TubeNet

In case any of you didn't already know this fact, please do not use the USPS for international shipping.

I ordered a rotary valve from Meinlschmidt and they shipped it via Deutsche Post on 1/16/14. The valve arrived in the USA at the ISC USPS at JFK airport on 1/18/14 (two days later!)

This is where the fun begins. NOBODY knows where the package is. USPS says they sent it to Customs (although there is no record of this in the tracking) and Customs says they never received it. Meanwhile they are pointing fingers at each other, with me in the middle.

And now for the punchline - USPS, in a very snide and condescending tone, tells me I have to contact Meinlschmidt to start a claim on the package, even though it's our country's post office that lost it.

Please, please, please, PLEASE pay extra and use ANY service other than the USPS. You will NOT regret it.

My .02¢

Bob

The same thing has happened to me with UPS and Fedex international shipments. And the sender always has to file the claim no matter what. It sucks, but it's not USPS's fault.

Been shipping back and forth with USPS quite a bit, and only experienced problems once
The package did finally show up thou.

Customs/security takes time. I'm sure it will show up.
The package might also have a new tracking number now for further forwarding
as Deutsche Post/DHL probably has their own not necessarily compatible
with USPS tracking

The tracking number remains the same, as the parcel is showing on the USPS tracking website.

As I said in my OP, the package is NOT in Customs. I called them this morning and they have no record of it going through their facility.

Bbocaner, do you work for the USPS? How can you possibly claim it's not the USPS's fault, since the last time this package has been scanned was at one of their facilities?

I am really reticent about getting Meinlschmidt involved, as i feel as though they went out of their way to accomodate my order. Unfortunately, I might just have to do that.

Kiltietuba, I'm glad to hear you have never had a problem shipping internationally. I have done this only once, and have had a problem once.

Bob

Well....There is not much you can do except letting Meinlschmidt know that
your parts are stuck somewhere and ask for them to file a claim

Keep us posted

And...You're unlucky...but it might feel like USPS suck

Give it a few days, then check in on it again. Frankly, 2 days from Germany to JFK is really, REALLY fast, and 2 weeks of waiting since then isn't unrealistic.

Also, tracking numbers aren't as cut and dry as they seem. Sometimes (for reasons I don't know), they just don't get updated. I thought a few Christmas gifts I shipped last month got lost, because the tracking numbers were never updated. They ended up getting delivered (as expected), about 3 days late and with no additional tracking information ever added to the record.

Totally possible that it just got lost, too, but I'd say to be patient a little longer.

(Not to mention the obvious -- if you don't like the answer that person from USPS gave you, then call back and talk to someone different.)

Another thought, are you certain that the shipper put the correct address on it?

Bort,

Thanks for your excellent advice. I will give it a week before I contact Meinlschmidt.

I got upset for 3 reasons:

1. After 10 days, you would think the package would have easily travelled the 75 miles from JFK to my house by now

2. The level of customer service that the USPS gives is abysmal, at best, sowing seeds of doubt and helplessness

3. Customs flatly denies having received the package, leading one to believe the package is sitting in some pile somewhere at the sorting center at JFK

I will keep this board posted. However, even if I do luck out and receive the valve, the USPS gets a zero because of their lame customer service.

Bob

bloke wrote:Customs...not USPS

Plus, JFK is a hellhole of an airport.

I have shipped instruments via USPS, UPS, and FedEx. Never had any problems with USPS. Can't remotely say the same for the two "private" companies.

Bloke, do you think it's possible that Customs is at fault with their info? That would actually be good news, as it means there's hope the package is travelling along the chain after all.

However, even if Customs is to blame for the delay, I still blame the USPS for its lousy tracking and inconclusive information and indifferent help. After all, if they were helpful, why would I need to come to this forum for information?

Bob

Yes bloke, but now in point of fact they DO "do" tracking, so what's the excuse for taking someone's money and not providing the service in exchange?

Furthermore, Meinlschmidt did not give me the option of another method of shipping. Had I known in advance, I would have requested another method, hence the warning to others at the beginning of this thread.

How can I blame US Customs for this? They're telling me they never received it from the USPS, so unless they're lying, the USPS is the one who has dropped the ball. After all, they're on record as being the last ones in possession, and they're the ones who can't tell me where it presently is.

I may be wrong (and I hope I am) but I get the uncomfortable feeling that I am being criticized for being upset about my merchandise being missing...

Bob

Bought a Laskey from a Tubenetter in Canada. Shipped via USPS. It disappeared off the radar for almost a month. Seller could not get info on it. I could not either.

The package did eventually come through unharmed. But yeah... weeks later and with no indication from the powers that be that it did in fact exist in their system.

I'm curious -- how does the package have a USPS tracking number if it originated from Deutsche Post? (I haven't used international tracking as a recipient, so I'm curious.)

I don't think you're being criticized for being upset, as much as being informed how to manage your expectations from people that have had the same experience. International shipping is big hassle, which is why people do it as infrequently as possible.

Customs form number is an international standard that can be tracked on everyone's system. Sometimes. Often it doesn't get updated in everyone's systems.

I once ordered a trombone from Germany. Got stuck for two weeks in a transit strike in Frankfurt. And then it disappeared into a customs/carrier finger pointing like the OP describes for a month and a half. Arrived the day after the gig I purchased it for.

Bort, the package was shipped Registered mail. I can't explain why, but the same tracking number shows up on both the USPS and Deutsche Post tracking sites.

Deutsche Post's last entry (on 1/18) says the parcel has arrived in the destination country (Ankunft im Zielland), and the USPS's last entry (on 1/18, ten days ago) says the parcel has arrived at the ISC (international service center) at JFK airport in NYC. No word of it being forwarded to US Customs, nothing more.

Bob

You should check out Norman Lebrecht's blog 'Slipped Disc' on the arts journal. It's filling up with stories about musical instruments getting lost/broken/confiscated by US customs...

Bloke, my worries exactly!

It was extremely difficult to set up that transaction. The last thing I want to do is complicate matters with a lost package claim. If this becomes a big headache for them, they may decide to refuse to sell to small scale buyers like us (compared to the big manufacturers, that is). That would be a loss for all of us, here on the Tubenet and beyond.

Bob

roweenie wrote: Deutsche Post's last entry (on 1/18) says the parcel has arrived in the destination country (Ankunft im Zielland), and the USPS's last entry (on 1/18, ten days ago) says the parcel has arrived at the ISC (international service center) at JFK airport in NYC. No word of it being forwarded to US Customs, nothing more.

Bob

yeah, that's not unusual at all. tracking of international shipments via the customs form number SOMETIMES shows up in everyone's systems and sometimes it doesn't. Often times steps are missed. Sometimes it just doesn't show up in the system at all. It doesn't mean it's lost. Often it will show up at your door before the tracking system says it hit customs. I'd wait at least another month before I bothered meinlschmidt about filing a claim.

"tracking" on international shipments between carriers like this isn't like what you are used to seeing from ups and fedex domestically. Sometimes you will get info, sometimes you will get nothing. You will almost never get a complete chain of custody. And calling USPS or customs is not going to help, they will not be able to look things up like that. But most of it does eventually make it through.

bloke wrote:I consider myself fortunate when Meinlschmidt actually responds to my emails and sends me things (paid in advance with checks made out in euros) that I ask to purchase from them.

The Germans love to get paid via wire transfer directly into their account. I use a service called xoom.com which I can do online and is hugely less expensive and less error-prone than doing it through my bank.

bbocaner, I wish I had known about xoom - I would have saved $35!!!!