Tunnel............................. ....End of tunnel............................. ................................... ................................... ................................... ..(darkness, only darkness....)
One has to wonder about the modern mail system...Here is USPS's latest effort:
I bought an item from Starlight Instruments at the start of the month ...
It was eventually posted mid-month, since then it has had a tour of the Continental USA for a week.
It must have gotten bored as it then decided to spend two days in Hawaii before returning to Kentucky to collect some personal item.....
Then it was back to Hawaii for another two days before arriving in rainy Sydney.
Having spent two days in Sydney it was deported back to Kentucky once again via Hawaii.... It's currently resting in Louisville.......
I wonder if it will eventually make its way back to the sender....
That would be especially annoying when it's from Starlight Instruments...……..not like it's a pair of socks getting lost in the mail.
(On a side note, I noticed that their prices jumped between 16-21% recently).
We have had a few items visit Austria on the way to Australia.
That would be especially annoying when it's from Starlight Instruments...……..not like it's a pair of socks getting lost in the mail.
(On a side note, I noticed that their prices jumped between 16-21% recently).
We have had a few items visit Austria on the way to Australia.
I noticed the big price hike as well.....
DHL... not much better, 21 days from APM in Germany to Sydney for my latest gadgets... Perhaps the CEOs of USPS, DHL and AusPost should go and spend a week with EMS to learn how to run a delivery business....
Hi Matt, my tripod (Berlebach) went round the world twice and took 8 months to arrive, I had long given it up as lost for good as all attempts to track it failed.
Someone in DHL swapped the apartment and street number and the idiot courier here tried to deliver to what is a park (!) and it didn’t occur to him the numbers might be swapped. So it went back to Australia Post where the morons there decided to ship it back to Germany - without so much as a courtesy phone call, SMS or email - all my details were on the package.
Second trip, DHL lost it somewhere in transit and it showed up somewhere in Holland... the the USA, and finally here.. all by seafreight it seemed.
I was ultimately rather surprised when it did actually show up.
One has to wonder about the modern mail system...Here is USPS's latest effort:
I bought an item from Starlight Instruments at the start of the month ...
It was eventually posted mid-month, since then it has had a tour of the Continental USA for a week.
It must have gotten bored as it then decided to spend two days in Hawaii before returning to Kentucky to collect some personal item.....
Then it was back to Hawaii for another two days before arriving in rainy Sydney.
Having spent two days in Sydney it was deported back to Kentucky once again via Hawaii.... It's currently resting in Louisville.......
I wonder if it will eventually make its way back to the sender....
SO MUCH FOR PAYING FOR EXPEDITED SHIPPING
...and yet my regular low cost parcel from Michigan to me arrived ten minutes ago - it was posted on Friday last week.
Oh I know this scenario. Yes, they employ idiots (for lack of getting quality staff) to do these jobs because everyone wants to be a app developer now or so other sit on your butt job. I must say that my scope did not get as many frequent flyer miles as yours Matt, but it did go from Singapore back to Belgium because I am sure someone thought it really needed to go to Austria and not Australia. And, like you I paid for expedited all the way and then they stick it on a truck to get from Melbourne to Adelaide. I wonder if I will see it this week?????
I ordered an item from OPT on the 5th June .... OPT posted it the next day .( see tracking info )
Tracking says it arrived and scanned in Australia on the 10th June this month
17 days have passed since then.
I contacted Aust' Post regarding this matter ... their answer .... never arrived... mustn't have been put on the Aircraft ... take it up with the company you ordered the item from.
She ( the Aussie Mail person on the end of the phone ) told me that the latest tracking info ( see pic ) was a ' guess ' at when it would arrive in Aussie Land , so don't rely on it.
I just hung up .... couldn't believe any of it
Anyway ... contacted OPT...they said ... have to wait 30 days before they can investigate for a claim or try and track it down and find out where my parcel is.
Looks like one cannot ' trust ' tracking anymore ... or was she ' fobbing ' me off and telling LIES
Col.
Last edited by FlashDrive; 27-06-2018 at 01:56 PM.
I'm having problems with Aust' Post ... AGAIN
...Looks like one cannot ' trust ' tracking anymore ... or was she ' fobbing ' me off.
Col.
AustPost tracking often tells me my product arrives... 3 days after it did. No comment.
I was once engaged in a disagreement with a customer of the shop I managed some years ago. He was (somewhat rightfully) upset that something he ordered did not appear 1 day after we took a deposit. We used Toll pallets from Brisbane to Townsville, and usually things were evernight... usually.
Anyway, he arc'd up and claimed that as a branch manager of Australia Post, he could guarantee that such a parcel would arrive next day, every time... .. After I picked myself up off the floor, convulsed in laughter, I replied. "No you couldn't".
Approx., five years ago we (work) ordered a few items from a company in Sydney, not unfairly we expected to see them in Newcastle (160klm north) within a few days........... six weeks later they turned up after having a trip to Perth on their way to N'cle and this was not Aust., Post.
I've brought a fair bit of gear in from the US using both the postal system (USPS and A/Post) and DHL and have never had a problem.
I feel your pain FlashDrive. It took Aus Post 14 days to get me an item from Chullora to the Gold Coast. It took less than 36 hours to get from the supplier in China to Chullora.
But I have also ordered recently from OPT in CA. The item was picked up on Sat morning our time, and arrive at my door on Wednesday. So on that point I cannot complain.
Now here is another test for Aus post. Today, for the first time I am trying to send an item overseas. I am actually returning an item to OPT. I delivered it to the local Post Office this morning at 9:30 am. I was told it will be delivered in 5 days. Lets see if OPT get the parcel by Tuesday morning.
I noticed the big price hike as well.....
DHL... not much better, 21 days from APM in Germany to Sydney for my latest gadgets... Perhaps the CEOs of USPS, DHL and AusPost should go and spend a week with EMS to learn how to run a delivery business....
Never had an issue with DHL - my US proxy postal address (Comgateway) uses them - gets here within 4 working days, 100% delivery success rate (over 50+ deliveries over the past 6 or so years). Tracking is accurate, customer service has been very good from DHL Australia. I'd say I've probably had more deliveries from DHL than anyone in this thread...
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlashDrive
I'm having problems with Aust' Post ... AGAIN
I ordered an item from OPT on the 5th June .... OPT posted it the next day .( see tracking info )
Tracking says it arrived and scanned in Australia on the 10th June this month
17 days have passed since then.
I contacted Aust' Post regarding this matter ... their answer .... never arrived... mustn't have been put on the Aircraft ... take it up with the company you ordered the item from.
She ( the Aussie Mail person on the end of the phone ) told me that the latest tracking info ( see pic ) was a ' guess ' at when it would arrive in Aussie Land , so don't rely on it.
I just hung up .... couldn't believe any of it
Anyway ... contacted OPT...they said ... have to wait 30 days before they can investigate for a claim or try and track it down and find out where my parcel is.
Looks like one cannot ' trust ' tracking anymore ... or was she ' fobbing ' me off and telling LIES
Col.
Col - I know exactly what has happened. The item was taken delivery by Australian Customs. 100% guaranteed. They can hold the item for as long as they want, with no responsibility for timeliness. Once Australia Post hands the item off to customs, it is basically invisible to Australia Post. Worse, Australian customs are taking longer and longer to process items on average, unless you go through a courier broker like FedEx or DHL etc, who can pull strings and expedite matters. If it's a private import via USPS/Australia Post, you're screwed.
I had a book that i ordered from Amazon US back in October last year do exactly what you've described. I filed a claim with Amazon, they shipped me a 2nd book, at no cost, via expedited delivery (not standard delivery), which I got 5 days later. Guess what turned up 3 months after the first book arrived...yup...the original book.
There is an extreme lack of accountability with customs - you can't contact them, you can't follow up with them on goods. It is absolutely outrageous.
What can we expect with these new GST laws on all foreign purchased goods? 100% of items arriving from overseas will go to customs. Wait times will approach 12-18 months for processing, and customs will "lose" a lot of stuff, legally unrecoverable by the recipient, as customs is above the law in Australia. There's the real issue - no government department should EVER be above the law. In fact, scrutiny should be EVEN stronger on them, since the ability to engage in corrupt behaviour is even stronger imho. Many of these "missing" goods will be resold behind closed doors by the Australian government for extra income. Mark my words.
Col - I know exactly what has happened. The item was taken delivery by Australian Customs. 100% guaranteed. They can hold the item for as long as they want, with no responsibility for timeliness. Once Australia Post hands the item off to customs, it is basically invisible to Australia Post. Worse, Australian customs are taking longer and longer to process items on average, unless you go through a courier broker like FedEx or DHL etc, who can pull strings and expedite matters. If it's a private import via USPS/Australia Post, you're screwed.
I had a book that i ordered from Amazon US back in October last year do exactly what you've described. I filed a claim with Amazon, they shipped me a 2nd book, at no cost, via expedited delivery (not standard delivery), which I got 5 days later. Guess what turned up 3 months after the first book arrived...yup...the original book.
There is an extreme lack of accountability with customs - you can't contact them, you can't follow up with them on goods. It is absolutely outrageous.
What can we expect with these new GST laws on all foreign purchased goods? 100% of items arriving from overseas will go to customs. Wait times will approach 12-18 months for processing, and customs will "lose" a lot of stuff, legally unrecoverable by the recipient, as customs is above the law in Australia. There's the real issue - no government department should EVER be above the law. In fact, scrutiny should be EVEN stronger on them, since the ability to engage in corrupt behaviour is even stronger imho. Many of these "missing" goods will be resold behind closed doors by the Australian government for extra income. Mark my words.
I can believe that .... was a mess we have at the Border.
My order from Agena (who are based in LA) has spent the past week holidaying in LA, repeatedly going into and out of what appears to be the same regional processing facility there. Must be visiting Hollywood, or maybe up to Mt Wilson to do some viewing of its own.
Quote:
June 21, 2018, 5:11 am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER June 22, 2018 In Transit to Next Facility June 23, 2018
In Transit to Next Facility June 24, 2018, 4:49 am
Arrived at Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER June 24, 2018, 4:49 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER June 25, 2018
In Transit to Next Facility June 26, 2018
In Transit to Next Facility June 26, 2018, 1:28 pm
Processed Through Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER June 27, 2018, 8:22 am
Processed Through Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER June 27, 2018, 6:26 pm
Arrived
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES June 27, 2018, 11:34 pm
Departed
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
that the latest tracking info ( see pic ) was a ' guess ' at when it would arrive in Aussie Land , so don't rely on it. 
