What's a reasonable time frame for SURFACE shipping of a large parcel to the UK?

[allmost-round-the-bend]

I sent it out on Nov 7th, sat in Montreal until the 23rd of Nov...and now the tracking just shows it 'in transit'. My buyer is quite patient but I'm starting to get concerned.  Check with Royal Mail UK and it shows the same thing.   Any thoughts ?  I'm thinking that it is still in transit ok and will arrive at some point.  It's a very large box and was over $300 to ship.  Ugggh.

[reallynicestamps]

The Royal Mail, which was privatized some years ago, is having labour troubles.

The union is holding work stoppages off and on, however they have been publishing the dates.

Did you ship by Surface ? What is the last estimated date for arrival eBay gave you and the  buyer?

[reallynicestamps]

Surface is much too expensive for the service you recieve.

Was this the pair of lamps? Those are showing the last estimated date for delivery as  January 11, which sounds about right.

Surface is slooooooooow. The delay in Montreal was the wait while Canada Post filled a container bound for England. "In Transit" might mean that the ship is braving the winter of the North Atlantic.  Or it may only mean the shipping company has accepted the parcel. Once in the UK, travel should be faster.

[recped]

I haven't used Surface very much and defintely never in the past 15+ years. At that time the average delivery time was about 8 weeks to Europe with the only exception being Small Packet surface which would sometimes be mixed in with the Air Small Packet and arrive very fast.

[ricarmic]

My "experience" is also very old, I have 9 weeks as my recollection if shipping surface, which I never do....

[allmost-round-the-bend]

Yep. The lamps. Buyer is very understanding, but I feel bad not being able to give some sort of time frame.  I did give a couple of options on the shipping....she chose the $300 vs the $800 option, but at least it offered tracking!  I imagine that since it hasn't been a full month "in transit" yet...I will just pray for more patience.  My nerves are jangled waiting for this one to arrive and hopefully without breakage.     This is going into my Never again, file.   Thanks for your input, makes me feel a bit better 🙃

[recped]

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@allmost-round-the-bend wrote:

Yep. The lamps. Buyer is very understanding, but I feel bad not being able to give some sort of time frame.  I did give a couple of options on the shipping....she chose the $300 vs the $800 option, but at least it offered tracking!  I imagine that since it hasn't been a full month "in transit" yet...I will just pray for more patience.  My nerves are jangled waiting for this one to arrive and hopefully without breakage.     This is going into my Never again, file.   Thanks for your input, makes me feel a bit better 🙃

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Canada Post states "4 - 12 weeks" to the UK

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/articles/parcel-services-us-international/deli...

If you are going to pass that along to your buyer you should just go with the 12 weeks, 4 weeks would have to be a rare alignment of the planets. 12 weeks is probably longer than reality but maybe not at this time of year.

What does the tracking currently show? Until it leaves Canada there should be a scann and then probably another one when Royal Mail gets their hands on it. When the RM scan appears the delivery should be fairly soon after. Understand that while it only takes about 10 days "on the water",   containers can sit for a long time on either end before they are actually moving, Canada Post filling up a container and on the UK end waiting for someone to breakdown the container. Neither are a priority for postal operators on both ends.

[allmost-round-the-bend · Accepted solution]

Thank you so much!  I will pass the info along and keep fingers crossed for a swifter journey. Seasons greetings!

[doc_scribe]

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@allmost-round-the-bend wrote:

Buyer is very understanding, but I feel bad not being able to give some sort of time frame...I imagine that since it hasn't been a full month "in transit" yet...I will just pray for more patience.  My nerves are jangled waiting for this one to arrive and hopefully without breakage.  This is going into my Never again, file.  Thanks for your input, makes me feel a bit better 🙃

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FWIW it seems like shipping to the Eurozone, including once zippy destinations like the UK, has fallen into the realm  of "divine providence."...even for premium services like tracked packet. One of my recent "you've-got-to-be-kidding" overseas examples:

18 days to the UK for a Blu-ray in bubble pack! And just to rub it in, $7 extra for the fuel surcharge. 

Fortunately, International buyers seem to understand...or at least accept...the current global shipping climate. And of course packages still seem to be getting through without damage...eventually.

So your shipment will probably be okay too @allmost-round-the-bend. As other here have noted, just S...L...O...W.

[ricarmic]

As a side note, if one is really anxious the "destination" postal system tracking is oftentimes hours to days ahead of Canada Post, true even for the USA, so if you can't help yourself, watch the royal mail updates they'll be ahead of CP.....