Shipping Delays from Canada ?

[Louis]

Anybody out there received a package from Canada recently? This coming Monday will be three weeks that a guy whom I believe to be legit (I've dealt with him before) sent me a package, but still nothing. I have a Canada Post tracking number but the USPS does not allow them to see across the border so the trail stops there. USPS has been no help.

I called CP and they said that "there have been delays at the border."

Anybody know anything?

Thanks
Louis

[rwsaunders]

Those sled dogs seem to take forever in the Summer heat. :cool:

[TMB]

Anybody out there received a package from Canada recently? This coming Monday will be three weeks that a guy whom I believe to be legit (I've dealt with him before) sent me a package, but still nothing. I have a Canada Post tracking number but the USPS does not allow them to see across the border so the trail stops there. USPS has been no help.

I called CP and they said that "there have been delays at the border."

Anybody know anything?

Thanks
Louis

I would interpret that to mean - US Customs is holding packages up while they decide what to inspect before clearing.

[danjo]

A little while ago something took exactly three weeks to reach me from Canada.

[girlie]

Louis,
He shipped to you correct?
Make it his issue and bring him into tracking it down on his Canadian end. I know sometimes customs does hold things at the boarder, especially if the proper paperwork does not accompany the package.
Not an expert but I also have heard of weird fees associated with shipments to and probably from Canada.
Good Luck sorry that's all I got and it ain't much.
girlie

[weiwentg]

Louis,
He shipped to you correct?
Make it his issue and bring him into tracking it down on his Canadian end. I know sometimes customs does hold things at the boarder, especially if the proper paperwork does not accompany the package.
Not an expert but I also have heard of weird fees associated with shipments to and probably from Canada.
Good Luck sorry that's all I got and it ain't much.
girlie

re customs, I guess they do need to be careful. Canada was at war with the US once. not too long ago. I think the Canucks even won that one.

I had a pair of wheels shipped from Canada once by UPS. didn't take too long, but I got dinged by their $&*! brokerage fees.

[ctam]

Canada Post tracking numbers will work in the USPS system as well. If nothing shows up on the USPS site that means the package hasn't made its way into the system yet and is probably still locked up in customs.

[girlie]

I had a pair of wheels shipped from Canada once by UPS. didn't take too long, but I got dinged by their $&*! brokerage fees.

That's what I'm talking about.......

[TMB]

Those are "straight to the bottom line" charges by UPS or FEDEX and have no relation to Canada Post, USPS or customs on either side of the border.

Completely bogus.

I will not buy anything that is being shipped UPS or Fedex. If the shipper won't ship by the post office, I don't buy.

[oldguy00]

Yes, it does seem slow lately. I've sent a few packs from Canada to US recently, and they took at least two weeks. I do believe it is US Customs holding it up.
And with regards to the 'weird' fees, it is duty and/or tax and/or brokerage fees.

When a UPS shipment comes to Canada from the US, I get charged GST, PST and brokerage fees. If it is an item that is subject to duty, like clothing, then I get dinged for that too. That is why I too will never allow anyone to ship anything to me via UPS from the US.

Oh, and I recently purchased a pair of brake pads from a fellow in the US, and he said he mailed it on July 18th. No sign of it yet, so perhaps Canada Customs is taking its time with US packages as well.

Whereas I've had recent orders from Probikekit reach me in a week......

[A.L.Breguet]

Oh. Canada.

[Marcusaurelius]

I've shipped at least 50 parcels south of the border in the last couple of years and I've sent about 10 parcels in the past couple of months and none have taken more than 12 days. I do send the parcels expedited parcel instead of just regular parcel or small packet airmail.


I also fill out the small customs declaration label and put the weight, value etc.

I should also admit I've probably had 10 or more parcels shipped north to me by USPS and all arrived in less than two weeks. And probably more than a 100 parcels in the last couple of years (ebay can be a a dangerous thing methinks.



As someone indicated I avoid UPS and Fedex because of their excessive fees.

[Louis]

Update

Finally, exactly one month to the day after the seller sent the books I received them today. No evidence that the box was opened by customs or anything. I bet it just sat in a warehouse all this time. Not sure what caused the delay.

Louis

[christian]

Stuff going to Canada seems to be pretty quick. Stuff coming from Canada seems to take at least 2-3 weeks. I've just had something shipped from Montreal to me in NYC. I expect to see it in three weeks, earliest.

[TMB]

Stuff going to Canada seems to be pretty quick. Stuff coming from Canada seems to take at least 2-3 weeks. I've just had something shipped from Montreal to me in NYC. I expect to see it in three weeks, earliest.

If you call 2 weeks fast, yes.

As I said before, if the delay you are seeing is coming FROM Canada, then you need to look at US Customs for your answer.

[Charles M]

None of this is new or "lately".


I can get things from the UK, Germany or China faster than I can from Canada. Customs hasn't had a "crack-down" on Canada...

The postal system there is and absolute Joke.


Always has been.

[Marcusaurelius]

None of this is new or "lately".


I can get things from the UK, Germany or China faster than I can from Canada. Customs hasn't had a "crack-down" on Canada...

The postal system there is and absolute Joke.


Always has been.


You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. Packages shipped from Canada to the USA in most cases take 1-2 days to go across the border and arrive in the USA (most canucks live near the border). It's then up to US Customs and USPS to deliver the package.

I would say that USPS does a good job of delivering the mail but if I wanted to be jerk I would say the US Postal system is a bureaucratic joke.



But something that is a joke--it's your comments.

[christian]

As I said before, if the delay you are seeing is coming FROM Canada, then you need to look at US Customs for your answer.
I doubt it, or there's something very specific about customs clearance for goods from Canada. Items shipped from Sweden, the UK, or Germany arrive in 4-5 days time. It's always weeks and weeks for shipments from Canada.

[TMB]

I doubt it, or there's something very specific about customs clearance for goods from Canada. Items shipped from Sweden, the UK, or Germany arrive in 4-5 days time. It's always weeks and weeks for shipments from Canada.


well lets see.

I received a package yesterday that was mailed in Toronto on Monday.

2 days.

You have trouble getting things that are ,mailed from Canada to the US - this in spite of the fact that I mailed a package to AZ last week and it was delivered in 3 days.

If you have have trouble getting them from Canada, the problem is on your end. Once Canada Post hands the package off at the border, it is out of their control - completely.

So if you have a problem you need to talk to the blockheads at US Customs, or Department of Homeland Security or USPS.

Since your own posting says " about customs clearance .." - ie US Customs. Talk to them or the dunces at DHS.

Or the easier way is to continue assuming that anyone outside the US is a troglodyte writing on stone tablets and go through life that way.

I'm tired of all of this.

[christian]

If you have have trouble getting them from Canada, the problem is on your end. Once Canada Post hands the package off at the border, it is out of their control - completely.

So if you have a problem you need to talk to the blockheads at US Customs, or Department of Homeland Security or USPS.

Since your own posting says " about customs clearance .." - ie US Customs. Talk to them or the dunces at DHS.Wow, so much anger. I merely stated that the issue either surrounds customs clearance of items from Canada or Canada Post. In any case, shipments from Canada as a rule take longer to arrive than shipments from the EU.

Or the easier way is to continue assuming that anyone outside the US is a troglodyte writing on stone tablets and go through life that way.

I'm tired of all of this.I think there are probably other, process-related issues that affect the speed and dispatch of mail than whether people are troglodytes, as you suggest. In my years living in Sweden, Canada, and the US, I've found the postal services in each of the countries' postal systems to be efficient.

Nevertheless, there's some systemic delay in shipments from Canada. Be it the fault of the USPS, US Customs, or Canada Post, there's something going on. And it isn't the distance.