Had to send my PST 1300R turbine back to the factory in Thailand for some warranty work. I have used DHL in the past and it usually takes 3 to 5 days but this time they sent it back via UPS. Considering Bangkok is a day ahead, UPS would have received the shipment on the 26th, my time. Here is the itinerary so far, 5 days and counting. My question is -- Why back and forth between Calif and Alaska? Could that be Homeland Security getting in on the process? They could have just dropped it off in Seattle and I would have been happy.

ONTARIO,
CA, US 10/31/2007 00:17 IMPORT SCAN

ANCHORAGE,
AK, US 10/30/2007 17:05 DEPARTURE SCAN

ONTARIO,
CA, US 10/30/2007 14:44 ADDITIONAL CLEARING AGENCY INFO OR DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED FOR CLEARANCE

CHEK LAP KOK,
BANGKOK, TH 10/30/2007 21:30 DEPARTURE SCAN

BANGKOK,
TH 10/27/2007 10:40 ORIGIN SCAN

RH

It could possibly be customs related. On the other hand, who knows! I avoid UPS at all costs. Im a die hard FedEx Express user. Probably because I work for 'em. Thailand to US? Shouldnt take more than 2 days, 3 at the most. I usually use Priority service and it usually takes only 2 days. And all but 12 or 15 hrs is because of customs. If the customs paperwork isnt accurate, they will bump the pkg. and I bet thats the deal in this case. Be patient-itll show up soon.

I wonder if it was a missort, and they forgot the paper work.

Hey Roy

Chuck just sent out a kit to a customer in Idaho from Washington...so far it has gone down to Kansas, up through Colorado and now who knows where. It should have taken 2 - 3 days. Frustrating...maybe time to look at alternatives.

Dean W.

Sounds like someone had a bad trip to their dentist and is now getting even

Highhorse

You could be right on that. I spent 30 years dishing it out, now it is probably payback.

Dean

You might be right on that also. In the last year or two I have been using DHL and FedEx and they seem to have a better record with my stuff. I am sure there are horror stories with those folks, also.

check6ii

About two years ago I ordered my second PST 600R on a Monday and it was at my door Thursday afternoon so I know that it takes only 3 to four days at the most. In that case it was DHL. I also prefer FedEx and get good service when ordering stuff from supply houses. In this case, it was a warranty job and the manufacturer made the choice for shipping. Next time I might just request DHL and pay the extra shipping to avoid all the UPS roundabout.

Roy

Hey Doc, sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. I'm FEDEX and would like to say we're perfect but...no. I've seen some pretty scary screw-ups. DHL? Well although your experience has been good mine was just awful. UPS? Has been great for me over the last couple of years but b4 that was a total nightmare. USPS? Similar.

Patricia (Boomerangs) swears by DHL and says UPS and FEDEX just destroy her kits.

Sometimes, like I said, it just seems to boil down to pure dumb luck.

Now it gets better. My phone rang this afternoon and before I got there to answer it, they hung up. The caller ID said United Parcel service and gave an 1-803 number. So I called them back and went through their push button menu for Customs and no one answers. Now this evening the tracking site pops up and in their description the following is listed:

REGISTERED WITH CLEARING AGENCY / SHIPMENT SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY

Then the following statement was posted a few minutes later:
REGISTERED WITH CLEARING AGENCY / RELEASED BY CLR AGENCY. NOW IN-TRANSIT

I thought I was now in the clear and would get my turbine in the next couple of days, BUT!!!!!!!

Then another statement about an hour later:
ADDITIONAL CLEARING AGENCY INFORMATION OR DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED FOR CLEARANCE / BROKERAGE RELEASED SHIPMENT. SHIPMENT IS SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY FOR FURTHER CLEARANCE

It seems these guys can't make up their minds. I have looked all over their web site but there is no info on who to contact to get things moving again. What a joke!!!!!

Roy

Hey Roy, been there and done that tooooo.... I had a PST customer's engine up and disappear for ~2 weeks once when I sent it to Thailand. Apparently on its way through the US in some way when customs, homeland security, etc, want to look at it, play with it, whatever, the shipper is not allowed to state any details. UPS was sounding purposely vague about it on the phone, which only aggravated the situation more. I had a search put on the package and it miraculously showed up in Thailand a short while later, meanwhile the customer was starting to ask about when I was going to refund him for the full retail value of his used turbine... It seems to happen far too often with model jet engines for some reason.

Even worse though, at work I shipped a package of very expensive drive system components to a US customer. It was sealed up really well in an industrial cardboard box with wood ribs and end plates. It stalled in customs, and when the package got to the site it was missing a critical part. They then commented that the package was only sealed up with duct tape on one end! I got photos back and sure enough customs had chewed one end off the package with what must have been a dull chain saw, allowing a bunch of the bell housing parts to fall out, but clearly they missed one when they stuff the contents back in! I guess some guy's got a class-100 clean room rated electroless nickel plated coupling on his desk for a paperweight now... I was told that there's absolutely no way to go after customs in cases like these.

Kelly

Kelly

That is not good news. You would think with all the computing power that our government has, all they would have to do is look me up and see that I send turbine boxes back and forth to Thailand. Now I guess I will have to just sit back and wait.

Roy

As I suspected-problems clearing customs. Usually caused by an inaccurate item description, or in this case they may have seen turbine engine in the customs paperwork and got suspicious. At any rate, youll get it soon. I see this happen ALOT-problems clearing customs. In this case, a Broker seems to be involved. Out of curiosity, who pays the customs fees, you or the shipper? Sounds like unforseen fees may be charged-

The import fees, if there are any associated with this category of item imported, are paid by the manufacturer and of course passed on to the consumer in the cost of the goods. In my case, the engine was one day shy of being one year old, and I lost the bearings on the seventh flight of the event I was attending. Since the PST reps were at the event, they verified the bearing loss and sent it back to the factory for repair. All this roundabout at Customs is for a repaired engine so there should be no duty.

It seems to be my year with Customs. Here is an earlier post that I made with one of my border crossings.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_61...tm.htm#6183266

Roy

UPS is bad all round... we had a 32 piece shipment that was delivered in three separate lots over the course of 7 days.
They deliver to us every week; we use the same broker every week; so it is not an unusual circumstance. As big as they are, they do not have the cohesiveness to ensure that the customers needs are met by delivering everything, on time, and undamaged....you are lucky to get one out of those three. Drivers...well their stuff is stewn throughout the truck, they have no idea what they have on board. If a stray box gets in their way, they just huck it across to the other side of the truck. Often they come back later in the day with another box that was buried under the mess. I have no idea how they manage to stay in business.......

Can't believe it. UPS delivered my turbine this morning. Other than looking like the box had been kicked halfway around the world, and every agency writing something or gluing something on the outside of the box, everything looks intact when I opened the box. Glad that is over.

RH

Thats great!!!! Happy that its all over........er, almost over-you still have to make sure the repair work is done

Going to do the install later this afternoon (after all the Honey do's are done) and get it checked out. The compressor wheel spins a whole lot better now than before I sent it in. Looks like a new fuel pump also.

RH

That's something you do not have to worry about with PST !!!!