a3d0a3m (Hive Bee)
11-12-03 04:42
No 470362
       What do you think about this...     

Swim spoke with a foreign chem company, swim said swim owns a company and was interested in purchasing a large amount of a certain chemical. Swim received a response and requested a modest 10g sample. Company replied and asked for swim's [fictional] company phone number and preferred shipping method for delivery of sample. Should swim carry this misdirection to fruition (i.e. how bad is it to lie to a foreign chemical producer in order to receive a sample). Swim was thinking of receiving sample, replying that it passed HPLC analysis however swim's company has decided to use another company with lower pricing. What do you think? 		 
 
 
 
    a3d0a3m
(Hive Bee)
11-12-03 04:47
No 470365
       Response     

In their latest commiunique, they informed swim to provide fedex account # to pay shipping and that they will mark the waybill as the item included is "Glucono Delta Lactone" should SWIM inquire why they are forging international waybills or just accept it? and should swim proceed?!?! 		 
 
 
 
    methyl_ethyl
(Guardian)
11-12-03 04:56
No 470372
       That's business babe     

Things like this happen every day, nothing to worry about, business is business babe.

     However in order to keep from looking like an idiot, make sure that the accepted method for analyzing your sample is HPLC. wink

     Make sure you have your shit together also, you may not be trying to place an order to a fictional company with Sigma, but you are not dealing with total idiots either, not to mention customs.  But I am sure you are aware of this.

good luck,

m_e
     Unipolar Mania, It's good for life... laugh 		 
 
 
 
    a3d0a3m
(Hive Bee)
11-12-03 05:03
No 470373
       Well     

They indicated on their initial response that it was 98% by HPLC so I figured that would work out to say I wanted to HPLC it :) The item in question is not watched, listed, or scheduled so I am wondering why they want to mislabel it... would it be unprofessional to ask? 		 
 
 
 
    methyl_ethyl
(Guardian)
11-12-03 05:04
No 470374
       Fed Ex     

As far as my personal experience with foreign suppliers, they usually discourage the use of Fed-Ex.  The fact that they are mis-labeling and encouraging Fed-Ex scares me.

     Mis-labeling is, (kind of),  a common practice IMO, once you establish a relationship, however Fed-Ex is severely frowned upon.

just my thoughts,

m_e

98% by HPLC

makes sense.... wink
     Unipolar Mania, It's good for life... laugh 		 
 
 
 
    a3d0a3m
(Hive Bee)
11-12-03 05:07
No 470375
       Indicated     

They indicated ocean freight on their large sizes.. swim was the one who requested air freight... they indicated DHL, FedEx or TNT to ship. Why is FedEx frowned upon? Also if they estimated it would be $50USD to ship it... could it potentially come out to be much more? What would the repurcussions if customs interecepted this, analyzed it, found it mislabeled but not illegal? 		 
 
 
 
    methyl_ethyl
(Guardian)
11-12-03 05:21
No 470377
       not sure     

I am not sure, what would happen if your package was "intercepted", I do know that your package is more likely to be "intercepted" if it is shipped fed-ex.  This is more than likely why most foreign suppliers warn against using fed-ex for slightly suspicious orders.  If they are voluntarily mis-labeling it I assume it must be in some way "suspicous".  I do not know what you are trying to ship, if it does not fall into a gray area, you have nothing to worry about, however why would they offer to mis-label, if there was any question about legal precedence, or the ficticous nature of your company itself?
     Unipolar Mania, It's good for life... laugh 		 
 
 
 
    a3d0a3m
11-12-03 05:25
       methyl_ethyl
(Rated as: off-topic)