Any experience buying from The Chess Empire?

Thanks, Dennis, I wondered what happened to the 20 sets.  Feel free to keep us informed.  

Gaurav has posted in this thread so maybe you will see results. 

I wish this were true, unless of course House of Staunton isn't a reputable retailer. I bought a $400 set from them with what I believe was faulty finishing - the varnish on the boxwood pieces came off in my hands. At least part of it did - the pawns were generally OK as were the knights. I reported this to them and got one email reply six weeks ago. They ignored my follow up emails. Then last week I posted a negative review on their Facebook page (along with all the other negative reviews they have received lately) and it got a response - they asked for my phone number so they could call me to discuss it. Of course, they never called.

I'm sure their argument will be "We are so busy handling orders at the moment that our customer service is falling behind", but they are making a profit on every set they sell so I would rephrase it as "We are making so much profit at the moment we don't care about customer service". I don't see how buying from India would have been any worse and at least it would have been cheaper.

The House of Staunton is a lot bigger than most all retailers.

What Dennis said is true of the majority of retailers.  If you would have bought a set from one of the smaller retailers, things would have been better for you.

HoS does not inspect each set individually before shipping.  This is where this type of problem occurs.  Remember that the reputation of HoS was established when Frank Camaratta owned it and each set was inspected before shipping.

In all honesty, I expect to see these better direct sellers from India to learn from this and increase their quality control and customer service to the consumer.  Remember that they are new at this because they were providing sets wholesale to retailers before.  Give them some time and I bet they will improve a lot.

The Chess Empire has not had any problems with the quality of the sets they manufacture and sell.  Yes, their errors were in the retail to the consumer part of it.  
Chess Bazaar had these type of problems quite awhile ago and they fixed them by improving their retail operations.  You might remember their prices also increased when this happened.  It costs to have these quality and service things in place.

As for the other retailers, they will continue to provide their high quality and service.

As for The House of Staunton, I think it would be good if they learned from this and put back in place some of these quality control and service things that they have dropped.  But, they haven’t asked me for my opinion on this.  My contact guy there is at least two steps below the owner.  And I don’t buy enough sets from them to get on their radar.  Of the last five sets I bought, only one was from them.  And that set cost me less than $200.  

They made a custom set for me and it was really good except for a Bishop being off colored but was replaced with a matching color Bishop in a timely manner.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/update-on-the-russian-bride-custom-set

Not sure about the sets yet, I am about to receive mine, but the service is scary. 

Tried to have a discussion with them about the shippers (Fedex, DHL, etc.) and their import fees. Usually I try to purchase from stores that ship through public postal services (USPS, Canada Post...), to avoid such fees.

I felt the support person was not paying attention to what I was saying, mixing up import duties (charged by Canada) and fees (charged by the carrier). When they finally understood me,  they promised me there would be no fees - and we all know you'll never receive anything from abroad without paying a fee, except with federal postal services (USPS, Canada Post, China Post...). 

Finally they said they would investigate and get back to me, which of course never happened. 

Now, I was charged the fee by DHL, as expected, and when trying to communicate my frustration to Chess Empire support, we're back at square one: I got an email again mixing up duties and fees, and stating I was told initially I would have to pay the fees, with our initial chat attached - which I'm sure this support person did not read, as it states the opposite. 

Anyway, if the set has no problems, this will end up being minor. However, if there is any quality issue with the set, who knows what will come of this type of support. Very disappointing for a company that sells "luxury" sets.

Sorry to hear that, @raulettecapablanca, that's NOT the kind of thing I was hoping to hear any more about TCE.

Had a perfect experience buying a chavet repro set from them. LOVE the pieces and the customer service was A+.

-Ted

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/fedex-the-import-tax-bill

TCE chess set's are very good / As a rule , The Import Tax /21% vat / shipping handlng fee is just how it is in this age of globe shopping - still works out cheaper than say HOS / EU side  . 

Add on cost worked out to around 80 euros extra , The part I disliked the most was the  rudeness & demanded from Fed Ex .

Each of the Indian sellers seems to have a particular carrier they use for shipment. I assume that based on their negotiated rates, the seller can offer "free" shipping, which of course is factored into their selling prices. It may be that asking for a different shipper disrupts their business model. I have experienced far more issues with FedEx international shipping of late than shipping from DHL. I also have not had great experiences with FedEx in trying to contact them. I have not had a reason to contact DHL; so I cannot compare the two in that regard.  I have paid no extra fees for delivery in the United States. As far as TCE goes, I have purchased two sets from them and had uniformly positive experiences dealing with Rishi of TCE. Each set has been exquisitely carved and finished. 

In my case got my bill two months after from Fed Ex with DHL there always make you pay upfront /

What had got me the most was the rudeness along with the instant demand to pay this fee  by Fed Ex .

 I am not really into modern day chess sets / But was very happy with  The Sinquefield Series Chess Pieces Boxwood & Padauk by TCE

This is the small print under shipping terms from TCE .

Custom Clearance & Fees

All products prices on The Chess Empire Website include worldwide free shipping as well it includes all the Indian Customs, Freight Charges and packaging. The CUSTOMS CLEARENCE / VAT / IMPORT CHARGES are not included in our prices. The Buyer has to meet all the applicable documents, VAT and Import charges at the time of order entering to their countries. We are also not doing any under invoicing orders and it is against international online business.  Again we want to clear our prices on The Chess Empire website does not IMPORT CHARGES/VAT/CUSTOMS CLEARENCE which has to be paid by Buyers.

International Shipments

The Chess Empire ships Worldwide. All orders are shipped using various fast services for International Parcels. Delivery time varies from once country to another. You will not be charged for shipping fee. Note that you, the customer, are responsible for any duties, taxes, VAT or clearance charges at your country. The amounts will vary from one nation to another. The delivery time will vary as well. You may need to contact your customs office to clear the package. . 

Whoaa nice! Did you open a thread with pics from that set? I and others would love to see that set

Thank you lighthouse, I had not noticed the fine print. In the end the duties turned out to be a bit larger than the handling fee, so not a show stopper for me. 

However despite my sending TCE proof of the two separate charges (duties and fees), the support representative is still stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the difference. Speaking of bad support... I wonder when a supervisor kicks in and explains just what you did instead :-(

In any case thank you, I'm less infuriated now by their response. Impatiently awaiting the set (Savano series) to see whether it's as good as everyone claims :-)

For the record, historically I've had as bad an experience with Fedex/DHL/UPS etc. However, in my latest experience with Fedex, they did not withhold the package but billed me afterwards, contrarily to DHL! So overall I don't think any of them is any better than the others :-(

I have noticed though that Chinese sellers on Aliexpress do ship through public post (China Post, Canada Post, USPS) which is a lot less of a hassle. Wondering whether there is a problem with Indian Post for TCE to use private carriers instead. 

I purchased a chess table from chess empire for over 1,100 USD and it was damaged. One of the legs would not screw in. They offered me a $50 credit. Luckily, I found a furniture repair specialist that was able to repair the screw in leg for $150.

There is not much recourse when dealing with these companies in India. Most chess pieces are perfectly carved in beautiful woods, but you don’t always get what you’re promised. I’ve had issues with Royal Chess mall (knights didn’t match on an 1820 Calvert reproduction), they offered a $25 credit but left me with a poor chess set.

excellent experiences with Chess Bazaar, House of Staunton, and Staunton Castle.

let the buyer beware!!

Sorry to hear this 1.100K no small sum  miamora01 At least go for getting a refund on your $150 repair bill from TCE , CB was very good with my last buy via Esty .

Sorry to hear of you experience! After having bought a total of 22 full size sets and 3 travel sizes...All from various manufacturers. I've come to the conclusion it's often times a crap shoot as to whether one's going to have issues.

I've dealt with all of the above and had good and bad experiences....Thankfully, all rectified, after plenty of aggravation.

I'm pretty much done collecting these days and essentially just appreciate what I've come to own.

..

This was the table that tempted me from the Chess Empire. Once it was properly repaired at my expense, I was very happy to own it. As for getting them to reimburse anything, all they want to give you is a minimal credit for you to purchase more of their items. 

In the pass CE was very good this was buying via Esty + paypal . I would not buy any other way in todays market , Due to this kind of instant ie your table , how did you buy it ? This is no small sum + shipping it back to India would not be cheap . I would go for reimburse on repair cost . tell them that you have posted on chess.com over this poor after sale .  miamora01

https://www.thechessempire.com/pages/return-policy

It "is gorgeous" though!