Has anyone ordered a whistle from the UK to the US recently? I have a Kerry whistle on order and am just wondering what to expect. I’m assuming COVID is likely having some impact on shipping.

Thanks!

I've been waiting on an MK for nearly two months now. It left Scotland in two days, arrived in New York City a couple days after that, and seems not to have left NYC yet.

The people at MK have been very gracious about the long wait, but it's out of their hands: the delay is due to the USPS. I haven't been able to get a clear answer from anyone on how much longer the wait will be, though luckily MK will send me a free replacement if the whistle does actually get lost in transit.

Not the answer you were hoping for, I imagine. Maybe your luck will be better than mine...

My UK to US shipment a few weeks ago took nine business days. It was three days in the UK postal system and two days in US Customs.

(The order was from Big Whistle https://www.bigwhistle.co.uk)

My whistles from MK took about 4-5 weeks but that was mostly on the USPS side. Whistles from Phil Hardy took about 2-3 weeks. It seems it takes an indeterminate time in US customs and about a week in UK customs. USPS may take their sweet time or go fast.

-Peter

I recently had a whistle sent the other way, US to UK, and it took about a month to arrive.

Indeed it is. I live in an area that was particularly hard-hit, and I had several packages (both that I sent and received) get rerouted. The response from USPS was to the effect of "we are experiencing delays due to the pandemic; please be patient." They took two weeks to get a package to a recipient who lives less than 15 miles from me!

As Peter said, it's hit-and-miss with USPS. I have no intention of having anything shipped internationally until the pandemic has blown over.

I bought a bunch of stuff from the Coleman Centre in Sligo, Ireland, and it came in 4 days.

Whereas a book I ordered from Italy shipped on May 29 is due tomorrow, although I doubt it will arrive.

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Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks)
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Things seem to be unpredicatble and especially USPS seems to be messy. A package from California took over nine weeks to get to Ireland, getting bogged down at distribution centres for extended periods and eventually disappearing from the tracking system altogether along the way.

Inside Europe things seem to be moving albeit perhaps slightly slower in some places, a package from France took several weeks. UK can vary, but then, it always does. Other things, from Germany, Austria and Poland arrived in under week, pretty much as normal. But this was partly earlier in the pandemic, when flights were more scarce. Another package, from Taiwan, took five months. They all got there, eventually.

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My brain hurts

I just shipped a chanter to the UK, and it sat in a post office here in the U.S. for a week, then went very speedily across the Atlantic and arrived there in 12 days total. Royal Mail seemed to be much more on the ball than the USPS.

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Deartháir don phaidir an port.

Not super recent, over a month ago, I ordered a whistle from Colin Goldie and I had it in a week.

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Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

I bought an MK from Inverness Scotland this past Wednesday 7/29. It left their shop the next day Thursday 7/30 and arrived at my door in Oregon today , Sunday 8/2. 3 DAYS from Scotland to the west coast US!! Via DHL Express for $33.51 shipping.

I also bought a whistle that left New York early last week via USPS and it whereabouts are anyone's guess. Tracking just says "arriving late"

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-Scott

Well if you read the headlines here in the US the USPS has become a bit of a political football. Clearly we are well into the Silly Season. Buckle up Buttercup!

Bob

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Not everything you can count, counts. And not everything that counts, can be counted

The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
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Wow. I just went on the MK site and they have the standard warning about Covid-19 and shipping times, nice to hear yours arrived so quickly.

I bought a used book from a place in Australia, the estimated delivery is August 26, it arrived at our local distribution center this morning. Somehow I don't think it's going to sit a mile from here for three weeks.

PS I hadn't been on the MK site for some time, those bronze-coloured whistles are really cool. As are the rare blue ones, which he has in stock.

PPS MK is in Inverness now? I'm out of the loop.

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Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

No, I bought it from a music shop coincidently named The Music Shop.

The blue ones are very nice, but not worth the $60 or so for me.

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-Scott