Community Stories

Ever feel like you are wearing a divot...

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...in your phone's screen while refreshing a tracking website to see if your watch is on the move?

Me, yes.

My latest, perhaps final, acquisition seems to be infinitely stalled in a sort of limbo, a hinterland, a hellish void, in between "Export Customs" and the airport in Japan... and with each & every refresh my hope peaks as the little swirly icon spins only to be dashed after the page reloads.

This has to be similar to the folks I see sitting in convenience stores, all day, scratching off instant win tickets.

My wife and daughter have stopped talking to me -- apparently my stress and frustrated facial expressions have warded them off
 
NGO1
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All that words and you left out the most important piece of info...
Which watch is coming?
 
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NGO1 ngo516
All that words and you left out the most important piece of info...
Which watch is coming?

Considered adding it but thought it might bring bad luck until it arrives here.

Should I, should I not, thoughts?
 
pdxleaf
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I've had four packages get stuck in customs purgatory (two Japan, one Ontario and one Austria.) The worst was the one in New Jersey. One bit of hope for you. One day tracking will say left customs. Then no updates until unexpectedly you get an update on the day of delivery.
 
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
I've had four packages get stuck in customs purgatory (two Japan, one Ontario and one Austria.) The worst was the one in New Jersey. One bit of hope for you. One day tracking will say left customs. Then no updates until unexpectedly you get an update on the day of delivery.

And that, friend, is a day I look forward to greatly.
 
Duracuir1
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I sent a strap to @140dave and after several weeks I sent him another… it was evident that his first strap was lost… the replacement strap arrived… and then, some 3 months after shipping, his first strap also reached Dave.
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He did not panic…
Edited:
 
Evitzee
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Yeah, that's frustrating. I had a watch hit US customs in Memphis on a Friday evening, so no action until Monday where it was eventually released around noon after I supplied the requested import form. I thought it would be delivered on Tuesday but when I checked Tuesday morning it hadn't moved, and no movement on Wednesday. On Wednesday I contacted FedEx and put a trace on it and an agent in Memphis called me and gave me the "good news, bad news" update. The parcel was not lost but there was up to a ten day delay for released parcels to reenter the system for delivery. Nothing to do but wait. Then at 6 am on Saturday the phone pinged with an update, the watch was on the move and would be delivered Monday. It was a total delivery journey of 14 days from Europe to me because it was held in departing customs for a day and a half and then missed every plane connection along the way, plus the US delivery delay. Six months later a watch from the same seller made it to me in 2 1/2 days via DHL So you never know what quirky situation a parcel may find itself. Just hang in there, you have no other option.

What kind of delay are you experiencing, days, weeks, months?
 
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Evitzee Evitzee
Yeah, that's frustrating. I had a watch hit US customs in Memphis on a Friday evening, so no action until Monday where it was eventually released around noon after I supplied the requested import form. I thought it would be delivered on Tuesday but when I checked Tuesday morning it hadn't moved, and no movement on Wednesday. On Wednesday I contacted FedEx and put a trace on it and an agent in Memphis called me and gave me the "good news, bad news" update. The parcel was not lost but there was up to a ten day delay for released parcels to reenter the system for delivery. Nothing to do but wait. Then at 6 am on Saturday the phone pinged with an update, the watch was on the move and would be delivered Monday. It was a total delivery journey of 14 days from Europe to me because it was held in departing customs for a day and a half and then missed every plane connection along the way, plus the US delivery delay. Six months later a watch from the same seller made it to me in 2 1/2 days via DHL So you never know what quirky situation a parcel may find itself. Just hang in there, you have no other option.

What kind of delay are you experiencing, days, weeks, months?

Just a few days so far... so I can't really complain after reading your story. That said, this is my first Japan to USA purchase so I am nervous about both delivery & customs.
 
Evitzee
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Just a few days so far... so I can't really complain after reading your story. That said, this is my first Japan to USA purchase so I am nervous about both delivery & customs.
I only have had one Japan to USA purchase via C24 and the shipping was very smooth, it cleared customs while en route over the Pacific and DHL sent me the customs duty bill for $144 which I paid via credit card, and the watch was quickly delivered. It sounds like yours is waiting to exit the Japan export system before starting its journey. It happens depending on volumes and traffic flow. Unfortunately we are all at the mercy of these systems that are out of the seller's or buyer's control.
 
RevZMan123
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I have a crystal for an old Lord Elgin coming from Istanbul, not Constantinople, and it was MIA for a while, then showed up in NY only to head north, away from Jersey where I am. Ugh, refresh.
 
RevZMan123
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And still refreshing...

My crystal is out for delivery, 17 days before the initial estimate. So just a few more refreshes.

And then @SkunkPrince helped me locate an omega buckles but it's in Singapore estimated delivery December 15th. So many more refreshes.
 
Evitzee
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And still refreshing...
Any possibility that the seller could do some investigation and pushing on his side to find out what the problem is? Missing or incomplete paperwork perhaps?
 
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Evitzee Evitzee
Any possibility that the seller could do some investigation and pushing on his side to find out what the problem is? Missing or incomplete paperwork perhaps?

My "guy" on the ground who helped transact all this - a liaison if you will - is keeping me as up to date as possible... hopefully my next refresh reveals that it has touched down somewhere stateside ~ so then I can start sweating the customs game.
 
Evitzee
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My "guy" on the ground who helped transact all this - a liaison if you will - is keeping me as up to date as possible... hopefully my next refresh reveals that it has touched down somewhere stateside ~ so then I can start sweating the customs game.
Keep us posted, and to what this watch is.
 
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We've got activity...

the eagle has landed at LAX, USPS has taken over from Japan Post, and according to my last/most recent update "Your item has been processed through ISC International Transit Facility Los Angeles."

Guess that means something has happened. Me, I'm going back to refreshing the screen.
 
JwRosenthal
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During the peak of Covid, I watched a parcel of mine go from England to Ontario, to Hong Kong, to Australia, then to Germany (I shit you not) then to Chicago- Memphis- Atlanta- then New York (it actually had to fly over me from GA to NY) then finally to Washington DC…and then sat for a week with no movement until I heard a thud at my door.
I think that watch travelled more than anyone did during the pandemic.
 
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