International Shipping woes :down:

[CoasTek240]

well, i know how international shipping can be. I hate it though. I recently bought a triple projector headlight from a guy in Austrailia. I sent him his money (trusting him b/c he has a good rep on EBAY--however i did not buy it through ebay).

He ended the auction on EBAY that day. He also got back to me promptly with a tracking # for the AUstralian post.
He said the item was shipped 5-6 day airmail.
I waited till the 9th day, when it did not come in i checked the tracking # and it didnt respond in the system.
he told me the he spoke to the officials at the post office and they told him the package was out of their hands, either in AUS customs or America.
i waited anothe 4 days (10th day) and i got a hold of the seller, he told me that he finally got a hold of customs and they didnt have it either, the package mustve been on american soil by now. I've tried getting a hold of USPS, they said they are not able to track the package in anyway, bc i have no USPS tracking #, only Aus postal service.
Also USPS said there is no way to get a hold of a rep @ US customs.
I'm soo frustrated. I wanna find out where my packaged is.

any suggestions that would help me in this situation would be much appreciated.

[Heartwork]

I've tried getting a hold of USPS, they said they are not able to track the package in anyway, bc i have no USPS tracking #, only Aus postal service.


any suggestions that would help me in this situation would be much appreciated.

get a hold of Australian USPS....
call them if you're really that concerned....
then ask them which way their toilet water flushes

[Dousan_PG]

make it a collect call hahaha
:p
such a great episode

yeah call that aus postal service
and dont call direclty on your phone unless you have a int'l calling plan. most countries are 3 or so dollars PER minute

or get a calling card.

[Fastback180]

one word...
CUSTOMS

if he didn't fill out a declaration of customs form, then you're screwed for a few weeks.
the post office will literally open your package up, look through it do what ever, then reseal it...and they do it when ever they feel like it...so it could take A WHOLE LOT LONGER.
trust me...i shop online all the time, and ebay shit, and if they don't put a customs form on there, it take an extra 1 to 2 weeks.
sorry you're twisted up.
but it wouldn't help to ask if the water flowed in the opposite direction

[Fastback180]

ejemplo...
i shipped my 4 wheels/tires from when i was back home for xmas in virginia to here overseas
it arrived 6 days after i had shipped it

the day after i shipped those rims, bidded on some shoes on ebay and won
they arrived 15 days after the shipped had sent them
and when i got the package you could tell he didn't put a customs declaration on it

[Sil Beer S13]

i hate international shipping to much red tape involved.

[S14DB]

I have alot of stuff shiped from AU. He would have to have a AU customs form filled out. Which he would have a copy. Once it clears AU customs, US customs trusts AU and rubberstamps it thru. If it doesn't it gets sent back to his local post office and he gets a call(phone number on customs form) and a little card like we get for ins mail. If he did get it certified he should get notice once it gets put on a USPS plane. once it is out of AU hands and USPS it's shiped like normal mail.

He should be able to prove to you that he shiped it thru the customs fourms. But, WTF can you do if he didn't? Spend a grand and 30hrs on a plane to go beat his ass? You're fucked no mater what.

[CoasTek240]

I have alot of stuff shiped from AU. He would have to have a AU customs form filled out. Which he would have a copy. Once it clears AU customs, US customs trusts AU and rubberstamps it thru. If it doesn't it gets sent back to his local post office and he gets a call(phone number on customs form) and a little card like we get for ins mail. If he did get it certified he should get notice once it gets put on a USPS plane. once it is out of AU hands and USPS it's shiped like normal mail.

He should be able to prove to you that he shiped it thru the customs fourms. But, WTF can you do if he didn't? Spend a grand and 30hrs on a plane to go beat his ass? You're fucked no mater what.

Luckily, i think this guy is honest, hes offered to photocopy and send me all his paperwork that he filled out for customs. Also he has ins. on the item, and he has all the paperwork for that too. Ill ask himabout it today in an email.

so you think there is a phone # on the customs form that he has...
if so i'm going to take dousans advice, and buy a calling card, and figure this shit out.

if all else fails, i'm a man of principal and i do have 1 ticket roundtrip anywhere in the world.---(thanx to my company for flyiing me around the world and racking up my frequent flyer miles)---, I may have to show up beat his ass, take my headlight, and as much other various cool things as i can fit in 2 suitcases, and fly back home...

lol... hopefully this all works out. ill keep yall posted, if i come across any other snags.
thanx guys

[S14DB]

Calling AU is less than 10c a minute. Call AU post as him and ask what's up.

Ins. only covers to it get's in USPS hands. Once USPS has it they can toss it in the dumpster. The key is to find out if it ever made it into USPS hands.

[CoasTek240]

Ok, well he gave me a copy of the AUS declaration statement as well as his reciept and additional ins. info. I still havent gotten around to calling the AUS post, but i cant find a number on any of those documents.
What im wondering is, does anyone have a number to AUS post? its been close to 3 weeks now, and i paid for 5-6 day airmail. im kinda pissed bout that

[CoasTek240]

ok its been a while, not a month quite yet. This is why i want your opinions on what i should do.
I have a receipt of the 5-6 day airmail purchase that the seller made, along with the customs declaration cert.
i dont know what to do. i have a tracking # that they gave me, but it doesnt register under AUS post or the US postal service.
I only have 2 more days b4 i cant do anything about it with paypal. i need to protect myself, but i dont wanna dick this guy over.
I think my only option is to claim that i did not recieve the shipment on paypal. they can investigate and get my money or look to see if he has eve shipped it, cant they?
well, any advice would be appreciated.