Shipping to India

[grumpyoldgoat]

I shipped a package USPS International to India on August 31 and I just got a message that it hasn't arrived yet. This is the first package I have shipped to India and I was wondering if anybody had experience on how long it usually took.

Thank you,
James R. Moe
grumpyoldgoat

[StuckOnSilver]

I haven't shipped to India yet but perhaps you can check with the USPS for information they have on the package. Good luck!!

[grumpyoldgoat]

There is no tracking and all the USPS has ever told me on international packages is a week or two, or longer. They are very vague.

[SageNThymeDesigns]

I've had packages take over 3 weeks to get to the UK or Canada, and I can only imagine it would take way longer than that to get to India. USPS has vague quotes because once it leaves the US it's beyond their control, just like once it leaves your hands it's beyond your control.

I've started getting insurance on all international packages that I don't want to have to either refund or remake. Unfortunately insurance doesn't reimburse for returned packages, so I no longer ship to certain countries that have been consistently challenging with packages being lost or returned to sender (the UK in particular, unfortunately).

In this case I would tell my customer that I'm attempting to file a 'lost or delayed mail claim', which you may not be able to do. They should also file such a claim with their mail service. I wouldn't plan to reship or refund until at least a full month or even two months post-shipment. It really can take that long...

You may want to update your shop policies for the future.

[grumpyoldgoat]

So far i haven't lost any packages overseas. I have had a few to other countries take a while to arrive. I'm not worried about the cost of the product as much as I am concerned about an impatient customer filing a complaint about shipping times when there is nothing that can be done and they haven't waited long enough. My experience indicates that very few customers take a look at my policies before they order. Several times I have had to quote from them. I do occasionally update my policies when things come up so I have better info to quote from. After this is resolved I will probably add more about how long to wait before complaining.

[OneFairfaxRoad]

Jim, you could include in your shipping confirmation a sentence explaining that shipments can take four to six weeks.

I use Shipsaver insurance on my international packages, and always check their "excluded countries list." I don't ship to countries that are excluded:
https://www.shipsaver.com/faq#excountries

[LeedsRadio]

When you say there is no tracking do you mean there's no information when you put the tracking number into usps.com? Or do you mean you did not get tracking?

[grumpyoldgoat]

USPS First Class International does not include tracking

[LeedsRadio]

Ugh

First class does have delivery confirmation to some countries, but not India

I've shipped 15-20,000 packages almost all Express, Priority, Surface (no longer exists) all but two of them got where they were going. That's 99.99%

About a year ago a customer in UK asked me to ship First Class, which does have Delivery Confirm but not insurance. He promised me that if it got lost that he'd make no claim with PayPal - sure enough it got lost. There were no scans after it left the US. He knew that and perhaps even received the item. First Class mail reliability on my end? 0%

Don't use first class for international unless you can afford to lose the package/merchandise and ship it again. With delivery confirmation you will lose a battle with PayPal or a card issuer before it starts.