Expect delays and rejections due to more stringent security measures in Hong Kong, Singapore

[Jonathan Tittle]

I really don't care about any tracking updates, who cares!...real simple...as long as I get the order within 3-4 weeks I'm happy......

I'm not complaining about price, or the exact time it takes to get an order. If I wanted it today, the B&M 5 minutes down the road would supply me all the batteries I want for $12-$14 a piece (Samsung). My complain is that USPS is now going through major changes and are now advertising increased scanning & better tracking, yet they are failing to deliver in some areas.

SingPost may only update once, but I expect USPS to update more often as they normally do. I send quite a few packages through USPS every month; some of them are updated frequently, others not so much. It boils down to if I'm paying more for a package to be tracked, regardless of the cost, I expect updates on it, period. I want to know where the order is and I want to know the expected arrival and/or delivery date.

If I went to my customers and said okay, it'll be $16 to ship and you'll get it when you get it, you may get updates or you may not, they most likely wouldn't order from me more than once. Unless it's some small order that fits into cheap-o First Class where tracking doesn't come standard, tracking and updates are pretty much expected.


Some may disagree, but I'm looking at it from both a business POV and a customer POV.

 

[JRudey]

It boils down to if I'm paying more for a package to be tracked, regardless of the cost, I expect updates on it, period. I want to know where the order is and I want to know the expected arrival and/or delivery date.

FastTech is paying the bare minimum for getting a signature. USPS provides tracking services if you pay for it.

 

[obodaour]

I received a new response to my ticket with FT yesterday that read as follows...

"#6.
posted 1 day ago
by Amanda Staff
Sorry about the wait

New Update for Packages That Stuck at Hong Kong Post and shown as "Acceptance"After numerous complaints and multiple visits, for the packages are still waiting to be processed without an estimate of the process, The Hong Kong Post finally gave us a posting guarantee to sign and have guaranteed that all packages will be processed within next week.

The guarantee is designed to speed up the processing of the packages. It requests us to guarantee that all packages must be completely free of Li-Ion batteries and we have to accept the consequences. In the meantime, they will put a signed sticker on the packages to give the packages priority treatment for processing.

You can expect the tracking status updating or a return and refund notification email sent to you within next week. But please kindly be aware that tracking status updating doesn't mean that the package will make the delivery for certain. This is only to speed up the package processing, they will still need to pass through the X-ray scanning.

The Hong Kong Post also promised that they will arrange the returns right away once confirmed there has batteries contained in the package. But according to our monitoring, some packages that containing batteries still get shipped, we will keep in touch with Hong Kong Post daily and arrange the refund as soon as we received the returned packages.

We know this is become a long-overdue issue and we understand that this is frustrating and no one will possibly like any part of this. But we are here to work with you and we truly want to get this issue resolved properly ASAP.

We apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding."

My tracking info on hong kong post has been updated to the following... "Destination - United States of America

The item (LK*********HK) is being processed for departure from Hong Kong as of 8-Oct-2013." So I'm just hoping it crosses through customs quickly and if not they return it in a timely manner so I can get my refund and buy some more goodies from ebay instead! Good luck everyone who is still waiting!!!

 

[szot]

The fiasco at FT has gotten much worse now...BOTH HK Post and Singapore Post are NOT allowing ego or any lithium batteries to pass through and are returning them to FT, as announced today by BOTH shippers and FT staff....FT then wants to either give U a store credit or try again to reship the order using a new tracking number...a few people have done Paypal claims and had their monies refunded within 10-12 days lately..FT will not do normal refunds until at least an 8 week waiting period..

If I ever receive my current order from FT, I will not be using them for a long while until this situation is ever cleared up completely and ensurances are made to not allow this to happen ever again....it appears that FT is being targeted for poor packaging as well and themselves created this customs crackdown and tons of returns to FT by Singapore Post and HK Post officials......I will be using US vendors in the future and pay the extra..

 

[_Lee]

Is it just batteries and eliquid that are held up? What about heads, tanks, coils and mech mods minus the batteries?

 

[szot]

Everything is being held up because HK Post and SG Post and cuspoms are so backlogged with 6 weeks of past orders not delivered or screened yet..and even clearos, tanks and many non related Ecig packages (mach 3 razors etc) are being returned to fasttech...

 

[deltadiva]

Dang, I'm in the same "boat" with you Burnie. I too, ordered this weekend, bats and attys, all kinds of new toys. Keep me posted on your progress and I'll do the same ~Susan

 

[szot]

Its now being reported at FT forums that all shipments made by FT on 29-30 Sept to SG Post were never made at all, and customer service (CS) just sent out bogus emails stating they were..Singapore Post has stated that they received NO shipments from FT during that time ..it appears that FT CS did that to start an early holiday instead of the Oct 1 date....at FT forums, there are numerous replies from SG Post to numerous customer inquiries regarding those 2 dates, 29-30 Sept shipments from FT...

 

[Burnie]

Its now being reported at FT that all shipments made by FT on 29-30 Sept were never made at all, and customer service (CS) just sent out bogus emails stating they were..Singapore Post has stated that they received NO shipments from FT during that time ..it appears that FT CS did that to start an early holiday instead of the Oct 1 date....at FT forums, there are numerous replies from SG Post to numerous customer inquiries regarding those 2 dates, 29-30 Sept shipments from FT...

Might not be all true, just saying mine shipped the 30th. I should have more vapemail soon.

October 8, 2013
Depart USPS Sort Facility .
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128

October 8, 2013 , 12:18 am
Processed through USPS Sort Facility .
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128

October 6, 2013 , 2:02 pm
Processed Through Sort Facility .
HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG

September 30, 2013 , 2:39 pm
Acceptance .
HONG KONG


Vape On

 

[szot]

was yours SG Post?...or HK Post?... I was referring to ONLY SG Post as mentioned in my post..and your "acceptance" was 30 Sept, but when did FT state they shipped it, in their email to you?

 

[Burnie]

was yours SG Post?...or HK Post?... I was referring to ONLY SG Post as mentioned in my post..and your "acceptance" was 30 Sept, but when did FT state they shipped it, in their email to you?

Sorry did not see you were ONLY referring to Singapore Post, mine was HK Post. I got the email it was shipped Sunday, September 29, 2013 1:54 PM, showed up on tracking the 30th.

Vape On

 

[flowerpots]

Destination Country - Usa:

October 9, 2013, 8:35 pm, Processed through USPS Sort Facility, JAMAICA, NY 11430

Origin Country - Singapore:

05-10-2013, Dispatched to overseas (Country code: US)

27-09-2013, Information Received (This is not an acknowledgment of the physical receipt of the stated Registered Article)


Some pkgs are making it through SP - this one contains batteries and an iTaste, but other stuff as well.



However, I have a pkg via HK that was posted September 4 that still says:


HONG KONG - September 4, 2013 , 2:58 pm - Acceptance - Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

 

[obodaour]

It appears my order has finally been dispatched to the us. Here's what usps says...

Product & Tracking Information
Postal Product:
First-Class Package International Service
Features:
International Letter
DATE & TIME
STATUS OF ITEM
LOCATION
October 9, 2013 , 7:33 am
Processed Through Sort Facility
HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG
September 9, 2013 , 12:00 pm
Acceptance
HONG KONG

and here's what Hong Kong Post says...

Destination - United States of America

The item (LK*********HK) left Hong Kong for its destination on 9-Oct-2013

I'll keep ya's updated when it hits the usa!

 

[szot]

Looks like I may be one of the lucky ones with Singapore Post who just 2 days ago announced they would not ship ANY lithium batteries with a 100% return rate...BTW, ego batteries are lithium....

my SG Post tracking just updated at http://www.17track.net today to..

Origin Country - Singapore:

10-10-2013, Dispatched to overseas (Country code: US)

30-09-2013, Information Received (This is not an acknowledgment of the physical receipt of the stated Registered Article)

 

[szot]

Flowers..regarding your Sept 4 "acceptance" status, this was posted at FT on 5 Oct by Jasmine (staff)...things are beginning to move now, ppl are getting their shipments now too....this new "contract" agreement between FT and HK Post has allowed many OLD and ACCEPTANCE" packages to begin flowing..


New Update for Packages That Stuck at Hong Kong Post and shown as "Acceptance"
As we mentioned last week that we will give the final solution for the packages that stuck at Hong Kong Post for weeks. After numerous complaints and multiple visits, for the packages are still waiting to be processed without an estimate of the process, The Hong Kong Post finally gave us a posting guarantee to sign and have guaranteed that all packages will be processed within next week.

The guarantee is designed to speed up the processing of the packages. It requests us to guarantee that all packages must be completely free of Li-Ion batteries and we have to accept the consequences. In the meantime, they will put a signed sticker on the packages to give the packages priority treatment for processing.

You can expect the tracking status updating or a return and refund notification email sent to you within next week. But please kindly be aware that tracking status updating doesn't mean that the package will make the delivery for certain. This is only to speed up the package processing, they will still need to pass through the X-ray scanning.

The Hong Kong Post also promised that they will arrange the returns right away once confirmed there has batteries contained in the package. But according to our monitoring, some packages that containing batteries still get shipped, we will keep in touch with Hong Kong Post daily and arrange the refund as soon as we received the returned packages.

We know this is become a long-overdue issue and we understand that this is frustrating and no one will possibly like any part of this. But we are here to work with you and we truly want to get this issue resolved properly ASAP.

We apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding.

 

[flowerpots]

Flowers..regarding your Sept 4 "acceptance" status, this was posted at FT on 5 Oct by Jasmine (staff)...things are beginning to move now, ppl are getting their shipments now too....this new "contract" agreement between FT and HK Post has allowed many OLD and ACCEPTANCE" packages to begin flowing..


New Update for Packages That Stuck at Hong Kong Post and shown as "Acceptance"
As we mentioned last week that we will give the final solution for the packages that stuck at Hong Kong Post for weeks. After numerous complaints and multiple visits, for the packages are still waiting to be processed without an estimate of the process, The Hong Kong Post finally gave us a posting guarantee to sign and have guaranteed that all packages will be processed within next week.

The guarantee is designed to speed up the processing of the packages. It requests us to guarantee that all packages must be completely free of Li-Ion batteries and we have to accept the consequences. In the meantime, they will put a signed sticker on the packages to give the packages priority treatment for processing.

You can expect the tracking status updating or a return and refund notification email sent to you within next week. But please kindly be aware that tracking status updating doesn't mean that the package will make the delivery for certain. This is only to speed up the package processing, they will still need to pass through the X-ray scanning.

The Hong Kong Post also promised that they will arrange the returns right away once confirmed there has batteries contained in the package. But according to our monitoring, some packages that containing batteries still get shipped, we will keep in touch with Hong Kong Post daily and arrange the refund as soon as we received the returned packages.

We know this is become a long-overdue issue and we understand that this is frustrating and no one will possibly like any part of this. But we are here to work with you and we truly want to get this issue resolved properly ASAP.

We apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding.

Yes, I read that post. I understand it may or may not make it. That pkg contains only batteries, so I don't expect it to make it.

 

[obodaour]

Here's my latest update...


Product & Tracking Information
Postal Product:
First-Class Package International Service
Features:
International Letter
DATE & TIME
STATUS OF ITEM
LOCATION
October 10, 2013
Depart USPS Sort Facility
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128
October 10, 2013 , 2:43 pm
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94128
October 9, 2013 , 7:33 am
Processed Through Sort Facility
HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG
September 9, 2013 , 12:00 pm
Acceptance
HONG KONG

Soon my precious, soon...

 

[szot]

Looks like I may be one of the lucky ones with Singapore Post who just 2 days ago announced they would not ship ANY lithium batteries with a 100% return rate...BTW, ego batteries are lithium....

my SG Post tracking just updated at 17track[Together Tracking], International Registered/Parcel/EMS/Express Tracking System today to..

Origin Country - Singapore:

10-10-2013, Dispatched to overseas (Country code: US)

30-09-2013, Information Received (This is not an acknowledgment of the physical receipt of the stated Registered Article)

I spoke too soon...today my package tracking has reverted backwards to Origin Post is Preparing Shipment ..something is definitely wrong ..that's the status of a package still in Singapore or Hong Kong and NOT dispatched yet or been through China customs....and possibly sent back to FT and they are going to try and resend it thru Hong Kong Post this time instead of SG Post again..contrary to what FT customer service has told me, who had also previously confirmed to me that it had been dispatched to the US via SG Post and then DHL with a DHL tracking #....

 

[obodaour]

Package FINALLY arrived today, what a trip lol! Now I just have to test everything out to make sure it all works!

 

[flowerpots]

I spoke too soon...today my package tracking has reverted backwards to Origin Post is Preparing Shipment ..something is definitely wrong ..that's the status of a package still in Singapore or Hong Kong and NOT dispatched yet or been through China customs....and possibly sent back to FT and they are going to try and resend it thru Hong Kong Post this time instead of SG Post again..contrary to what FT customer service has told me, who had also previously confirmed to me that it had been dispatched to the US via SG Post and then DHL with a DHL tracking #....

szot,

My pkg going through SP took 4 days from stating Dispatched Overseas to arrival in Jamaica, N.Y.