I'm assigned Korea working for the US Army. I came across Viking Bags and thought they would be a nice addition to my bike but when I contacted them to see if they ship APO/FPO I received an informal reply of "Sorry for the inconvenience. We don’t ship to P.O Box and A.P.O address. We can ship to physical address."

I wrote back saying that was disappointing as it is hard enough for those of us overseas to get stuff and since they utilize the USPS, which is what we use, it seems that the only inconvenience to them is filling out a customs form. Packages can be tracked, insured, etc. same as anywhere and those costs could be passed on to the buyer if they so desired. I received back the same canned response as the first time.

This strikes a nerve with me and my instinct is to not buy anything from them...ever. But the reality is they seem to have the only bag that would fit nicely on the bike. So my question to anybody who has one of their products OR has had dealings with them, are their bags worth me swallowing my pride and going through the hassle of using a third party shipping service?

 

Find a friend or relative to have them shipped to, then that person ships to you. It sucks and will cost a few $$$ more but I have a buddy in Australia that I do that for. Don't know anything about the bags, sorry.

 

I have a shipping service I use when necessary, but I'm slightly bothered by this paricular instance. Usually a merchant doesn't ship APO because they don't use the USPS (they use UPS, FEDEX, etc), but these guys do use USPS so it's easy enough for them. Not to mention, they'll ship to Canada. Not a dig at Canada, point being they will go to the effort of shipping there but not to us serving overseas. So I don't want to give them any money unless I know their bags are worth it.

 

You're right,take your business somewhere else.I think you can find another product that will serve you as well as theirs.Thanks for your service!

 

I agree, I would shop somewhere else unless you just have to have their bags. When I was in the sandbox there were places that wouldn't ship over there, usually the reason was they had been ripped off in the past, it's still irritating.

 

nyrkik: Having fun in Korea? Tried the Soju yet?

Anyways, Viking Bags just lost a sale; was about to get a pair for Patches with my tax return, but if they can't find time to fill out a simple customs form to ship to a Vet overseas, then I can't seem to find the time to use Viking Bags... Darn...


- CK

 

use APObox.com

its a private company that gives you a physical address in the states. So when you order something or want to order something from a company that does not ship to an APO you use there address and they forward it to you. You do pay double to shipping cost only because you pay for the shipping from the company you purchased the item from and then the shipping cost from the APObox address to you. but it is convient. I used it alot when i was stationed in Italy. All sizes and weight restrictions from the USPS still apply.

 

Hi,

Just going to follow up with this. Unfortunately due to our contract we have with UPS, we are unable to ship large packages using USPS. UPS unfortunately doesn't ship to APO addresses.

I am going to try and get some type of discount in place for members of the military. We do appreciate all that serve in the Armed Forces for us. While this discount won't be immediately active, Hopefully I can get something going for you ( a nice significant discount ) within the next month or so.

Meanwhile just check out our selection of saddlebags.
http://www.vikingbags.com/motorcycle...saddlebags.htm