10 days in now for the lefty steerer converter and its been in and out of San Francisco postal place 4 times according to the tracker. So, I believe the row boat is not getting tides right passing Alcatraz and getting washed back everyday :). But has anyone ordered bits from the US and let me know their delivery times ? Just to make me happier as unable to ride my new Ibis until it arrives !

I’ve been waiting for a cheque for nearly 3 weeks….

Just had movement from the USPS depot to here :
Your item arrived at an origin transfer airport in INTERNATIONAL, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES on August 29, 2020 at 9:04 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
So, something different in San Fran now, but still only done 500 miles in 10 days ………

It might take a while – as well as all the covid stuff, the USPS is currently under attack from the republican party in an attempt to stop postal voting. Mail sorting machines have been removed from USPS offices etc.

See here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/08/28/usps-mail-delays-still-persisting-workers-say-despite-dejoy-pausing-some-changes/

Good point Ginger. Just didnt know what the ‘usual’ times for postal were.

US postal tracking can be fascinating, just watching the seemingly endless chain of internal destinations. I bought an ex-US Army parka through ebay, and was tracking it for ages – I was beginning to wonder if it was going to cover the entire continent before finally crossing the Atlantic! It did finally get here, and with the weather turning cooler and drizzly, it’s proving ideal, not too heavy or hot over a tee.

20 days for the last thing I ordered from the states – was shipped on the 4th August, delivered on the 24th – USPS standard

29 days for me – and I’m still waiting! Accoring to their (terrible) tacking: my parcel has been to o’hare airport 4 times now – each time it goes back to Chicago distribution centre. Then back again!

Be glad it’s not Australia – my wife posted her dad’s birthday pressie 8 weeks ago, it’s still not arrived.

Hmmmmm. Hangs Ibis back on the wall to get dusty for the foreseeable 🙁

Weirdly got an update last night to say it had left San Fran and this morning another saying it was at Heathrow . Then another saying it had left Heathrow . Lets hope its now in a sorting office . Does everyone get hit with import duties ? Its only $95 for the part , so not a huge tax bill. Just wondering if that slows things down again.
My boss bought 4 tyres for his yank car and they are huge and somehow didnt pay duty on them , so a small package I hope might escape the radar 🙂

I sold a jacket to someone in San Francisco, tracking was fine until it went out for delivery then it was just stuck in a never ending loop. A few days later I received positive feedback so at least I knew the buyer had got it in the end.

Years ago I was buying quite a bit of car stuff from the states, only got hit for tax once. It was weeks/months after I had received the item and even then was only a minimal amount.

Expect all backlogs to be cleared around mid November.

I’ve just put a paypal claim in for a coffee grinder part which has been (presumably) lost in the depths of the USPS for almost 4 months now. The vendor said it was because the Aussie post office are “refusing to deliver stuff” and so it’s getting returned…. which is absolute horse-shit.

Be glad it’s not Australia – my wife posted her dad’s birthday pressie 8 weeks ago, it’s still not arrived.

That’s pretty unlucky – Sydney area seems to be a fairly reliable 2-4 weeks from the UK – some shops with an express option can get here within a week. Having said that, I have watched domestic parcels do a lap of the entire country before ending up at their final destination 50km away from where they started.

Well got a note through my door today from Royal Fail. Need to pay customs. So, me thinking its normal times are 8am to 1pm that the sorting office is open, pop out in my lunch break and get there at 12:45. Pointless really as they only open 2 hrs a day ( except Wednesday they dont bother) because of covid. Hmmmm………..less hours open, means more queues, so something wrong there as an excuse in my eyes. So will have to head down there for 8am before work. They even charged me £8 for the privilege of moving it 35 miles , when USPS charged £16 to move it thousands of miles and include a plane ride….. Must remember how extortionate Royal Mail is and go direct next time with DHL or similar.
So, we should be on for finish build Friday evening and first ride out Saturday if the kit fits the lefty and Ibis frame. It ‘is’ tight . May have to knock on the neighbour, Alan Millyard and blag a trim of bits on the lathe if it doesnt……….

Less planes in the sky means international post is taking ages…..

You say that Monkeyboy , but a friends neighbour is a pilot and hasnt stop cargo moving. But Mum lives on the Heathrow flight path ( well right under it) as she has said that there were planes moving over the last few months , but not one every 90 seconds as normal.Guess this was potentially cargo and BA moving all their planes to scrap in Wales or storage in Bournemouth.

Must remember how extortionate Royal Mail is and go direct next time with DHL or similar.

I think you’ll be unpleasantly surprised unless you have a business DHL / FedEx account. They all charge high handling fees, not so bad on a high value import but it adds a fair wack on things that are just over the threshold. In my experience UK customs check the majority of postal imports where as most countries don’t on stuff we send out via international mail.
We send things globally, nearly everything is large letter size and until last month Royal mail was much less than the alternatives and often less that sending things locally in the destination country. However, they recently put international prises up considerably so now business Deutsche Post is often the cheapest.
We had to introduce FedEx and DHL express services because international post outside of the EU had become so slow during covid.

4 days for my last one. 6 days the time before that.

I’ve just had a parcel arrive that was posted mid-July. It has arrived though so that’s the important thing 🙂

Cheers -Drive. I just have my Ibis frame shipped from Germany for 25 euros and arrived in 3 days , which was pretty fair via DHL. I must admit to expecting to pay duty etc from the US , but when the P.O’s charges were nearly 50% on top , seems a little OTT.

July 29, 2020, 1:07 pm
USPS picked up item

Finally – FINALLY – it arrived today!

Finally – FINALLY – it arrived today!

Yeah – my coffee grinder part arrived about 30 minutes after I made that post. Took 4 months! Meanwhile another package sent via USPS arrived within 2 weeks of being posted.

It’s definitely put me off ordering things from the US for the forseeable: “Delivery? Dunno, maybe 2 weeks, maybe 4 months…..?” – pass.