I have odd experiences in shipping times for transatlantic traffic.
Parcels which I ship by priority air mail sometimes arrive at their
USA destinations within 48 hours. Normally it takes about 5-6 working
days. But delays up to six weeks have occurred as well... which made
me worry a lot.
All parcels leave Holland within 12-36 hours after handing them in at
the P.O. If any delays occur, those are always due to USPS long travel
times or US Customs interference.
One parcel was a very special case. It had a town in California for
destination, and it had the proper ZIP code. Of course USA was also on
the address label. It was sent by priority airmail (most expensive
way).
Someone must have read the CA in the ZIP code as meaning Canada -
because that is where it went first. After examination by Canadian
Customs (much more thoroughly than by the US Customs, BTW) the parcel
went through a border point in on the west coast (Victoria?) and
remained two weeks in the safe hands of US Customs. After that it was
transported to California. The whole procedure took 4 weeks - but no
duties were imposed although the declared value was $850.... they must
have felt responsible for the delay, I guess.
The receiver was first cross and later desperate (like me, although
the shipment was insured) but very happy in the end. 'No duties' meant
a $100 save.
BTW, I responded quickly to the W.A. advertisement submitted by Olaf -
and today I received already what I had ordered - by local mail of
course. Jaap, the owner of W.A. whom I know since a long time, phoned
to tell me that I was the first customer responding to the ad....
Frank van Lindert
Utrecht Holland
On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 09:30:14 -0600 (CST), "Barry B. Bean"
<bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:15:50 PST, Olaf Greve wrote:
>
>>On another note: I read there was some concern about the shipping times from
>>The Netherlands. As Jaap is not on the list (yet), I double checked this
>>with him, and he told me that unless explicitely requested otherwise, by
>>default he ships his items via priority mail (which should take between 1
>>and 2 weeks).
>
>Last year I bought a 300/4.5 from Germany, and paid by wire. The
>seller sent the lens the same day I wired. I had the lens within 48
>hours, but it took 5 days for the wire to arrive at his bank!
>
>There were no duties or taxes charged on my end.
>
>BB
>-
>B.B. Bean - Have horn, will travel
>bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Peach Orchard, MO
>http://www.beancotton.com/bbbean.shtml
>
>
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