wrote to Hayden again, where I then immediately received a response saying it had been "sitting in the sorting facility". This email was INSTANTLY followed by a DHL notification, showing that the "information was received" that very hour, on the 21st. It seems to me it wasn't even submitted or shipped until that day, after having asked multiple times over the course of 16 days since the time of ordering and paying in full.

Now I'm being hit with Customs fees on top of all of this. I've been told by Hayden that this is "actually the first time we have gotten a custom fee notice from a Canadian shipment". I find that incredibly hard to believe, especially following the delays.

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CarefreeBuzzBuzz
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#2: Post by CarefreeBuzzBuzz »

Does Canada not have any value exemption? Maybe a different class? What does Hayden say now? Sorry about this all. In the US, Prima is the sole distributor. I've been looking at it so please share how you like it.
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Valo_Soul (original poster)
Posts: 158
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#3: Post by Valo_Soul (original poster) replying to CarefreeBuzzBuzz »


I'm not sure - I really don't know much about Customs. How would that work? It definitely surprised me to get the alert that I had fees owing.

Valo_Soul (original poster)
Posts: 158
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#4: Post by Valo_Soul (original poster) »

As an update - Hayden is now covering the customs fees as a courtesy, and a bit of an apology for the logistics issues and shipping delay, which I greatly appreciate. He also clarified that he hadn't had customers in Canada receive a customs bill for the hand grinders (101 and Remi).

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baldheadracing
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#5: Post by baldheadracing »

CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:Does Canada not have any value exemption? Maybe a different class? What does Hayden say now? Sorry about this all. In the US, Prima is the sole distributor. I've been looking at it so please share how you like it.
$20 (with a bunch of exceptions) is the value exemption for postal mail imports to Canada. There is no minimum value for courrier shipments but $20 is generally used.

Thus, the grinder must have had duty, excise, and sales taxes paid for by the broker (I assume DHL in this case). That's around 17% for this grinder depending on where one lives in Canada.
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wrpd
Posts: 1
Joined: 4 years ago

#6: Post by wrpd »

I ordered mine from Prima Coffee in the USA and have already received it. I suppose that's not too much help for you but if someone else is looking for information it might be useful.

Annoyingly, Prima is the only vendor that you're allowed to purchase from for the USA.

I wanted the Contemporary burr set and I am not allowed to purchase it from the Option-O website & Prima does not yet have it in stock (although they confirmed via email that they should have it in stick in the next 3-4 weeks). I had considered ordering from Option-O to Canada and using a reshipping service but I was able to locate a web shop in Canada that ships to the US and had the grinder and the burr sets in stock.

https://cafune.ca/

I placed an order through them and received the burrs in the USA in around a week.

I struggle to find much information specifically about the Remi but when I installed the new burr it seems that most of the Helor 101 information is still more or less correct. The design has not changed that dramatically.

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CarefreeBuzzBuzz
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#7: Post by CarefreeBuzzBuzz »

I was surprised to see this this review on the Prima website. Any comments?

Also Prima and Option-O told me via email that Prima has the espresso burrs already and just needed to get it on the website.
Review by matthew c. on 23 Sep 2020review stating A little disappointed. This grinder works great, and looks great. I was disappointed in how easily the metal dings. If you put it down too hard the bottom even gets all bent. It's good they give you a case for it, because if you are traveling with it you will need it. If I were to purchase a travel grinder over again, I would have gotten a different one.
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wding109
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Joined: 4 years ago

#8: Post by wding109 »

CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:I was surprised to see this this review on the Prima website. Any comments?

Also Prima and Option-O told me via email that Prima has the espresso burrs already and just needed to get it on the website.
It's made of aluminum - just bear in mind that. If this review makes any sense, I think people would get similar complaints about the Helor 101 (or similar grinders made of aluminum) - which I haven't seen many. my 2 cents.