conspiratemus1

Sorry that your generosity is being, temporarily, frustrated. It sounds like the USPS person hit the wrong bin when s/he tossed the parcel toward "Canada", as the customer service person suggested. Canada usually sits between Cameroon and Cape Verde Islands on those pick and click lists. China is several lines down, so we knew it wasn't your mistake. (The U.S. is sometimes confused with United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, so it goes both ways.)


**But the bright side is that if they can track it, they will find it. Either you will get it back, or USPS (or maybe even China Post themselves) will send it on its way to Randy.


Just a practical tip to reduce your stress when it "disappears" again. When a package reaches our border, it doesn't "enter" the country until Canada Border Services Agency releases it to Canada Post (or the private courier) after screening for contraband and assessing duty and sales taxes. While it is "in Customs" it is not traceable by normal enquiry. The originating shipper's tracking may say, "arrived in Canada" or "presented to Canadian Customs for review.", or if by air, the originating post office may just say, "left Lithuania en route to foreign destination." But that just means the originating carrier handed it off. Canada Post's tracking will show it as "awaiting arrival in Canada" until they actually get it from Customs. So unless the shipper requests a formal trace from the carrier you contracted with (USPS in your case), you often don't know which side of the ocean it's on, even if it is the correct ocean. It left Lithuania 3 weeks ago, but it's not "in Canada" yet? Oh, no, it must be lost! And then it appears in my mailbox. All Border Agencies may work this way for all I know, just know that Canada does for sure. We Canadians import a heck of a lot of stuff -- hardly anything gets lost -- and delays in Customs* are just part of the cost of being Canadians....or, well, of not being Americans, since most of our cool stuff (like bike parts) comes from the States. Delays to U.S.- Canada trade ascribed to China Customs are a bit UNusual, sure. [Sorry for that typo.]


It will show up.....eventually.

*Edit: in fairness to CBSA, I must say that from tracking histories, most "delays" in Customs for bike parts seem to be on the order of a few hours, even in the middle of the night on weekends. Maybe I'm a trusted addressee by now.