I have a new project starting over the next couple of months that will involve regular and fairly large shipments of my work to the US. A mate of mine here in Sheff. put me in touch with the logistics company that he has been using for 20 years or more, for the same purpose, shipping goods to the US.
I have a setup with them now and jobs looks a gudden, however...
...very (last couple of weeks) recently I had seven prototypes/samples to get delivered to my client for the project, so instead of my usual channels I shipped them through my new forwarders, a bit expensive for seven knives and 1.2kg, but why would I not? And it gets our mutual ball rolling.
Forwarders then send me a tracking link, a FedEx one. Oh dear.
Knives left me last Thursday and tracking stated that they were in the air on Friday, then Saturday, nothing, no tracking available.
In fairness my forwarders were straight on it, even over the weekend, asking FedEx for updates and info, FedEx were quiet.
Tuesday morning we all get an email from FedEx, what does the box look like, what does it weigh, what is inside it? They had lost it.
I had a photo of the actual box, and all seven things inside it, and a copy of the commercial invoice that was attached to it according to their request.
Apparently the parcel never left the UK, it was lost at Stanstead.
Then, which I was expecting, 'we don't ship knives, they are dangerous weapons!'
The forwarders were straight on to this, a full description of the goods had been supplied, including a .gov.uk commodity code, at no point was it flagged to the forwarders that FedEx would not ship.
I thought at this point I should wade in. I joined the merry chat and explained the gravity of the situation that FedEx now found themselves in, there were seven knives that were seven or maybe only ten that exist in the world today, and they are so easily identifiable it is untrue, and, if someone has seen the addressee and sender, they'll have a clue to what is inside, and if they ever, ever see the light of day, lots of people will know in a very short while, and it will be traced back to them.
They found them today, at their Stanstead depot.
But, they don't ship knives, so they won't ship them anywhere, not even back to me, so I have a box of seven knives at Stanstead Airport that should have been in the US a week ago and currently no means of getting them either to the US or even back to me in Sheffield.
All good fun.
I have a setup with them now and jobs looks a gudden, however...
...very (last couple of weeks) recently I had seven prototypes/samples to get delivered to my client for the project, so instead of my usual channels I shipped them through my new forwarders, a bit expensive for seven knives and 1.2kg, but why would I not? And it gets our mutual ball rolling.
Forwarders then send me a tracking link, a FedEx one. Oh dear.
Knives left me last Thursday and tracking stated that they were in the air on Friday, then Saturday, nothing, no tracking available.
In fairness my forwarders were straight on it, even over the weekend, asking FedEx for updates and info, FedEx were quiet.
Tuesday morning we all get an email from FedEx, what does the box look like, what does it weigh, what is inside it? They had lost it.
I had a photo of the actual box, and all seven things inside it, and a copy of the commercial invoice that was attached to it according to their request.
Apparently the parcel never left the UK, it was lost at Stanstead.
Then, which I was expecting, 'we don't ship knives, they are dangerous weapons!'
The forwarders were straight on to this, a full description of the goods had been supplied, including a .gov.uk commodity code, at no point was it flagged to the forwarders that FedEx would not ship.
I thought at this point I should wade in. I joined the merry chat and explained the gravity of the situation that FedEx now found themselves in, there were seven knives that were seven or maybe only ten that exist in the world today, and they are so easily identifiable it is untrue, and, if someone has seen the addressee and sender, they'll have a clue to what is inside, and if they ever, ever see the light of day, lots of people will know in a very short while, and it will be traced back to them.
They found them today, at their Stanstead depot.
But, they don't ship knives, so they won't ship them anywhere, not even back to me, so I have a box of seven knives at Stanstead Airport that should have been in the US a week ago and currently no means of getting them either to the US or even back to me in Sheffield.
All good fun.
