International deliveries and PayPal claims

[Razor Burn]

DHL express or DHL International Standard ?

Is there a difference...? I'd say International Standard but still affordable as the package is quite heavy!?

 

[alfredus]

I totally appreciate the situation and understand that there are circumstances outside of their control but I would at least expect them to follow it up with the shipping company and let me know what is happening. It is the nonchalant responses you get when you enquire that bothers me the most. Anyway the question is more around how long do you wait until you assume the item sash got lost etc. The G&C order and the order form the UK have both taken significantly longer than anything else I have ordered in recent months and tracking has just stopped so it is a bit concerning. Typically when things reach Australia they at least scan as arrived at customs within about a week (even with the present situation).

But what does the shipping company tell them/you, that you don't already know? They won't unpack a container that is sitting somewhere to be shipped to Australia or somewhere in Australia, just to find your package...and the sender has to be on the phone to them for a couple of hours just to get through...to get exactly this answer.

I recently received a letter (normal thin paper letter) from Austria via Priority/Airmail - 7 weeks. It was a bill to be paid within 14 days

I have had no issues with either DHL or Fedex.

I was just reading on the PostNL website that they are charging extra for international deliveries so that they are able to use alternate transport methods. No mention as to what the methods are but one would have to assume non-commercial airlines (e.g. utilising space on a private shipping company's flight). Doesn't help explain why it is still so slow though.

My recent experience with FedEx: Pick up Leeds Thursday afternoon local time (late night Australia) - via London, Memphis, Honolulu, Auckland to Sydney - arrived there the same Sunday 9pm local time - I know this, because tracking the FedEx plane.

It was for the first time scanned in Sydney on Tuesday evening...and I picked it up from their depot in Adelaide on Friday after basically begging to get it.

Anyway all first world problems here...in Australia currently 7-10 days for a normal parcel, before I start to get worried. From overseas I'd expect nothing for at least 6 weeks and wouldn't even bother to contact anyone before 2 months

 

[rhodes96]

Is there a difference...? I'd say International Standard but still affordable as the package is quite heavy!?

Big difference.

Express service is fastest possible shipping, standard is normal.
DHL will ship its express parcels and express parcels of other carriers who have a mail agreement with them first. DHL international standard is normal postage speed. Depending on the country it is shipped from, could be extremely slow due to prioritisation.

The excuse about there are no flights is not the entire truth. Truth is there may not be any flights available for standard international post at the time. (Plenty for express)

Capatilism also works for mail not just passengers!

 

[Razor Burn]

But what does the shipping company tell them/you, that you don't already know? They won't unpack a container that is sitting somewhere to be shipped to Australia or somewhere in Australia, just to find your package...and the sender has to be on the phone to them for a couple of hours just to get through...to get exactly this answer.

I recently received a letter (normal thin paper letter) from Austria via Priority/Airmail - 7 weeks. It was a bill to be paid within 14 days



My recent experience with FedEx: Pick up Leeds Thursday afternoon local time (late night Australia) - via London, Memphis, Honolulu, Auckland to Sydney - arrived there the same Sunday 9pm local time - I know this, because tracking the FedEx plane.

It was for the first time scanned in Sydney on Tuesday evening...and I picked it up from their depot in Adelaide on Friday after basically begging to get it.

Anyway all first world problems here...in Australia currently 7-10 days for a normal parcel, before I start to get worried. From overseas I'd expect nothing for at least 6 weeks and wouldn't even bother to contact anyone before 2 months

Big difference.

Express service is fastest possible shipping, standard is normal.
DHL will ship its express parcels and express parcels of other carriers who have a mail agreement with them first. DHL international standard is normal postage speed. Depending on the country it is shipped from, could be extremely slow due to prioritisation.

The excuse about there are no flights is not the entire truth. Truth is there may not be any flights available for standard international post at the time. (Plenty for express)

Capatilism also works for mail not just passengers!

Cheers for the clarification. Previous experience has me expecting a DHL delivery within 1-2 weeks and so far Covid delays have packages arriving closer to 2 weeks via Europe so hard to argue with that speed of service!

 

[Razor Burn]

But what does the shipping company tell them/you, that you don't already know? They won't unpack a container that is sitting somewhere to be shipped to Australia or somewhere in Australia, just to find your package...and the sender has to be on the phone to them for a couple of hours just to get through...to get exactly this answer.

I recently received a letter (normal thin paper letter) from Austria via Priority/Airmail - 7 weeks. It was a bill to be paid within 14 days



My recent experience with FedEx: Pick up Leeds Thursday afternoon local time (late night Australia) - via London, Memphis, Honolulu, Auckland to Sydney - arrived there the same Sunday 9pm local time - I know this, because tracking the FedEx plane.

It was for the first time scanned in Sydney on Tuesday evening...and I picked it up from their depot in Adelaide on Friday after basically begging to get it.

Anyway all first world problems here...in Australia currently 7-10 days for a normal parcel, before I start to get worried. From overseas I'd expect nothing for at least 6 weeks and wouldn't even bother to contact anyone before 2 months

When you put it that way its hard to disagree The issue isn't so much the waiting but lack of customer support and I understand delays in contacting couriers, chasing held up parcels, etc when they've already provided tracking details. A good business will at least attempt to seem interested or apologetic but the ones that ignore initial emails certainly won't be getting my returned business! I'm glad I don't work in transportation as its a nightmare!!!

 

[nsavage]

But what does the shipping company tell them/you, that you don't already know? They won't unpack a container that is sitting somewhere to be shipped to Australia or somewhere in Australia, just to find your package...and the sender has to be on the phone to them for a couple of hours just to get through...to get exactly this answer.

I recently received a letter (normal thin paper letter) from Austria via Priority/Airmail - 7 weeks. It was a bill to be paid within 14 days



My recent experience with FedEx: Pick up Leeds Thursday afternoon local time (late night Australia) - via London, Memphis, Honolulu, Auckland to Sydney - arrived there the same Sunday 9pm local time - I know this, because tracking the FedEx plane.

It was for the first time scanned in Sydney on Tuesday evening...and I picked it up from their depot in Adelaide on Friday after basically begging to get it.

Anyway all first world problems here...in Australia currently 7-10 days for a normal parcel, before I start to get worried. From overseas I'd expect nothing for at least 6 weeks and wouldn't even bother to contact anyone before 2 months

I guess the issue is when the tracking says "On transport to destination country" for 3 weeks. That is when I get concerned (or in the case of USPS just stops tracking straight away). Also when the seller does raise an enquiry with the shipping company and has a response from the shipping company why not pass it along? (This was done via email as well so it would not have taken them long).

Point taken regarding expected delivery times as well. I'll leave it for a few more weeks and then raise a PayPal dispute.

 

[Mark1966]

I guess the issue is when the tracking says "On transport to destination country" for 3 weeks. That is when I get concerned (or in the case of USPS just stops tracking straight away). Also when the seller does raise an enquiry with the shipping company and has a response from the shipping company why not pass it along? (This was done via email as well so it would not have taken them long).

Point taken regarding expected delivery times as well. I'll leave it for a few more weeks and then raise a PayPal dispute.

My understanding is that there is a 'line" in the system beyond which is the responsibility of the transhipping provider not the domestic postal service, one the line is crossed it is 'on transport' ...

You just have to look at the stats on flights into Australia to see the problem - https://www.bitre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/international

 

[Monsta_AU]

Just had a non-shaving package from the US arrive yesterday that was ordered mid-May. Close enough to 3 months for it to arrive. Was DHL Mail service, and was handed to USPS in the US which got me upset.

I would suggest that for any urgent US-based orders, send it to MyMallBox and get it consolidated & sent FedEx/UPS if possible. USPS is doing better but will still be delayed. Packages sent now are flowing at about 2x-3x the normal time in transit but should now be delivered will inside Paypal Claim limits.

Orders from elsewhere (Europe/UK) will be a crapshoot, and I would look at the advice provided from those locations. USPS website is decent, even the Auspost website is showing reasonably recent info.

There are plenty of planes coming in from China, again very few pax but loads of mail and freight.

I am aware that LAX is literally awash with packages from March-May and many are being put onto ships instead. Mine was sent Sea Mail to NZ and then flown in after a week or two in Auckland. The US carriers (United) are running into Sydney again, with the Dreamliners only running at ~80pax so it is pretty much full of freight in the hold but it is one flight per day, not 3 (SYD, MEL & BNE), and Delta is not flying yet either. QF is not flying to the US, and Virgin is grounded for now although LA & HKG will come back online with 777's in the future.

tl;dr: Things ordered now is not so bad, but orders from March-June from the US are coming by SEA MAIL (3mo transit).

 

[StratMan]

i personally dont mind things taking a long time to get to us, after all there is a global pandemic going on around the world.

What does piss me off is when the seller takes your money and refuses to reply to ANY emails you have sent. I dont expect the seller to tell me when the package is due to arrive as there is no real way of them knowing, but surely it cant be hard to reply to an email to let the buyer know you have at the very least received their dam email

 

[nsavage]

Gifts and care have now suggested that they have had some deliveries take up to 2 months. They have suggested I wait a couple more weeks and they will refund after that. Can’t ask much more than that really.