I bought my wife a nice watch from Germany and gave it plenty of time to come in before Mother’s Day. Her watch has been sitting in Tennessee with a custom hold since the 7th! They claim they need clarification on the value of the watch and band?!

Has anyone had something like this happen? How did you get it resolved quickly? Why the hell did I pay so much for 2 day shipping only for it to sit for THREE days in their shipping facility over stupid customs BS!?

I am so mad at Fed Ex.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

Sounds like Customs may be to blame. Hopefully the seller did not ship is as a "Gift" of less than some $ amount.

It was shipped by Steinhart watch company and is my second purchase from their company. My first watch came INCREDIBLY quickly.

I had a shipment of speakers coming from Canada held up in Memphis with FedEX/Customs until I submitted a CBP Form 5106.

These were replacements for 30 speakers that were returned due to improperly loaded licenses.

I submitted the for Wednesday and 5 speakers arrived Friday. Still waiting on the remaining 25.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
I bought my wife a nice watch from Germany and gave it plenty of time to come in before Mother’s Day.

In a time when USPS Priority Mail from merely two states away can languish for 4 days in limbo and take eight days to arrive, the definition of "plenty of time" ain't what it used to be.

Another example: It's taking nine days for my wife's new iPhone to arrive from China, via UPS Expedited service, whereas the cameras I've ordered in the past from a vendor in Hong Kong would get here via DHL in merely three. Personally, given all that's going on, I regard nine days as excellent. (Mine got here in four, which surprised the hell out of me.)

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Originally posted by stickman428:
Her watch has been sitting in Tennessee with a custom hold since the 7th!

A mere three days at this time? Yes, in the past I've had stuff clear customs in mere hours. Now isn't then.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
Has anyone had something like this happen? How did you get it resolved quickly?

I'm sorry your mother's gift won't arrive when you wanted, but, unless you've been living under a rock you have to know little gets "resolved quickly" right now.

Shipping, in particular, is a disaster. Imagine almost Christmas holiday-level shipping demand coupled with staffing issues and extra precautions due to a global pandemic.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
I am so mad at Fed Ex.

Why are you angry at FedEx? You wrote "They claim they need clarification on the value of the watch and band?!" That would be U.S. Customs and Border Protection demanding that. It's either on them or on the shipper, for failing to fill out the necessary paperwork properly.

I don't know as there's anything you can do about it. Particularly on a weekend.

The other watch cleared customs instantly. I don’t get why this time it’s different. I suppose Murphy’s law comes into play.

It would have been nice to know Thursday or Friday that more info was needed from the sender.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
The other watch cleared customs instantly. I don’t get why this time it’s different. I suppose Murphy’s law comes into play.

It would have been nice to know Thursday or Friday that more info was needed from the sender.

I wonder if they didn't attach a commercial invoice to the shipment. If they didn't, then you're at the mercy of communication between CBP, FedEx, and the Shipper.

You can make it a far better Mother’s Day than any old watch. Put your mind and heart to it and get after it. Might be the best Mother’s Day after all.

FedEx has nothing to do with a Customs hold. Point your anger at US Customs, FedEx Trade Networks is merely acting as your trade broker trying to get your package through US Customs so FedEx Express can deliver your package.

Maybe Customs is taking longer because of this highly contagious and extremely deadly corona thing. So, blame the virus, man.

It has NOTHING to do with the virus. They let it sit for days before contacting the company that shipped it and asked for more info. I have bought quite a few watches and accessories recently from China, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany etc and this is the first time I’ve had any customs issues. Had I known this Thursday I could have called the company that shipped it and resolved the issue.

Lol, has nothing to do with the virus. I recently ordered some fishing stuff off of Amazon that normally takes 2-days to get here. It's scheduled for 5/21/20. Ordered some truck parts from a company in Colorado (I'm in Oregon). USPS Priority is now 7-days instead of the usual 2-3 days.

Millions of people sitting home ordering shit online is going to slow the flow no matter how important you think YOUR delivery is.

That sucks. I have become buddy’s with our UPS guy. He says work is crazy. Like Christmas. Just like it said earlier everyone sitting at home ordering. He said he is delivering a ton of canned goods and food stuffs.

I bought a watch from this EXACT SAME company less than two weeks ago. I bought it late Sunday night and I had it Wednesday. The virus is not causing this particular problem.

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Originally posted by stickman428:
I bought a watch from this EXACT SAME company less than two weeks ago. I bought it late Sunday night and I had it Wednesday. The virus is not causing this particular problem.

You don't know that. Two weeks ago is not now. Maybe several of their employees or the Customs people got sick. How about that?

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Originally posted by stickman428:
I bought a watch from this EXACT SAME company less than two weeks ago. I bought it late Sunday night and I had it Wednesday. The virus is not causing this particular problem.

Anything from any shipper that comes quickly at this point in time is pure luck. I get shipments from FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL and none of it is shipping quickly. I shipped something to a forum member by USPS that should have been 2 days and it took 4. You may think it’s not due to the virus but it is. The harsh truth is that FedEx did nothing to ruin Mother’s Day, you just didn’t order in time. I’m sure your package was not the only one FedEx had to deal with. Face up to it, you never planned well and expected normal shipping during a time in history none of us have ever seen. I hate to tell you but you have some unrealistic expectations.

So I should expect something to get from Stadtbergen Germany to Tennessee in ONE F&$@KNG DAY but then take 5-7 days to go from Tennessee to NC? Ok

The Fed Ex C/S guy I spoke with today even said if it had cleared customs I’d have had it in about a day.

I think this is more of a Customs issue than FedEx issue...

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Originally posted by stickman428:
The Fed Ex C/S guy I spoke with today even said if it had cleared customs I’d have had it in about a day.

So whose fault is it that it's delayed? Shouldn't your thread title read "Yay! US CBP ruined my wife's mother's day present"?