Using Tranzfers.com - From The Us

[Tom`]

I thought, you transfered already?
Good catch. The day I posted that I thought that, by the time the majority of forums users read that, I'd have finished the transfer. Turns out zero banks in my area will do it.

I'm seeing what I can do with Tranzfers now.

I plan to just mail a money order.

I don't like the cost or hassle of this Tranzfers service, and it seems to me that just buying a money order will save both me and OP some money, so unless I run into some issue with that, it seems like the best thing to do.

Never mailed anything internationally though, but I doubt it will be more expensive than the transfer to Tranzfers, since it seems you have to do an actual transfer to them, subjecting you to yet more fees...

edit: it seems from here that you can send a money order internationally for only $3.85, but the UK isn't on the list of countries (?)

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[mcqfesijiba2]

I thought, you transfered already?
Good catch. The day I posted that I thought that, by the time the majority of forums users read that, I'd have finished the transfer. Turns out zero banks in my area will do it.

I'm seeing what I can do with Tranzfers now.

I plan to just mail a money order.

I don't like the cost or hassle of this Tranzfers service, and it seems to me that just buying a money order will save both me and OP some money, so unless I run into some issue with that, it seems like the best thing to do.

Never mailed anything internationally though, but I doubt it will be more expensive than the transfer to Tranzfers, since it seems you have to do an actual transfer to them, subjecting you to yet more fees...

edit: it seems from here that you can send a money order internationally for only $3.85, but the UK isn't on the list of countries (?)

Anyone have any experience with this?
I am interested in this as well, since I have been looking at money orders too as long as postage from US to there is not something insane like $15.

Too many fees with Tranzfers. Maybe OP covers the actual Tranzfers fee as is stated in another thread, but what about the wire fee just to get it to Tranzfers that has been mentioned? Will do Tranzfers if needed, but looking at every alternative possible.

 

[Eniko]

I'm not sure why more people aren't looking into money orders. Possibly because they're a largely unknown method of paying up? Maybe someone could compile money order information and post it as a thread.

 

[dinglebery]

I'm not sure why more people aren't looking into money orders. Possibly because they're a largely unknown method of paying up? Maybe someone could compile money order information and post it as a thread.

well if my criteria are met for a reorder that is how i plan on sending OP my cash as transfer is way to expensive and if Transferz realy needs a passport copy i cant do that. so a MO seams the best alternative my only worry is about how reliable international post realy is far something that small :> iv got half a mind to put it in a 2' box filled with penuts and ship it via ups :>

 

[Googer]

Just thought I'd add my experience with Tranzfers to this point. I registered and got my account set up no problem (including verification of my ID with secure upload of an iffy-quality scan of both my driver's license and my last electric bill). I set up a transfer on their website of $293.98 (so $288.98 of that goes to Pandora after Tranzfer's $5 fee) easily enough and figured I'd be in great shape since I anticipated that the wire at my local bank would be painless. Ha!

At my local bank, going through the steps for a domestic transfer, we ran into a snag - when doing the transfer, they needed not only BONY's address, but also the address of the payee (i.e., OzForex). OK, not a huge problem there; I got that info regarding OzForex's Sydney address and still thought there wouldn't be a problem. However, my bank was further insisting that even though this was to be a domestic wire that I give an IBAN number as well for that OzForex account since it was a foreign address. The problem is that apparently since the OzForex BONY account is strictly an account for domestic transfers at a US bank, there is no IBAN number for it. If OzForex had a US address that I could have used, I could have used that instead of the Sydney address, but this wasn't an option.

So, how to get around this? In the end, we ended up wiring to their UK Barclay's account. Yes this largely killed the point of using Tranzfers in the first place since I was hit with an international wire fee instead of a domestic one ($14 difference at my bank), but I was able to do the wire exclusively in USD at least - no kind of further possible hits in doing the rate exchange. Now, at this point I haven't gotten confirmation from Tranzfers that they've received the wire, as I just sent the e-mail to them with the details of the account name, bank, etc., that the wire came from, but at least from my bank's point-of-view, the wire is done. I will update as I hear more about Tranzfers / OzForex in acknowledging that they've received payment and doing the final transfer to Open Pandora.

 

[quartercast]

Tranzfer Details
Date: XXXXXXXX
TRANZFERS ID: XXXXXXXXX
You have: USD 292.34
Exchanging for: GBP
To Accounts: 1
Total Fees: 5
Tot al Owing: USD 297.34

You should deselect the "Exclude fees" checkbox, as OP will cover the $5 transfer fee. Therefore your total owing will remain USD 292.34, but OP will receive USD 287.34.

I'm in Aus and paid via Tranzfer yesterday. I used BPay to pay the whole thing online, no manual bank transfer required.

 

[gruso]

Oh, I didn't know you could use BPay. That's good news for Aussies.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

Quartercast, true I could have deselected the $5 USD but to be honest I think the Open Pandora team has eaten quite enough money on the bank transactions. I am no software developer so obviously I will never be able to contribute in that department. The way I see it is that every little bit contributed will help things along. On another note, I had to study most of this week and honestly have not had time to run to my bank branch until today. I filled out all the information a couple days ago but because I am a member of a rather small credit union, they insisted that all information get checked out before they allow myself (and them) to get involved in such transactions. Truth be told, I am not so sure if the bank rep had ever done a wire transfer with details like this before and she was a little nervous and wanted to definitely cover her own @$$ so I had to wait for the transfers office to contact the NY bank and hear back from them and get squared away. I have already contacted Tranzfers via email to let them know the money is en route. Next, they should receive the transfer, let me know its being forwarded to Open Pandora, and I can then contact Jacquelyn to let her know my money is inbound and to contact me as soon as it is received. After that I shall buy a bottle of Merlot in anticipation for the day my Pandora arrives.

 

[Googer]

Quartercast, true I could have deselected the $5 USD but to be honest I think the Open Pandora team has eaten quite enough money on the bank transactions. I am no software developer so obviously I will never be able to contribute in that department. The way I see it is that every little bit contributed will help things along. On another note, I had to study most of this week and honestly have not had time to run to my bank branch until today. I filled out all the information a couple days ago but because I am a member of a rather small credit union, they insisted that all information get checked out before they allow myself (and them) to get involved in such transactions. Truth be told, I am not so sure if the bank rep had ever done a wire transfer with details like this before and she was a little nervous and wanted to definitely cover her own @$$ so I had to wait for the transfers office to contact the NY bank and hear back from them and get squared away. I have already contacted Tranzfers via email to let them know the money is en route. Next, they should receive the transfer, let me know its being forwarded to Open Pandora, and I can then contact Jacquelyn to let her know my money is inbound and to contact me as soon as it is received. After that I shall buy a bottle of Merlot in anticipation for the day my Pandora arrives.

Regarding the $5 fee, this was my thinking as well. I figured I can afford to eat the $5 myself, especially with the crashing British Pound working out stronger and stronger in our favor. Of course I got another hit of still ending up having to do an international transfer instead of a domestic one at my bank, but going through Tranzfers should with any luck at least save me the horror story of fees adding on top of fees as rmm21 is reporting in this thread.

 

[quartercast]

Unfortunately for us Aussies it's a $15 fee, and the Panda cost us around $450 to begin with. Sadly I can't afford to eat this fee :lol:

 

[javaJake]

I've begun the transfer, and am in the process of uploading the required documents.

I'm taking a hit on the $5 fee as well. It turns out they (the bank) refunded the fees they charged me for currency conversion too, so since I'm getting a deal on those (the fees were originally ~$10 through credit card) I might as well pay for the $5 fee.

 

[todd]

Grr.... This is what I get for not reading the fine print!

Tranzfers is demanding I enter my address verification code before they'll pay OP. Problem is, I haven't received said code yet. They mailing it from Australia to the US? Could take a week or two!

So they have my USD. They've already converted it to GBP. I'd thought they'd already sent the money on to OP last week. But they've now called twice asking for that code (in between the calls I emailed them, explaining I don't have it. This is *so* not worth saving a measly $10 at the end of the day. (Difference in fees between foreign wire fee vs. domestic wire + $5 (and a few percent exchange rate!))

FWIW.

 

[Googer]

Grr.... This is what I get for not reading the fine print!

Tranzfers is demanding I enter my address verification code before they'll pay OP. Problem is, I haven't received said code yet. They mailing it from Australia to the US? Could take a week or two!

So they have my USD. They've already converted it to GBP. I'd thought they'd already sent the money on to OP last week. But they've now called twice asking for that code (in between the calls I emailed them, explaining I don't have it. This is *so* not worth saving a measly $10 at the end of the day. (Difference in fees between foreign wire fee vs. domestic wire + $5 (and a few percent exchange rate!))

FWIW.

I'm at a somewhat different stage - I received my address verification code and entered it in, so I'm good there. What Tranzfers hasn't yet done in my case is to acknowledge that they've received my wire (status is still sitting in Awaiting Funds). Not much of a concern yet because when I spoke with Lawrence earlier today (who called since I hadn't yet received my address verification code as of this morning), he said that can take a couple business days to follow through, and I sent the wire on Friday (so 1 business day so far).

Edit: BTW, yes the address confirmation letter came from Australia, if the international postage stamp on the envelope is anything to go by.

 

[Googer]

...and checking my Tranzfers account this morning, the status has now been updated to say my transfer has been remitted to the beneficiary (i.e., paid to OP). I sent an e-mail to OP along with the reference associated w/ the transaction (meaning my order number), and hopefully with any luck I'll get word that I'm squared away and can finally just sit tight until Pandora's actually ship.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

I too am sitting at this stage. I completed the Tranzfers steps and am now awaiting the funds to be converted to GBP and forwarded on to Open Pandora Limited. Hopefully tomorrow will bring me good news and (possibly) an email from Jacquelyn that my funds have been collected and I am good to go. On a side note, this morning I was contacted by OzFerex and an associate asked me if there was anything they could do to make the use of their services any better and also updated me to the current status of the transfer. I thought that was a really good thing. From what understand you do need to have the address verification code punched in before you can finish the transfer. I received my letter the other day and typed it in to "activate" my account. Reading the blog this morning, the new renders look awesome and I read that MWeston has received the case and everything fits great. With luck we might see a completed Pandora within the next few days and I will know I am good to receive one as soon as they start shipping. The transfer obviously takes some days so patience is necessary but will be well worth it when it is finished and I have completed a reliable bank transfer overseas. So far, using Tranzfers seems to have been the right choice for me.

UPDATE: 28 FEB 2009

I was just emailed by TRANZFERS, my money had been received and converted over. From what I understand by the 30th, the converted GBP should be in Open Pandor Limited's hands and if I don't hear anything I will likely email to check up and see if I am good to go. I'm happy my name is still in the pre-order batch and I will be receiving my Pandora when they start shipping. Looks like it should be smooth sailing now!

 

[Googer]

...and what should be my final update here - I got an e-mail from Jacquelin last night that they'd received my transfer and matched it up with my original order number. I am officially reordered and completely squared away. Let the waiting begin anew without fear of something happening to my preorder again.

 

[javaJake]

I've also received my address verification code, and entered that in. I've been fully verified at this point, and I just paid the money required, so hopefully the money starts moving Monday.

Tranzfers is demanding I enter my address verification code before they'll pay OP. Problem is, I haven't received said code yet. They mailing it from Australia to the US? Could take a week or two!
It actually took them less than a week. I also live in the US. Hang in there, you're halfway through. Don't give up now.

 

[Eternalodyssey]

Amazingly enough when I received my letter from OzFerex, it only took about 5 days so I wouldn't lose heart. Like Craig said, things are going to happen which will affect the deadline. I am hoping it is not extended beyond what was stated but OP might work with you. Important thing will be to get that code in ASAP! Keep the faith. we're at the end of the beginning!

 

[todd]

Alas, I have been negligent in updating this thread. Thanks for the encouraging words. After my tearful lament on Monday, I received my letter from Ozforex. I believe that was Monday night. I entered the number and the next morning I had a note from Jacquelyn letting me know that Tranzfers had emailed them. Yesterday she emailed again to confirm receipt of the money and that it was matched up with my original order.

So it appears that things eventually went through. Probably I'll never bother with Tranzfers again. :rolleyes:

--Todd

 

[Eternalodyssey]

I just got word that my bank transfer went through successful! OpenPandora has my money and my order has been confirmed. Woohoo!!!!! Overall using Tranzfers was relatively painless and VERY secure. The waiting game was the biggest factor as my bank is small and wanted to verify everything step by step. I think although it took me a little longer due to my bank and my own delays, it might take others no longer than 1 week.Good times are ahead!