Customs Scoop on the packages arriving in United States & delayed from all of Europe

Just got off the phone with the international branch of the US post office. I was told that even if a package is delayed in customs--it should show up in the tracking. There is no record of my package from France even entering the country. I was told that the person sending the package in the country of origin needs to open up an "inquiry", and that the chances of my package being lost are high.

 

Good news, my doll (from korea) got released today. 5 days after being brought into customs (usually i see updates on weekends with EMS/Dolls)
So there's some movement.

On other sites i've read that even domestic mail is being moved very slowly.

mail from my friend hasn't shown up yet (in the UK), but it's not insured or tracked :/

 

Box opening photos are not just for fun, they are your way of protecting yourself if customs damages your doll. Document the opening, and if anything is broken, insurance should cover it.

 

They better not ruin my boy.... He's irreplaceable


I do hope this news means we will be getting them soon though n.n

 

Arianne2 - Yeah I don't think that half of them know what they're talking about...as shaDrouet said, my package had no update at all from Dec 9th until Jan 22nd! It had to have already been in customs as I doubt it took that long to route itself to customs. My Dec 9th Update was it left for the international office so there's no way it could have been travelling to the us that long and my Jan 22nd update was that it was in customs. Maybe you'll get a sudden update like I did (I was super worried about mine being lost in transit as well).

shaDrouet - I'll def be taking photos of my boy when he gets here because I'm afraid of that too. If they mess up my boy I swear I'll flip on someone! Here's to hoping all of our babies arrive VERY safely!!!

 

So shipping/delivey is coming back to normal? I hope so, I want my poor buyers to receive their packages. I feel so bad because I could only fill claims and wait and more wait T____T

 

My packages were very small (eyes, shoes, like that). I just received 3 letters from my postal service about my claims and they told me all my packages are there because they left my country correctly. They told me delays are due to the bad weather and new customs policy since December 8th. They are sure the packages must arrive to their destinations. I hope so too T__T

 

I have only just found this thread

I sent a small package (Christmas gift) back in December to a friend in USA and it has never turned up
I have more hope that it will than I did before.
Please has anyone received small packets (posted in Dec) recently from the UK or EU?

 

Phew, hopefully that means my parcel is almost there then! I sent it on the 4th January. @A@

Edit,
Ha, just checked the tracking now and the parcel has finally been freed from customs and is currently in Memphis, waiting to be delivered I guess.

 

I traded dolls with another DoA member earlier this month. She shipped hers to me from Australia on the 15th of January, and I received it today. In addition, though the USPS has posted warning of "substantially longer" transit time to Australia, my shipment to her cleared Australian customs yesterday and is on its way to her (I had to re-package, and mailed on the 18th).

So, it seems it really depends on the country of origin. I am very pleased with the time the transaction has taken, and my package arrived here in fine shape. I am crossing my fingers about mine to her.

 

Any packages I always get go from LAX straight to customs..


Still no updates >.<

 

Well I had a package coming from Russia that left just before Thanksgiving and didn't arrive until just now. Two months! So don't despair.

 

Victoria Victrix thank you for that hope....but two months!!!!

 

I shipped an ems (from Spain) on January 25th and the track works fine in the USPS website. Today it has arrived to NY and I hope it get delivered in a day or two. At least ems seems to work... (or maybe it is only because it is a small parcel less than 400g.)

But the 2 parcels I shipped by registered airmail on 9th December and 7th January haven't update yet, it always says "We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece", although in Correos (the Spanish post) says both parted from Spain time ago. I've claimed both parcels and I'm waiting for Correos to tell me where the parcels are, but I'm sure they will tell me that both are in US Customs. I will keep tracking them everyday, I only hope they arrive safe.

 

Mine still says "Package has cleared customs and been transferred to sorting" just like it has since the 14th. :p Does anyone else have theirs stuck in this spot, or are most of the packages still stuck in the customs or pre-customs stage?

I'm so exasperated with the whole process, and I don't even know how good a match this doll body will be for the head I have! If I've gone through all this wait only to discover that the match is terrible, I'm going to be really annoyed.

 

YAY!!


Class: Priority Mail International Parcels
Service(s): International Parcels
Status: Inbound Into Customs

Your item is being processed by United States Customs. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.


Detailed Results:

Inbound Into Customs
Inbound Into Customs
Inbound International Arrival, January 28, 2011, 4:53 pm, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
Foreign International Dispatch, December 21, 2010, 8:17 pm, MADRID AP, SPAIN
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Foreign Acceptance, December 17, 2010, 1:01 pm, SPAIN




I nearly broke down in tears when I checked. I was in a very down mood today because I seriously thought he was not coming home T__T

This shows a lot of hope for the rest of the packages now!

 

Wow, so happy I found out about this as I still have some hope for a swap package from Norway that was mailed the end of November. I thought for sure it was 'lost'!

Hope everyone gets the packages soon and in one piece.

 

Don't despair, guys! My friend is still expecting a package from Estonia (from his mother) that she mailed the first week in December. (It was meant to be his Xmas present. >_<) He was told the same thing everyone else has heard - packages are being held/processed very slowly due to increased surveillance during the holiday season. He was told to expect his package the first week of February. Hopefully everyone else who is still waiting on stuff will see their packages around then as well.

 

I'm so glad this thread is here; I think it's easing the fears a lot of us are having about getting our packages. Yay for packages coming home!!!

 

shaDrouet - Thank you! n.n

Yours should be hitting customs soon. I really think so as well as others.

I hope everyone's packages arrive quickly and safely n.n

I will take pictures of his box and him to make sure everything is in one piece.. I have a feeling he will be in customs for a while which is ok.. As long as they don't try opening him >.<

 

I know for me somtimes the update in the USPS system doesn't update as regularly as we would like it to. Like i had an outfit that continued to say it had reached customs in teh US and then never left that stage but was delievered like a week later...so...I think it just depends right now. Customs is an odd thing. I woudl hold out hope and well call them or go to the postal service....have u talked with teh company?

 

I really hope your girl shows up soon ((hugs))
This is all such a worry but just knowing that some parcels are turning up is a comfort.....I have more hope that the very small packet I sent isn't lost but caught up in this mess now

 

Status change

Status: Inbound Out of Customs

Your item cleared United States Customs at 4:25 pm on January 29, 2011. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.



Lets see.. Possibly Monday or Tuesday.. It seems things are moving faster now.. Hopefully he really IS out of customs.

 

Will do! n.n

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you hun! and for them both to reach us safely

 

....sigh.

Still no updates for me. Usps still says :

"Service(s): Registered Mail&#8482;
Status: Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece. "

and Correos still says:

"
FechasEstados13/12/2010Admitido 13/12/2010En tránsito 13/12/2010En tránsito 14/12/2010Salida de la Oficina Internacional de origen"


....I don't really want an update from Correos because it's already been shipped to the US, but it's so damn frustrating when I keep calling USPS and checking online and they just repeat the same crap saying that it hasn't even arrived in the US. I already know it has! -__- ....I feel sort of bad for my seller as well. Apparently after I asked him to start an investigation his post office said that since it was in the US I needed to start an investigation with USPS. It's frustrating for us both I guess.

Angela_Valentine!!! You news give us hope. Like a shining star...doll....in the distance! *-*

 

Coppermoon, that's incorrect. Your seller can open a claim with Correos in Spain. I have done the same for all my 4 packages to the USA without any problem. In fact, I already received 3 letters out of 4 from Correos, answering my claim. Your seller must put a claim!! T^T

 

Shin, how longer took Correos to send you the info about the claims?
it says something apart that the parcels are in Customs?

 

They sent me the letters around 1 week after I filled the claims. I filled 4 but only received 3 letters. They told me the reasons for the delays and that the packages left Spain correctly and are in the US, stucks in customs. They finished the letter letting me know that they hope the packages are delivered soon and that they'll keep me informed. Not very helpfull, really T__T

 

I've been praying for everyone to receive their packages safely and quickly like I have been doing for mine. I truly hope you all get them really really soon!

shaDrouet - It was the sent December 17th, left Spain December 21st. No updates until January 28th and 29th.

 

Tried calling my local post office today but no luck, nobody picks up. I'll have to try again later. Also called NYC customs and left a message, so I hope someone will be calling me back today. If not I'm just going to have to ask my seller to see if she can put in a claim on the box, because it looks like it is lost, not stuck in customs. Unless someone in customs calls me back to say yeah, it takes three weeks to sort a box and put it on a truck after it's passed inspection, I'm just going to have to assume it got lost after that point.

So maybe I can just put this whole mess behind me and worry about getting a body for Junon later. Right now I'm so sick of the whole mess, I don't even want to order any doll things anymore, not for a good long while. I guess it's one way to make sure I save money.

 

The number I used is the number for NYC customs that was posted here earlier, 718-553-7221. I got a live person who asked if my parcel was express, and I said that yes, it was supposed to be an express service, and then she forwarded me to someone's voicemail. And I still haven't gotten a call back from them. I finally got a hold of someone at my local PO, after having to find an alternate number online (the one listed on the USPS website just runs you around and around in circles and no one ever picks up). The person I talked to there basically looked at my tracking information online and said, "Oh. It's in customs." YES THANK YOU I KNEW THAT I CAN LOOK AT MY OWN TRACKING INFO.

I had to grill him if he knew any reason for the delay, if he knew how long I could be expected to wait, if he knew any reason at all why a totally harmless and headless resin doll body from Norway would have to sit in customs for two weeks, and he was like, "Uh, customs can keep stuff for as long as they want, I dunno." IT WAS SO HELPFUL LET ME TELL YOU. /sarcasm froth

Everything I've found online is all from people who are importing truckloads of bootleg NFL jerseys or designer knock-off purses or out-of-country prescription drugs, talking about their customs delays. Meanwhile I've done nothing wrong, I've got one box there that has a perfectly harmless item that isn't even eligible for a customs duty, and there it sits. Unless it is lost. It could have been thrown off Brooklyn Bridge by now, for all I know. And my helpful post office person tells me he can't give me any info unless it's scanned again. Which we can all hope happens before the earth crashes into the sun.

and now that I've gone and gotten all ranty in public maybe the mail demons will finally let my package go. I'm sort of past caring either way.


EDIT: I have to say though that my seller has been super through this whole thing. I just PMed her and instantly got a reply that she was going to check with her post office ASAP. So even if the faceless mail system is useless and frustrating, I've got a good seller on the other end of things.

 

Sorry Shin..I told my seller that you said we could file a claim and he told me he messaged you. Sorry if it bothered you I didn't mean to drag you into it. ;x;

Anyways in the end he told me that he couldn't file a claim for two more weeks because he doesn't live at home...he studies somewhere else. He's told me this before but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. It's frustrating for us both....last time I asked him to do an investigation he had to send his parents and we didn't get good results, so I don't want to bother him to much. =(

We've kept up good communication though.

 

I got my mail today Sent 12 15 2010
arrived 01 31 11
Wishing everyone else luck! (This was from scotland

 

So far nothing today. Tracking hasn't changed since Saturday.. I am hoping tomorrow though..



Edit:

Hellsing365 that's great news!! n.n

 

What fabulous news Hellsing365

 

Helsing365 & others who have received - that's awesome so glad to hear that your packages arrived! Hopefully everything is safe and sound! I'm so excited to know things are finally popping up!

UPDATE! Hello everyone! FINALLY a wonderful update about my boy! I came home from work (at 7pm my time) and found a delivery "sorry we missed you" notice from USPS on my doorstep. While no information is written down to make me know for sure it's my boy I'm 99.8% positive it is in fact him! I checked my tracking and it now says "in the delivery process" and I am not expecting anything else at all in the mail. I have received everything I've ordered recently except for him! Please keep your fingers crossed for me! I'm picking him up tomorrow after work, I'm so excited to see if it's him!

 

My package (from HK) was shipped the 6th and I've received word today that it made it through customs. I know I haven't been waiting as long as a lot of people here, but don't despair! Packages are getting through!

 

Congrats LucidRequiem! n.n

shaDrouet - I guess they can go into any customs.. They had better be right though.. Lets hope for an update to prove!


*Sigh* It keeps snowing... And it's not supposed to stop until Wednesday.. Do you think all the snow attacking the US will affect our deliveries? >.< *Sigh* The roads are supposed to freeze over....


HerRoyalDemoness - That is great news! n.n

 

So more packages arriving!! That's very relieving!! T___T I just want my poor buyers to receive their packages, one of them is waiting since the middle of November T__T

Coppermoon, don't worry