Anyone still waiting for stuff from China?

ED E

Deleted User wrote: »

Unregistered parcels always take a couple of weeks extra this time of year.

It's a fairly expected delay due to time of year and volume of parcels. I don't think there's any great conspiracy to punish people for ordering tat from China. They're just up to their eyeballs in parcels.

Amazing how PostNL, Royal Mail and La Poste manage to keep things moving.....

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Amazing how PostNL, Royal Mail and La Poste manage to keep things moving.....

Clearly they are more efficient.

Getting bogged down during busy season is a valid criticism towards An Post. But there's a big leap between inefficiency and ... deliberately hoarding your packages or whatever people think is happening.

The simplest answer is usually the correct one. They are taking a few weeks extra during holiday season. The simple explanation is that they are bogged down.

archer22

"Holiday season" in Ireland this year extended from January to April and from September to December...

ahh yes great auld country for the holliers so it is

found this page on china post giving some sort of data on arrival time over the last 60 days.
whether arrival is the same as actual delivery I have no idea.
I'm guessing that it is delivery?

Ireland is at 22 days, UK 15, Spain 13 - see others.

Not sure how useful this is.

Not clear if it's business days vs all week days either.

http://track-chinapost.com/?page_id=708

ED E

Deleted User wrote: »

Clearly they are more efficient.

Getting bogged down during busy season is a valid criticism towards An Post. But there's a big leap between inefficiency and ... deliberately hoarding your packages or whatever people think is happening.

The simplest answer is usually the correct one. They are taking a few weeks extra during holiday season. The simple explanation is that they are bogged down.

Very simply UPU rules say they must treat it all the same. Untracked ****e from the UK is almost on time, untracked from anywhere further than France is a month delayed.

They're in breach, the email above shows it. Just not enough for the UPU to do anything, CPost would need to complain.


If Naughten wasnt such a fountain of hot air he might be able to smooth it out.

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Very simply UPU rules say they must treat it all the same. Untracked ****e from the UK is almost on time, untracked from anywhere further than France is a month delayed.

They're in breach, the email above shows it. Just not enough for the UPU to do anything, CPost would need to complain.

The e-mail above says that packets from China are subject to delay and they are making every effort to process them as quickly as possible.

You've read between the lines to infer that they're sitting on your parcels for no reason or out of spite. It's far more likely that they're just sorting them at the pace that they can sort them. They're snowed under due to the sheer volume of parcels.

ED E

Deleted User wrote: »

The e-mail above says that packets from China are subject to delay and they are making every effort to process them as quickly as possible.

You've read between the lines to infer that they're sitting on your parcels for no reason or out of spite. It's far more likely that they're just sorting them at the pace that they can sort them. They're snowed under due to the sheer volume of parcels.

No Im not, Im going based on experience. I average about two deliveries per week.

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Doesnt work. DX use this for all their battery orders and they all saw the same delays last year. Its still clearly chinese packet mail with their CN22 labels etc.

I disagree. that item that came routed through Post Belgium got here (and delivered) in less than 3 weeks.
2 other items from China Post no sign of them a week and a half later.
All the stuff from China Post is more likely to be arriving in a big pile of together.
Post coming from Belgium unlikely to be arriving the same way.
Batteries are a particular case and may be subject to increased controls.

joujoujou

Surprise surprise!

Already forgot about it, tbh.

joujoujou

joujoujou wrote: »

Surprise surprise!

Already forgot about it, tbh.

An Post - bringing you postal surprise because you'll have forgotten about them by the time you receive them.

ED E

Something I actually need now, left Guangzhou on the 15th. No sign with AP.

ohnonotgmail

received my first package of the year today. left Guangzhou on december 3rd.

Davy

Package that left China Nov 17th was delivered today

joujoujou

Davy wrote: »

Package that left China Nov 17th was delivered today

Oh, that means the oldest one I'm waiting for could be expected in 2 weeks time (left China on 30th Nov).

Berserker

On the subject of China, can someone tell me how long it takes to get an item shipped from China to Ireland. We have a parcel motel account, so we can get it shipped to the UK, if that is quicker. Also, how do we pay the custom charges on these items? Wife has found a pair of shoes she wants to buy on ebay but seller is in China.

Edit: Sorry for jumping in on your thread, OP.

whiterebel

Mod: merged with China transit time thread

ED E

Berserker wrote: »

On the subject of China, can someone tell me how long it takes to get an item shipped from China to Ireland. We have a parcel motel account, so we can get it shipped to the UK, if that is quicker. Also, how do we pay the custom charges on these items? Wife has found a pair of shoes she wants to buy on ebay but seller is in China.

Edit: Sorry for jumping in on your thread, OP.

To answer your question, CN to UK is from 9-15 days, CN to IE is 40-70 Days. Use Parcel Motel to speed it up for €4 but really we shouldnt need to pay extra, AP should be doing their job.

flintash

Tuesday i received item that i bought on 6th of Nov. Today one arrived that was bought 4th of Dec. Three or four packages still in the post, bought between these two dates... Clearly first in first out not working here

Berserker

ED E wrote: »

To answer your question, CN to UK is from 9-15 days, CN to IE is 40-70 Days. Use Parcel Motel to speed it up for €4 but really we shouldnt need to pay extra, AP should be doing their job.

Many thanks for your answer. How do I pay the customs charges on the item?

ohnonotgmail

Berserker wrote: »

Many thanks for your answer. How do I pay the customs charges on the item?

if the item is coming via An Post the postman will expect cash on delivery.

Berserker

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

if the item is coming via An Post the postman will expect cash on delivery.

Good to know and if it's coming via Parcel Motel from the UK (NI)?

Berty

Berserker wrote: »

Good to know and if it's coming via Parcel Motel from the UK (NI)?

If UK Duty is due the item is refused and you won't receive it. Freight Forwarders will not pay duty on your behalf.

Berserker

Berty wrote: »

If UK Duty is due the item is refused and you won't receive it. Freight Forwarders will not pay duty on your behalf.

Ah I see. So you take on chance on it.

ED E

There's been mixed reports of late that PM started accepting items requiring customs payments. See the PM thread.

PS: Its VAT more than Duty Berty, the latter is normally tiny.

joujoujou

Last 2 days - 2 deliveries. 38 and 37 days respectively. Not bad at all.

I received my first package from China this morning, an Android box. The delivery time and subsequent charging process was a bit of an eye opener and something which will have to be considered when ordering from China again, especially using DHL.

For starters, the wait was a bit excessive. I paid for premium shipping. (5-8 business days) and from when my package was released to DHL in China, it took 34+ days to get it to customs in Ireland. Even if it was a busier time of year, if you're offering 5-8 business days shipping for a premium price, it should be closer to that time-frame than what it turned out to be.

Then there was the VAT - Look, this is what it is and has been long discussed in these threads. I've paid up to €300 each on imported guitars from the US in the past. And they weren't even brand new. However, those guitars/items were worth about €2,500 each. The item I received this morning (small Android box) wasn't worth a fraction of that. VAT of €15+ on a €50 android box is a bit much. Still though, I knew there would be VAT charges. Excessive for the price of the item, but still something I was roughly aware of going in.

What is leaving a bitter taste though, is this 'advance payment' which DHL charge for taking care of the VAT for you. Sure, when I was ordering, I saw the bit where DHL took care of the customs for you and then you pay it back upon delivery. What wasn't so clear to me when ordering and looking at the shipping charges was that DHL charge you a premium for this temporary payment of the VAT. Basically, for paying about €16 in VAT, I was charged €14.50 on top of that. That's some return for DHL there, one I didn't know I would be left with.

All in all, the long delivery time, the disproportionate VAT, this advanced payment charge from DHL, it all added up to the same price as the actual android box.

No one is going broke or hungry here as a result, but it does change the attraction and allure of choosing premium delivery, and buying 'cheap' goods from China. I'm not here to tell anyone not to use a particular company or anything, just be aware of all charges before making the purchase.

In fairness, the Chinese company I bought from were 100% in their part of the transaction. It's what happened since the product left their hands that gives me food for thought for future purchases.

By the way, I was not around myself to accept the unannounced DHL delivery this morning. Thankfully my OH was home to sign for it and pay those charges. I have since queried this 'advanced charge' on the phone with DHL, rather than just run to moan about it on Boards first thing.

It is what it is, but something to be aware of in future.

ED E

Same with all of them really. AP charged €7 but its now €10. The couriers are all around the €15 mark.

WR on here claims theres no way you could do clearance for less, I'm somewhat skeptical of that, but really you've little choice for etra-eu orders.

ohnonotgmail

the VAT is charged on the cost of the item plus the shipping cost. how much was the DHL shipping?

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ohnonotgmail

....... wrote: »

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if it is coming from china they get little or nothing for it anyway.