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Post by morphonut on Jun 24, 2020 3:40:21 GMT -8
Dear Colleagues,
Although I no longer trade much anymore with my European friends I always had very good luck in the past using the USPS with or without tracking number with parcels taking usually a couple weeks to arrive from USA. Due to the current Covid 19 epidemic it appears it is now taking much longer because of far few flights, less postal workers, more limited hours and a "large volume" of backed up parcels at airports,ports and post offices. Apparently ships are now also being used because of fewer flights. I understand it can now take several months for parcels to finally reach their destinations. Can anyone please comment on how long it is taking or are parcels actually being lost?. Also in the event that parcels are indeed lost who should provide compensation, sender or receiver due to no fault of either. I shall appreciate any comments on the current situation. Thank you.
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Post by nomihoudai on Jun 24, 2020 4:26:42 GMT -8
The sender is responsible until it arrives at the receiver.
If the parcel gets damaged or lost during that period the sender has to get their recompensation from the carrier. How much he can receive is handled by a set of laws, the most notable being the carmack amendment. If no declaration of value has taken place or proof of value is possible it's the sender's problem.
I had operated an e-commerce shop for some time and I had goods for hundreds of dollars being lost/damaged/or maybe even stolen. I am not the one to judge. That's the hazards of the business and the profit margin covered it.
Were you able to send/receive anything from the US? I had tried sending a set of baseball caps to friends in Germany. The quote from FedEx for the parcel was between $170 and $210. I said we will wait.
So at the moment shipments from the US are not working at all which is really shameful. I wonder if the biggest blow to the economy is yet to come. I had called and asked my logistics specialist how the situation is in Germany, he told me that there was some tiny delays of a few days, but nothing comparable to here.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Jun 24, 2020 4:55:05 GMT -8
Leptraps LLC is a global business. I have used FedEx for most locations and have never had a problem.
There are places in this world that shipping to can be very difficult. Especially in parts of Asia and Africa. There are several countries I decline to ship product into. I have the customer make the shipping arrangemants.
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Post by kevinkk on Jun 24, 2020 18:48:34 GMT -8
My experience right now, is that USPS has slowed down, it depends on how you ship. I have been using 3 day priority boxes only, after
some issues last year with people blaming me for the post office have an acid flashback and sending the livestock on some mysterious
journeys.
Once it leaves my hands, and it's in the hands of the post office, I really don't have much control over it, do I? When it comes to
shipping issues, it's my discretion if refunds are in order- hence the foolproof 3 day box. Maybe if you're running a business,
and want to absorb other people's mistakes, that's your choice, that's why people like Amazon and Ebay.
Pick your carrier and your choices carefully, a few bucks saved in shipping is worthless once things go south.
As far as overseas, it is probably still slower than normal, I have a contact in Canada who has complained about slower than normal
delivery, my last purchase from Italy, to the USA, took about 9 days longer than it normally does, that was back when the pandemic
just started.
I've got an Ebay purchase in transit right now, enjoying an extended stay in the midwest for the last 6 days, going from IL, to Mo, to IA,
who knows where it'll go next.
The post office is not perfect, but it's the best bet in my opinion, I avoid DHL, maybe it's my location, but they add about 10 days to a delivery,
you don't want to fall for those "smartpost" shippers either, usually it's UPS, or DHL.
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Post by exoticimports on Jun 25, 2020 4:30:25 GMT -8
The sender is responsible until it arrives at the receiver. This is a common misunderstanding. International Commerce Terms (INCOTERMS) are used to define who is carrying the risk (loss, damage), cost (e.g., insurance, import duties) and ownership. When no specific Term is stated, the default is Ex Works, which means that risk and cost are borne by the buyer the moment it leaves the possession of the seller. Within USA, a near-duplicate "alternative" to INCOTERMS exists; likewise, the default is FOB with the same general assignments as Ex Works. The parcel carriers force deviation from this in a way, in that they often force the seller to file the claim, even in Ex Works/ FOB cases. They can do this because they hold the money; but for larger financial values the court would toss this and force the buyer to use standard commerce terms/ procedures. But in small stuff, it's easier to work with the carriers than fight them. Regarding shipments to a foreign destination: As a seller, under NO CIRCUMSTANCE would I EVER accept responsibility and cost all the way to the buyer (e.g., DDP) because that includes not only the ever-present risk of shipping damage, but also import duties, carriage by unknown foreign carriers, import caps, and ambiguous Customs "handling fees" which in some countries can be remarkably variable (in plain English: corruption.) As said, the default is Ex Works/ FOB, leaving most sellers and buyers to think they are covered in case of loss. Unfortunately, buyers find out the hard way that their package- and indeed it is theirs to insure, accept risk, etc- is their problem, not the seller's. Of course, every package could be forced to explicitly state the terms, but (1) commerce on personal small stuff would grind to a halt and (2) the powers to be have never seen fit to force this. So be aware that 99.9% of packages are purchased by default with Ex Works/ FOB, meaning that as soon as the seller hands it to FedEx / USPS/ DHL, it's the buyers problem. Chuck |
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Post by exoticimports on Jun 25, 2020 4:35:22 GMT -8
On the topic of current shipping delays: until recently (and even perhaps now) ALL carriage of packages to/ from Europe, Australia and NZ were going by ship. Maybe they've loosed it lately, maybe not.
Germany may be a couple days behind, but Belgian Post is still sitting on millions of packages, and has been for months. Australia appears to have gotten through most of their backlog.
Shipments from China are well behind, there's a huge backlog both in China and Long Beach.
Chuck
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Jun 25, 2020 6:16:20 GMT -8
I purchase electronic components, hardware and enclosures from concerns in China. This AM via UPS, I received hardware I actually ordered in January of 2020.
These delays in shipping have caused Leptraps difficulties in product delivery.
The situation all revolves around the effectives of Corona Flue. This issue my continue into 2021 or beyond.
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Post by morphonut on Jul 4, 2020 4:33:48 GMT -8
Thank you to everyone who participated in my inquiry about postal delays. Although appearing to be lost, parcels now with the Covid 19 pandemic can have long delays but still usually eventually arrive. I sent two parcels from USA to Europe and one took about 7 weeks and the other about 3 months to arrive. So, please keep this in mind for your future parcels. This is not likely to improve until Coronavirus is under control maybe with a vaccine hopefully next year.
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Post by kevinkk on Jul 4, 2020 9:19:32 GMT -8
Thank you to everyone who participated in my inquiry about postal delays. Although appearing to be lost, parcels now with the Covid 19 pandemic can have long delays but still usually eventually arrive. I sent two parcels from USA to Europe and one took about 7 weeks and the other about 3 months to arrive. So, please keep this in mind for your future parcels. This is not likely to improve until Coronavirus is under control maybe with a vaccine hopefully next year. The virus has slowed things down, but overseas delays can and do happen all the time, well before this pandemic occurred, I had more than one overseas, and even here in the states hit some roadblock and either are stuck in one facility or go from state to state, in a circle. Hard to track an oversea shipment of livestock, especially if you're here in the states. As far as an end to the virus- we're in the "new normal" and I don't think we're going to ever see life or anything like it was a year ago. Prove me wrong... please. |
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