Ordered a few things earlier in the year which were duly picked from Pendraken on 26 January by Royal Mail and tracking number supplied (Thanks Leon :) ). Listed as leaving UK on 1st February but no update since.
Looked at the Royal Mail page which mentions recovery from their hacking incident in January, but nothing shows up on the local NZ Post site over 2 weeks after it supposedly left the UK.
With the major damage in the upper North Island from ex Cyclone Gabrielle in the last couple of days (she really was a b***h!!) I am expecting a few extra days wait once it gets here. And as I'm sitting here the whole house shakes - it was a 6.2 earthquake! Quick check and we're all good, house is OK and power is still going....Can't beat Wellington on a good day, not that there have been many good days so far this year.
Even during Covid lockdown I got a few things without this much delay from offshore.
So I guess my question is does anyone know of any major issues at Royal Mail sending stuff out of the UK currently?
In Thailand, I've just got something which was posted just after the hack.
Thanks for that Kitty.
I'm sure its somewhere in the backlog and will turn up in due course.
UK internal mail seems fine, except when there are CWU strikes
Quote from: pierre the shy on 15 February 2023, 07:51:18 AMSo I guess my question is does anyone know of any major issues at Royal Mail sending stuff out of the UK currently?
According to the Royal Mail web-site thay haven't fully recovered from the cyber attack. Communications Workers' Union strikes haven't helped either. I ordered some stuff from Denmark and The Netherlands back in September 2022. They were tracked to the Heathrow sorting office in November 2022 and arrived at my address in January and February 2023 respectively. Not really acceptable but there is nothing to be done I'm afraid.
It's all over the place at the moment unfortunately, I'm getting 3-4 emails per day from international customers asking about their orders. The tracking info varies as well, for some there's not been an update since we first posted the package out. The packages do seem to be arriving safely eventually but we can't give any indication as to how long they'll take.
We actually just had a package returned to us that we shipped in Nov 2021...
"We actually just had a package returned to us that we shipped in Nov 2021..."
:o :o :o
Quote from: Steve J on 15 February 2023, 05:33:44 PM"We actually just had a package returned to us that we shipped in Nov 2021..."
:o :o :o
Yeah, I know...! We'd chatted with the customer back in June '22 when there'd been some problems and the package was being held up in Spanish customs, but then we didn't hear anything back and I'd assumed it must have arrived safely. So it was a bit of a shock when it appeared through the front door!
Quote from: Leon on 15 February 2023, 05:49:01 PMYeah, I know...! We'd chatted with the customer back in June '22 when there'd been some problems and the package was being held up in Spanish customs, but then we didn't hear anything back and I'd assumed it must have arrived safely. So it was a bit of a shock when it appeared through the front door!
Nobody expects Spanish customs!
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: Leon on 15 February 2023, 05:49:01 PMYeah, I know...! We'd chatted with the customer back in June '22 when there'd been some problems and the package was being held up in Spanish customs, but then we didn't hear anything back and I'd assumed it must have arrived safely. So it was a bit of a shock when it appeared through the front door!
It seems that our Continental 'friends' are being difficult post-Brexit.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/15/eu-parcel-problems-since-brexit-prompt-flood-of-complaints
They just don't like us, and why should they. Every time we've had to send armies to the Continent it has been to kick ass or save it. Am I being ungenerous?
Quote from: John Cook on 16 February 2023, 09:30:10 AMIt seems that our Continental 'friends' are being difficult post-Brexit.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/15/eu-parcel-problems-since-brexit-prompt-flood-of-complaints
They just don't like us, and why should they. Every time we've had to send armies to the Continent it has been to kick ass or save it. Am I being ungenerous?
NO, the only real friends we have on the continent are the Portuguese. We have been freinds since 1336 admitedly with a few tiffs in between, when they chose the wrong side :)
This will take some beating for delayed delivery:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64647166 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64647166)
There is a return via Amazon still in transit (at Birmingham RDC) cause Royal Mail can't find the address. Its from November.
Orcs: Quote:
"NO, the only real friends we have on the continent are the Portuguese. We have been freinds since 1336 admitedly with a few tiffs in between, when they chose the wrong side"
AND Norwegians And Dutch! To extent! ;) Will, maybe, add Estonians! Rest 'frieneiemy's.'.
The English will never really trust the Dutch after that embarrassing incident on the Thames. The Dutch will never forgive the English for the trade-off of Surinam for Manhattan either.
The English have long ago papered over the Dutch victory, what does it matter if you lose battles so long as you win the wars.
QuoteIt seems that our Continental 'friends' are being difficult post-Brexit.
The only country I'm suspicious of is Germany as we've had over 30 packages returned to us in the past 18 months, all of them labelled as 'Unclaimed'. But when we contact our customers, they've never received any delivery attempts or communication from customs to pay their fees.
I'd have expected the German customs system to be one of the easiest/most efficient given that they're the biggest country in the EU with the most packages being processed, but it doesn't appear so.
We've had a few issues with Spain, mainly customs delays, and I think one or two from Italy that took a long time to arrive.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64718824
In past years, some items from Germany / Italy have taken 3-4 weeks. Pre Brexit! Items fron Canada or Japan 3-4 Days! ;)
USA... you take your chances!
Thanks for that HH :)
My order is still showing as "leaving the UK" on 1 February and is not showing up on the NZ Post website so it has not arrived "in country" yet.
Purhaps the Avengers included in the packet have decided to emulate Flight 19 and disappear into thin air? :-\
I'm sure I can find something else to progress gaming wise till they arrive ;)
QuoteThe English will never really trust the Dutch after that embarrassing incident on the Thames. The Dutch will never forgive the English for the trade-off of Surinam for Manhattan either.
How about this as a goodwill gesture:
Until further notice, visitors from the UK are still allowed to view the stern carving of the flagship 'Royal Charles' in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-MC-239 (https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/NG-MC-239)
The tracking is almost useless at the moment, I've got dozens of packages still showing as being in the UK but they must have moved along their journey by now. Some of these have been in the system for nearly 6 weeks now so it's not great.
My package arrived in California yesterday; ordered about February 2nd, so 3 weeks. Not bad to the US.
Progress this morning(?)
According to Royal Mail the order arrived "in country" on 23rd Feb and has been processed through the International Mail Centre, so logically should be delivered in the next few days.
According to NZ Post site the order still does not exist :o
The top half of the North Island has been hit hard by repeated fronts bring heavy rain which has done billions of dollars worth of damage to the infrastructure that will take a lot of fixing. :(
So far Wellington is just wet and windy as usual, so I'm counting my blessings that I'm able to continue largely "as normal".
Waiting a few extra days for things to turn up is nothing compared to what has happened further North.
Order arrived this morning :)
:o :o :o <:-P
Quote from: pierre the shy on 26 February 2023, 09:50:22 PMOrder arrived this morning :)
They always arrive in the end, though you might be dead by the time they do.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64655730
Lee has just got THREE parcels. Nuffink for me. :'(
Quote from: FierceKitty on 28 February 2023, 08:43:56 AMLee has just got THREE parcels. Nuffink for me. :'(
What a pity, never mind.
QuoteThey always arrive in the end, though you might be dead by the time they do.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64655730
Cor, deja vu ain't what it used to be!
QuoteThis will take some beating for delayed delivery:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64647166 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64647166)
The best delivery I had from abroad was from Simons soldiers in Sydney Australia. Ordered Tuesday afternoon. Arrived the following Monday morning. Postage cost £7.50.
Finally I got my parcel! A month from Royal Mail and another month at customs. Not bad at all :D
PS: these models are great.
I had one from Spain sent in November 2021 which had not arrived by late January so the seller replaced the package which duly arrived some weeks later. In April the original package appeared - with UK Border Force stickers having been opened.
What they made of 1/72 British and Japanese figures and kit I do not know.
When I offered to return or pay for the original package the seller told me to keep it as it was too difficult to return.
Edward
It is several years back, but regularly ordered Takara 1/144 from an Ebayer in Japan. Item would usually arrrive in UK, mabe 4 days after purchase...and postage was about same as UK Second Class!
QuoteIt is several years back, but regularly ordered Takara 1/144 from an Ebayer in Japan. Item would usually arrrive in UK, mabe 4 days after purchase...and postage was about same as UK Second Class!
I had similar timeframes in the past with stuff coming from the UK or US to NZ - about a week to get here usually. Things from UK are still a bit mucked up, but they do get here in the end.
Postage charged was/is highly variable. Some places used to want up to an additional 50% of order value for "postage and handling" so in some cases you REALLY had to want to get the desired items.
Have just been idly sniffing around Ebay YES, I KNOW! but had no intention of buying anything...TONS of stuff already. USA postage is prohibitive... but Canada £8.24, not all that bad really, considering what a Letter Stamp now costs!