Incoming package from Europe stuck in Mississauga Customs for a week and counting...anyone else?
Summary: fergua3 inquired about experiencing unusual delays with Customs at Mississauga, Ontario, as their package from Germany has been stuck for an extended period. reallynicestamps suggested opening an Item Not Received claim if the package is past the estimated delivery date, suspecting delays could be due to confusion over tariffs or work-to-rule actions. marnotom! speculated that the delay might be due to a customs valuation review. john_koenig99 shared similar experiences with previous packages and expressed empathy for the situation. fergua3 expressed frustration over the lack of transparency and reachability of Customs and decided to contact DHL and the CBSA for more information, ultimately discovering the package was delayed due to backlog and has since been released to Canada Post.
Wondering if anyone else is experiencing long Customs delays at Mississauga, Ontario? Very unusual....usually have packages go through Customs there in a few hours, a day tops. Anyone hear anything about a slowdown?
Should have nothing to do with tariffs since the package is from Germany and coming into Canada directly from there.
laniandmathew
·1 year agoreallynicestamps
·1 year agoAt the risk of being repetitive:
What is the last estimated date for delivery?
Are any of the packages past that date?
You can open an Item Not Received claim if they actually are late.
...
The best advice about tracking is that it is a Seller Protection against unwarranted Not Received claims.
Tracking does nothing to protect the buyer. Tracked shipments do not move faster nor are they treated more gently.
Mark the last date for arrival on your calendar and don't watch tracking until then.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoFactually, you are correct.
However, I can see @fergua3 point of being worried after the parcel has been tracked to Customs in Mississauga, and then...Nada. Two weeks of crickets.
Yes, the money back program is on the buyer's favour, but the seller will be frustrated, for sure. With no item and no money to show for.
fergua3
OP1 year agoRight. Being a seller myself i think it very premature to request my money back, especially without knowing what is causing the problem. Even if the seller did not submit complete or correct paperwork and that is the cause of the delay, i should at least give him time to correct the situation. And the delay may have nothing to do with the seller, who i have purchased from a few times before without issue.
Eventually i will request a refund if i don't get my merchandise, but until then i am frustrated by the long delay and my imability to do anything about it. As a citizen of this country i feel rather powerless and i feel Canada Customs needs to be more transparent and reachable in situations like this, instead of being a big stone wall.
marnotom!
·1 year agoDon't forget that it's not necessarily game over for the seller if they refund, though. If the item arrives after you receive your refund, it's just a matter of you arranging for a second payment.
fergua3
OP1 year agoTrue. But i don't want to damage my relationship with the seller either. This could spook them and they will not sell to me anymore, especially if they have done nothing wrong.
I emailed the seller and told them of the problem and asked them to contact the shipping company to see if they can get more information. This is what i was advised to do but the seller barely speaks english so i don't know how good the advise is.
I have also found a phone number for the CBSA but none of the options on the phone menu come even close to being about a package delayed in Customs. They are about larger issues so i don't know how useful the number will be. But it is over 2 weeks now, i can find no evidence of widespread delays at Customs in Mississauga, so it appears to be a problem just with my package. It is also possible it has simply been misplaced or even stolen.
marnotom!
·1 year agoHmm. I was assuming that this was a standard shipment sent through the postal system, but now that you're making a reference to "the shipping company," my mind is starting to go in other directions. What shipping company did the seller use? Have they used it in the past, and if so, who handled the item once it was in Canada?
fergua3
OP1 year agohe used DHL which handed off to Canada Post. CP handed it over to Cusoms, where it still sits 15 days later. I doubt the seller contacting DHL will result in any action but i had to start doing somthing and i have few choices.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@reallynicestamps
@fergua3
@john_koenig99
According to current Money Back Guarantee rules customs delays are no longer (not sure if they ever were) a valid reason for INR's and lates. It's been addressed by other sellers and possibly confirmed by Devon as the case going forward. From a sellers perspective they have little control and really can't do anything to speed up the process once a parcel is in the hands of the fine folks with CBSA/CBP. You might have a tiny bit of sway if you have your own personal customs broker but as a receiver nada.
john_koenig99
·1 year ago@fergua3 Any updates?
Now I have an order from Japan that may be in the same boat...No progress since it arrived in Canada a week ago.
fergua3
OP1 year agoNo updates. 13 days and no movement. Still in Customs since April 30.
Is you package at Mississauga Customs?
john_koenig99
·1 year agoIt's actually in Vancouver. At least according to the JP Post tracking.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoUpdate: I received this order yesterday. Delivered by CP. The tracking stopped at arrival in Vancouver, and it was never updated afterwards (blackbox effect).
fergua3
OP1 year agosigh......well i'm happy for you. But my mysery loves company vibe is gone now. I am all alone. 😞
17 days and counting. Even if it clears Customs soon there will be a Postal strike so i will have to wait many more weeks to get it. And if it doesn't clear Customs soon i won't be able to get any information on it because Customs mails the info regarding why the package didn't clear Customs.
Im also wondering if it has actually cleared Customs long ago and is sitting somehwere untouched by CP at Mississauga. That is definitely possible.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoWow. It really sucks. Now almost 3 weeks in customs? Did you get any update?
fergua3
OP1 year agoIt's 3 weeks today. No update of any kind. I'm beginning to think it was cleared long ago and CP have lost or have stolen it. There should be some kind of update from Customs by now eg released, siezed, returned to sender, on hold...
I have finally gotten the seller to contact DHL and launch a formal investigation. Not sure if that means anything but it feels like progress a bit.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoWhat is the last estimated date for delivery eBay gave you?
Has that date passed?
If it has you can open a Claim as Item Not Received.
john_koenig99
·1 year agoDidn't you have a similar issue, back in January?
Incoming package from US stuck for days at Mississ... - The eBay Canada Community
What happened with that package, in the end?
Other than the one order from India I mentioned on that thread, that took almost 2 months to finally arrive to my door (of course, factoring the strike in, and everthing) I had another one last year (from the Netherlands) that showed stuck in Customs for almost two weeks, until finally was realeased and delivered.
Why CP won't help you? Did you contact them?
fergua3
OP1 year agoIt says right on CP's website that they can't and won't intervene when a package is stuck in Customs. They recommend contacting the seller. Big help. The problem in January was with Canada Post......the package had been released by Customs but then just sat untouched by CP. I eventually got it but it took a long while. That may have been post strike related however.
marnotom! : no the deal wasn't especially good, it was ok but certainly nothing that would raise eyebrows at Customs. I've ordered from this seller several times in the past without issue at Customs or anywhere else. I've checked parcelsapp on a regular basis and it shows the same as the CP tracking: presented to Customs on April 30 in the am and nothing since.
marnotom!
·1 year agoDid you get a really good deal on the item? You’ve probably heard this story before, but for the sake of context, in the early days of eBay, my wife bought an antique pocket watch from a US seller that assessed by the CBSA for market value rather than the declared value because whoever inspected the package didn’t believe the declared value (selling price) on the customs form. Your item may be delayed because of some sort of review of the declared value.
You might want to try looking up the tracking on the Parcelsapp site. Sometimes it will display scan events that you won’t find on the Canada Post or Deutsche Post sites.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoWhat is the last estimated date for delivery?
Are any of the packages past that date?
You can open an Item Not Received claim if they actually are late.
I suspect that between confusion about the US tariffs on imports to the USA, a steep learning curve on Canadian retaliatory tariffs on US imports to Canada, and perhaps some "work to rule" actions from some workers, there may be delays rising.
The best advice about tracking is that it is a Seller Protection against unwarranted Not Received claims.
Tracking does nothing to protect the buyer. Tracked shipments do not move faster nor are they treated more gently.
Mark the last date for arrival on your calendar and don't watch tracking until then.
fergua3
OP1 year agoIt's now 10 days and nothing has changed. Package is still stuck in Customs. I can find no evidence of any slowdowns at Mississauga Customs. So how long do i wait before taking some kind of action and what action do i take? There is no option for me to contact Canada Customs to find out what is going on with my package and Canada Post can't/won't do anything about it. Package was to have been delivered 2 days ago.
Seller is in Germany so i don't see what he can do about it. Seems unfair to open a dispute and get my money refunded but there is a few hundred dollars involved.