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Reviews For: Octavia Company

Category: QSL printers; callsign badge engravers; etc.

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Review Summary For : Octavia Company
Reviews: 122MSRP:
Description:
Russian printer with custom graphic art - 5 Stars. NOTE: Long delivery times to be expected for foreign shipments.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.octavia.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001223.5
BIRDMAN Rating: 2004-03-27
Crooks!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This company is full of excuses but I still have not seen my QSL cards. (It's been months!)

Stay away from these crooks!!!!

The only thing Octavia Company is good at is stealing your money!



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Earlier 0-star review posted by BIRDMAN on 2004-03-15

Don't order from this company! I placed my order 3.5 months ago and still have not received my cards.

Valery, RA6YR/1 will respond with excuses every time!! I am totally pissed off at this poor excuse for a business. Do yourself a favor and do not order from them. Stick to local or at least US printers.

Hope you read this one Valery and learn your lesson. Stop ripping us off!!!!!


KF8PZ Rating: 2004-03-27
Don't Buy from Them Time Owned: N.A.
on November 25th, 2003, I ordered 1000 QSL Cards from Ocatavia and paid with Mastercard.

I received a Thank You for ordering and a receipt confirming my purchase.

On November 28th, I received a proof of a very attractive card from Valery & Olga Kharchenko at Octavia.

On December 4th, I received another email telling me my order was being prepared for film output and being scheduled for printing. It further stated that "shipping approximately in 8-9 weeks via international registered mail."

This sounded very professional and I felt a 2 month lag time was acceptable for international delivery. I was somewhat concerned with dealing with Russians, but decided it was worth the risk.

My Mastercard was charged for my order, plus shipping.

On February 21st, I asked about my order and was told it would ship in 6 to 7 days.

March 12th, I was told delivery time was normally 14 days, but could take longer if it was delayed at the border.

I complained again on March 24th. I received a reply that complained that they had lost all their money when an American clearing house had gone bankrupt in 2001 and nobody cared about that. Customers still expected QSL cards printed. The tone of the email was very negative and I felt very disappointed in my poor judgement in dealing with Octavia.

The email indicated I was being unreasonable and would like my cards when I got them. The proof is very attractive. If the cards are anything like the proof, I will be happy.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever receive my cards. If I had read the reviews here, I would not have purchased from them.

As of today, March 27th, all I have is emails, a Proof Copy, and my Mastercard Bill.

In the meantime, I purchsed 200 cards from one American company and most recently, 1000 cards from W4MPY, another American company. My order from W4MPY took less than 2 weeks from online order to delivery of my QSL Cards.

In summary, I will never buy from foreign companies again. I will advise anyone I come in contact with not to purchase from Octavia.

BUY AMERICAN!!! Stay away from Russian companies. It's too risky. Above all, DO NOT PURCHASE FROM OCTAVIA!!!

This company is only interested in receiving money from Americans but not in processing orders.

George Miller KF8PZ


KB4QLZ Rating: 2004-02-28
S L O W Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Took 4 months to get cards in my hand. The cards look good, but 4 months??????
AC7VX Rating: 2004-02-28
Am I Happy ?!?! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It took five months, the WEB page says 8 to 9 weeks. You decide ! I'm five months behind in responding to QSL requests and sending my own out. Next time...........I'll think about it.
K9VQ Rating: 2003-12-03
Slow but great cards! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an update from a "Zero" rating I gave Octavia about a month ago. I received my card on 26 Nov 2003 after ordering them on Jun 7 2003, a very long wait and much longer than I expected. But I can say my cards are fantastic, every one of them were perfect condition. I'm giving them a "5" this time to help offset the Zero I gave them before. Overall I would have given them a four if I didn't rate them before, because of the slow shipping. I hope since they moved to a new location their shipping time will become faster. I will order again when I get down to half of this last order.

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Earlier 0-star review posted by K9VQ on 2003-10-29

I ordered my cards on June 3rd expecting them to take around eight weeks. I emailed Valery at 12 weeks and she answered after the second email telling me the cards were being prepared for shipment. That was eight weeks ago, 20 weeks total and still no cards. Before my order I expected them to take some time but this is ridicules. Save yourself some time and trouble and look for another printer.
W4PSK Rating: 2003-11-26
I waited 6 months! Time Owned: N.A.
They are better at sending email holiday wishes than they are at printing. When 1000 cards take 6 months to print and send < some damaged when received > I will be having my next batch of cards
done somewhere else. Having to wait 1/2 a year to get my cards and emails asking why so long? It will take me a long time to catch up on my qsl's
Good ole USA print for me next time.
73's
KR9Q Rating: 2003-11-25
Cards arrived and WOW! Time Owned: N.A.
I took a chance on Octavia Company based wholly on the reviews here at Eham.net. I am very glad I did. When I got my new vanity call, I wanted a unique QSL card that was totally unlike anything out there. I emailed Valery and Olga with some simple guidelines and within two days had four proofs to inspect. After going through several revisions (each with about a two to three day turnaround via email) I placed my order. My new cards arrived here on Saturday and they are better than I ever expected. They are well worth the wait.....Which brings me to the reason I rated them a 4 instead of a 5. My order took about three months to arrive but that was partially due to Octavia Company relocating to St.Petersburg from Maykop,Russia and misplacing my order in the process. I do not fault them for this as it could happen to anyone.(although I must admit I was getting a little frustrated by this time) I appreciated the email I received from Olga explaining the mistake and apologizing for it. It is very rare now days to find a company that will own up to its mistakes. I do not feel like some of the more recent reviews concerning the level of customer service provided by Octavia Company. All of my emails were responded to in a timely manner and were very professional and curteous

I plan to re-order from Octavia Company when the time comes and I will just plan for the wait.

Jack Stout
KR9Q
N4LI Rating: 2003-11-18
Good things come to those who wait Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am a fan of Valery's. The Octavia folks do nice work; the cards are high quality and they work with you to make them personalized.

The downside, of course, is the wait time. Wait can be quite long, indeed. But, if you plan for the wait, you're golden. Order before your old cards run out.

The main reason to use Octavia? Price. Dollar for dollar, this is the best deal going. I suspect if it were quicker, they would cost more.

I have ordered 4 runs from Valery, including one I am waiting for. I will most likely order again. But, when I was in a hurry -- like when my call changed -- I got a run elsewhere. But, I ordered the cards I could wait for from Valery.

So, in short, great cards, delivered sloooowly.

Peter, Memphis
K3GBB Rating: 2003-11-06
Thumbs Up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I went into this order knowing that the turn-around would be about 3 months. I just received the cards and they are spectacular. I am very pleased and am sorry that others have had bad experiences. I would certainly go to them again.

George K3GBB
K4QL Rating: 2003-08-13
Thumbs Down Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered cards in April and they immediately charged my credit card. They apologized, etc but this is no mention of this policy on their website. It was towards the end of July when half of my order appeared on my doorstep. Its mid-August and the other half of the order still hasn't arrived but I'm assured that were shipped and should arrive any day now. The cards I've received are nice and as described but their policy of charging your card immediately coupled with extremely slow delivery make this company one to avoid, QSL?