Since I am learning Korean, I thought it's important to get myself a Korean-English dictionary and a handy phrasebook. The choices of Korean Language books is really limited in Singapore, so, I went online instead.
I stumbled upon the website www.fishpond.com.sg and was happy to know that I can readily get the books at a fraction of the price from local bookstores. And best of all, shipping is free too!
I chose these 2 books at less than $10 each! To try out the fast shipping service, I added $3.81 to the Lonely Planet Phrasebook.
This is the order and delivery timeline:
14 September - Ordered 2 books (Collins Dictionary & Lonely Planet Phrasebook)
22 September - Lonely Planet Phrasebook delivered (paid $3.81 extra for fast shipping)
3 October - Collins Dictionary delivered (normal free shipping)
It was stated when ordering that it'll take only 3 days for fast shipping of the Lonely Planet Phrasebook but it took close to a week instead. Hence, if you don't need the books urgently, I think it's more worth it to just wait for about a week more.
I'll give this website a rating of 7/10.
+ Points:
- Cheap books
- Reliable website
- Easy to navigate
- Accurate order tracking
- There's an additional order history page that'll inform you of the estimated shipping and arrival dates. The date here is very accurate. Oddly enough, even the Lonely Planet Phrasebook was estimated to arrive later than on the ordering page.
- Step by step order tracking
- As seen below, you can track your orders step by step
- Points:
- Hard to reach Customer Service; you can only email them
- Product title description was not clear; the Collins Dictionary turned out surprisingly small. It was more of a pocket dictionary and I just realised that I've missed out the "compact, portable format" description.
- Limited range of books
The Lonely Planet phrasebook has proven to be very useful and easy to read. As for the Collins Dictionary, I like that it is a 2 way dictionary with examples of phrases on words usage.
Well, looking on the bright side, I can carry this handy dictionary everywhere I go now! I just hope that my eyesight will not deteriorate because of it! ;)
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11 comments:
Hi, are you learning Korean on your own???
you're lucky.
I made a purchase around the same date as you but it's estimated that my book will only arrive in december. fml.
What?? OMG, that's ridiculous!! One thing bad about fishpond is that they only respond to email... :|
I am learning Korean language from the Community Centre and from the free lessons from KTO at Raffles Place. ;)
Hi there, try http://www.librarist.com/sg/ which compares prices for the Singapore region including the postage (it even converts everything to SG dollars).
Thanks for mentioning a Singapore version of Fishpond - they are actually New Zealand based, we will add them to SIngapore version very soon.
I googled FISHPOND and found this post.
You're very lucky. My books never came, and my friends' books didn't come either.
Now I felt bad for recommending 2 friends about Fishpond.
Am complaining hard to the company via email but they're far away in Australia!!
I lost patience already being told to wait. It's been 4+ weeks.
Oh dear. But mine was a really long wait.
Maybe yours will come after 4 weeks?
Did you contact them? How is it going for you?
I googled fishpond too to see any reviews, since Google Shopping doesn't have any. They have dirt cheap perfume but bad reviews on another site, so I'm worried about trying them. Maybe I'll order, but use my credit card so if there are any problems, I can just do a chargeback & file a complaint.
On another note, I'm learning Korean too! I'm using "Elementary Korean" as my main book, but dramas as my main teacher (LOL). Good luck!
Hi Ria,
I know of some people who had bad encounters with fishpond... But it turned out fine for me.
I realised period dramas aren't good but on the whole, dramas can be a pretty good way to learn! ;)
Cheers!
Awful service. Ordered a toy weeks ago and it has yet to turn up - in a country the size of Singapore, this is difficult to understand. DO NOT BUY AT FISHPOND if you want a speedy experience.
I completely agree that fishpond is a disgrace !! I ordered from them and when the deliver kept being changed I cancelled and have been waiting for my refund for 2 months !! You can not even call them because of the stupid "we want to save you money" tag. I just want my money back and they are full of excuses. I am in the process of traking them down via a phone number to give them a piece of my mind.
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