Stuck in US Customs??

[bobkeenan]

A European pipemaker, we will call X, made a chanter and sent it too me here in the US. It took 4 weeks from the time of posting. It seems the delay was caused by being held up in US customs. Subsequent to that I ordered an added set of reeds. I think X sent them twice to me.... And I never got them.... Many months have gone by. No Reeds.

Another Piper, we will call him Y, I know through FB, ordered a chanter from X. I told X that if he sent me another set of reeds and they did arrive I would pay him again (had already payed once). X thought it would be a good idea if he put the reeds with the Chanter that Y ordered, even though we live on opposite sides of the US. And then Y could forward the reeds to me. I thought this was a good idea as maybe the Portland, OR Post office is bereft with UP reed thieves and this would bypass all that.

Well its been over 7 weeks since X posted Y's chanter and my reeds. X has a tracking number but the post in his country only shows that it made it to US customs.

Giving X the benefit of the doubt maybe US customs or the way X does the paperwork or the way X's country does the paperwork has a problem??

Anyone experience a problem like this? Any way to get help dislodging it from US customs?

Y and I are frustrated and its not going to help the reputation of X.

BTW I am going to post this on FB as well looking for any advice here.

[Mr.Gumby]

its not going to help the reputation of X.

If the goods are sent of in time and held up in customs, I don't really see how that would in any way be relevant to the maker's reputation.

Packages do tend to get occasionally lost once they reach the US (the local postoffice called customs at a specific location a 'black hole for packages' and they had A LOT of trouble with lost goods there). Had a box with 75 CDs intended for a distributor there sitting in limbo for weeks, packages entirely lost as well.

[Nanohedron]

Mr.Gumby's right. Customs has nothing whatsoever to do with the maker, so don't pin that on him.

[RobBBQ]

I'll echo those sentiments. When sending instruments from the EU to the US I would commonly have issues with delays at customs. Sometimes it seemed as if parcels would sail right through, other times delays of 10-20 days would occur. I wouldn't be able to tell you why sometimes parcels are flagged for inspection and sometimes not, but I rarely have problems sending things the other direction...

[bobkeenan]

Well time will tell but the two reed shipments have been lost for a half a year or more.... I assume they are gone.
The Chanter and reed parcel is now at about 7 weeks.

I have gotten stuff shipped from all over the world and NEVER has it not arrived or was this late.

Maybe I have lived a charmed life.

[Andy FitzGibbon]

Heck, when I was in Ireland this spring, I mailed a cell phone from Meath to Sligo and it took a month to arrive. A maker in another country has absolutely no control over how US customs behaves, so a customs delay has no bearing on their reputation.

Andy

[an seanduine]

My experience with parcels from Europe has been generally good. HOWEVER, if you do not have tracking you can be begging for trouble.
Tracking will show when the parcel passes through thje ISC facility in Flushing, NY. At that point it is in the hands of US Customs. Tracking will let you know when the parcel is passed out of Customs back to USPS, again passing through the sort facility in Flushing, NY. Once it is back in the Postal system, you should be golden.
Customs is a bit of a black hole, and will generally not respond to queries. Ordinary mail can be sequestered for examination for up to six weeks.
Customs is understaffed and politically sensitive. . .when international tensions are heightened they toughen up their scanning. . .
My best luck has been with tracked mail priority or express mail (naturally you should bear the expense of insurance). The slowest, and yet surest way in my experience has been Registered Mail. This class is extremely slow, but since it is used to ship gold specie, bullion, diamonds, and other high end items it is most certain. Customs will not answer any questions but to my eye it is apparent they treat Registered items with a little more respect.
There are several USPS employees who specialize in overseas mail. It take more than a little patience using the automated 1-800-ASK-USPS
phone lines to get to them. If your local PO can give you direct contact information, great! If you don't have tracking they absolutely CANNOT help you.
A middle way when shipping pipes, for example, might be to engage a Customs Broker. This will be expensive, but less so than going and getting them yourself.

Bob

[Mr.Gumby]

Tracking will show when the parcel passes through the ISC facility in Flushing, NY. At that point it is in the hands of US Customs.

Yes, that was what the PO here called the black hole. The place where tracking ends (that was three or four years ago).

I do have to add my own experiences with the postal system have been, and continue to be, mostly good. Even a next day delivery of a batch of tapes to California once (from West Clare), there's the odd delay (as I mentioned above) and I lost a bunch of stuff I sent in exchange for a Sindt C whistle to a forum member once, that was a bit frustrating. Something from the UK took six months once, the ebay seller had given me a refund by the time it arrived.

[MTGuru]

I'm glad this is not a thread about someone who is unable to avoid conventional American social habits. Have a nice day!

[Mike Hulme]

Bob,

I have sent quite a few sets of pipes, reeds etc. to customers in the USA, and with one exception all have arrived in a timely manner. Anything to do with bagpipes - of any description - is free from US Customs charges and all that needs to be done is for the sender to complete the CN22/CN23 Customs declaration form using the correct Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code for what is being shipped.

In the case of Uilleann Pipes the correct code is: 9205.90.2000

This needs to be done on anything to do with pipes, as even items of low value may come in for scrutiny - such as a set of reeds. Your pipemaker needs to be aware of this, as a plain brown wrapper just doesn't cut it.

This may not be of much help in your current situation, but you should bear it in mind for future transactions

[ImNotIrish]

It should also be pointed out that a tracking number was given from the maker. That number did not register at the originating postal service ( no record of the number) when checked online (many, many times). There has been contact through texts and emails from the maker. Without such information, it makes the wait very unnerving, especially when purchases have been completely paid for upfront. Some confirmation of the whereabouts of items would be greatly appreciated. If indeed the package is in the customs's 'black hole,' it would at the very minimum be reassuring to know that it is en route, if not detained.

Arbo

[bobkeenan]

Bob,

I have sent quite a few sets of pipes, reeds etc. to customers in the USA, and with one exception all have arrived in a timely manner. Anything to do with bagpipes - of any description - is free from US Customs charges and all that needs to be done is for the sender to complete the CN22/CN23 Customs declaration form using the correct Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code for what is being shipped.

In the case of Uilleann Pipes the correct code is: 9205.90.2000

This needs to be done on anything to do with pipes, as even items of low value may come in for scrutiny - such as a set of reeds. Your pipemaker needs to be aware of this, as a plain brown wrapper just doesn't cut it.

This may not be of much help in your current situation, but you should bear it in mind for future transactions

Good info here... Thanks. I just sent this off to the maker to see if he did this.

[an seanduine]

Arbo, in my experience, a postal shipment, with a tracking number should show as having been received for shipment. It may not show in the USPS system until it has transferred to a US facility, but it should show through the Post/EMS tracking system. There are 124 country members of Post/EMS. The tracking number is in the form "EE123456789XX", where the "XX" is the country code. For example, Ireland would be IE.
Post/EMS track-trace can be found here: http://www.track-trace.com/post. Country codes can be found here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2.

Good luck!

Bob

[PJ]

Shipping is the responsibility of the seller, unless otherwise agreed. They're not just selling an item but also delivery of that item. So if an item fails to arrive, it's the seller who suffers the loss.

Only the seller can sue the shipper, because the buyer is not a party to the shipping contract.

Sellers should always fully insure shipped items.

[bobkeenan]

I agree but in this case the maker is not being proactive on his deliveries.