Shipping to USA - Customs delays

[Former_Member]

Has anyone had any problems with US Customs holding parcels for an extended period of time. I sent a parcel to Louisiana on the 2nd of Oct and it has only made it to San Francisco and has been siting there since the 5th of Oct.

Canada Post delivery standard is 5 to 7 days. Two parcels on the 1st of Oct. to the US and both arrived in 5 days.

[SmallbonesStudio]

I've never had a problem. That doesn't sound good.

[ClairAshley]

Hi Grace,
What method did you ship? Was it tracked package or was it the light packet with no tracking number?

[MagpieQuilts]

Sometimes the US end of tracking doesn't get updated until package is delivered. And maybe the US govt shut down is affecting customs?

[Former_Member]

Hi,
The parcel was sent Expedited with tracking and extra insurance. Needless to say both myself and customer are frustrated!! Hope there will be some updates by tomorrow.

Thanks all, Grace

[castillejacotton]

I have had several problems with US postal service. It is a crap shoot whether the package arrives and in one piece. I would say that it does arrive 80% of the time in a timely manner.
I think that San Francisco is one of the worst distribution centers. Apparently packages can get lost there for months. I had that happen and I had to reship the order to Hawaii. It eventually arrived about 2 months later.

[Former_Member]

I am waiting on a package to be delivered as well.
It seems to be sitting in limbo according to the tracking.
It is weird as well it went to Chicago from Ontario on its way to Washington.

[Former_Member]

It definitely is weird, I order from Utah quite often and the parcels come through rapidly. It seems that the only parcels I send to the US that get held up in San Francisco are to the south east.
How long does one wait before it can be reported to Canada Post as not arrived?

[EverywhereUR]

I have the same issues with my order to US now. I sent the package on Oct.12- Saturday, and because it was an official Holiday Monday, I guess it was departed on Oct.15. The Canada Post estimated delivery time on the website is 4 to 8 business days, and now they told me on the phone 6-10 business days.
Unfortunately, it’s Small Package Air, and there is no tracking.
The only think that Canada Post did, was to advise me next time to buy an insurance and tracking, which will be about double more for shipping to US.
From you experience, how long it takes for a Small Packages to arrive to USA?
When we can consider the item as lost, and do you offer a refund to the client in that case?
I really have no experience shipping to US, any advice will be appreciated.

[Former_Member]

Hi,
I have done a lot of small packet shipping (no tracking) to the US and so far have not had any problem with shipping. I have had some take up to 12 days but so far I have not had anyone ask for a refund.
I think shipping times depend on US customs and how fast they get through it. Also it depends on how far the customer is from a major sorting center as it may have to be trucked to the location. Some times you just have to ask your customer to be a little patient.
I personally have not offered tracking on my small packets because the shipping is so high that I would not make any sales.
I am not sure but I believe that if a packet is not deliverable it will be returned to you.
I also order supplies from the US and they take 2 to 3 weeks to get to me.
Keep all of you conversations, sales information and postal receipts. I had one sale that the customer claimed did not authorize the purchase on her credit card so I had to go to bat with paypal and because I kept all the sale info I was refunded by paypal.
Hope this helps, Grace

[MagpieQuilts]

Most of my sold items go to the states via small packet air. Normally, shipping time is within 2 weeks, but I wouldn't refund or cancel the sale until 4 weeks. If you ship often enough, you will eventually have a package or two that don't make it. keep your communication with your customer positive, sometimes buyers don't realize their items are coming from another country!

[Former_Member]

Happy to report, customer finally got her parcel. Was in Customs from the 5th of Oct but she received it on the 26th.

[Former_Member]

Yikes, that took some time!
Would you suggest we cut our small packet delivery "for Christmas arrival" off after the first week of December? Will you be adding tracking to your packets once the holiday's kick in ?

thoughts please :)

Mel

[EverywhereUR]

Finally my customer got the package; it took about 14 days to arrive.

From my experience ordering from US, it’s always about 12 business days, but my customer was kind of impatient.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.

[TreeTreasuresCanada]

We sent a parcel to the US by Xpresspost on October 28th. It was due to arrive at the customers on Nov. 1 or 4th (4-5 days). Tracking shows it arrived at US customs on Oct 30th. No further information is available. I can't open a case with Canada Post util 10 days after the shipping date. My customer had no luck with the US post office. Frustrating.