Tracking numbers from Asian countries never work.

[nikel66]

Pretty much every time I buy from someone in Asia they will give a tracking number and the hyperlink won't work. Cutting and pasting the number into a tracking website usually says there's no such number. The items pretty much always turn up, but I just find this inability to track a bit annoying. It makes we wonder why they bother putting a number in in the first place.

[phorum_junkie*]

Why? Because if it works from their end they have proof of sending if a buyer tries to say something hasn't arrived.

I have bought a lot of things from China and HK and can't remember ever trying to see tracking information, tracked or not things usually arrive eventually and if they don't I open a dispute.

[tbt47]

I've only ordered a few things from China/HK/India and they have always arrived. Admittedly this was a few years ago and I can't remember if they had tracking or not.

But it's not only Asian countries, it's also from the US and Europe. Sometimes they work - sometimes not.

And I have to say even with tracking it's been an exercise in frustration lately. 

In the US it quite literally took 2 weeks for an item to leave Chicago; 2 weeks for a parcel to move from Miami to LAX and 1.5 weeks for an item to move from Stanton in CA to LAX - about 50kms away. DHL from Germany - well good luck with that - delivered to the depot and from there it's been in transit for the past 1.5 weeks (that's all the info I have).

God knows I've been pulling my hair out - and I don't have that much to spare.

<Shrugs>

[typhoon4u]

Heard a stoty about DHL Germany.....parcel sat for 4 weeks......

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

Some article ID numbers aren't actually trackable on a lot of sites (even Australia Post's registered service, both domestic and international, is not sold as a trackable service, even though sometimes you will get tracking results on some sites). 

In saying that, some "tracking" numbers aren't issued by any of the postal services at all, I also have a couple of items where the sellers have input a number, but they definitely are not tracking numbers or article IDs, they're internal barcodes / numbers generated by the seller, which serve various functions. They'd be better off uploading them as private notes to the order as they don't show on the buyer's side and can't give the wrong impression, but some sellers will put it as a tracking number because, while it won't help when official tracking is required, eBay's system won't automatically determine that it's not a postage service tracking number and it helps with some of the seller stats, like DSR ratings. (I'm not saying it's right, just explaining why some of them might do it - personally, I'd rather avoid annoying buyers in that way than try to get an automated rating). 

[tbt47]

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@typhoon4u wrote:

Heard a stoty about DHL Germany.....parcel sat for 4 weeks......

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Thanks for that.

Cheered me up no end.

Cheers

[lyndal1838]

DHL runs the German postal service.....you are not dealing with DHL as in a fast international courier service from Germany

[lane-ends]

For asian listings with cheap postage, the tracking numbers are likely to be fake as they are using basic post. The reason for using a fake tracking number is to discourage dodgy buyers from claiming not arrived due to perceived trackability.

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@nikel66 wrote:

I just find this inability to track a bit annoying. It makes we wonder why they bother putting a number in in the first place.

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This is the same reason Ebay are pushing sellers to upload validated lodgement tracking on domestic parcels. Domestic buyers get frustrated with the existing partial tracking (with box lodging), which serves no other purpose than proof of delivery for sellers.

[e-customs]

I ofter have good results using Aftership to track shipments.They are a platform that has most of the world carriers linked to it so just punch in the number and it'll dig up where it is and who is carrying it at that moment. I've just integrated it in to a TMS I have built for a transport company so can vouch for it.