Current Delay Status - Canada Customs Shipments from Asia

[atr_atr_zisgkgcx4]

Does anyone know what the current backlog is in Canada Customs?  An item was shipped to me from Korea on Sept. 18 and still has not arrived (Standard shipping, no tracking, likely surface).  I have no reason to suspect the seller at this point.  However, the delivery window will end in a couple days and I will have to raise it with eBay within 30 days of that.

I suspect the delay is in Customs because I had a very lengthy wait for an item shipped from the USA a few months ago which crossed the border quickly then sat for a month.  I wanted to know if anyone had any recent experience with Asian orders as of now (October, 2021).

[marnotom!]

If your item is indeed being shipped by surface from Asia, you’re more likely looking at a wait expressed in months rather than weeks. It may arrive in the 30 day window you have to file a non-delivery claim, it may not.

Let’s just hope that your item didn’t end up aboard the Zim Kingston. 😬

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

There are huge delays in surface shipping, and air is not much better.

However, if you don't get your purchase by the deadline, you should be prepared to open an Item Not Received dispute.

Check the seller's feedback for a pattern of late or non-delivery.

If there is none, and you can afford the time, mark your calendar two weeks down the line, and Dispute then.

If there are complaints , those are likely buyers who did not know how to Dispute and used feedback instead, which is useless for this. But are a signal that you may as well Dispute immediately.

If the item arrives late, you can contact* the seller through Messages and ask for his PP address so that you can return the refund.

*When there has been a transaction, eBay allows much more open communication in Messages.

[atr_atr_zisgkgcx4]

Thanks.  This guy seems to have an excellent record so I may give him the two weeks you suggest.  I hate to sock it to the small guy because of the stuff going on with the shipping and Customs, but I need to protect myself in the end.  I wonder why the sellers do not adjust their estimated delivery times if they know things are backed up, since overly optimistic dates will only bite them in the end.

[marnotom!]

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@atr_atr_zisgkgcx4 wrote:

Thanks.  This guy seems to have an excellent record so I may give him the two weeks you suggest.  I hate to sock it to the small guy because of the stuff going on with the shipping and Customs, but I need to protect myself in the end.  I wonder why the sellers do not adjust their estimated delivery times if they know things are backed up, since overly optimistic dates will only bite them in the end.

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Sellers have a very limited ability to change shipping time estimates--particularly if they're using an eBay site from outside their own country--as those estimates are provided by eBay.  The best they can do is to change the descriptor for the shipping method and use the shipping time associated with that descriptor.  If your seller used the descriptor "Standard Internaitonal Shipping," they may have been better off using "Economy International Shipping" as that would have given them a longer delivery time estimate.

Sellers and buyers unaccustomed to having their items sent surface to an overseas location are often taken aback at the time difference between surface shipping by land and surface shipping by sea.

[reallynicestamps]

I found this meme on FaceBook.  Can't get more reliable than that, eh?

[atr_atr_zisgkgcx4]

I did wait and it did arrive one day after the original delivery window ended.