Is anyone having problems with deliveries from China? Is Corona Virus delaying deliveries

[gilliabake35]

Is anyone experiencing difficulties with deliveries from China? I ordered something which tracking says was despatched Feb 6 but still have not received it. Is Corona Virus preventing promt deliveries from China and elsewhere?

[gemmababe2001]

i hghave had a storke and find it hard to unsestadn things. 

lilke i said in witting to wait

 i ams simply ctryi ti comprehend with a brain injute soemthifn that otehrs fid=nd east yo understwand is not easy for me

i anm seperated from my acarer who usisually helps me due to the virus implcy

please have some unserstandding and compassion or please dont reply to my posts id you cant do that 

thamnksyou

[davewil1964]

Your English skills definitely seem to have deteriorated in the last few hours.

You were quite lucid recently.

The disability card doesn't work with me, that's for sure. My fiancee has a profound disability, my best mate, ditto. They know better than to try that on, even with people they don't know.

If you can't understand what is being said to you, my advice is to wait for your carer to interprete for you.

[pseakins]

I have items coming from China that are overdue. Other items purchased this year have been refunded due to non-delivery, including one item from England to Australia. I suspect there is someone knocking them off in Sydney. Years ago theft was rife in Australia Post.

What I am finding now, is that Chinese eBay items which used to be postage free pre-coronavirus, are now listed with postage extra. Is this revenge for all the accusations being hurled at China?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@pseakins wrote:

I have items coming from China that are overdue. Other items purchased this year have been refunded due to non-delivery, including one item from England to Australia. I suspect there is someone knocking them off in Sydney. Years ago theft was rife in Australia Post.

What I am finding now, is that Chinese eBay items which used to be postage free pre-coronavirus, are now listed with postage extra. Is this revenge for all the accusations being hurled at China?

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OMG . . . I never thought of it that way!  You might be onto something.

If governments are going to sue China for trillions then I guess they could recoup that from eBay buyers through charging postage on the cheap tatt they sell.

You should contact the National Cabinet and warn them.  You MAY be right.

[digital*ghost]

And here I was thinking the long delays with mail, and higher postage costs, had to do with there being much more mail in the system because no one can go out to shop, very few flights available to transport it all, fewer staff able to process it (because social distancing) and the dramatic fall in the AUD, all conspiring together to make postage costs and delivery times soar, like a mug.  

[zanadoo_56]

Despite all these very valid reasons for delays I can't help wishing SOMEONE would find my purchase from China that has (according to tracking) been languishing somewhere in Melbourne for 6 weeks, and then hopefully send it on its way to me. 

The low value of the Oz dollar is a real problem too.  I received an email from a US company I buy clothes from - 20% off all items including those on special and in the clearance bin.  Found three items I'd like to buy but once I factored in the postage (and that was a real killer as you don't get 20% off that) and converted it to Oz dollars....yikes.  Two items - still too much.  One item - still too much.  I've got bills to pay so I reluctantly deleted the last checkout item...and the email as well.

[digital*ghost]

I'm finding that on average, my deliveries from China are taking about twice as long as they used to, regardless of the delivery method selected - sometimes a little more (eg DHL express I used to get in 2 days, now I'm pretty lucky to get in a week, but that's still amazing to me all things considered). Deliveries through the mail system (i.e. handled by Aus Post this end) are similar, UBI would take about 2 weeks, now it's 4-5 weeks, if something would take 4-6 weeks before (common for the cheapest postage method from China), I'd expect 8 weeks or so, but 6 weeks in Aus without moving I would consider unusual. 

A lot of people are saying opening an inquiry helps, so it may be worth doing that (it can be done online, you just need to provide the tracking number and delivery address). 

I had 3 relatively high value orders coming through UBI from the same seller - they were purchased over a period of about 6 weeks (starting back in February), and were worth more than $500 each (stock purchases). I started to worry a lot when one by one they had been shipped out, but never appeared in the system over here (part of the worry was that they were lost, another was that they were banking up at customs and would get the total value combined and I'd be up for hundreds in import costs, yet another was that with tracking so sporadic, I wouldn't even know if customs charges were being applied and they'd be destroyed, disposed of or RTS - one of my other suppliers stopped shipping to Aus as they said too many packages were being returned as undeliverable which was costing them significant amounts).  I eventually opened an enquiry on all 3, and then several days later, they all started getting their scans in Aus (I've now received 2 of them, all were processed individually). 

[tazzieterror]

The AUD has actually made a pretty quick recovery from its recent fall - I'd no longer regard it as "low", especially given the circumstances.

Please do Australia a favour and support a local business if you do need to order clothing - I'm actually struggling to feel any sympathy given you've complained about one delayed international order, then immediately lamented not being able to place another.

Maybe I'm just cold-hearted.

[zanadoo_56]

The only tracking number I have for the purchase from China is not recognised by Aust Post (confirned on MyPost and an enquiry to AP). 

I had a similar China purchase with a similar coded number that eventually updated the tracking that the parcel was on it's way from whereever it was in Melbourne.  After that, nothing because the tracking only goes from China to arrival in Oz (I verified that with the courier company that forwarded it). 

However, I figured that as it said the parcel was now moving on, it was likely that Aust Post would be soon delivering it.....and that's exactly what happened.

I just wish I'd get a similar update for my current China purchase.

[zanadoo_56]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

The AUD has actually made a pretty quick recovery from its recent fall - I'd no longer regard it as "low", especially given the circumstances.

Please do Australia a favour and support a local business if you do need to order clothing - I'm actually struggling to feel any sympathy given you've complained about one delayed international order, then immediately lamented not being able to place another.

Maybe I'm just cold-hearted.

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I think you are just naive.  What the Stock Exchange and other financial institutions think is a recovery, and the reality of how it translates to overseas purchases by less wealthy persons are like comparing luxury cars to a child's scooter.  Considering the AUD was almost at parity with the US dollar at one stage, we are woefully low in comparison at the moment.  It's not so great against the GBP either...but that has been an issue for much longer.

If I could find equivalent items and affordable clothing in the right size and styles in Oz I'd be buying them like a shot, to at least get them at cheaper postage (I am housebound) BUT it is NOT POSSIBLE.  The 'local' sellers are not there (eBay and elsewhere) for a lot of what I need to purchase.  I do buy items from Oz sellers....but if you think you can get everything from local businesses you're crazy.

Maybe you can get all your clothing off the rack, but Oz sellers don't make or import what suits and fits me.  There used to be a shop or two that I could buy from but they closed down years ago, probably due to their highly inflated prices.  I don't want your sympathy.  I couldn't care less.  What I would like is for people to grasp the concept that on many levels buying from overseas is a necessity.