Author Topic: Shipping from the states - help (Read 1738 times)

gregster · « **on:** April 28, 2006, 12:49 PM »

Not sure if this the correct section but here goes...

I won a F&F on ebay from someone in the states and went for the surface mail option to keep costs down. The guy said it would take an estimated 6-8 weeks to get here but it was posted in mid February and it's now heading for 10+ weeks.

Has anyone been in a similar postion, does surface mail (ie: by boat) usually take longer than estimated.

The guy has been very helpful throughout but unfortunately there was no tracking available.

Someone put my mind at rest

cheers,
g

2020mad · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2006, 12:53 PM »

I waited nearly 17 weeks for a set of wheels by surface mail................ somethings just take ages, fingers crossed still on their way.

gregster · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2006, 12:55 PM »

17 weeks!!!!! ok I won't panic just yet then.

2020mad · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:00 PM »

i was shocked when i got parcel, thought i had been ripped off. only ever had problems from australia tho. 2 different people have done my dough there

.

Waxintaxin · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:01 PM »

I waited 7 months for a pair of vans once , totally thought they had been lost , but they turned up in the end

Rich

Frosty · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:05 PM »

I won a bike in early Jan and it finally arrived about 3 weeks ago.

My Star Bars (new ones) were shipped 21st December and finally turned up in March!!

2020mad · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:13 PM »

7 months.......................

gregster · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:34 PM »

7 months... I'd have gone for a refund before then.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I feel better about it all now.
g

kdw712 · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:46 PM »

i had some wheels take about 14 weeks - i was chewing my nails to the quick
i def prefer air freight now its less stress

phantom photon · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2006, 01:52 PM »

I had a frame and forks that took just over 4 weeks by Airmail

Mattdub · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2006, 02:28 PM »

I won some bits on the bay , posted in November , yet to arrive

Coastvl · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2006, 02:30 PM »

I've got parts from the UK and the US. Vert-ego stuff was here in 5 days

. Tires from Earls stuff, pedals and stacks of other stuff. Nothing has taken anymore than 14 days. Airmail rocks!

Oh and I'm in australia.

MartyC · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2006, 10:06 PM »

In the UK our ever so helpful and friendly Customs and Excise department like to take their time looking over stuff joe public has imported. A mate of mine works at Customs at Heathrow Airport and he reckons that there is such a backlog of work priority is given to stuff imported through airfreight companies as they chase it through whereas mail services just get what they are given.

Also, they (customs) like to open stuff up a lot to see whether it really is what the airway bill says it is and that it ain;t illegal. All in all they don't add much value, and like the old bill are another revenue generation scheme

Still, I got a set of tyres from Ginny Rini in about two weeks which isn't too bad!

Marty

toooldforthis · « **Reply #13 on:** May 02, 2006, 11:47 AM »

I got a set of redline decals from Ginny in a week

Still not got the bike to put them on yet though

greentoad · « **Reply #14 on:** May 02, 2006, 08:05 PM »

Hi

I just got another 16" ride from the US delivered today. It was purchased in mid February.

There are numerous pros and cons in surface mail and air mail, time, price (+ additional paypal charges), customs charges etc etc.

My package today was quite a few weeks over the USPS 4 to 6 weeks. However, for the money that I paid and I did not pay any charges to UK customs, this was the best option for this particular bike -

1, It was very cheap and needs a total restoration (shipping was a lot more than the purchase price so I didn't want to spend even more for airmail)

2, I thought that it might have some good, hard to find and valuable items on it that where not listed in auction (which it did

) so didn't want to spend many many more times the bikes value on shipping in case the seller worked out what he had and gazumped me.

From what I gather it takes different times to get from different states in the US to the docks etc, then they all need loading and of course ships have to go with the weather (tide, wind etc).

Hoping that it works out for you, but in general if the seller has your details correctly, has filled in all the forms that you have requested correctly it is usually okay from the USA. I have far so always recieved my items (Eastern Europe is a different story, but that was with work).

Hope this helps.

J.

silentpartner · « **Reply #15 on:** May 02, 2006, 09:13 PM »

i waited 8 weeks for a seat from oz via surface mail. i'm sure it'll be ok, probaly stuck in customs. dont be surprised if you get a customs charge. i got charged £8 last week for set of cranks that cost me £40, bloody rip off.

FuNMoNsTeR · « **Reply #16 on:** May 03, 2006, 06:32 PM »

Always request an image of the shipping receipt.... you dont need a tracking number if you pay by paypal. if they fail to provide proof of shipping then start a paypal complaint... If they don't provide paypal with proof of shipping then the payment will be reversed

gregster · « **Reply #17 on:** May 04, 2006, 09:17 AM »

Will give it another few weeks as it seems people have waited longer than 8-10 weeks for surface mail.

gregster · « **Reply #18 on:** May 09, 2006, 12:41 PM »

woo and indeed hoo, a package arrived yesterday. My neighbour took it in and brought it round last night. When he handed it over he asked if it was and AK-47

To be fair it looked fairly gun shaped so I bet customs had fun with it.

BTW it's a GT mini F&F, Dotek cranks, Mini GT bars and stem. It needs stripping and powder coating but should be sweet when it's done.

greg