International shipping rant

I have come to the conclusion that shipping companies are completely inept.

In the not so distant past, I had 2 tries with an item coming from Germany via FedEx that mysteriously disappeared in the Indianapolis hub....DHL finally did it right on the 3rd try.

Now, I have a package missing at the Louisville UPS hub that was a 2 day express from Amazon UK. It was shipped 4-13-15 and has been in Kentucky since 4-14-15 @ noon.....the customer service, while more courteous than my prior FedEx dealings, is completely useless on the matter. I had one last night tell me, matter of factly, that "We still have until 4-16-15 to deliver it and you will have it then". Check the tracking number this morning, STILL IN LOUISVILLE!!!!

So, needless to say, it has already been 4 days now, I know it won't be here today since it wasn't scanned into my local delivery hub at 4am yesterday nor this morning......advice welcome, fellow horror stories also welcome. I could use some cheering up.

   / _ _ \
  (Oo=v=oO)
  |v|   |v|

I feel your pain, so I drew you a picture

My Corolla project spent 6 months stalled due to shipping problems including 2 things being lost (conveniently, the parts that could be used on any vehicle).

Any challengers?

I've been pleasantly surprised with the success rate USPS shipping to and from the UK and Canada.

If forced to choose between FedEx and UPS, I'll take Fedex, But honestly, the United States Postal System Gets the job done reliably and affordably, Just not always quickly......... But slow is better than never / stolen / disappeared........ I'm looking at you United Parcel Service, who claimed that an unreplaceable time sensitive overnight package was delivered on time, when it was never delivered at all. Thanks for refusing to even acknowledge a problem and calling me a liar. I hope you enjoyed those tickets.

Hungary Bill wrote: _____ / _ _ \ (Oo=v=oO) |v| |v| I feel your pain, so I drew you a picture

That's really nice.

David S. Wallens wrote:

Hungary Bill wrote: _____ / _ _ \ (Oo=v=oO) |v| |v| I feel your pain, so I drew you a picture

That's really nice.

Now it looks more like an Alfa in it's natural state.

try shipping stuff to Israel.....

forget days.... getting through Israeli customs takes WEEKS....

oldeskewltoy wrote: try shipping stuff to Israel..... forget days.... getting through Israeli customs takes WEEKS....

How quaint. Ordered a package in November, it got stuck in the Christmas customs glut, I got it in March.

I actually had to buy some of the parts in that shipment locally because they took so long...at least I have spares now.

oldeskewltoy wrote: try shipping stuff to Israel..... forget days.... getting through Israeli customs takes WEEKS....

Which is funny that I get roughly $5k worth of merchandise from Israel every week.....never have had to ship it back before though.

On positive news, my local UPS driver managed to find it.....it was in the US first thing on Tuesday, and in Louisville by noon....and somehow was scanned in at Louisville....then took a scenic tour of the west coast off the tracking chart. Said it was inbound to Louisville from somewhere in California presently and will be delivered tomorrow. LOL

We do a lot of shipping to Canada, China, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and France, and I concur that International Shipping is PITA. It's amazing what will get your package stuck in customs. I had one going to Canada that spent two weeks in customs due to a one word difference between the commercial invoice and packing slip. And don't even get me started on the NAFTA paperwork.

The worst bar none is Brazil, with Canada second. Not only is tough to get things into the country, but the fees and taxes are insane. I recently had a shipment that cost 112% of the total cost of goods. But that's another story. And their customs is also extremely tough. And because a few of our items have tiny lithium batteries, you'd think we'd gone on a world wide mass murdering spree against nuns and children.

Anyway, that's a long way to say that sometimes it just sucks getting things into a country. Shipping is not even in my job description, but it seems I always get sucked in the international ones and end up doing most of the paperwork.

OK, I feel better...I've been in international shipping hell all week....

I've had worse luck shipping to Canada than to Europe. A set of E73 to Canada also cost about the same as a set of E52 to Brussels and only took two days less time. What the heck.

In reply to iadr:

That's absurd enough I'm not entirely sure you mean Tokyo, Japan.

In reply to yamaha:

I was just looking for the original thread to ask if you'd played it yet.

Remember the old days of waiting 8-10 weeks for shipping? Online tracking lets you understand why that was so.

I always use DHL. They seem to have it down to a science.

In reply to dean1484:

I'm beginning to think DHL jets claim to be military transports and never stop at customs....

racerdave600 wrote: The worst bar none is Brazil

I can second this. I have been charged duties three seperate times on the same shipment only to have it refused in the end. I now refuse to ship anything to brazil

Fed Ex, can suck rotted dead dingo dongs.

3 deliveries in row, three notes on my door left while I was in my office less than 10 feet from the door. They never knocked at all.

I am sick of them and if I can will cost them a huge contract.

racerdave600 wrote: And don't even get me started on the NAFTA paperwork.

I blame Bill Clinton