Planning???

[ed4copies]

Many years ago, this "business card" was a traveling joke:

Well, it came to mind today, as I was trying to track an international package. The package tracking said it left New York on September 14!! Sounds good, and the agent tried to suggest that it was in Customs, either here (US) or THERE (Great Britain).

I pointed out to him that it said it was in New York AGAIN on September 20 and AGAIN on Sept 25---the LAST entry. The customer has checked with the British Postal System who says they don't recognize the "tracking number", which is actually the Customs paperwork number (as the Postal service was quick to inform me).

So, the crux is---it is probably lost and we will work it out with the customer.

So, why did that remind me of "Plan ahead"??

BECAUSE I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT THE POSTAL SERVICE FOR THIS INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENT FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS----THE PHONE SIMPLY SAYS WE ARE BUSY AND YOU CANNOT CONNECT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

(I believe this pretty well defines what Clark Howard refers to as "customer no-service")!!

It is NOT my intention to pick on the Postal Service--we have sent thousands of packages this year and MOST are delivered, without incident. HOWEVER, last year about one-quarter of the "guaranteed delivery by Christmas" for USPS, UPS and FedEx were NOT delivered by the 25th at midnight. They blamed the weather and, for the most part no refunds were issued.

THIS year, it is expected that the volume will increase another 20%ish. Which means EVERY PARCEL will slow down. They will be working well beyond their capacity.

PLAN AHEAD

Don't promise delivery of pens that you don't have!!!!

If you do shows, plaster it all over your booth!!!
BUY NOW IF YOU WANT IT FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Remember, you can't promise a thing about something you don't control and you DON'T control USPS, FedEx or UPS!!

I hope you will take this as a marketing aid! A word to the WISE!!!

Advise your customers to PLAN AHEAD!!
Avoid the embarrassment of a late gift!
​

 

[DLGunn]

Shipping can be very frustrating. We have had large shipments where I work get "delayed" by weather. Only thing is, there was no bad weather near the route the shipments took. A motor from Atlanta to Memphis can supposedly be delayed by a snow storm in the northeast.

I feel your pain Ed.

 

[bitshird]

Ed, Andrew and I gad the same thing happen, we had a load of 6 tools going to Canada go missing for nearly a month, unfortunately Insurance isn't available for international shipments, as luck would have it, the package finally arrived albeit 2 weeks later.
Greetings to the USPS.. Just kidding

 

[TellicoTurning]

International Shipping was my job back when I was in the working world.... take it from me, if something can go wrong, it's highly likely that something will go wrong... with international shipments, make certain your paperwork is in order and you have allowed time for the transit..long distance problems are hard to solve.... remember that unless a package is going into Canada or Mexico, it must cross water to reach it's destination (or if it's going south, it crosses several countries by air or land)... Shipments that fly reach destination relatively quickly, shipments that travel via ocean take up to 6 weeks to cross the water. International shipments rarely go point to point... they go point of origin to relay point to relay point etc. to destination... and also keep in mind that on even on air shipments, the airlines use mail as filler cargo ... after passengers and passenger baggage.... when I was a load master for a major airlines, if my plane was heavy or full, we would often leave cargo behind so we could accommodate baggage.