sbrian from USA has finally come good.

ishaw

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I know things take a while, but is this too long?

Seller said they had posted on Dec 31st, and initial pms about delay were answered but no tracking info has been forthcoming despite asking, and now my last 2 Pms are sitting unread.

Cause for concern?

The value of the items is not unsubstantial so I'm worried.

Thoughts?
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

Customs are VERY slow at the moment. I waited for over a month for a frame from US sent early December.
Is it being sent via USPS? if so you may be able to find out where it is at your Parcelforce depot, dependent on whether the bloke on the counter is a helpful soul or a jobsworth...
P force will have a list of every package entering the country by post code, and the town of origin.
Fr'instance; my frame was sent from Boise, ID. Unsurprisingly, It was the only parcel sent from there to my postcode. From that, the extremely helpful chap at parcelforce found both the US and UK tracking numbers, and plugging them in online, I found where it was.
It really does depend on the counter staff though. His colleague was extremely unhelpful and denied that anything was possible without a tracking number.
If it's gone via a different service I would imagine something similar is possible, but if it's coming from a major city there may be too many numbers to trawl through...
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

I bought a bike on ebay at the beginning of December that came from Switzerland and was finally delivered in early January by Parcelforce, even though I'd paid a substantial fee for a 5 day delivery. So there is definitely the 'Christmas mail' argument especially if it has been sent by a national carrier.
However, the breakdown in communications is worrying as well as the fact that we are now well clear of Christmas.
I have to admit that I would be worried now and would be looking at the various options at my disposal for the worst case scenario.
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

Even from Canada its always slow! I also work in the postal system here and as soon as it leaves the country a bunch of factors come into play!

1) UK is on a completely different system so scan codes are different (although you just inherited our fearless postal leader!)
2) Customs WILL sandbag you!
3) US postal system is on the borderline of bankruptcy!
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

Shipping in general seems very slow even within europe at the moment, stuff from the states ? My wife regularly buys from the US and the delivery is quite sharpish, having said that I've been waiting 3 weeks for an order.

I don't wish to worry you unduly but no tracking info, no reply to messages I may be getting a little concerned. Was it a paypal purchase ?
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

I've had a few replies so not overly concerned there, I would just be less concerned if I could fill the gaps I have and get something more concrete confirmed, like it is stuck in customs. It's the not knowing that's driving me to distraction.

The fact that others are reporting extremely slow delivery times is at least some benefit.

Thanks for the replies.
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

The delay might be understandable, but not passing on the tracking details to you is uncool.
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

Waited over 3 months for a trimble frame from the US once, it turned up eventually but I think it was down to a lazy seller and snail boat mail :?

RBG
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

In my experience its definitely a customs issue, items that have been posted the day after i've ordered them and have tracking have left the US within a couple of days and then spend weeks in customs; they're extracting every penny of VAT they can and its causing the backlog. It never used to be like this, 6/7 years ago i ordered a pair of trainers (std. delivery) from San Francisco and they arrived within 24hrs!! I'll admit it was probably more luck than judgement.
 
Re: Waiting for delivery - 1 month, 11 days (from USA)

Even though it may not have a tracking number, if it is over 4lbs then the seller would have had to complete a customs form and that does have a tracking number I believe that can be at least tracked within the u.s. so you should be able to see if it's left the seller...at least this was my information at the local u.s. post office last week
 
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