Anyone have any ideas...re: knives sent from Canada to USA but still haven't arrived

bladerunnerjc

bladerunnerjc

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HI everyone... I recently completed a trade with a forumite (nice person) and received his knife from the USA, but he still hasn't received mine (2 knives) from Canada. We both mailed on the same day 2.5 weeks ago... I received it within a week, but the knives I sent his are still unaccounted for.

I normally send knives via UPS because its guaranteed, but since the person was not always at home to sign, we agreed to both send via regular USPS/Canada Post "air mail."

I am really at a loss right now. I contacted my local post office, and they said they sent it. They told me to call Canada Post, and I did.. the problem is that since I sent it "air mail," they cannot track it. I also called Canada Customs Customer Service, just to see if by chance they may have it, but they said its nearly impossible to locate an individual package. In most instances, they send back to the shipper in Canada (me). Canada Post did ask me to see if the receiver could contact his local post office, as they may have held it and mailed out a pick up card. I asked the forumite person to check, and he will, once he's back in town.

Here are the facts: I sent the knives, very well packed. The box was 110% taped and secure. I padded the knife boxes in bubble wrap and also styro peanuts. I printed out my return address, along with the forumite's address and securely taped it on the box. For the customs form, I marked it as "pocket tools," clearly marked GIFT (so no duties will be levied) and put a value of ~$50 (to not raise suspicions). Plus, I feel awful, b/c I received his knife, but he still hasn't received mine. I am fearful that it may have been lost, or even worse, stolen. The lost part, thinking about it further, doesn't worry me as much because both the Canada Post and USPS told me that they don't consider items to be lost unless <3 months. As every day goes by, I am freaking out...

Does anyone have any advice, or words of wisdom on this? Anything i could do more to help? I think I've just about contacted everyone I could contact from Canada... am I overlooking anyone? I am trying to be as helpful as possible, but am starting to run out of ideas... Anyone with a similar experience with a happy ending?

Thanks for looking everyone, your input is really appreciated.

JC :confused:
 
I had a similar experience a while back. All I can say is that it finally arrived,,but it did take about 3 weeks.


Good Luck,
Phillip:)
 
I have had knives from the U.S take a couple of weeks to reach me, but never longer. It is possible though that the knife will still get there. If it is not there by the end of next week I think it will be time to work things out with the other person in this trade.
 
I have had a box come back to me after a MONTH. I sent it to the US, and took alot of heat on the GB&U for two weeks or so, and it turned out to be an "error" made by the postal clerk.
I have also waited for up to five weeks to get a package from the US, probably because I am remote.
A few fellers I have traded with have mentioned a longer delivery time than they are used to, so keep your chin up, cause it'll likely turn up soon. If not, as Keith said, you will have to work it out with the other person.

Jim
 
It can take a lot longer than that for packages sent from Nf to the US. Generally send by international x-press when you can. It is 15$ for the base price, plus extra based on weight and size. Yes it is significantly more expensive than air, but it can be tracked and will get to the states in under a week .

-Cliff
 
I always send air, insured, which costs a bit more but I sleep at night. Chance are good it will turn up. Two to three weeks is not un common.
 
I am the other party involved in the trade, and things are pretty much the way JC described them. On my end, I recently contacted my local post office and they were very polite but of little help. They simply stated that there was no way for them to track the package but advised me to wait longer. I was later informed that had customs stopped the package, they would either return the package to the sender or would at least send notification of any confiscation.

Thank you very much to those who have responded. Seeing that others have had similar experiences which were eventually resolved, I will remain patient and hope for the best.

-Richard
 
I've sent and received packages to and from the US, and the differences in delivery is remakable. 4 days - to 4 weeks. From any areas of the US. There isn't any logic to the system, but 1 month seems reasonable and keep the lines of communication open. Funny, one of the quickest trades was with Gadi in Israel both ways :confused: :confused: longest was one I bought from Matt Lamay in MS. (who knows where the knife was for almost a month in postal limbo) One knife stolen sent to NY. via a courier company and one knife sent in my own province to On Scene Tactical that never made it and eventualy got sent back to me by who ever it got delver to in error:eek: :eek:
"Course this is only blades storiees of xmas gifts and so on...
glad I don't live in a third world country:rolleyes:
 
I concur with everyone else above. I've bought many knives from the US and I've eventually received all of them. Many have arrived in less than a week. Another took three weeks to the day. I had to battle Canada Customs for another batch. That ended up taking about six weeks, but that is another story. I currently have an undelivered knife at the two week mark and a non-knife package that I'm starting to get nervous about at the four week mark.

Frustrated? I hear you, but hang loose.

Cheers,
BillyJoeBob
 
I had some packages take as long as 3-4 weeks to get through. Hang in there and keep the faith for a bit longer.

n2s
 
I'll definitely give it another week and see what happens. I've order some things from Canada before, and they took about two weeks to arrive but never much more than that. Actually I was quite surprised at how fast JC got my knife. We had both sent our knives on Wednesday 9/25 and by Monday 9/30 I got an email saying that the knife had arrived. I suppose that's where some of the concern comes from because of the large disparity between delivery times (assuming JC's knives are still making their way to me). Anyway, thanks again for the reassurance that sometimes packages just move slowly.
 
I deal with the Canadian postal system every week and they
are incredibly inconsistent with delivery times. I just sent
out some tapes to some forumites and one poor guy took twice as
long to receive them as everyone else. I can say that 3 to 4 weeks
for a package to or from the USA is not unheard of so hang in there.
 
I just wanted to say thanks to all that have responded thus far. I feel a bit more reassured that the knives will eventually make it to Richard. To Richard's point, my concern lies with the fact that I received his knife so fast, yet the knives I sent him are still unaccounted for. I am going to go out on a limb and say (I apologize in advance Richard) I don't care how long it takes for the knives to get to him, I just want them to actually get to him. Thanks everyone, and we will both keep everyone posted.

i really appreciate everyone's feedback.

JC
 
Your best luck is to wait a week or two more and see if your trade partner have received it.
Mike at New Graham sent me a package down from USA to Canada using registered mail, and I swear it took more than 20 days to deliver to my place. Probably Canada Post is screwing around.
Note to any Canadian shippers: Spend the cash, and go for the xpresspost. At least you got insurance, and they're responsible for it if they screw up. Also you can probably nail them too if they took more than 5 businessdays to ship to the US.
 
Hello everyone:

To date, Sunday October 20 @ 7:33PM ET, I don't believe Richard has received his knives yet. We both have been very open in terms of communication and updates. Its now been 4 weeks... I am quite concerned about my knives I sent him. More than anything else, I hope that the knives eventually get to him. I hope they haven't been lost, or stolen. If by end of week he does not receive his knives I sent him, I may need to send back his, and just wait, and hope for the best, and when and if they do, then complete the trade. I check my email daily, sometimes almost every half hour, hoping to see an email saying the knives were received. My fear is that if the knives "disappear," then I am out 2 knives of high value. I never send knives via regular Canada Post...I ALWAYS ship via ups for reliability and tracking. The problem was since Richard wasn't always home to be able to receive the package, we both agreed to send :regular" air mail. I know, I know, it was stupid of me to send knives blindly, but I guess its the blind faith I have in each respective country's postal services.

I will certainly endeavor to keep everyone posted.

Regards,
JC
 
Hi everyone: Richard received my knives. The box looked like it went to hell and back, but luckily the contents were fine. My knives took a grand total of approximately 7.5 weeks from Toronto to Baltimore, whereas from Baltimore to Toronto, it took less than a week.
Lesson learned... use a trackable/traceable guaranteed service for dependability and peace of mind whenever shipping items across the border. Richard was a gentleman throughout, and am happy now to be able to close the book on this trade. Thanks everyone who responded and trust that our experience may help others' future experiences... Take care all....
 
Yes, I have finally received the knives from Canada. Though the package was beat up and partially torn, everything inside was fine :). Don't know what exactly happened to it, but it doesn't really matter now. I would like to thank everyone who responded, and I would especially like to thank bladerunnerjc.
 
I'm happy to read that all has finally worked out ok, even with that LONG delay. I am also waiting for a package mailed to me late last week from Edmonton, Alberta (just 5-6 hundred miles away from me, sharing a common border), but I'm SURE hoping that I don't have to wait over 7 weeks to receive MY package! What is it with Canadian Post? I KNOW that a package (sent via USPS Priority) traveling 5-6 hundred miles within the USA would take 2-3 days (at the longest, and maybe even only 1 day to make it's journey.). I don't mean to insult Canada, but do they have a bunch of idiots running their Postal "Service", or WHAT???
 
Dan; The seller should be able to determine what date it crossed the border and THEN you can decide who's at fault. I have had a number of knives sent to me here in Canada from the USA and have taken 2 to three weeks to reach Canada Customs so who's mail service srewed up in those cases. In MHO one can be as bad as the other.
 
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