"Postal Delays from UK to US .... ;-( " Topic

Got this in an e-mail from Mark at Copplestone Minis … does not sound promising (?) "DELAYED DELIVERIES TO THE USA

Some orders sent to the USA in early to mid-December have been delayed and have only just started arriving. This was completely out of our control and seems to have been the result of new US security measures taken after bombs were found in a cargo plane at a UK airport – although bad weather here and in the USA before Christmas made it worse:

link

A couple of days ago I spoke to someone in the international section of our Royal Mail who told me that packets (but not letters) were being held by US customs for up to 25 days before getting security clearance. This seems to be a continuing situation so it looks like our US customers may have to wait up to 5 weeks for delivery. Thanks for your patience.

Mark Copplestone"

Glad to get a better explanation on the situation. Dunno how this will affect my orders (the majority of my historicals I order from the UK). I'm still waiting on a QRF order, and I just placed a Peter Pig order a few days ago.

Damon.

Well I guess regardless, we are at the mercy of the P.O.s and Customs, but even more so now ! Another reason to hate UBL, Al Quada, etc., etc. …

We are aware of the problem, but not much else we can do. The US increased security in November, meaning shipments are being delayed by US Homeand Security and/or customs.

On top of that the recent weather caused disruptions in the UK. As far as we can tell, parcels sent on or about the time of the snows were stockpiled for processing later. Parcels sent later have been processed as they come in, but those in storage are sat waiting until as and when the Royal Mail can allocate resources to deal with them, so are taking much longer.

Damon, your order (and others posted on 23 Dec) actually missed the last post on that day and were shipped out the next available posting, so 4 January. They should have missed the Royal Mail warehouse, but are still likely to have been held up by US security.

Thanks for responding Geoff. Always had good service from you.

Damon.

Yeah, I am still waiting for a Pendraken order shipped just before Christmas. At least it is more rational than what is happening with my Wargames Factory preorder.

Thanks for the heads up…waiting on some stuff from the Scene.

I was starting to wonder about my order from across the pond. I guess I'll just sit tight and remain calm.

Yeah, since November shipments from the UK to me in the US have taken an average of 5 weeks.

Still waiting on a biggish Dec. 4 order, but in the mean time I have received 5 smaller ones ordered at a later date. Last one took only a week. Size of the package might be the issue?

Does anyone know if this security delay is ongoing? I had an order with em4 that got sent out on Jan 6th or so; it's way to early for me to start saying 'it's late,' obviously, but it'll be good to know if I need to revise my expectations.

The last em4 order I put in arrived by the end of that week, which is faster than I get most stuff from US merchants!

ComradeCommissar, the size does matter.
Sending from Oz to USA, the packet has to be under 500gms(about 16oz) to sail straight through. If it weighs more than 500gms, it has to be scanned and certified here before it gets on a plane and then there are delays at the other end while US Post / Customs/ HLS etc all check the package again and make sure the certification is right.
Then there is the matter of packages now being not supposed to be sent on a passenger plane. So that slows things down again while the wait for a pure freight plane.
And on top of that, Aussie Post want another $9 USD to pay for the separation, scanning and certification on top of the usual high postage charges.

Some orders sent to the USA in early to mid-December have been delayed and have only just started arriving.

True. I rec'd my order yesterday (here in WA State, USA), 1/13/11, that was mailed out of the UK on 12/15/10.

Well thats no good! I guess I will have to be patient on my painted Hittites, which were mailed out last week, to arrive. Its just so hard to be patient when it comes to miniatures…..

This is going to cause an upset with people ebay sales. Many customers start squealing if packages don't arrive in a few days.

My apologies to Doms Decals/MY Miniatures/Shapeways if I have been overboard about my stuff.Nearly all my stuff comes from Europe.

David Hodge
Jax.,Florida

Well between bad weather and loony terrorists … I hope 5 weeks from UK to US won't be the norm ! US Distributors may be another option, but some of them have to get their stock from the UK ?! And I've found in some cases it's less expensive to buy direct from the UK … Of course as I said, some UK companies don't have a US counterpart …

Its just so hard to be patient when it comes to miniatures…..

This is another truth – for me anyway. I suppose if I were to substitute "miniatures" with "toy soldiers" I can see where my impatience comes from.

I received 3 Dec 6th orders January1-13th. Another package finally sent on the 22 of December is still MIA (big box) while the small single blister sent on the 8th of January arrived the 12th.

Of course the one I am still waiting on has stuff I wanted to start on this week.

Darn British they are underhandly trying to take us over.Well what do you expect,their postal service shudders up when ours still delivers.But better safe than 9-11 sorry.Rob

Darn British they are underhandly trying to take us over. Well what do you expect, their postal service shudders up when ours still delivers.

I don't think you can blame the British postal services for delays caused by additional security measures imposed by the US Department of Homeland Security!

We are told that the UK postal system generally get parcels to the US within 24 hours. The rest is down to delays on the US side.

Of course that may not hold entirely true for the batch shipped in the midle of December, which were 'stockpiled' until they had time to sort it… at which point they will THEN be subject to US customs and security delays :-)

Regardless … All does not bode well … welcome to the new normal …

Actually I suspect much the same situation is happening for post within the UK as well – letters and parcels posted during the snows have been put to one side while later letters have been processed normally. At my office I've had a number of normally reliable customers (and with 25 years experience I s can tell the bull******s) calling to ask why their latest statement doesn't include the cheque they posted before Christmas.

On the other hand my latest purchase from Ebay was delivered within three days of my paying for it.

My Pendrakens have arrived. Christmas is saved!

I'm glad to see I'm not alone. In Australia, stuff usually arrives from US/UK in under 2 weeks (a few days when GZG is involved!) and some of my orders have been missing for 4 weeks… :-/

Received my order from Brigade today. Mailed on 12/31; 38 days… does not bode well for getting my GZG package before the end of this month's sale. :(

I'm still waiting on my Brigade order, it was shipped on the same day as yours. Hopefully this week.

TMP link USA

Start date: 18th November
End date: Ongoing

Increased security measures delays some mail to USA

Since November 2010, the United States Department of Homeland Security has increased security measures for items carried on passenger airlines. As a result, mail entering the US from around the world, and including the UK, that would normally be sent via passenger aircraft must now travel by other means, including ships and cargo planes.

A followup – got the em4 order I mentioned here last night. Doug from em4 had been great when I got in touch with them and offered to try and send it out again, but we waited a bit longer and the US Customs finally coughed them up. I found it interesting that there was no notation or anything on the package to indicate why it had been held so long. I hope people are realizing where the fault for this lies and don't stop patronizing some of the great minis companies on the other side of the pond!

Hi Kids, My package from 14 Dec in the UK arrived here today, 16 Feb. The journey lasted 2 months and 2 days. Wow.

Received my GZG Xmas order today. Ordered 12/13, mailed 1/12, received 2/16: 36 days in transit, similar to the time my package from Brigade took to arrive (38 days).

Another aspect of the 'new normal'…