[wannabelyn]

Hi guys! i have a problem that i hope maybe someone may shed some light on.

I sent a pair of shoes to USA on the 1st of June from Sydney, Australia.

The buyer in USA contacted me yesterday (14th June) wondering where the shoes were.

I went to the usps website to track the parcel and found out that it arrived in US border on the 5th and it's been held in customs since then.

So i told the buyer to ring up the post office for more information and usps told her that there's nothing that they can do and they don't know why it's been held up.

I was wondering what or who i can call to check on the parcel? I rung up usps myself and they told me it arrived on the 5th that's all i can tell you, don't konw why it hasn't been delivered, can't speculate either, best you contact australia post to lodge an investigation. She said she has no contact information to give me whatsoever. so i went on the customs website and tried dialling the contact us numbers the 1800 and the local number was engaged

Australia post on the other hand asked me to contact the american side because it's arrived in the American side. Which seems more logical, after all it's already said in the tracking information that it has arrived onthe 5th so how come i cannot contact US customs or anything?

if i were to lodge an investigation it would take at least 2 weeks if i am lucky and the poor buyer's waited for 2 weeks already.

any thoughts on this matter?

by the way this is the information i got from the usps website:
Inbound International Arrival, June 05, 2007, 2:41 pm, LOS ANGELES AMC
Foreign Arrival at Outward Office, June 01, 2007, 11:02 pm, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Foreign International Dispatch, June 01, 2007, 11:02 pm, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Foreign Acceptance, June 01, 2007, 11:35 am, AUSTRALIA

[bebe123]

customs can hold an item for up to a month (sadly i've had this happen) .... it's really frustrating, but usually the only way i've found that helps speed up customs time is shipping via express mail, everything else... well..... it's totally unpredictable...

[bebe123]

oh yeeah, also usps won't acknowledge that an international package is lost until 30 days has past since date of mailing... it can really suck sometimes...

[wannabelyn]

i thought only aus customs were the anal ones but at least they send u a letter right after it's been held in customs

i didn't know it happened in the US too

any chances of them not realesing after 30 days? what happens then?

[cola262]

The shipper should be able to tell you the exact reason it was held. Eg. if you buy a blanket and it's held, DHL should call and tell you (or you can call and find out) that the fabric of the blanket was not indicated and the US dept of agriculture needed to find out if the filling was an approved kind of cotton or polyester. You need to fill in this information and fax it to the shipper (eg, DHL, Fedex) and they will forward this information to customs.

[wannabelyn]

i wish someone would contact me i would be more than happy to provide them with more information. i'm glad the buyer has been so understanding about it!

[bebe123]

sometimes customs just takes a long time because they are backlogged, usually the max customs will take is about 6 weeks, i would say if it doesn't get released from customs by then, it would be safe to say the item is lost or won't clear customs.

[wannabelyn]

Originally Posted by bebe123

sometimes customs just takes a long time because they are backlogged, usually the max customs will take is about 6 weeks, i would say if it doesn't get released from customs by then, it would be safe to say the item is lost or won't clear customs.

*fingers crossed* i hope it won't be lost! how can they lose something with tracking?

[bebe123]

it could get stolen, or worst case scenario it's on the list of items that US won't allow to get imported. seeing as its shoes, i doubt it would get stolen if they were used, they're probably just backlogged - US efficiency....

[bellacherie]

I also have an item which appears appears to be stuck with customs.

I sent it from Aust to US with Express Courier International. Could there be any other reason it was delayed?

It was fully insured for the declared value of $800. Will the buyer need to pay customs or something?