Thanks Joe and Negodki!

I've sent an email to Hanna Canada's sales inbox, and see where they
recommend. Maybe I should register as a reseller, because I don't
know of anyone local here in Calgary who sells them and I know a few
people who are interested :-)

I also checked Grainger.com but their Canadian affiliate does not
stock any pH meters at this time :-(

I won't be ordering from Presque Isle again and wouldn't recommend it
to anyone -- at least anyone in Canada. I had to inquire several
times to find out the complete status of my order. If I remember
correctly, the web ordering mechanism I used said they would contact
me as to what shipping to use and a shipping estimate. I am also very
certain that there was nothing in the website to suggest that the
pHep5 was not in stock or may not be in stock. After several days of
nothing (other than the automated receipt I got within seconds of
submitting the order) I followed up via email. I was told it was
shipped, but not told how. Then I noticed that my credit card charges
were not for the full amount, so I inquired again to find out that the
pHep5 was not included ("back ordered" with no mention of any
estimated availability). Another inquiry got me the fact that it was
shipped UPS, as well as the tracking #. Then when the package
arrives, I find out that UPS handled the brokerage to the tune of an
extra $35-ish -- so the freight and brokerage fee ended up being more
than the cost of the first part of the order that was shipped (and
incidentally, all of that stuff was non-essential stuff that I thought
I might as well order along with the pHep5 because the prices were
reasonable and it *shouldn't* really bump up the shipping, etc.)
Meanwhile, yet one more inquiry failed to get any estimate of
availability of the meter. So it's needless to say (but worth doing
so just to blow off steam) that I cancelled the rest of the order
because I'm not interested in waiting an indeterminate period of time
just to pay nearly twice as much as I should have to.

Sorry for the rant. But I ordered from Presque Isle entirely because
of all of the positive mentions in this newsgroup, so I feel compelled
to let others know that at least in this circumstance their customer
service was a serious letdown. I've dealt with all kinds of US
suppliers over the last 15 years -- including in the "old days" of
mail order before the internet, and many of whom were as small or
smaller than Presque Isle -- and never before have I experienced this
kind of ignorance and/or disregard in terms of both working with a
customer and helping them avoid exhorbitant shipping/customs/brokerage
fees. Shoppers outside of the US, beware.

Richard

(Joe Sallustio) wrote in message . com>...
> I love Presque Isle, but Grainger.com sells these and does not usually
> run out; they have a gazillion branches...
> Hanna has a website too, hannainst.com.
> Regards,
> Joe
>
>
>
> (Richard Kovach) wrote in message om>...
> > Of course my strange woeful tale of pH meters continues... After
> > finding out from Presque Isle (after much prompting) that my pHep5 is
> > back ordered from a supplier who is also back ordered (i.e. no
> > delivery date in sight), I decide during a bought of insomnia to try
> > the Checker one more time (I had already tried calibrating it a
> > half-dozen times in the last month with no success). Lo and behold,
> > it's behaving perfectly in the wee hours of this morning...
> >
> > Good timing too. The nicest thing about it is that the latest
> > measurements are all a fair bit different than the pre-ferment ones,
> > in varying directions, but the measurements all generally back up my
> > sensory perception (taste). Perhaps the good part of the meter being
> > unreliable is that I'm developing my sensory skills more, and the
> > ironic part is that by the time I get a reliable meter I won't need it
> > so badly :-)
> >
> > Cheers!
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > (ackwik) wrote in message >...
> > > Thanks for all your help, it was just what I was looking for to make
> > > my decision.
> > >
> > > Andy