[Phantom Phan1200]

My Canadian friends I need your help.
I sold a Corgi RAF Buccaneer on a the bay it was shipped out to the customer 17 business days ago via USPS air letter post, per customers request.

Ten 10 days after the shipment went out the buyer contacted me looking for his model & this was my exact reply.

"Hello
The model was shipped shortly after your payment arrived on Oct 25th. I sent an email to you on the 25th to let you know it was shipped.

It's been about 10 business days since the model was shipped, all though I do recall it was shipped late in the day on the 25th so it might not have actually left the post office till the following day.

Generally air letter takes 7-10 business days to arrive in Canada sometimes longer.

One reason I no longer advertise shipping to Canada & only do so when asked is because of the holds up in the Canadian postal system & customs dept. I try to warn most customers of this before I ship to Canada.

We have had a few Canadian shipments held up by customs & we had a few that were just sitting at the owner’s local post office in Canada. In both these cases the owners had to go down to customs or the post office to retrieve their parcel.
My advice is if your model does not show up by the start of next week to contact your post office or customs & see if they are holding it for some reason.

I apologize for any delays, we do everything on our end to get your shipment there quickly but once it in the hands of the Canadian customs & postal service it's completely out of our control.

Just keep me up to speed on the status of things on your end.
Best regards"

Today I got this email back from the buyer.

“Hello,I don't want to be rude but I cannot understand why there's such a delay in receiving this model.I get a lot of parcels from States and usually they arrive within 4-5 but not exceeding 10 business days..[E.g.Ten days ago I bought a model from THE FLYING MULE in CA and it arrived yesterday]...so the postal system os functional and nobody is holding anything at the border...This transaction is getting close to a month now and NO SIGN of the model.Please, let me know the tracking number of the parcel (if available) and help me understand this delay better...cause I'm confused.Thanks.”


My second reply

“As stated in my first email:
We have had a few Canadian shipments held up by customs & we had a few that were just sitting at the owner’s local post office in Canada. In both these cases the owners had to go down to customs or the post office to retrieve their parcel.
My advice is if your model does not show up by the start of next week to contact your post office or customs & see if they are holding it for some reason.

Have you checked with your postal service or customs as requested? I have sent packages to Canada after yours was shipped and they have been received. As you can see by my feedback, I am an honest seller providing you with the advice I believe I need to give you to find your package. Just because you received something from someone else quicker does not mean that customs may not be holding your package. Please don't insinuate that I'm being dishonest. Why would I risk 100% feedback for a $20 package? It has been 17 business days, not a month since the package was sent. Because of the shipping method you chose there is no tracking number. I cannot stress enough that this has happened before and eventually every customer has received their package, generally by picking it up themselves at the post office or unfortunately, being charged a tax and picking it up at customs. I have never had a Canadian parcel lost in the mail, they have only been held up by the Canadian system. Again, please check with your post office and customs and let me know the outcome.”

I don’t want to risk negative feedback for something I have no control over especially since I did everything right on my end & I want to help this guy ger his model even though I did not like the tone of his second reply..
So could any of your guys in Canada please give me more info on what exactly this person should do to get their package from customs or the post office in Canada?

[Spitfire!]

Hey Phantom,
Everything you said is valid. I have only had a problem once, but it is very frustrating. I waited three weeks for one package, but it did show up. I never ship across the border without a tracking number. If I can offer a single piece of advice that would be it, never ship without a tracking number. At least this way your butt is covered no matter what.
Incidentally I had the exact same thing happen on a parcel that I shipped to the States, thankfully I had a tracking number and was able to show that it sat in US Customs for two weeks!!! Both of us were frustrated, but at least we knew where it was and therefore no insinuations were made.
I hope this helps.

[chiefs70]

I don't have any advice but I have waited 4 weeks or more for items coming from Canada. It takes awhile but it always arrives. I have found a lot of folks on Ebay lack patience. I know that doesn't help you but it will work out I am certain.

[fileasfog]

I get trouble mostly when I send stuff to California.
I am in Montreal.
I also had delays from the USA ouest coast to my place.
It happens.

[kabelace]

I find getting stuff across the boarder to be a crap shoot at the best of times. Any package I get from TFM or other dealers in the USA is shipped in less than 10 days. From private sellers it can be ten days to a month. Crossing the boarder means Customs which means Government, which means if it can be screwed up it will 10 ways from next Sunday. No one here works for the Man right , I mean , thankfully I have nothing coming across the boarder know cause it will be gone for a long time .

[bsmith13]

I have done quite a bit of business with Canadians via eBay. The things they send to me (and vice-versa) always make it eventually, but delivery is hardly ever timely.

[lovethoseplanes]

Shipping is a real problem and pain from the UK. I shipped two parcels last year and they were both returned and they even made it to the Cannadian customs... The reason they returned them was that I put the "from" sticker on the side of the box and not top left.

They ask for the senders name and address now in the top left corner of the label side and then obviously the customs form too. If this has been done, then you should not fear anything and the parcel will eventually get to you/your customer.

Give it three weeks or maybe four (just to be safe) and then follow up with local post office, maybe two and a bit.

Good luck.

[Gambit]

My experience has been for anything shipped to Calgary is the following:

From the west coast United States and Arizona (FM and MD) usually 10 business days or less if it goes through Vancouver Customs. I always try and buy from the West Coast.

From the East Coast usually 14 business days. If it goes through Winnipeg Customs it can take up to 21 days as it can sit there for days.

From Florida usually 27 days minimum. I don't know why it takes so long from Florida but it just does. Doesn't matter about the time of year or if its shipped from Miami or some retirement area, always takes forever from Florida.

Don't believe him when he says 4-5 days as that's just impossible sending a parcel with USPS airmail. I've never had a letter arrive that quick. You only get that service with FedEx or UPS. It takes at least 5 days to get a package from Toronto without even going through customs and that's expedited parcel post or Snail Mail.

Based on probably over 35 years experience I've never lost anything yet, it always arrives eventually. For the past 4 years I've kept a list and record the time it takes and the above are averages not worst case scenarios (I had one take 6 weeks from Florida).

From the U.K....... Once the mail ship arrives in Montreal, the mail is loaded onto a canoe and portaged to Thunder Bay where its transferred to stage coach for its journey to Medicine Hat and at this time of year dogsledded to Calgary. Church bells ring all across Calgary when the mail arrives from England and I slip on a pair of snowshoes and head down to the Hudson Bay Post.

[hawkonevoodoo]

Like Gambit said, it depends on the point of entry to Canada. I think some of the Customs offices use a parcel to hold the door open when it is warm so it sits there for who knows how long. Since 9/11 I find it is a crap shoot. I always get the seller to write TOY as the description of contents. This seems to speed things up and 95% of the time I don't get charged the stupid 7% GST (another Canadian government tax). Coming to Eastern Canada it takes anywhere from 8 to 21 days to get here when shipped by insured USPS Air Mail. If anything has to be traced it always has to be done from the shippers end, whether it is going south or coming north.
Once I sent a package to California and after one month of it not showing up at the customers I refunded him his $40 U.S. just to avoid any problems. I figure sometimes it is better to bite the bullet rather than all the troubles it can cause. The best part was the guy in California was very honest, he called me 2 months after I shipped the parcel and said it finally arrived and he mailed me a money order for $40 U.S.. Where the parcel had gone nobody ever said but it did finally show up. By the way the guy in California turned out to be Richard Petty's uncle.
To make a long story even longer, when shipping to Canada, along with marking TOY ship using this:

You may already know this but there are very few retailers that realize they can send a box by Airmail Letter Post, most say, it's not a letter. However, as long as the total dimensions of the parcel don't add up to more than 36 inches (length + width + depth = 36" or less, note that the dimensions are + not x) and the package is 4 pounds or less, it can be shipped this way. This method of shipping is considerably less than any other method, quite a few postal employees don't even realize this.

link to USPS site for requirements for Airmail Letter Post
http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc2_017.html#gRJDw246wats
This information is listed under sections 243.1 and 243.21 C & D and 244.2 (marking)
I'm just trying to save some money if I can, I do 99% of my die cast shopping in the U.S. and shipping costs make a big part of my decision as to whether I buy from a store or not.
I believe this is the method the Flying Mule and The Battle Rhino use, it can mean $7 versus $10 or $12 U.S.. Try it, you'll like it.
I guess what I would do is to reassure him that you will refund his money if you can't track the parcel down from your end. If this doesn't make him happy then he has a problem with being reasonable and you will be able to say you did everything possible to fix the problem.
Good luck.

[admin]

The only time I have shipped an item to Canada it allegedly never arrived. I was dinged by Paypal for the purchase price and freight plus I lost the model.

I have to agree with those before me. Never ship outside of your country without a tracking number. I hope that everything works out for you.