I wish to make an offer on (or otherwise purchase) an item from the US. It is a delicate item (a bar mirror) and I asked the seller what care would be taken in packaging and delivery to Australia. They replied 'this is not our responsibility and you will have to ask this of the GSP' (PB) whose job it is deal with that side of the transaction. I haven't been able to contact the right people and was wondering what experience other buyers have of getting delicate goods (such as framed bar mirrors) shipped from the US, or whether I am just being too hopeful to expect that such an item might be freighted to Oz without damage or breakage? My only other alternative may be to contact a company like MyUS (as suggested by another buyer) and hope that they could package and deliver the item safely, however I have no experience at getting around the GSP and the seller wont budge from using the GSP. My only other GSP experience resulted in no item, no ability to pay due to an incomplete invoice and the seller lodging negative buyer remark about me to ebay as a result. I had to go through ebay Aust with screen dumps etc. to resolve the situation. I am soooo wary of dealing with the US by this method, however I would dearly like to purchase the item. Can anyone suggest other solutions. Thanks
T o give you an example.... I have several GSP items that come from the US, and as correctly outlined above the items arrives in Kentucky GSP hub. Most of my items there are transferred to FEDEX, and are in Sydney within a couple of days. They then change hands to AusPost... and add another week to regional QLD. But there is an example of how GSP works. DOMESTIC CARRIER > GSP HUB > FEDEX > AUSPOST
For StarTrack read Australia Post....your item must have exceeded APs criteria so they would not give it to their parcel contractors who only use 1 ton vans. StarTrack use large trucks for country runs...one truck can take much more freight than a van.
Yes, it did well and truly exceed AP's criteria! It turns out it wasn't Startrack after all, it was Toll that took possession of my delivery. Something was telling me this morning that it wasn't Startrack, so I looked at Street View and sure enough, it had the big yellow sign on the building. I get confused who's who as far as couriers go around here, because they're all plonked in the same street pretty much!
That does not surprise me....Toll is like an octopus with many different branches.....they are a BIG company.
They are probably all in the same industrial area. Here is Sydney most courier companies have a depot in the Mascot/Alexandria area, close to the airport. Only StarTrack has to be different....they moved out to Greenacre when they outgrew their Mascot depot. It services the air freight as well as the interstate trucks.
Sorry, I know this is well out of date now but I had forgotten to reply update. Was delivered to my door by FedEx themselves and arrived after about a 7-8 day journey from memory. I unpacked it in front of the courier to make sure it was not damaged.....relief!! The mirror did make it over here safely and intact. Thanks all for your support.
You must have been very relieved when it arrived safely. I am glad to know the system sometimes does work as it is supposed to.
One comment does surprise me however.....how did you manage to get the courier to wait while you opened the parcel? They usually don't have the time to do that.
