Hey USPS, where the H*ll is my M5?

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kevin m

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Hi all. Just after Xmas, I bought the M5 Leif was selling here. He packed it up quickly and it arrived here in the U.S. four days later. Whoo Hoo!, right?

Nope.

Since December 30th it's been parked at JFK. I check the USPS tracking info and all I get since that date is: Inbound International Arrival, December 30, 2007, 11:26 am, JOHN F. KENNEDY APT/NEW YORK.

I used to do quite a bit of international buying and selling both on ebay and this forum, but I haven't been recently. I used to get items from continental Europe in under a week, but it's two weeks and counting now. Is this the new norm? Does USPS hold items like this routinely now? 😕
 
Consider yourself lucky, I orded from KEH on the 22nd of November, and it has still not arrived. Which is just lovely when its your girlfriends christmas present.
 
I had the same problem getting a camera to a buyer right before Christmas w/ the USPS. I kept checking over and over to see if the buyer had gotten it and I kept getting a message that said .t was at the Phoenix postal facility ready for delivery. Finally the camera arrived back on my doorstep 3 weeks later. Turns out I had left out a digit on his address and they were unable to find that address (it probably didn't exist), so they sent it back to me. So it could be anything. I learned my lesson though. From now on I ship w/ UPS bcauese they can give you a much better idea of what's happening, and they ck your address on their global computer to see that it actually exists.. W/ the post office all you know is that it's out there, somewhere, and getting information from their customer service reps is laughable.
 
Once the package arrives in the USA, no more tracking will be available. They scan on arrival that's it. Once it clears customs it is just out there somewhere on it's way to you.
The USPS does not track overseas customs numbers after arrival.
 
Thanks for all the replies. It does set my mind at ease a bit to know it's not uncommon. It's inexcusable, but not uncommon. 🙄

I went to my local post office and inquired about this at the counter. I had the question about halfway out of my mouth when the clerk whipped a form into my hand. Evidently it's a rather common complaint. She told me that it can take up to two months, in some cases, to clear customs. 😱

What really gets me is that it wasn't this way just a couple of years ago. As I said, I don't do as much Int'l mailing as I used to, but I bought and sold items from all over the globe on ebay and forums like this without delays like this. So something has changed, but I don't know what. I suspect it's something to do with "Homeland Security" though. :bang:
 
Oh yes. I've had overseas packages arrive with HSA tape all over it, after they opened and inspected it.
Every time the senders last name sounded vaguely arabic or muslim.

Customs is the slowest bums in the system.
 
Well, I guess I won't be doing any more buying from overseas, then.

Instead of doing the logical thing and checking out the Saudi connection to 9/11, we've decided to stop the mail instead. :bang:
 
I guess it depends on where you get it. I have had 3 days from Hong Kong, 3-4 days from Germany, and 10 days from China.
 
greyhoundman said:
Oh yes. I've had overseas packages arrive with HSA tape all over it, after they opened and inspected it.
Every time the senders last name sounded vaguely arabic or muslim.

Customs is the slowest bums in the system.
Click to expand...

My parents had abunch of clay and china pottery broken by HSA when they searched their bags.
 
Keep in mind where you are too. It takes an extra day for mail and packages to get just my little bit east of Hartford, you are a bit further out from where most of the action takes place.
 
whitecat said:
I guess it depends on where you get it. I have had 3 days from Hong Kong, 3-4 days from Germany, and 10 days from China.
Click to expand...

My experiences have been the same as Whitecat's. Everything I've ordered from Japan or HK 4 days or less. Mainland China 10 days. Europe a week. Canada, which is less than 300 miles from here can take a month. Go figure
 
Scanner (Coolscan V ED in original box) from Japan to Germany: 5 days. Leica M body to Youxin Ye, 4 -5 days for either direction. My recent purchase, 3 days from USA into Japan customs and then one week waiting.... due to holidays... all sent by EMS. BTW, I can track EMS sent to US all the way here from Japan.
 
kevin m said:
An extra day, fine. An extra two weeks...I don't think so.

We're becoming a third world country. 🙁
Click to expand...

IIRC international shipping was rare (or impossible), very expensive and took weeks or months in the not too distant past.

Chris
 
Long ship times....All USPS

Long ship times....All USPS

Customs holdups

32 days US to Canada
40 days US to Belgium
28 days US to Singapore
30 days plus on US to Hong Kong
3-4 weeks common on 5 or 6 others

My understanding was that USPS is subject to normal customs random inspection, while UPS does in-house customs which actually speeds up the process. I cannot vouch for that. However, my practice is to not get overy excited until a month has passed. Maybe it just takes the inspectors a long time to run off a few rolls and get the prints back.... ;>)
 
On Dec 19, 2007 I mailed a RC to Pixtu, Canada to France. He pm'd me Dec 28, 2007 that he had delivery

On December 5, 2007 I mailed a GSN to pesphoto .. Toronto, Canada to Rhode Island USA... it still has not arrived.
 
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