Is mail from Canada to the US backed up lately?

[Mismatch]

Hey guys,
 
Just wondering... is mail from Canada to the US backed up lately because of the holidays?  I shipped out a parcel on May 18th via Small Packet Surface Mail and my client in Sekautet, New York hasn't received it yet even though my other customers have gotten their packages.  I'm starting to get nervous.  It's probable that the mail's just backed up thanks to Memorial Day and Victoria Day weekends...
 
... but I'm still tense! 
 
When do you declare a parcel lost in the mail?  What have been the longest delays you've experienced in international shipping? 

[Yurusumaji]

Mail between Canada and the U.S. is EXTREMELY slow. Give it a couple more weeks. I think the average is about 4-6 weeks for packages. It takes forever. It's weird and it sucks.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

About a month ago I had a package take 42 days to reach Canada. It was the longest I ever heard of it taking. So maybe it's just slow right now?

[Rhini]

it seems like mail in general is slow right now. i know our postal system has experienced some upheaval as of late, so maybe it's not too surprising.


I had a package from China destined to arrive a week ago and it's just getting here now.

[HawaiianRain]

I'm waiting on a package from Canada and it was shipped out the same time as yours was Mismatch and it hasn't arrived yet either.

It is slow right now.

[coinoperatedgirl]

Weird.  I had an item ship out of Canada last Wednesday and I received it today!

[babystarz]

Yep I have had packages take forever to ship to me from Ontario, and Minnesota and Ontario are right next to each other The actual proximity of a Canadian province to a U.S. state apparently has nothing to do with shipping speed. My packages both to and from various parts of Canada have been surprisingly slow on all counts for the past few months, but especially for items over 1 pound. I really wouldn't worry, a fast shipment from Canada would surprise me more than a slow one these days If it gets to be over a month I'd start looking into things, but up until that, it's normal.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

The longest I ever waited for international shipping was...  let's see... the box was mailed in early January and I finally got the box in April?  Apparently customs must have thought it made a great paperweight or something! 

[ponylady]

Jeez..LBS four months that's nuts!
 
I am sorry for those who are experiencing postal delays.  I did a search to see if for any reason there maybe delays and did not come up with anything    
 
I wonder if they are backlogged or something at US Customs?

[babystarz]

I wonder if they are backlogged or something at US Customs?

Could be, but it seems to go both ways! Maybe there's some new policies or inspection procedures that both countries are implementing, and it's just taking a while to streamline? They have been beefing up border security up here for the past several years, i.e. now you need a passport instead of a birth certificate to get across the border, car searches seem to be more thorough, etc. so I wouldn't be surprised to see that customs is going the same route.

[coinoperatedgirl]

I just got another package that took just a week!

Post Merge: June 06, 2012, 01:23:17 PM

For the record, one package was pony mail, the other was a box of macaroni and cheese.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

Box of mac and cheese eh?

[coinoperatedgirl]

Yup.  Canadian husband insists that Kraft Dinner is different than the Kraft Mac and cheese here in the states, and had a friend mail him a box.  In return, we're mailing several packets of Taco Bell sauce to the friend's husband, who is an American transplanted to Canada:)

[Mismatch]

So I told my customer that I'd issue her a complete refund of the total cost to her including shipping if it didn't make it within six weeks... does this sound kosher? 

[teresat]

I just received a package from Canada a few days ago and it took a little over a week.

6 weeks is a lot of time! Hopefully it doesn't take that long but sounds good to me!