GSP The Slow Boat to Canada

[maureenr5700]

When mail took a long time to arrive it was said to be on "The slow boat to China". When an item takes 8 days to travel from California to Toronto via ERLANGER KT., to B.C., ... I say its on the slow boat to Canada. Next part of journey from Toronto ON to Richmond BC and back to me in Sorrento B.C., and its still in transit what can you call that!😢

[marnotom!]

There was a range of estimated delivery dates on the listing page when you made your purchase. Unless the last estimated date has past and you still haven’t received your item, your item is on track.

The GSP is a glorified forwarding service that was built for sellers’ convenience, not speed. Canada Post handles letter mail from much of BC’s interior in a similar way. When you mail a letter to Kamloops, it likely gets sent to Vancouver first to be sorted before getting bundled up with other mail destined for Kamloops.

[maureenr5700]

Delivery would be QUICKER if the item wasn't sent across the USA & back again across Canada...

[marnotom!]

It probably would, but the GSP is a forwarding service that serves about 100 countries in addition to Canada. Pretty much everything handled by the program goes through Erlanger, KY. The volume of merchandise destined for western Canada isn't likely great enough to justify a separate processing facility.

[femmefan1946]

The GSP was set up as a Seller Protection program and offers nothing to buyers.

The seller is deemed to have delivered the purchase when it is accepted in Erlanger KY and most of the Money Back Guarantee for delivery ends there.

GSP does accept responsibility for delivery between Erlanger and the buyer.

The program is popular enough with US sellers that it was extended to UK sellers.

The delivery system is called spoke and hub.

While it looks strange, it is widely accepted as the most efficient way to get parcels from Point A to Point B, even though it is counter-intuitive.

Two takeaways:
Watching tracking is agonizing. Note the last date for delivery on your calendar and don't think about it until then.

If you need something in a hurry, buy  locally, not by mail order.