International Dispatch

[Guest]

[Martyn]

I’m a bit confused!! I’m waiting on 2 packages from the USA. They where both sent Express as both are getting delivered via Parcel Force Worldwide. BUT one package left the USA on the 3rd of this month and has yet to arrive in the UK but the other which left on the 5th has arrived in the UK tonight!

 

Should I be worried about the first package?

Or might the other have arrived and yet to be scanned in?

 

[Nienna]

Have you tried the tracking numbers both on the USPS site and the Parcel Force site?
Keep trying them and if you're still concerned then I'd contact the sender and find out exactly when and where your package was posted and let thenm know that it hasn't shown up yet.
I'm not too sure of the routes US mail takes before getting to one of the airports for the flight over here - I imagine our US members might be able to help out with those details for you ... 

Good luck and do keep us informed won't you? 

[Martyn]

Thanks for your help Nienna.

This is the tracking situation so far .........
 
03-06-2007  20:40  CAPE FOREIGN CENTER JERSEY CITY NJ 099 Left origin country
02-06-2007  10:33  Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA Collected 

The most I have had to wait for something to arrive in the UK with Express postage is 8 days and tomorrow is the 8th day. Hopefully the status might change tonight and it might show up tomorrow.

[allender]

In the other direction, I received a parcel in the US posted from the UK International Signed-For, which is handled as Recorded/Expedited Airmail while in the UK and as Registered Mail when in the USA. The Royal Mail tracking website faithfully reported that it had been transferred to the overseas delivery division on 02 April, and the US Postal Service tracking website faithfully reported that they first attempted to deliver it on 12 June.

There wouldn't have been any Customs involvement, so I conclude that airplanes are a lot slower than they used to be. There were no signs that the trading card in a toploader and bubble mailer was leaking any hazardous or radioactive substance and it didn't rattle when shaken (or stirred).

That exceeds the usual experience of 4-6 weeks for regular airmail from Canada to the US. The last time I looked, there still were highways connecting the two nations that could be used as very long runways.

[potter]

I bought 2 boxes of 3D boxes, shipped last friday by Global Express Guaranteed and still has not arrived to me  here is my status on the USPS website.

International Dispatch, June 16, 2007, 10:51 am, Chicago (O'Hare) AMC
 Enroute, June 16, 2007, 8:34 am, CHICAGO, IL 60666
 Acceptance, June 15, 2007, 5:21 pm, SUGAR LAND, TX 77479

Now is Chicago just a slow airport, because I have had many packages from the US from New York JFK Airport, and San Francisco Airport and they seem to be much quicker.

To me I don't see the point in paying for Global Express Guranteed if it doesn't come quickly.

[allender]

Hey, Martyn!  You're in the U.K.!  Shouldn't that be "despatch" instead of "dispatch"?

(And I try to adjust my own spellings when I'm talking to a group who's mostly British ...)
 

[Sharon]

   No we dispatch in the UK as well, actually we tend to send instead  .  Now if you want to start cashing cheques for your mum to buy some pyjamas to keep her nice and cosy we might have a few differences 

[Roz]

Aren't they lovely coloUrful pajamas?

Does anyone else find it odd that we have a postal service provided by the Royal Mail and they have a mail service provided by a United States Postal Service?

[allender]

Now if you want to start cashing cheques for your mum to buy some pyjamas to keep her nice and cosy we might have a few differences.

No, as I lace up my trainers, I need to use my cheques to buy new tyres for the lorry; the old ones were scuffed on the kerb.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

And here in Australia, we use a bit of each spelling type (but mostly British).

Jail is an exception. And people use the -ize as well. I prefer -ise, myself - probably because I'm more used to it thanks to my prolific reading of British books when I was younger

[Roz]

No, as I lace up my trainers, I need to use my cheques to buy new tyres for the lorry; the old ones were scuffed on the kerb.

Not bad at all *is impressed*

Keep going like this and you'll have English GCSE in no time . If you need any volunteers to come with you to Stratford to RSC performances I'm your gal! *Has been 2x in a month *

[gimli]

To take this back to the topic of the thread although I love the comments about our wonderful common language

I have a parcel on the way a couple of cases I should have them tomorrow the point is they left the USA on the 16th and landed this morning 10 days later. I get the feeling that maybe they came by boat rather than Airmail 10 days on a plane I wonder how many times they went round the world in that time surely the Aeroplane had to land to refuel 

On a related note has anyone else in the UK noticed how many packages are going missing I have lost 4 in the post in the last 2 weeks. They may threaten strikes to get better pay but it would just be nice if they could stop loosing my stuff first and then I would be happy to see them get a pay rise 

[allender]

Keep going like this and you'll have English GCSE in no time . If you need any volunteers to come with you to Stratford to RSC performances I'm your gal! *Has been 2x in a month *

Is that anything like a N.E.W.T.?

I've been to the Globe and the Folger, does that count? My accent comes from a stage portrayal of the Dean of Peterborough ...

[allender]

I have a parcel on the way a couple of cases I should have them tomorrow the point is they left the USA on the 16th and landed this morning 10 days later. I get the feeling that maybe they came by boat rather than Airmail 10 days on a plane I wonder how many times they went round the world in that time surely the Aeroplane had to land to refuel 

Probably delayed in a depot somewhere; I've never seen boat delivery in less than four weeks; 6 seems de rigeur, and 10 isn't unheard of. Of course, that was back when seamail service was still available and we weren't in a hurry. (We had figured out that most small and friendly parcels were put on the plane even if we paid for the cheap surface rate, so it was worth an occasional instance of getting what we paid for.)

On a related note has anyone else in the UK noticed how many packages are going missing I have lost 4 in the post in the last 2 weeks. They may threaten strikes to get better pay but it would just be nice if they could stop loosing my stuff first and then I would be happy to see them get a pay rise 

I've had two parcels from the U.K. that haven't shown up in the U.S. so far this year, sent in January and February from people I know to be extremely reliable. Another showed up tracked and Signed-For after ten weeks, with no hint of where it spent the extra time. I even have one from you that's overdue; you sent it almost 4 weeks ago, but I don't start panicking about international mails until 6 weeks. Possibly the first month is spent behind a postal sorting machine, even for some of your in-country postings.

Depending on the season and threats of strikes, I see 10-30% of parcels from U.K. to U.S. take more than a month when shipped airmail. Even then, that ratio is pretty good compared to our service from Canada. (I once saw a package mailed from Toronto that went through Customs in Vancouver, and I'm at the same longitude as the sender.)

[allender]

I even have one from you that's overdue; you sent it almost 4 weeks ago, but I don't start panicking about international mails until 6 weeks. Possibly the first month is spent behind a postal sorting machine, even for some of your in-country postings.

Just an update, to be fair and to show that even the best mailing practices don't always work. The parcel I was expecting from Chris arrived safe and in perfect condition. He mailed it at the end of May, I received it 13 July. Bubble mailer, perfectly addressed and marked and postage paid, with prominent "By air mail - Par avion". No hint of why it took 6-1/2 weeks.

Ironically, in the same delivery I received packets directly from Royal Mail about an online preorder I made much later. The envelope bore the slogan, "Royal Mail - with us it's personal". So I have to wonder whether it's Chris they don't like, or if it's me. 

[Roz]

Ironically, in the same delivery I received packets directly from Royal Mail about an online preorder I made much later. The envelope bore the slogan, "Royal Mail - with us it's personal". So I have to wonder whether it's Chris they don't like, or if it's me. 

I'm so glad it's not just me who thought about their slogan this way

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I suspect it was deliberate. It's something I'd do.

I'm evil like that.