bart70

What?......Why don't you just learn how to run your business properly??...:smiley2::smiley2: That was what ACS told me when I explained my same dilemma to them a while back....:rolleyes2 We are now testing NCS container wax so that we have an alternate supply - That way we can purchase based on best supply/price. When finished we may start the same with pillar wax. In terms of glassware the NCS product is far superior in quality and packaging (no more broken items) and freight insurance. I have had ACS glassware break in my hand while putting lids on/off - they are very thin by comparison. Between NCS and Gala I should be right in terms of supply. Bart

Fyi....I did not need to fill in any fraud paperwork with my bank - they were not really interested in the fraud component at all, moreso in canceling cards etc.....Even on my second call they had no interest in wanting to know anything about the transactions possible fraudulent backgrounds. Funny how different banks seem to take it more seriously than others..:rolleyes2 Apparently the first transaction I detected and reported was rejected by the other merchants bank, so that transaction never went through and disappeared. The second transaction occurred after my account was canceled was not forwarded to the other bank as the account was canceled prior to it being requested. This transaction will 'drop off' my statement in the next few days - apparently for accounting purposes it is left showing as a pending transaction on my account until the merchant's back confirms that they got the rejected transaction details. We are now doing direct debit transactions only with our suppliers. So far so good! :smiley2: Bart

Just a little more to add to the credit card scamming issue..... We notified our bank who (apparently) canceled our cards and issued us with a new one last week. New cars arrived safely and to date have not been used. This morning, we have noticed another scammers transaction on our account that was debited 2 days after we canceled the account (and before new cards were issued). Just want to let others know that just because the bank has told you the account is cancelled, they will still let transactions through on it! (A bit dumb in my opinion....especially since they had been notified prior that the account had been compromised). Keep an eye on your accounts, even after they have been cancelled and re-issued as the banks do not appear to be watching them at all! Bart

Thanks....I thought that may be the case. I suspect their have been enough people with large amounts taken that if it is candle supply related they would be well onto it by now. It is promising that they contacted you prior to any activity on your account - this tells me that they have a very good idea of where it did come from and are being proactive in eliminating the risks by canceling accounts before they are hit. The silly thing with mine was that the transaction was still 'pending' and they could not officially do anything about it until the transaction had been completed (ie - the crooks get the $$ transferred to them) then they would start the investigation and halt my account. I have to wait 45 days for it to be credited back!...LOL Bart

Calling with CC details would still leave you vulnerable - the only was of being safe from this type of attack is to direct debit INTO the vendors account, or actually swipe electronically from a terminal in the store (which is what you did) as Eftpos terminals connect directly to the bank and do not use vendors PC which can be vunerable to attack. Also worth noting that the new types of debit cards (Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit) are just as much at risk as a CC unless they have transaction limits on them. As far as a hacker is concerned they are still Visa/Mastercard numbers attached to accounts - the only difference is the money comes from an account in credit rather than in debit. Any available funds can still be drawn. We live in a scary world at times.......The easier we try to make it for ourselves the more complicated we end up making it!....I still remember when a 'keycard' was the latest thing to have and there was only one ATM in the town! (and no such thing as EFTPOS!) Bart

Did they happen to disclose the company that was compromised? Bart

Thanks Tammy, That info regarding the Lava was what I was hoping to hear! Will get some and start testing. Cheers, Bart

Sorry to hear Richard, but glad you found it early. By the sounds of things some people have gone on to lose large amounts when the initial transactions wen unnoticed. On the Crystal Container Palm subject, I take it you were referring NCS's Lava Crystal Palm and not their new Crystal Frost Palm (which is OOS). Will be a pain to re-test again but looks like we have no option while the supply of product is so unreliable, but now that NCS have their freight prices sorted there are sound economics to changing over. Thanks for the info. Bart

Has anybody done any testing between NCS & ACS container crystal palms? ACS are OOS of 25kg container palm and we have just got an order that will leave us short - Was wondering how different the NCS Crystal Container is to the ACS. Naturally I would test for certainty but am interested to know if they wick similar or if a particular trend has been noted between them? Cheers, Bart

Ok,...I am going to plead ignorant here as I was bought up in a metric world and pounds/ounces scare the dickens out of me! Has anybody done the costing on freight for the US equivalent of our 2500ml bottles? (I think this is 5 pounds?) In most cases this is my minimum buy quantity so would be interested to know how many of these will fit in the standard shipping boxes? Bart

Guys, Looks like this is good advice. We have checked our records and have had a small transaction yesterday from an overseas vendor that we have had no dealings with. If the skimming is candle supplier related it is pretty easy for us to determine where as we only deal with one company using credit card. Keep an eye on your accounts.....This is certainly real! Thanks Nadiap for the heads up!! Bart

Glad to hear of an experience with broken glassware from NCS - To date all of mine from NCS has arrived safely and extremely well packaged. It is encouraging to hear that when things do go wrong they will look after you. Cannot say the same for the ACS glassware though....and their refund policy is not worth the time or effort. I cannot replace the glassware with what was refunded, and I still have to pay the re-freight (despite the freight company admitting it was their fault and being prepared to credit ACS). Just not worth the risks, particularly as we are considering purchases in large quantities. Am seriously thinking about bringing in some FO from the US also. I believe (but cannot confirm) that the Candlescience policy may be due to arrangement between them and NCS as NCS carry many of their FO's in Australia. Still plenty to choose from though. Bart

NCS glassware is far superior in quality, and it comes packaged appropriately ( and they offer insurance in case of breakages which ACs won't) . ACS is just way too expensive by the time you factor in the breakages. They are less than helpful in assisting with broken items - I am guessing because they get so much breakage that if they did they would go broke replacing it all! The packaging they use is just not satisfactory for freighting by road freight, might be suitable for pallet packaging but not general road freight. They could learn some valuable lessons from the NCS packaging. Also, for those on the east coast - If you have not evaluated your freight costs lately between ACS & NCS you may be pleasantly surprised. Previously the difference in freight between NCS & ACS was marginal for me, we recently re-evaluated and found NCS is now much cheaper and also has insurance. When looking at 'whole of cost' per item it makes quite a difference. We cross checked some of our orders and had over $100 difference in freight by using NCS. I was previously critical of NCS for their odd freight pricing but they have clearly made some efforts to correct it. Now both just need to work on having the stock! Bart '

Sneaky little beggars.......LOL I guess the book is not going to be too big a success if this is the quality of the content.....:rolleyes2:rolleyes2 Bart

I am assuming that you are talking soy wax, where as my experience is mostly in palm but I have had a similar thing with both ACS and CDN wicks in palm. In my cases it just looks like a bit of wick 'ash' at the end of the wick. I don't see obvious stranding etc.... If the rest of the candle is burning as I want it I tend to let it be and not be too concerned about it. We don't have the abundance of wick types here in Oz to do loads of testing with. I quite often find that I just run out of wick options to try. My biggest issue has been shrooms (more in soy than palm) and have trouble finding the wicks that give the right consumptions/melt pool without the shrooms (even in just the plain wax!). If the solution to the ash was easily found then I would do it, but IMHO I would probably be happy with the small amount of ash if you managed to engineer out all other issues. Bart

I did the same thing in one of my testers once (was out of glue sticks and needed to make up a tester quickly). Once the melt pool got to the bottom of the candle, the wax holding the tab at the bottom become liquid, the tab then wandered over to the edge of the jar, then the jar shattered! I admit that I did knew this was a risk at the time, made sure it was very carefully monitored when it got near the bottom, and ensured I was present when it did it. Not sure of how good the outcome would have been if it was at Aunt Edna's and on her antique table, without being closely watched. I agree with Stella - to not secure properly is a very dangerous practice. I have seen the result first hand. The wick tab must be secured, and with a product that has a higher melt point than the wax being used (keep in mind that Palm is a lot hotter than Soy so what may be suitable in Soy may not work for Palm) Bart

Definitely interested!! Our local suppliers think it is too hard for us to get supplies from overseas. One supplier scoffed at me when I suggested that I would source one particular product from O/S if they were unable to reliably supply. I think the words where "..you don't have a clue how to run your business...." was what they muttered As you have shown, even when paying for express shipping from the other side of the globe and ordering a small quanitiy, the price is comparable and (Customs permitting) you will not have to wait weeks or make several phone calls to chase it. If buying in larger quantities and shipping normally it would be cheaper than the local supplier. Great work.....Drop me a line when it is in and I will sort out payment and on-forwarding. Cheers, Bart

No worries....Happy to take a pound if you can spare it. Give me a yell when it arrives. Cheers, Bart

Does not surprise me.....Unfortunately it has most likely been unloaded but offered to others in preference to you, or packaged into smaller amounts and released slowly so that people will not buy a large amount (there are more $$ in selling smaller quantities). If there is any cost effectiveness for you in getting an extra pound I am happy to pay you for it and share the shipping and the cost to send it on to me. If it will cause you dramas I am happy to wait - Will leave it up to you. Cheers, Bart

Would love to help you but have none either......Maybe we need to source a good quantity from the US and distribute it amongst ourselves so we have a supply in the future? Bart

There is some paperwork to complete to have an account with them. As we have a fully registered business it should not be too much of an issue for us to get one (especially as we have an ABN). Whilst I have not confirmed, if you do not have the account the only difference is that you pay for the goods when they have them ready for shipping and are not entitled to the extra 2% for paying within 7 days of delivery. I am not sure what other criteria is required for an account. As far as I know the free freight to nearest capital city for $400 applies whether you are an account holder or not. When we started adding up our potential requirements we came to $400 pretty easily. I would be tempted to bet that they would be cheaper for you than ACS. They worked out cheaper for me and I have 350km of contracted freight rates on top. I am guessing that as specialist glass suppliers they will have much better packaging and shipping arrangements (ie - proper insurace) than ACS which will mean less broken items, so even cheaper again when whole of cost is considered. I also found their service very prompt - I have dropped them a couple of emails and had clear concise answers back within hours. They told me they get 2 containers every month of candle glassware alone. When an order is placed (and not in stock) it is secured from the next available shipment and in most cases is only a 4-5 week wait. I can live with that as it allows me to forward plan my orders and know that stock will be available. Might well be worth dropping them an email. Cheers, Bart

Not sure how many Aussies are aware of Gala Imports in Adelaide who are glassware importers. Those who have checked them out probably notice that they are often out of stock of their glassware as most of their shipments 'pre-sell' prior to arriving. I have contacted them - they have regular monthly shipments of candle glassware and whilst they may not have immediate stock they can in most cases guarantee stock from their next monthly shipment. This is a vastly different slant on being out of stock to that of the 2 candle suppliers who can go out of stock and have no idea of when it will be arriving, and even scarier, if you are going to get it when it does come in (Yes...at least one of them 'selects' who gets preference to their stock when it arrives). Worth noting is that Gala's website prices as Ex-GST so you will need to factor that it. Orders over $400 are shipped free to your nearest capital city, then attracts contracted freight costs from their to your location. If you have an account with them, orders paid within 7 days of delivery get a 2% discount (Yes...if you have an account you do not pay in advance!). I have not used them but am looking at securing some stock from one of their shipments in the next couple of months (just finishing working out what my needs are likely to be). I have no connection with Gala - Just thought I would post details as some people may have ruled them out due to their stock levels, but may not have known that confirmed shipping dates and delivery can be made with them from their monthly shipments. I am tiring of lack of stock from the usual suppliers, and have had broken items in every glassware shipment (am not alone from what I have been told) from one of them so the economics of breakages, dual freight and lack of supply are starting to make other options attractive. I thought I would share this with others who may be finding the same. Bart

Jonsie, Had to meet with my printer last week about a new line of labels, and as if it was some strange coincidence they advised me that the business has been on the market and they are in negotiations with a purchaser who was very big into packaging solutions and already has a business established providing plain and custom printed packaging for customers. They were still in the negotiation stage but said it would happen quick if it went through. This may give me a future contact for packaging solutions. I will keep you posted if there is any progress in this area. Bart

While the site was down, did anybody get a page come up from Alan that outlined that the site was going to be shut down due to becoming too large and time consuming to manage? Like everyone else I was checking the site regularly to see if it would come up, then a couple of days ago I got a webpage thanking everyone for their support and explaining that it was not going to be re-established. Perhaps it was an old link I picked up of some sort? Am glad it is back up anyway....regardless of what the reasoning was. Bart

Wolverine, I have had a couple of theories and one is along the same lines as you have indicated. I can almost guarantee a mushroom on any candle if the wick is not cut very cleanly. Mind you, I can not guarantee no shrooms on every clean cut wick. Also explains why they are less likely on subsequent burns. Would love to know the science behind it. Bart