Journey of a Watch
Here, I am talking about a literal journey. Every so often a watch needs sent in for service or repair. One of the brands I happen to like, Christopher Ward, is located in the UK. So, with a watch needing some work, I went off the to the local USPS office and shipped it to HQ. And what a journey this watch was about to undertake!
Note: The issue described below is totally the fault of USPS and Parcelforce, not CW whose customer service helped me greatly with regular responses throughout the process.
In the past I have had fairly good luck with the USPS, but I guess my luck ran out. I shipped International Priority Express on a Monday from Burlington, VT to CW’s offices in Maidenhead. I was guaranteed delivery by Friday of the same week. In short, it took two weeks just to get to the UK due to three trips up and down New England. And beyond that, it took three months just to do a circle and get back to me, never having been delivered to CW for service! Once the watch got back to me, CW setup a DHL pickup and the item was delivered in two days. Full explanation below.
The hops for the first two weeks went something like this…
Burlington, VT -> Customs clearance, CANADA -> Montreal, QC: This all seemed normal, me thinking it would go to the UK from Montreal. Then…
Montreal, QC -> Metro, NY: Well, ok, maybe it’s just a flight from Montreal to NY to the UK? Then…
Metro, NY -> Albany, NY: Huh…perhaps it got rejected in customs and is headed back to me? At this point I visited my local USPS office and they said that their mail never goes to Montreal so that was a mistake and perhaps customs is backed up and is processing at different places in NY, so no red flags yet from their perspective.
Albany, NY -> Plattsburgh, NY: Ok so now it’s just across Lake Champlain, north of the original location. Yup, it’s probably gonna be back on my doorstep tomorrow, better go to sleep.
Plattsburgh, NY -> Jamaica, NY: Ahhh, morning. Wait…it went back to New York, NY overnight?
Jamaica, NY -> ISC (Customs) New York, NY -> JFK: Ok, it’s on it’s way!
JFK -> Newark, NJ: Well that was a short trip…heh.
Newark, NJ -> London, UK: Finally. Then customs on the other end.
Bad USPS…bad. Upon calling USPS to get a refund (by the way the USPS automated call system is truly hideous), they have to do an “inquiry” to determine if you should receive a refund. An inquiry. It’s so 14th century. The issue is clear-cut: the USPS guaranteed delivery by a date for a certain price, it was not delivered by then, so a refund is in order.
I also didn’t like how much I got this screen through the process:
Anyway once the package was in the UK with Parcelforce Worldwide, this is what happened…
Notice that on February 23rd, the note says “Awaiting Clearance – Information Needed”. All the information was on the box and the customs form. What did they need? I am still not sure. At one point I gave them my email address. Still, there was no movement for a MONTH! By March 19th it had cleared customs but they raised the charges. I was told that a snail mail letter would go to CW about the charges, they would pay, and then the item would be released…except CW never got the letter.
After another long time lapse, March 20th – April 12th, Parcelforce decided to send the item back to me. That’s right. Four days later it was shipped back out of the UK, never having been delivered. Something shipped on February 20th was delivered back to me on May 3rd.
After this whole ordeal, CW arranged a DHL pickup for me. The watch was picked up at my door on May 8th and delivered to CW on May 10th. That’s right. Two days! Moral: NEVER NEVER NEVER use USPS for international shipping. Use DHL. Period. In the future I will always demand a DHL pickup for any such transaction, regardless of the cost and even if I have to pay any portion of the cost.
I am still waiting for my shipping cost refund from USPS…I submitted the claim, we shall see.