Item coming from Surrey UK.

[legarlu]

Hi. I ordered something from the UK 22nd May 2021.  Item has been shipped and I have a tracking number.

There have been no updates since.  It is being shipped through Pitney Bowes.   I'm getting concerned as I require the item for a function on the 19th June.    I have contacted the seller to see if they could trace their end but had no response.    Anyone had similar waiting issues with Pitney Bowes with items from UK.

[papermoon.lady]

Are you checking the tracking on eBay? It takes longer than on other sites to update. This site is much better for example: https://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking

[sugar249]

The seller can only see the same tracking info you can see. 

Often overseas parcels tracking disappears into the never never, because of inconsistent systems between various couriers, postal authority systems.

But one day the parcel just lands on the front step, 

[legarlu]

Thanks for the link.   It doesn't show more information other that 16 days in transit.

[zanadoo_56]

Is there any mention of the parcel being transferred to APG?  This is Australia Post Global. 

You may be able to find out more info from Aust Post.

[jellybirddesigns]

Pitney Bowes is a nightmare, and personally I avoid anything that is shipped via them.

It usually costs substantially more to ship and they often repackage items to lower the weight and final shipping costs, but pocket the difference. Unfortunately, this repackaging often results in broken items and I'm sure there is a level of theft too. There have been threads on other forums where buyer have said that PB have had their items for over 60 days before moving it onwards!

I think they also have a disclaimer about additional delays during COVID.

Buying from overseas is an issue if you have time constraints and it's definitely better to purchase far, far earlier in advance as overseas items can take up to 3 months for delivery. Last year my items outbound to the USA were taking a minimum of 6 weeks, compared to 2 weeks pre-pandemic.

The seller might ship on time, but it's not their fault if things go awry during transit.

[papermoon.lady]

I bought something from a seller in the USA last year, and although usually I try to avoid PB too, the seller had actually weighed the item and the cost was reasonable, so I decided to go with it. I told the seller to add a note in the parcel to repackage in the original way. I used the site I linked to above to track it and it also indicated the weight.

I don't know if it was a mistake, but I think you are right about lowering the weight. When posted by the seller it was 1.5 lbs. After being processed by PB it was just 0.6 lbs. It was a small antique ceramic item, so quite fragile (and with loose parts). It arrived floating in a huge box with a sheet of bubble wrap  over it, not wrapped, just over it. The box had a fragile tape added by PB to reseal it, but unfortunately Australia Post always says that they don't have a "fragile" policy. It was a miracle that the item arrived whole (the box looked like crushed by other boxes that had been thrown on it). The note by the seller was still inside, but I doubt this was the original way the item had been wrapped by the seller.






















. 

[shoppingbag*]

I think you must have been extremely optimistic to expect this to arrive so quickly during a pandemic.

[jellybirddesigns]

@shoppingbag - depends on location

Last year my items to the USA and UK took 6 weeks as mentioned above, but now they're back to 2 weeks, so things are definitely better. Inbound mail from the USA to me is also taking approx 2-3 weeks these days.

Pitney Bowes is a different animal altogether.