MADNESS IN FRANCE! Express Mail parcel held for almost 3 weeks in customs....

[Daniel Stone]

well touchdown.

USPS email just said its been delivered. 3 weeks of waiting, lets just hope customs didn't decide to use my parcel as a football for the company picnic this past weekend

and no Leigh, NOT ALL of the French are crazy, just a few select individuals that taint the waters. Just like here in America, we each have our "crazies" amongst us

-Dan

[Leigh]

and no Leigh, NOT ALL of the French are crazy...

Wow. I thought my previous statement was unbelievable.

It doesn't come close to this one in that regard.

- Leigh

[Tin Can]

btw, I was not complaining about Canadian shipping times. I always get paid first and insure. Simply an observation. The people I have shipped to outside the US have never complained about shipping times, packing, cost or damage.

Kicking and screaming we are being drawn into a global market.

I find many still want our old USA made items, all over the world.

[Valdecus]

Last year I purchased a Grafmatic holder from a photographer in the US. The parcel was sent via USPS Priority Mail. It arrived at my place in Germany a mere 4 months later. Per stamps on the parcel it was obvious that is was shipped through the harbour of Hamburg, i.e. it came by ship...

On the other hand I frequently purchase from Really Right Stuff. Their parcels are being sent by UPS and they usually take 3-4 days to deliver. YMMV.

Cheers,
Andreas

[Daniel Stone]

IIRC, UPS/Fedex/DHL offer "healthy" discounts to companies who ship lots of items on a regular basis(do you think B&H REALLY pays $8 that they charge you for shipping? I'd venture to guess they're actually paying closer to $3-5, including labor and packing materials. THEY SHIP A LOT) Maybe I'm wrong, but I choose consistently choose USPS for int'l and domestic parcels because it means I can offer a lower cost for shipping if I sell something. No one WANTS to pay more for shipping than they have too, but sometimes(like with this parcel) I find myself scratching my head in a quandary, wondering WHY USPS and foreign customs can't have a "smooth sailing" relationship...

Oh well, I'll just have to add ANOTHER line of legalese to my ebay sales "EXPRESS mail shipments may still take weeks to months to arrive, if the destination's customs department does not want to expedite the parcel through the process in a fast manner"....

Sad...

[BarryS]

...it was obvious that is was shipped through the harbour of Hamburg, i.e. it came by ship...

Aye, the stories that Grafmatic could tell--foreign ports, loose women, odd sea creatures, things that could turn your hair white and curl your toes; all nothing to a sea-faring Grafmatic.

[Jody_S]

Shipping to FRANCE: always attach, in an envelope outside the parcel, 3 COPIES of an invoice or other documentation of what's inside and what it's worth. Also, provide the telephone no# of the French recipient, and be prepared to spend a ridiculous amount of time emailing further documentation. Plus, they often don't bother notifying anyone if they think documentation is insufficient, so the recipient must take the initiative and check with customs if it's held more than a couple of days.

Don't ask me how I learned this.

[Vick Ko]

Hmm. Never had any issues with USA to Canada shipments (I live in Canada).

But had a similar issue to the OP with a camera that I sold to France. It took forever, then the buyer tells me that the camera had been sent back to Canada. So double the wait time, for the camera to get back to me. And no explanation from the French Post Office for why it was returned, only some vague mention "that the adressee was not home."

Shipping to China is often associated with long delays too.

[Daniel Stone]

....
Shipping to China is often associated with long delays too.

au contraire...
at least in my experience(using Express Mail ONLY)
Hong Kong and mainland China SPEED THINGS THROUGH, the fastest I've had an express mail parcel(with $3k worth of HB stuff inside, stated full value on the customs forms, no invoice or other documents) get to HK was 3days to the buyer's hands.
From my hands to his, 3 days. That's fast in my book!

but a few "Priority" shipments in the past, to either HK or the mainland have taken up to 1mo to get delivered.
hence why I greatly prefer USPS Express Mail

-Dan

[Denis Pleic]

While taking a parcel to USA to the post office in Croatia today, I was told that Lufthansa strike earlier this month resulted in a huge backlog with international post (packages?).... Hopefully, that backlog has cleared by now (two weeks later)...