I won't be playing OFF xmas morning thanks to Avongate

[PinkPanther 0]

I ordered and paid for OFF Dec 4th. and it is still not here and I am only across the border in Canada. Items from U.S. to Canada usully take about one week at most and I was one day short of 2 weeks so I email Avongate asking what is up with my order. They email back and say allow 14 business days for delivery even though I paid for first class mail. Knowing 14 days to Canada is abnormally long period I email Avongate and ask them to send me the tracking number, which is something all other online companies do as soon as the item has shipped without having to ask for it. Below is what USPS tracking info reads for my order.

 

Label/Receipt Number:XXXXXX

Class: First-Class Mail International

Service(s): International Letter

Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received

 

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on December 5, 2009 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.

 

What I can gather from the above is that Avongate notified them of the order but never actually sent it to them, correct me if I am wrong. On Friday I sent email to Avongate to tell them of the issue and then decide to send another to cancel the order and refund my CC. I was hesitant to order a physical disk from the U.S. and went against better judgment, now we see why I was hesitant in the first place.

[ConradB 0]

Is there anybody you know of in the states where you could have it sent to? I mean I had BHaH in like 3 or 4 days. Then you could go across the and pick it up. But what would the hassle be of getting it through customs is the only thing.

 

That's some bad luck there PP. Trying to get anything through the mail this time of year here is a nightmare for sure though. I try to avoid mail order from Thanksgiving through to New Years. My Mom worked at the Postal Annex in Denver Co, and it was mayhem around the Holiday Season. She was always exhausted until the season was done.

[PinkPanther 0]

No, I can't do that because I am not physically just across the border, I meant I am just up in Canada and not Huambo, Angloa. ;) I will see what Avongate says next week but what that tracking info says to me is that it never shipped.

[SirMike1983 3]

It sounds to me like they printed the electronic shipping label, but the actual package never made it to the postal service.

 

On the other side, USPS tracking is also notoriously slow to update, and sometimes the package makes it before the tracking even catches up.

Edited December 21, 2009 by SirMike1983

[Check Six 2]

Sad that you will be unable to fly OFF on Christmas day. Remember there is always someone worse off than you. Our Postal workers are going on strike AGAIN tomorrow (second time in a week). Many children will be without presents.

[DukeIronHand 8]

No, I can't do that because I am not physically just across the border, I meant I am just up in Canada and not Huambo, Angloa. ;) I will see what Avongate says next week but what that tracking info says to me is that it never shipped.

 

IIRC, on my own order, the tracking info -normally dead accurate for other companies - was way off on Avsngates delivery.

 

I don't think its status changed till the day before delivery when obviously it had already been mailed days previously.

[Olham 164]

Someone from Canada said earlier, he had it in 12 days. So hope and pray.

 

But if you have familiy, it might be even better, if you didn't get it BEFORE Christmas...

 

Please send me a PM with your hometown and state - I'll add you to our OFF Pilots map then.

[77Scout 3]

14 business days is closer to three weeks, but you should normally get it faster than that. I recall my copy taking just under two weeks to get to me here in Canada, but of course now you are into the Xmas rush so that won't help.

[shredward 12]

I've attached Canada Post's stated Christmas deadlines.

Add on to that the time Avangate needs to get the order out, and you'll have an approximate idea of when to expect it, based on when you ordered.

Cheers,

shredward

 

PARCELS I'm ready early... Took me longer than I thought... I'm at last minute... Mailing to... Letter-post Air Parcel Xpresspost^TM Priority^TM Worldwide Africa November 23 November 23 December 1 December 16 Asia December 1 December 1 December 7 December 18 Australia December 1 - December 7 December 17 Caribbean December 1 December 1 December 7 December 18 Central/South America November 23 November 23 December 1 December 18 Europe December 1 December 1 December 7 December 19 Middle East December 1 December 1 December 7 December 18 New Zealand December 1 - December 7 December 17 USA December 14 December 4** December 14 December 21

 

http://www.canadapost.ca/dec/holiday/mailingdates-e.asp

Edited December 21, 2009 by shredward

[Schnitzel von Krumm 0]

The problem isn't Avangate or either US or Canada Post. The problem is at the border on the Canadian side. Our customs department is widely known to be pretty much the worst in the western world. Italy is apparently the only country that's even close to being as bad, so I'm told.

 

I've had numerous experiences with American eBay sellers and small companies that won't even ship to Canada anymore because the delays are so bad at the border, and they're sick of customers blaming them and initiating PayPal disputes or credit card chargebacks. At this time of year, as you can imagine, the problem is far worse than usual. As the volume goes up, the delays go up exponentially. Also, by my experience, USPS tracking on international shipments means nothing. Your OFF could be anywhere as far as they know.

 

I was fairly lucky when my OFF was shipped. It took about a week and a bit to southern Ontario, but it wasn't during the holidays. On the positive side, the envelope is small enough, and the declared value is low enough (If I recall, they described it as a "backup DVD" with a value of $5) that it might slip past the customs monkeys unmolested.

 

Good luck. I hope you get it quickly. The waiting is hard, but OFF is worth the wait.

 

On the positive side, the HiTR expansion is a download.

[Guest British_eh]

Sent you a PM. Might be able to help.

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh

[+Polovski 414]

Do you have a spare one British_eh?

 

Think I'll add a note re Canada in the FAQ seems to be one of the slowest places on the planet to receive the DVD due to customs - nuts.

[PinkPanther 0]

Great community. I received two offers to solve my lack of disk but will wait for mine to arrive. In the meantime I can play RoF and many other games I have barely touched yet. Just bought NHL10 for PS3 yesterday too so can start a new hockey career over Xmas.

 

Avongate is looking into where my cdrom might be and said they will send another if I don't get it soon. I've received lots of stuff from the U.S. via newegg and other online stores and the longest it has ever taken is about one week and that is just using ground shipping and not first class mail. First class mail is airmail, correct?

[PinkPanther 0]

It sounds to me like they printed the electronic shipping label, but the actual package never made it to the postal service.

 

 

 

That's what I think happened too but Avongate thinks otherwise. I've had things shipped via USPS before and have always been able to see exactly where the package is on it's route but this shows nothing at all and is why I think they may have messed up.

[Olham 164]

Pink Panther, this is surely one of the top communities you could come across.

And yes, play that other sim while you wait - you won't touch it much anymore,

once you got OFF.

 

And once again: would you send me a PM with your hometown and state?

I will add you to our OFF Pilots Map then.

[PinkPanther 0]

We had snow here recently but not enough for dog sleds.

 

Olham, sent you PM with my location. Where's this map to be found though?

[sitting_duck 3]

http://forum.combatace.com/topic/44370-off-forum-pilot-maps/

[Schnitzel von Krumm 0]

Think I'll add a note re Canada in the FAQ seems to be one of the slowest places on the planet to receive the DVD due to customs - nuts.

 

Might not be a bad idea. The holidays are far, far worse than other times of the year, but our customs service is slow at the best of times. Two weeks wouldn't be out of the norm for delivery time.

 

Customs is an unfortunate anomaly in our country. Most of our government services are actually pretty good, or at least acceptable by world standards, but Canadian Customs is horrendously bad.

 

My worst ever experience with them was a few years back when I bought a $3500 digital SLR from a known honest seller in California. It took 45 days to get to me, all but four of which (as I later found out) were spent getting kicked around in customs. By that time, paranoia was growing and I was wondering just how honest the seller really was and if he really sent me a camera at all. Meanwhile, he was trying hard on his end to find out what happened to the camera, but (depending on the carrier) things go off the tracking radar when they're in the black hole of Canada Customs. And, I was told, you can't even initiate an insurance claim because it's not officially lost, (although it might be, but nobody will tell you, or in any way try to check for you). You might as well take out life insurance on Schroedinger's cat. Just don't expect anyone to ever open the box.

 

Anyway, it worked out in the end but it was nerve-racking. I pretty much just don't buy stuff from the States anymore unless I really have to. I was glad the expansion was a download.

 

On a positive note, once things get through customs, typically they get to you pretty quick. Canada Post (and it's subsidiary/pseudo-competitor Purolator) is actually very efficient. As a recent example, a couple of months ago I ordered a certain other WWI flying sim, the name of which I've now forgotten, although it's on a shelf around here somewhere. I ordered through NCIX in BC in the evening of a Monday and it was delivered to me in Ontario on a Wednesday, which is pretty good, I think, given the distance. Sadly, though, as short a time as said game took to traverse this great land, the time I spent playing it was even shorter. I won't open that can of worms here though.

 

 

On a side note, UPS and FedEx tend to be faster at getting stuff across the border, but they charge egregiously high "brokerage fees" for the convenience. In the case of UPS, it's usually about $40, regardless of the value of the item. Duty and taxes are on top of that, on top of whatever the sender paid for the shipping in the first place. Never send a Canadian something by UPS without asking first if you expect to remain on friendly terms.

Edited December 23, 2009 by Schnitzel von Krumm

[ConradB 0]

Might not be a bad idea. The holidays are far, far worse than other times of the year, but our customs service is slow at the best of times. Two weeks wouldn't be out of the norm for delivery time.

 

Customs is an unfortunate anomaly in our country. Most of our government services are actually pretty good, or at least acceptable by world standards, but Canadian Customs is horrendously bad.

 

My worst ever experience with them was a few years back when I bought a $3500 digital SLR from a known honest seller in California. It took 45 days to get to me, all but four of which (as I later found out) were spent getting kicked around in customs. By that time, paranoia was growing and I was wondering just how honest the seller really was and if he really sent me a camera at all. Meanwhile, he was trying hard on his end to find out what happened to the camera, but (depending on the carrier) things go off the tracking radar when they're in the black hole of Canada Customs. And, I was told, you can't even initiate an insurance claim because it's not officially lost, (although it might be, but nobody will tell you, or in any way try to check for you). You might as well take out life insurance on Schroedinger's cat. Just don't expect anyone to ever open the box.

 

Anyway, it worked out in the end but it was nerve-racking. I pretty much just don't buy stuff from the States anymore unless I really have to. I was glad the expansion was a download.

 

On a positive note, once things get through customs, typically they get to you pretty quick. Canada Post (and it's subsidiary/pseudo-competitor Purolator) is actually very efficient. As a recent example, a couple of months ago I ordered a certain other WWI flying sim, the name of which I've now forgotten, although it's on a shelf around here somewhere. I ordered through NCIX in BC in the evening of a Monday and it was delivered to me in Ontario on a Wednesday, which is pretty good, I think, given the distance. Sadly, though, as short a time as said game took to traverse this great land, the time I spent playing it was even shorter. I won't open that can of worms here though.

 

 

On a side note, UPS and FedEx tend to be faster at getting stuff across the border, but they charge egregiously high "brokerage fees" for the convenience. In the case of UPS, it's usually about $40, regardless of the value of the item. Duty and taxes are on top of that, on top of whatever the sender paid for the shipping in the first place. Never send a Canadian something by UPS without asking first if you expect to remain on friendly terms.

 

Are the customs offices run by Bob and Doug McKenzie?

 

[Baldric 42]

Are the customs offices run by Bob and Doug McKenzie?

 

 

 

LOL! That would also be our governments...in all their forms (Federal, Provincial...sorry Olham, we have 'provinces', not 'states', and for a real laugh haha our Municipal governments) run by Bob and Doug.

 

To the OP, it took my copy almost the full 14 business days to arrive to Calgary from California...

 

Welcome aboard btw

[PinkPanther 0]

 

 

To the OP, it took my copy almost the full 14 business days to arrive to Calgary from California...

 

Welcome aboard btw

 

Thanks, but I am not quite on board yet. I might even have to be removed from the map if my copy never arrives.

[Olham 164]

IF it never arrives, you should beg, borrow or steal a copy - no, but mail to Avangate.

Otherwise you may much later sit in the old age and hear the pilots banter about the

good old OFF days - and you can't join them! You'd miss the sim of your life, boy!

[Flyby PC 23]

Don't shoot the messenger guys. At least not until you know what's gone wrong.

 

Everybody runs down the Post Office in the UK, but the alternative is private courier. That might be ok if you live in a city, where couriers can cherry pick the profitable deliveries, but I habitually get deliveries returned to my 'local' collection office 50 miles away. They won't negotiate a delivery at my work address, they won't give me a time to deliver so I lose a whole day waiting, and they won't have the courier driver call me. I once even got a delivery sent from Newcastle 60 miles away, and ended up driving to Carlisle to pick it up 50 miles away. I should just have driven to Newcastle in the first place. Courier still got paid for it though.

 

City Link (s**tty Link) don't even man their phones now. If they miss delivery, you get an automated answering service and a multiple choice of alternative delivery dates to pick from. So I just have them to return my package to the sender to get it delivered properly with the Post Office.

 

The Post Office either gets it's right first time, or holds it for me in my local town. I expect maintaining such facilities is the reason it's such an expensive service to run, but at least it works. It may not be perfect, but it stands head and shoulders above it's closest competitor, and it really gets up my nose when suits from the city slag it off. TNT even uses the Post Office to deliver their Post. Work that one out!

 

First choice Santa, second choice the Post Office.

[Schnitzel von Krumm 0]

Just out of curiosity, what part of Canada are you in PP?

[PinkPanther 0]

My location is on the map now. I'm in BC.

 

I've played Phase1 of OFF so know what to expect when it does arrive.