Hey all,
WARNING.....LONG READ AHEAD.......
I am just about as frustrated as I can get. I jumped in on another members thread the other day and asked about shipping a riser to Manitoba. I got some good info and some reassuring remarks helping me to calm down a bit. Today, I am just as mad, probably moreso, than I was when I posted that question a few days ago.
Here is a rundown. I would like to get your comments, help or advice.
I sold a riser to a nice guy in Manitoba. After reading and asking what the best way to ship, I headed off to the local Post Office. It weighed right at 4 pounds and was securely packed in a 4 inch shipping tube that was cut to length. The PO told me that since it was 4 pounds it HAD to go PRIORITY, no problem I thought. I asked for tracking and was told that Door-to-door was not possible for packages leaving the US. I paid the bill, which was pretty darn HIGH, and left. That was the morning of the 23rd. I was told to expect 6-10 days. By the way, I filled out a Customs Form that was attached to the side of the tube. The guy at the window took really special care to make sure EVERY little detail on the form was CORRECT, right down to the ounces.
I tell the buyer it's on its way and the waiting game begins. After October hits I am thinking that it is going to get there any time now. NOPE! I email the buyer and tell him what's going on and he assures me not to worry, that he's not worried. Apparently it isn't a big deal up there for packages to take extra time getting there. OK, fine with me. I still was getting irritated as I wanted the man to get what he paid for and start enjoying it. After I posted that question in the other members thread, I thought sure it would arrive last week. Been quite a while now.
Well I hadn't heard from the buyer until today. He tells me that nothing has arrived on his end yet and asked me to go and check and see what is going on. I totally forgot that today is Columbus Day and the P.O. is closed. So I get out the Customs Receipt and there is a number on it under the barcode. I go and type it in on the P.O. site and low and behold I get info. I didn't think I could get any info as per the guy at the Post Office window.
How does this grab ya:
It was processed out of Miami on the 23rd and arrived at Canadian Customs on the 27th. Pretty good huh?
Under STATUS it says that it is in CUSTOMS CLEARANCE and arrived there at 9:57pm on the 27th. When I click the little "i" next to the item number I get additional info that says:
"Your item is being processed by customs in CANADA at 9:57 pm on September 27, 2011."
Now what am I going to do? What can I do? How does a riser take this damn long in customs? This is just a tad bit over the line if you ask me. Beyond ridiculous that a nation like Canada can't process a piece of archery equipment any faster than this.
So here I sit with the mans money hoping that his riser will show up and he'll be happy. I have done everything I can do on my end and he has too. So are we at the mercy of someone sitting at a sort facility that just passes things through when they damn well please? Is there a number I can call to find out whats going on? I wouldn't blame the buyer one bit if he's Smokin' PO'ed. I know I would be. I'd be furious. There's no sense in this at all.
Anyone have any ideas? How long do you think this is going to take? Another week, 2 weeks, should I have included a Christmas Card with it?
After this is over, however it gets resolved, I would think LONG and HARD before shipping something to Canada again. I don't think I would ever buy anything from a business in Canada if this is how their shipping practices are.
Sorry for the LONG POST but I am just so aggravated, mad and upset. This transaction should've been completed MANY DAYS AGO and it's nowhere near it. Heck it doesn't even look 1/2 done to me.
Anyone have any help they can offer?
Thanks for your time.
Nalajr
I think and this is not gona help you, but I buy quite a bit of stuff from the US, and I have waited up to a month to get it up here... Canada post, is the slowest of all, and the most expensive of all, they are just plain bad!
But I guess we have to live with it!!
Good luck
I mailed a bow to a Canadian TGer just recently. It too right about 27 days to get there. Chill out..............
I purchased a bowhunting book out of Canada. It was shipped promptly by used book store. I took another ten days or so to make it out of Canada after start of shipping process. Took 2 days to deliver once in US. It will get there, eventually. Never easy to believe when it's your transaction, though.
I'm the Candian "Joekeith " above mailed a bow too. A few things:
items going from Canada to the USA are much faster then items coming from the USA into Canada. If they filled out a customs form as they normally do, then there is a Customs number and should look something like this "CX 123 123 123 CA" that number is actually a tracking number which can be tracked on the USPS site as well as the Canada Post tracking site. Just make sure you buyer has that tracking number so he can check the Canada Post Web site for tracking updates and that's all you can do until the item has arrived or is deemed lost. I've waited a long time from bows from the US and sometimes they come quite quickly. Once it's in the mail it's out of the buyers hands and up to USPS , Customs and Canada Post to do their part. I've bought a bunch of bows over the past few years from TG members and so far they all arrived safe and sound. Some quick some not so quick.
No big deal.
Thanks for the advice and info fellas. Sorry for the rant and long post, I am just frustrated. I had no idea it would take this long at this this kinda delay is nothing special for a package coming INTO Canada.
I don't know what to tell the buyer. I gave him the number I used to get the info and a link to the US Post Office site so he could check it and see if there was any additional info on there he might recognize. If there is a counterpart to the US Post Office site, like maybe one for Customs that would allow him to plug in that same number and get more detailed arrival info, I'd surely like to pass that on to him.
I just want him to not think I had anything to do with this stuff. I don't think he would ever think that way, but you never know how people react when they have to wait an EXCESSIVELY LONG time for something they have paid hard earned money for. I wouldn't blame him one single bit. If I could be there with him raising Cain, I'd do that too.
So I guess neither of us could do anything at this point even if we wanted to. His Riser sitting in a bin somewhere waiting for omeone to read the attached info and put a check mark next to it and let it go on. That's probably about the sounds if it.
I gotta go....BP and Heart Rate rising quickly.....
Thanks everyone.
Nalajr
Nalajr,
I can tell you that USA customs aren't so good either with items taking over two weeks to clear (that's leaving the USA coming to Australia); don't know what it is like going into the USA. :eek:
The whole postal, customs system seems to have taken a step backwards these days and we get to pay a whole lot more for that privilege. :rolleyes: :)
Yeah, I'm waiting not so patiently on two packages from the USA at present. :biglaugh:
Jeff
Being a Trad guy from Manitoba, and having a constant flow of mail to and from the U.S., I can safely say to calm down.
It gets even better yet....when the buyer here receives the riser he'll likely have to pay taxes and duty on it! Gotta love the the Canadian govt. and postal services!
I received a bow this spring that I had to pay an additional $115 on before they'd hand it over to me. If you send a bow for repair to the U.S., they'll try to charge you again for the bow that's already yours when it gets shipped back??? Wierd huh!
Call customs tell them to look into it for you . Be nice or it may take even longer. This has worked for me.
I bought a bow from Canada it took almost a month to get it.
Wow this is amazing. I bought a bow from Scotland, it was in my hands 5 days later and would of been 4 days but I wasn't home. So packages on the same continent take longer, go figure.
I have sent few bows in the US and they took 3-4 days,but when I ship something Eastbound it takes 20 plus days because the custom.
He can check that number on the Canada Post -tracking - web page. If you google it, will come up. Enter the same USA customs number. The two sites are linked. It works the same the other way. The day I put a package to the usa in the mail, you can use the tracking/customs number and check it's status on the USPS website.
I too get lots of stuff from the U.S. Mostly slow, sometimes reeeeaaaal slow, but it always gets here. New length restrictions have put shipping one piece bows out of business. Too long for USPS so they have to come UPS.
If you paid shipping to the seller, you can pay again c.o.d. when UPS arrives, plus brokerage fees, taxes and duty.
Best I've seen in Canadian/US travel time is 16 days. Both sender and receiver were surprised at how quick it arrived. Have a cold adult beverage and chill. :saywhat:
What ever you do don't get your knickers in a knot! The attitude of the people at customs and Canadian mail service are less than positive. I have waited up to 6 weeks to get my bow back from bowyer after repairs, and then they tried to charge me taxs for my bow. This is not your fault, the rest is up to the postal people! Maxx
I have had several run ins with Canada Post and Canada customs.After running off at the mouth to both places and stating I wish I new some Taliban to give their address to I never got anywhere with them.Had a bow take 42 days to get to the States.I payed Express which was suppose to be 3-5 bussiness days.They like to accept your money but don't seem to care about their end of the bargain !!!
This post is kind of telling me that Canada may be one hunting destination I would never want to ship my hunting gear too before the hunt to cut down on Airline Baggage Fees. :banghead:
Gene Carroll
xxxxxxxxx New length restrictions have put shipping one piece bows out of business. Too long for USPS so they have to come UPS.If you paid shipping to the seller, you can pay again c.o.d. when UPS arrives, plus brokerage fees, taxes and dutyxxxxxxxxxxx
The above is not true unless it happen within the last few days.
I've got lots of one piece bows from the US over the past few months Including one the other day and another in the mail, it all came USPS/canada post , never had Never had Duty, or Brokerage fees. I've been able to follow every bow by the customs number -except one which had the wrong label- but even that one which had no customs declaration and had a USA domestic only label, still made it to my house safe and sound.
Larry, first off I have to tell you Relax.... No sense on getting ill over a piece of equipment. Not worth it.
You've done everything in your power to make this right. Now we just have to wait. Not the best system but it's what we got to work with.
Now this little hic-up shouldn't taint anyone's views on this great country of ours.
Just a few hoops to jump thru. I'm sure it'll make it here safe and sound.
P.S. Thanks alot Ryan for reminding me about the tax and duty thing...lol.
Take care Mo
Customs will have it for a minimum of a week, usually a little longer, then the postal guys get to admire it, shake it a few times and then get it to your buyer. Takes time for good work to be done apparentley. It will get there, sometimes they carry each package individually the entire distance on foot!
Not really but I could have walked to New York and back faster than my last parcel was travelling. Relax
Terry
Over the years dealing with 2 boywers from Alberta Canada...plus shipping archery stuff to Ontario and New Brunswick...we always sent items back and forth USPS Priority...but valued the item $10 and reason for shipping...."Bow Repair" or "Gift".
I've had stuff sit in customs 2 weeks, some items less time. If you don't put "gift" or "repair", the person on the receiving end will pay a high tariff on the goods coming in.
Funny whenever I order stuff from 3Rivers it's usually in Canada in under 10 days. Also had the same speed ordering from A&H Archery.
Just an update.
Checked with USPS and looks like Customs processed the package at 11:03 this mourning.
Could be shooting by the week-end. All is good.
Thanks again Nala. Take care Mo
I bought a longbow about 3 years ago from a Guy in Winnipeg, Canada. It took about 3 1/2 weeks to arrive. Needless to say, I was on pins and needles the last 2 weeks, wondering if I was going to receive the bow and if my money was down the drain. It did arrive, though.
Guess what showed up at the Post Office?
Took a while but it's here, safe and sound. Thanks Larry,nice doing business with you. The Proline riser looks great. Now for some testing...
Thanks again. Mo
Hey MO,
What a relief! Glad you got your package.
Take a couple of days and try it out to make sure you like it and everything is to your needs.
Let me know how it shoots for you.
Thanks again,
Larry