Reply With QuoteInternational post has been horrendous since about October IME
Probably a stupid question given the Christmas period, Brexit, Covid and the general performance standards that we come to expect from the Customs guys and Parcelfarce, but I thought I would ask if others are experiencing delays at present.
Ordered a watch from Hong Kong on 16 Dec, shows as dispatched to the UK on 17 Dec then nothing, must be a very long haul flight. Wouldn't mind if the tracking said awaiting customs clearance, but nothing.
I have another ordered from the US on 19 Dec which actually left for the UK on 5 Jan, so less worried about that, but that hasn't been updated either.
I'm sure both watches are sitting in an enormous hanger somewhere at Heathrow and they will be sorted soon.
Anyone else or just me?
International post has been horrendous since about October IME
Waiting for under a month sitting in UK customs is usually quite good for standard international stuff, so I'd not yet worry especially in the context of all the faff at the moment.
Not a watch, but valuable piece of HiFi, coming from Norway. Showing as exported on 17th December, not showing as arrived in UK yet.
Spoke to Parcelforce yesterday who said there was a global backlog of parcels.
They think it is either in a warehouse in Norway waiting to leave or in UK but not been processed!
Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
Parcel lost in customs since October, bunch of thieves.Originally Posted by demonloop
One from the US this week - posted 4th, received 7th via UPS.
Depends on the courier / service / country still I think. I posted something to the Netherlands using DHL this week, picked up from mine at 3 PM Tuesday afternoon and delivered at 10 AM on Wednesday morning. On the other hand, my parcel to Japan posted way before Christmas only just arrived yesterday... (parcelforce)
I sent one U.K. to NL on 8th December,
It arrived yesterday. The whole system is buggered atm.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
UPS have their own clearance systems though, which you do pay for (and I think are entirely worth it).
Ordered 2 watches from the USA over Xmas, both arrived within 7 days. One from Jomashop, the other was Ashford.
First time I have bought anything from the States, so very happy.
Sent from my Nokia 3.1 using TZ-UK mobile app
Friend of mine sent an item from Latvia to UK, it arrived in 24 hours. I think it was via TNT. As it was B2C shipment, he was surprised that there was no delay because of customs clearance.
There is a trend here, those who used the big boys who manage the end to end process seem to have done okay. Both of mine where given in at local Post Offices, USPS etc and then handled by Parcelfarce once in the UK.
Not the same cost involved but I ordered a strap from USA, dispatched on 27th Dec and arrived this morning, delivered by post office. Under 2 weeks ain't bad.
On the downside I'm not that delighted with the strap
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
I had a strap from the Netherlands that was marked as exported on 11th Dec and arrived yesterday.
Socks from Norway ordered on 6th Dec arrived 7th Jan.
Good to know, incredible you can receive something in that time whilst still waiting for an item from within the UK which was posted earlier.
I bought some close up lenses from China on 28th December and they arrived this morning, the gloves I bought from the UK a few days before haven't shown up yet.
It's mostly Christmas, I think, although the VAT chaos is causing a lot of issues with EU sellers not selling under £135 to the UK.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
If you got it sent FedEx, UPS etc fine. If EMS it will take ages because they use the cargo holds of passenger jets and there are far fewer of those these days
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
On Radio 4 this morning, a farming industry representative said that the additional admin is increasing the cost of goods by 5-8% (permanently). And I’ve heard even an higher cost increase mentioned by the medicines manufacturing industry (also a permanent cost increase). Administration and complexity cost money.
Sadly you are only stating what was blindingly obvious. Exit from a customs union was bound to have these effects. Those who thought UK based suppliers would not increase their prices must have been mad. Globalisation has ensured that most firms need to export. The increase in the overhead to do this is felt by everybody.
Still nothing on the Hong Kong watch. Inclined to agree with Ryan as EMS could have been the likely carrier initially.
Good news on the US watch, went through the international hub today and is in transit to my local depot (Liverpool). No mention of Customs handling or charging on the tracking. I'm hoping that with Brexit and Covid etc they are otherwise engaged and my little parcel will slip through - but that's just wishful thinking on my part. I'm sure I'll get stung at some point, but happy knowing that it's on the M6 rather than stuck in a big hanger somewhere.
I purchased a bracelet from Japan that was shipped by EMS and it took more than three weeks to arrive. This was pre-COVID and not over the Christmas hols. On the plus side there were no additional charges for some reason.
@Wallasey Runner: If it’s any reassurance, I too ordered a watch in December from Hong Kong. It’s finally arrived. Temporarily, I believe Hong Kong suspended air mail to the UK.
Many thanks. I'm sure everything will be okay and it will turn up soon. Just want to see it in the UK, not so fussed how long it takes to get to me from wherever. Usually Coventry when Parcelforce are involved.
The watch from the US arrived today and seems to have gone through Customs without being checked. I was a Civil Servant for 35 years and I can remember on certain occasions some rules were relaxed in order to keep things moving along. Maybe parcels below a certain declared value are going through on the nod or are subject to a smaller checking level, say 1 or 2 parcels in every 10.
Still nothing on the Hong Kong delivery. Hopefully it will turn up whilst the reduced checks are in place
My package is now showing as in the UK (12th) so, 17th Dec left Oslo, arrived 12th Jan. I blame the pesky frozen fjords and harsh North sea. Tough swim at this time of year
Just got 500mile to walk..... ummmm wasn't there a song....
Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
Re EMS...I must have got lucky with a recent order from Aus posted 30th December arrived yesterday.
Full tracking showed it landed at east mids at 7pm and cleared customs by midnight, it then arrived via parcelforce the next lunchtime. It wasn’t an express service or anything so was very surprised.
That would be exactly my assumption too, right now.
My package from Norway arrived today. No customs or VAT which was a bonus.
Maybe the backlog has played to my favour as it was £1k item. :-)
Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
Was going to mention this, I ordered some parts from Latvia, expecting them to take an age.
ETA was 1st Feb and they arrived yesterday!
There's a turn up I wasn't expecting.
The watch from Hong Kong shipped on 17th Dec was still showing on the Parcelforce tracking this morning as in transit to the UK. I went out for three hours this morning and about ten minutes after I got back the door bell rings. A delivery guy from a white van hands me a box which I automatically assumed was an Amazon Prime delivery for the wife. I checked it and it turns out it is the missing Watch from Hong Kong.
It must have skipped through Customs without any charges being raised and made its way to my local depot and out for delivery without any of the tracking being updated.
Fantastic end result for me and the seller who can now have his money from the Chrono24 escrow account, but it does show that things are very odd at the moment and had we needed to do an investigation into a lost watch the records would have been non-existent.
I ordered a watch early November from Gnomon and it took 3 weeks to get to me. Then 2 weeks later I got the customs/VAT bill from the carrier DHL.
I ordered my wife's Christmas present in November from Jomashop.... and it came in January... lmao.
Just goes to show you the randomness. She got two watches out of it (bought her one domestically).
It was sent dhl but arrived via normal post Germany. This happened before too but faster. Seems like dhl offload them.
So buying a present for somebody in November for Christmas... NOT a safe bet anymore!
Greg.
I've also had this happen, you will probably get a letter in a week or two from the courier.
Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk
Interesting that some couriers like DHL etc will deliver and recover the duties later, but both of my parcels were through the normal postal system that gets passed to either Royal Mail or Parcelforce and both of those will only deliver after any duties have been paid.
Both parcels were delivered without any evidence of having been through Customs, the absence of that sticker that they attach to the side of your parcel showing the breakdown.
I think due to Brexit, Covid and the Christmas period checking has been relaxed and some parcels, perhaps below a certain level, are being pushed through in order to keep the system flowing.
I have been extremely lucky with my two parcels saving around £200 in VAT, so I think I'll stick whilst I'm ahead and limit myself to UK purchases from now on.
Yes, having said that I think my bill a few weeks later was from FedEx! So I think you are in the right saying you are in the clear, as I always do pay before royal mail deliver!
Very lucky and a nice little boost to January for you!
Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk
My wife recently posted an item to Italy via Royal Mail, took 4 weeks and the recipient had to pay import duties.
I ordered a watch from Gnomon early in January - it arrived in a few days.
I spoke to an old friend of mine yesterday who still works at RM. Evidently the sorting offices are undermanned because of compulsory isolation at home. The stuff is just sitting around, it's safe but just not moving.
Posting Permissions
