Help with USPS

[Water_Fire]

Hi guys,

I have a quick question regarding USPS? I've bought a couple of ponies on ebay, and the seller has given me their tracking numbers. They were posted out on the 1st Jan in Denver, and from there it's bounced to Aurora and then LA on the 5th, where it's been sat ever since?

I'm a bit confused, do their parcels normally move around like this? How long should I be waiting for it to arrive here in the UK? If anyone can help, that'd be great!

[NinaMarie]

They have been weird with bouncing packages lately. I'll never fully trust USPS with the weirdness I see. I'm guessing your package is preparing to leave the US through the LAX Airport there. I'm not too sure what the travel time will be, sorry. I had a package sent to me from Spain and I constantly checked the tracking and all I got from Spain was it left the country and USPS said the info had been entered into the system but no updates then a few days later it said it was in my city and showed up at my door. My average package to the UK takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive and i ship first class and priority.
Hope some of that is useful!

[Ringlets]

Unfortunately I keep hearing this kind of story about USPS with their tracking. Either they fail to update it for ages, or at all, or the tracking doesnt show right away... or the pony goes on holiday in completely the wrong direction (for example the pony recently who took a detour to Alaska before going to the right destination in Florida) before it gets delivered to the right addy 
The ponies do normally show up safely though so I wouldnt worry just yet   The time it takes for ponies from the US to reach the UK varies. I've had them arrive in under a week sometimes, but other times its 4 weeks

[ponylady]

Did you pay for First Class International? Because if you did the customs number will not track your package out of the US. It will only show you when it was accepted at the PO and when it reaches US customs, nothing more. 
Ringlets is right though shipping times can be all over the place from the US to the UK. So I think as of right now you do not have anything to worry about. 

[Water_Fire]

Ah, I did pay First Class International, so hopefully that's why I've seen no progress since they arrived in LA. Hopefully they're winging their way to me as I speak. Thanks guys!

[NichiTsukinoko]

Here is the thing I was told about Delivery Confirmation by USPS, which is the "tracking #" you see when you pay on e-bay and things have been shipped.

"Delivery confirmation is not tracking. We are not required to scan it until it is delivered. If you want tracking you need to get express shipping and ask for tracking."

That was what I was told when one of the swap ponies I sent out disappeared for several weeks before turning up damaged at it's final destination.  I was told that it looked as if the bubble shipper had been punctured repeatedly.   I am sure that if I hadn't wrapped the pony in bubble wrap before putting it in the bubble shipper, more than just a tassel would have been damaged.

I am not sure what has been going on with USPS but I've stopped using them to ship ponies since every pony I shipped out along with the swap pony, regardless of how well it was packaged or weather it was in a strong box or a bubble shipper went missing for several weeks, despite DC;  And arrived broken in some way.

FedEx has been what I'm now using. It has it's own flaws. It's more expensive, they are closed on weekends, and if they can't get someone to sign for the package and they don't feel the package is safe to leave on the door step, they will bring it back to the office.

However, I appreciate that they are so committed to making sure the recipient gets it that they will make sure it's safely delivered, not just leave it on an unsecured door.  And the things I've shipped using FedEx have all arrived safely and their tracking actually is tracking!