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The end of the story.
The samples arrived from the Chinese company (Juwang Metals), and they are absolutely perfect! I order 100,000. That's when the fun begins.
First, the rep ("Peter Chen") says I can't pay with Paypal, even though that's how I paid the mold change fee and shipping for the samples. I have to pay by bank transfer. I do a little research and find out that this is actually common with Chinese companies. He provides me with the bank info, which is to a bank in Malaysia, under an account name that makes no mention of Juwang Metals. I'm uneasy about this, but I'm getting low on eyelets, and, as I said, they sent me perfect custom made eyelets - those don't just fall out of your ears. I find out that my bank charges a hefty fee for international transfers, but I do it anyway.
As soon as my payment clears, "Peter" (whose name has morphed into "Peter Chan", along with a new email address) starts badgering me about a "production overrun" of 15,000, and would I please buy it because it will hurt his company if I don't. I do a little math and say, "sure, as long as I can use Paypal", because the bank transfer fee will be more than the cost of the product. He then delivers me a quote that is 20% higher than the cost of 100,000! This frosts me, and I tell him to forget it, just deliver what I paid for. He keeps on harassing me, saying that he really meant 150,000 (that's a huge overrun on an order of 100,000), until I start responding to all of his emails with "No. Deliver what I paid for.". In one of his last emails, he says my product has shipped and he will provide a tracking number "soon". That tracking number never shows up.
In the meantime, the American company has had a change of heart and will now quote for a minimum of 250,000. That quote is for $5,135.00 and needs 8 to 10 weeks lead time. Over .02 each. All of their quotes for other eyelets are less than .01 each.
About 10 days after "Peter"'s last email, I am emailed by "William He" of Juwang Metals. He says "Peter" has quit the company, and would I like to complete my order by paying for it! I tell him I already DID pay for it, and send him copies of "Peter"'s emails. He says they never received payment and that "Peter"'s email account got hacked.
I file a complaint against Juwang Metals with Alibaba and provide all of my correspondence with them as evidence. They decide against me, saying that the transaction was controlled by a third party.
Desperation sets in. By this time, I have less than a month's supply of eyelets. I decide to pay Juwang again - they did, after all deliver me perfect eyelets. On 4/7 (which, by the way, would have been the shipping date under the original agreement) "William" notifies me of shipment and provides me a tracking number. On 4/9, a box of perfect eyelets shows up at my house.
So, I got taken, but I'm not sure by who. Would I have gotten the eyelets without the extra payment? Happily, even paying double, the cost is less than .01 each. And, my company survives. But, as of 4/23/15, ESBs no longer contain US made eyelets.
Once again, thanks for reading and commenting. I hope this has been helpful to other Crappie.com entrepreneurs.
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I'd say #1 would bother you for a long time
#2 - Talk to someone way higher in the company and TELL THEM!! you already list the part in your catalouge - you've sold it to me in the past at X $, and I've been a good customer. Take it all the way up to the owner, can't believe they want to turn business away.
I'd get a spec sheet on the grommet you use and check with a few companies here in the US - just messing around I did a search on "brass grommet eyelets - made in USA" and they list some - https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...+-+made+in+USA
I have one question for you though - could you use a second glass bead in place of the grommet???
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Sounds like it can get messy dealing with them. I only had a couple dealing with them and the main one was some Alabama rigs that I sold for cheap and still did pretty good, but didn't do it again as I am more into crappie now and these seemed that bass would have been better for the size. There was a few I bough on line that would be better for crappie. But they cost too much and not from China, well at least I didn't get them from China, LOL!
all I know is that company would have to give me someone to deal with that they guarantee what he does from this point on!
goos luck,
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