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just when do you give up

dano1917

dano1917

RIP
This post I guess would mostly geared toward US members. The last ordnance item that came to me from England took 100days surface mail. I am still waiting on a piece that I paid for on October 3rd 2009. That adds up to 3 months plus 20 days and I still don't have the piece. I was wondering just what the freakin' world record is. Can anyone top this amount of time? I have never lost a piece or ordnance ordered from England and it NEVER used to take anywhere near this long (surface mail used to take 4 - 6 weeks). Is it time I give up this one for dead? It is from a very reputible dealer so I know they sent it, and have never had a customs problem so I doubt that it's hung up there. I don't have a lot of money to throw around and do try to get a lot of bang for my buck, but now I feel as though I am getting banged. Hey, maybe it'll show up one of these days. One question I have guys is has the situation improved now that the postal strike is over. Would really appreciate input from US members who have ordered items from England in recent history and see what the turnaround time is now. At this point I am very hesitant to order anything from England, and if I do you can bet I would insist on air service. This post is in NO way meant to offend to anyone, and is directed at nobody. I am just writing down facts that have me a tad bit miffed.... This bitch session brought to you by dano..........
 
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This will annoy you !

I have one on the way to Texas, expected end of month, or early Feb.

One was mailed in between Christmas and New years, was in Texas in a week ~:tinysmile_hmm_t:
 
Hi Dano,

Whilst not a US member, I do live at the end of the earth and have some knowlegde on waiting. Four months is not unusual for surface mail to here. I've got used to it and figure that if I don't have one after thirty years of collecting I can happily wait another few months:tinysmile_grin_t:.

As a foot note, I've only ever had two items go missing (2 x kugals). Both from the the same high profile Ebay seller. He really stuffed me around and I've found that by avoiding such people at the first sign of trouble collecting is a much more enjoyable experience. As a fellow BOCN member said to me the other day "there are too many great people out there, to put effort into time waster".

From what I've heard if customs do seize them they we tell you about it.

Cheers
Colin
 
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In all honesty i can tell you that ive never,ever had any problem posting items to the US of A.
Sometimes it takes a few days to get there,sometimes it takes 2 months......
point being,dont flap dano! Patience is a virtue... :)

best

waff
 
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My suggestion is not to order from England anymore Dano, given your seeming lack of patience. I for one have never lost a shipment from there and don't plan on stopping. YES it DOES take a while but is always worth it. Anytime you order Ordnance from overseas you run the risk of losing it. Heck, I lost the spoon from a grenade once. It'll probably show up with all my missing socks, wherever they go.

I suspect, now that you've vented, again, it'll probably arrive within the week.
I HOPE so my friend.
Hang in there. It'll get here.

Here's a web site for ya, http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/
 
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Its always a lucky dip with ordnance but most of mine has arrived and theres been lots of packages.
Stung on some M24 handles from Russia and a Krugel stick grenade from the UK which never turned up,both I suspect were never sent in the first place.
99% of ordnance/militaria people are great people and would bend over backwards to help so patience is a virtue.
I believe surface mail from the UK and Europe goes via a postal dispatch center on Mars so it will get there some day.....also customs clearance can hold things up.
I think just under SIX months one time for me to receive a box of goodies out of Poland was the longest and around four months for a Smi35 out of the UK...held up a little by Police at Heathrow until eod declared it FFE then it was returned to sender before being resent surface....well worth the wait and you have to appreciate the difficulty some of these guys have getting the gear out of their respective country's in the first place and remember that a lot wont even bother to try

Regards
MG34NZ
 
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Ha dano
I learned patience bow hunting deer,I still don,t have any though.The only trouble I have had from England,after about maybe 40 times is I received a reproduction german stick grenade,the fellow said he bought it in france at a out side sale.I raised hell with e-bay and pay pal but lost.The next week I noticed he had found a another one ( go figure ).I have bought 3 or 4 grenades from England this year and I have all but one of them already,cost around $25.00 air mail.
I have been stung by a couple low lifes in France though and 1 time from China,he had raised the prices but mine had not been changed,(it got lost in the mail,ha ha ),and have only had one opened by customs,but it was retaped and sent to be.I would go with air mail if the guy will send it that way.Hang in there pal.:tinysmile_grin_t::tinysmile_grin_t:
Vinny
 
Dano I posted (surface mail) several items to one of the forum members in New Zealand in October and November last year. They were posted over a period of about a month. There were I seem to remember 4 packages and he got them ALL on the same day - how odd is that! It could be post is kept in a holding area for a while before being forwarded on.
Dave.
 
Dano,

Move over here to the UK - PROBLEM SOLVED!!

(that is until the postal services go on strike.)

Don't worry it will turn up, just let us all know when it does........... and we can all stop praying for you!!!

Kev
 
Quite frankly Dano I suggest you write the package of, consider it lost, forget about it and move on. Then if it eventually turns up it will be a pleasant surprise and all will be good with the world!

BD
 
Hello Dano,
Just to illustrate the vagaries of our British postal service, last year I sent a parcel containing various bits of militaria for trade to a company I deal with in Brighton, I live in Bristol. After a few days I received a note saying that my parcel was being 'returned to sender'. This was apparently because the postman had found that the premises had shutters up and assumed that the premises were unoccupied. The owners were still in the process of moving in but were trading from there and the shutters were up for security reasons until the move was completed. They did not leave a card asking the owners to collect the parcel from the local depot, which is the normal routine if no one is in when the post arrives.
The parcel did not get back to me for over three months. Apparently parcels returned to sender are first sent to a huge storage place in Ireland, and then the staff gradually work through the mountain of stuff!
When it did eventually arrive back with me it had been opened and had a large sticker applied warning staff that it contained a dangerous item, (this dangerous item was a small bayonet for the No 4 rifle, which was in it's scabbard)!
The first thing I had to do was to re-send the parcel to the same address thus paying the considerate recorded postage twice.
On the other side of the coin is this; I phoned the shop on Thursday of last week in the morning, and ordered an 18 pdr case. It arrived before lunch the following day, which was the quickest so far. Normally delivery within the UK varies from 24hrs as above to 3 or 4 days, at any time between 0810 - 1645. Not much wonder the couriers are doing such good business now. I missed a courier parcel last week and found a card saying that they had been, and left a phone number. I called the number and a very pleasant lady asked if I was calling from home which I was, she returned within 15 minutes with the parcel! I'll be using them from now on.
So hang on in there Dano, just treat our postal system as a sort of lottery. Hope I've 'out-ranted you',
Good luck,
Guy.
 
Okay guys, I think I am getting the picture, though i've always considered myself a patient man, hell I took an 11 year hiatus between my 2nd and 3rd wives. I'm not sure if that was patience or self preservation! I too think this piece (which is not a major piece by any means) will show up on the doorstep one day then I can have a good laugh about. Yes I will continue to order stuff from England, guess I just have to vent every now and again. Thanks kindly for all your responce and input. I had no idea this would turn into a 2 pager. I mean it's not like I can walk down to the corner German ordnance store and go shopping (I wish). Dano
 
Jolly Green said:
It'll probably show up with all my missing socks, wherever they go.
Click to expand...

Socks are the larval form of coat hangers. It takes multiple spin cycles and drying cycles before they fully develop which is why you end up randomly missing one sock. If you were to keep a count you would notice that a few days later an extra coat hanger appears somewhere in your house.

:tinysmile_shy_t:
 
I wouldnt flap too much if i was you dano...I sent an expensive parcel in the post to an address only a couple of hundred miles from me. It was sent overnight,signed for and still went 'missing'......trust me pal,it aint finished with yet.
As far your parcel,i would do as our man Burney Davis recommends and forget about it(for now!)
If it turns up happy days..

best

waff
 
Oh Ye of little faith :dontknow:

One Question ,, do all of your pakages arrive,, enentually ? and intact ?

Paitience is the virtue, these items always take time to get to US. Fact.
So Be Patient or take a chill pill :canabis:

Regards Nick
 
Eodtek said:
Socks are the larval form of coat hangers. It takes multiple spin cycles and drying cycles before they fully develop which is why you end up randomly missing one sock. If you were to keep a count you would notice that a few days later an extra coat hanger appears somewhere in your house.

:tinysmile_shy_t:
Click to expand...

I found a couple of extra coat hangers today in my place today Eodteck - do you have my socks!? :smile:
 
Hi Gents, I do realize that it'll probably show up some day, but has gone way past any other package i've ever ordered. A different package came in the post today so that'll keep my mind off of it for a while. When it does arrive you guys will be the 2nd to know. I guess I am not as patient as I once thought, but with the help of counseling and the pharmacy i'm sure I could get better. Maybe one of the turtles pulling the postal sled took ill! All kidding aside I am sure it will get here and even more sure on that day I will have my shoes shined and get sloppy drunk. I have ordered a few more items from England as I have been informed by some US members that all is back to normal on surface delivery times, I guess since strike ended? I would absolutely love to take the advice of one member and take up residence in England. I would visit France quite a bit and hit all of those fine ordnance fairs you chaps have over there. I certainly do appreciate all the input and re-assurance I have gotten from the membership. I guess the one thing I will never understand is why in the year 2010 it takes so long in the first place. As I said I will continue to order packages from England and place my trust in the worldwide postal system. Everybody have a great day...Dano
 
I've been taken by the evil one, twice. And then once on E-Bay which I lossed $15.00. The evil one was the worse however because he sent me a very bad repro of a manual and wouldn't make it right.
 
I've only been out and out ripped off once. This was about three years back on ebay. The item was an extra nice m1913 German kugel grenade. This particular dealer was from France. Well I waited and waited, then tried to email seller with no answer. I filed a complaint with ebay and they informed me that he had been kicked off ebay due to shady selling practices. further more they informed I could not get my money back since he was no longer an ebay member. That pissed me off badly as I had paid 135.00US which was high, but as I said it was an exceptional grenade. It was another year before I did find another '13 kugel from a militaria dealer in the US with transit plug and very nice in its own right for 75.00US. Thing is when I look at my '13 kugel I feel as though it cost me 210.00 instead of the 75.00 I paid for it. That was the one and only time I was actually ripped off on the internet....Dano
 
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