What's wrong with Airmail ?

[JBond]

Hi everybody !!!!

I just bought a watch and a box set from Andrew. The watch was sent via EMS and arrived in 6 days to my house. But what's happen to airmail ???? The box set was sent via Airmail since 3 weeks and the statuts hasn't changed since the 2010/12/11.

I wants to know if you guys have some problems with airmail.

Thanks a lot !!!!

J.Bd

[alligoat]

I've never had a problem with airmail, but it does take longer- 3 weeks seems about right, 4 wouldn't be unusual.

[rychastings]

airmail is just slower.... a lot slower but often times its also a lot cheaper too

[Ronin]

Holiday congestion as well. I am waiting on a package from DW for about 3 weeks now. Previous Air Mail before the holidays was still a quick as 7 days.

[panerai153]

Holiday congestion as well. I am waiting on a package from DE for about 3 weeks now. Previous Air Mail before the holidays was still a quick as 7 days.

Ronin is right. It's the HOLIDAYS!!! It happens every year, to a lesser or greater degree. millions of additional packages in the system. Just as and example, I read today that on the peak day of sales, Amazon.com a week or two back, was recording 158 sales per second! Do the math, that's 9480 / minute, 568800/hour or a grand total of 13,651,200 for that day. Now I'm sure many of those were multiple items in one shipment, but look at the sheer numbers. Every one of those items gets shipped. And that's just one company. multiply that by companies all over the world that ship packages, and you see the logistics nightmare that Christmas brings. Throw in a couple of blizzards, airport closures, and of course the additional screening that airlines are now required to do before a package can even get on a plane. New US regulations are so strict that no package over 500gms or 1/2 pound can be carried on a passenger airliner. Everything over than weight, and that's a pretty darn small package, must now go air cargo.And everything traveling over the ocean East or West goes by plane What you're finding is a huge backlog of packages just waiting in the air cargo Queue. Add this toxic brew together and what do you have CHAOS!!

What we have here is a massive, lumbering giant of a system which is pretty much pieced together, operating in many different countries, most of which have computer systems that don't "talk" to each other, often with archaic and outdated equipment and civil service employees who are at best indifferent. under the best of conditions, it works, but it is not nimble and adaptable, so throw in any of the above problems, and God Forbid all of them at once, and the system slows to a crawl.

Eventually, most of the packages will get to where they are going. Some won't, as is inevitable, with the massive volume of packages, all the sorting, scanning, packing in containers,etc. a few will go somewhere they aren't supposed to go. Hopefully, even those will make their way back into the system and appear unexpectedly at your doorstep, months after you had given up any hope!

[JBond]

Thanks guys. Now my package has just disapear !!! I can't check my tracking number anymore.... So sad.

[andreww]

IMO EMS and Airmail are exactly the same thing. Just got some shoes that I ordered from China that were sent via airmail and the route and delivery time was identical to any EMS package I've ever received. When you think about it, if its going by air, how could EMS be faster? Supersonic Jet? I doubt it.

[JBond]

Mmmmmmmmmm in my memory EMS means Express Mail System so YES it's faster.

[TK471]

I've had a watch in customs (from Canada) for a week now. No idea how to shake it loose, not even sure it can be.