Thousands of parcels without tax identification numbers are stuck at Russian customs. Where is my parcel? Should Russians expect gifts from China until the New Year? What's going on with parcels from China?
The closer New Year, the less New Year’s mood remains among Russians. One of the reasons for this is the unprecedented collapse in the work of delivery services: people have not been able to receive long-awaited parcels for several weeks now. By the way, the Life editors also faced a similar problem.
It is interesting that for all deprived buyers, problems begin at the same stage: when the goods arrive in Russia. Even if in China only 2-3 days have passed from the moment of order to the moment of delivery to the airport, fast receipt Items already paid for cannot be counted.
Moreover, it becomes impossible to even track your parcel: all specialized websites indicate that the goods have left customs. At this point, the departure route is interrupted, and Internet users can only guess in what month their long-awaited gifts will arrive (and whether they will arrive at all).
Russian Post apparently does not even suspect that the collapse has occurred. The company's press service responded to Life's question about delivery problems that all international shipments arrive on time.
All logistics facilities of Russian Post are operating as normal. Information about massive delays of international shipments does not correspond to reality, representatives of the institution said.
However, the subsequent statement from the press service suggests that Russian Post employees are simply mocking poor citizens who have not been able to receive their gifts for several weeks.
Modernization of postal logistics, development of electronic data exchange and joint actions with Federal Customs Service of Russia in preparation for the season allow us to process international shipments in the shortest possible time. Moreover, for 4 recent years The volume of international mail has increased more than 10 times - from 21.7 million in 2012 to 230 million pieces (forecast) in 2016, representatives of the postal service responsibly declare. If under short terms They understand the weeks of waiting, then, of course, there are no questions for them.
Also, employees of the state company suggested that dissatisfied customers contact the hotline, call a special tracker and find out whether the parcel has reached the checkpoint or not yet. When Life called the number provided, Russian Post employees apologized several times and confirmed that in our case the delivery deadlines had been violated.
"Your shipment has passed all customs operations and has been handed over for shipment to its destination. The estimated delivery time is two days. That is, your item should have arrived at the post office no later than December 14,” said the postal employee. Meanwhile, it was already December 23, and the gifts were stuck somewhere between Vnukovo and the local post office 11 days ago.
Representatives of the company advised me to personally come to the post office and find out the fate of my parcel. If the worst fears are confirmed, it will be possiblefile an application for violation of delivery deadlines. To do this, you will need to bring your passport and a copy of the receipt confirming the shipment with you to the office (you must first request it from the foreign seller).
The head of Aliexpress in Russia, Mark Zavadsky, also does not notice serious problems. The top manager of the Chinese company is confident that Russian Post, like other partners, works flawlessly.
We don't see any anomalies. In any case, our peak sales are not in December, but in November, when we celebrate our traditional shopping festival 11.11. Therefore, for us, the peak season has almost passed, and it has passed successfully: all our partners have fulfilled the obligations they made to us regarding delivery times. That’s why we don’t see any problems ourselves,” Zavadsky explained to Life. Apparently, not all partners fulfill their obligations.
The Central Customs Administration of Russia (CTU) stated that the problem with the delivery of international shipments has nothing to do with the work of customs. According to Head of the public relations department Ekaterina Anchiforova, Russian Post simply does not have time to develop its own base due to huge amount departures.
Sometimes it happens that they (post office employees. - Approx. Life) simply do not have time to process their entire wave of international shipments and thereby slow down the process by filling out the tracking that it (parcel. - Approx. Life) has been transferred to customs or is at customs, says Anchiforova.
However, the information that a parcel has been at customs for a long time is not always true: at the customs post there is no specially designated warehouse for storing MPO.
100% of international mail items are x-rayed. Further, provided that no items prohibited for sending have been identified, we immediately return them to Russian Post. We don’t have our own storage facilities so that somewhere this could all be settled, stored, and so on,” Anchiforova assured.
Also, representatives of the Central Control Center provided Life with processing statistics from The largest customs department in Russia is the International Post Office, through which up to 80% of all international shipments for Russians pass daily.
According to Anchiforova, this December the division is processing up to 600 thousand small packages weighing up to 2 kg per day - this is almost twice as much when compared with the same period last year (up to 320 thousand items in December 2015). Compared to the usual, smooth period during the New Year holidays, the number of shipments increased by approximately 40%.
Probably, Russian Post was not ready for such an increase in international shipments. Therefore, buyers can only hope that their parcel was not lost. Otherwise, they will have to fill out numerous forms and stand in a long line to get their money back for the undelivered trinkets.
In this article we will talk about how it worked china post after sales, experience of communicating with sellers lost parcels and a little bit personal experience from previous years.
From past experience
Let's start right away with the fact that the parcels happened lost at the post office and they either didn’t arrive at all or arrived after 90 - 120 days after departure. But - they were isolated cases, which were not widespread even during sales. It has never happened that parcels ordered in one month did not arrive en masse or delivery was delayed for a long time.
Problems in 2017-2018
This year several parcels were ordered at the beginning of November until 11.11, one parcel was ordered for sales and several more after a week and a half after sale. And nothing foreshadowed problems, on the contrary, there were thoughts because everyone is waiting for the sale, loading will be at the post office less and the first parcels will arrive faster. However, everything turned out very Weird, because not one of the parcels that was ordered in November did not arrive but has already January and this is very upsetting. The second thought was that this was a problem for me personally, but when communicating with other people, some of their parcels also did not arrive, I even talked with a person from another country and he also had problems with the delivery of parcels ordered in November.
About sellers on ali
Now about the sellers, orders were made on different sites not only aliexpress, still on gearbest etc. But we will only talk about communication in Ali. When you ask them to clarify where the parcel is and when it was sent, they simply say wait And nothing more usually. Also, when opening a dispute, Ali makes a decision wait 60 days, and then we will only consider when to return your money. Even if the parcel is tracked and after tracking for a month and a half location does not change Still wait for the parcel and have no options. Be prepared for your money to be stuck for 3 months in such situations.
Conclusion
What is the problem and couldn't find out where are all these things that were ordered. There is a suspicion that the sellers of them didn't send for some reason, but of course they are not admitted. So this is another indicator of the work of the Chinese and what level of trust should be placed in them.
Anyone who has once placed an order on Aliexpress knows how difficult it is shipping route from China to the buyer. Especially if it is an international parcel.
But the reasons for all kinds of delays and problems when moving a parcel with goods can be different. This is an incorrectly specified recipient address, an incorrectly registered track number, as well as delays in the work of delivery and postal services.
I would like to draw your attention to the most common problems that arise when delivering orders from Aliexpress, so that shipping route from China turned out to be not so difficult.
- Firstly, it is important to focus on how to correctly fill out the recipient's address. In his personal account On the Aliexpress website you will find this section with the appropriate fields to fill out.
The fields are filled in in Latin letters. In strict sequence: first name, last name; country, region; address; city; state, province, district; postcode; contact number recipient.
Then you need to confirm the entered data by pressing the button. Moreover, the details of the parcel recipient can be edited, deleted, or added an additional postal address at any time. Very simple and convenient.
- Secondly, after placing your order, contact the seller and confirm with him the track number that he indicated to you. Sometimes it happens that the seller, for one reason or another, indicates the wrong tracking number, which results in problems in the future.
- Thirdly, the buyer must take into account the date of placing his order. If it matches holidays in China, as well as in Russia, you need to be prepared that delivery times will be extended in accordance with the number of days off.
The parcel path from China: probable problems
I will list a number of other points that you need to know about when ordering online.
- Shipping Service: China post Air Mail, Hongkong Post, Singapore Post(for free shipping); EMS, DHL, Fedex (paid courier delivery) and some other services offered for individual orders - ITELLA, TNT and others.
Free services, as a rule, deliver parcels later than courier ones (from 1 to 2 months) and always to the post office at your specified place of residence.
Paid services deliver your package directly to your home address and, depending on the region, the waiting time ranges from 4 to 20 days. When placing an order with free delivery, you will receive a notification at your home address with which you need to come to your post office, not forgetting to take your passport.
If the parcel is delivered by a courier, you must also present your passport and sign for delivery of the parcel.
- Russian Post deserves special attention. On its official website, you can also use the tracking system in Russia. The system tracks both parcels and small packages up to 2 kg. Despite all the efforts of employees to optimize the internal work of the service, cases of delays of parcels are not uncommon, regardless of the status indicated in the tracking system.
The grandson decided to send his grandfather a 5-year-old cognac to the village, so he bought a 3-year-old one and sent it by Russian Post.
- Customs Service. It is known that imported goods are cleared through customs differently depending on the category: catalog goods, international shipment, express delivery goods. If you meet the duty-free standard (let me remind you, weighing up to 31 kg per month and an amount not exceeding 1,000 Euros), then there will be no problems.
To declare, you now need to present: a copy of your passport with registration, an order form and a photo of the product, an original bank account statement indicating the online store as the recipient of the payment, a copy of a bank card.
- Documentation. Each parcel must be accompanied by a waybill indicating the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the sender and recipient, listing the contents and indicating the declared value.
- Return of parcels. Theoretically, there are the following options for your actions if you want to return the parcel: paid (at your expense) shipment with a new tracking number and registration of refusal of the parcel and its return by specified address Chinese sender with the same tracking number.
In practice, everything is completely individual and is resolved through opening a dispute and negotiating with the seller. Sometimes it is easier to demand partial compensation without sending the goods. The main thing is to open a dispute and correctly indicate the reason, claims, as well as the necessary requirements. After all, the return of the parcel is paid by the buyer, and this cost may exceed the cost of the product itself. You can read about how to open a dispute correctly in my next article.
From this article you will learn how the procedure for receiving parcels from China in Russia occurs.
99% of all those who start buying goods from China via the Internet do not know all the features of receiving parcels at the post office.
They will first order the goods, and only then begin to think where the postman will bring their cheap socks, smartphone or some other useless crap bought from the Chinese. Or maybe no postman will appear on the doorstep at all, then you will have to go get the parcel yourself?!
I have already received several dozen parcels (I have experience). Therefore, without any problems, I will tell you what and how to do.
4. — IMPORTANT POINT
Where do Chinese parcels arrive? Home or to the post office?
All parcels with goods ordered from Chinese online stores with simple free delivery first arrive at the RUSSIAN POST office whose postcode you indicated in the delivery address.
Of course, you can make sure that the parcel does not arrive at the post office, but is delivered by courier directly to your home. But remember that this is an expensive pleasure, for which you will have to pay several thousand rubles.
Here is an example of how much paid courier delivery on the AliExpress marketplace can cost:
Can you imagine how much you will overpay if you manage to arrange fast courier delivery for an item costing 500 rubles?!
When the package arrives at the post office, do I need to go pick it up myself or will the postman bring it?
Previously, RUSSIAN POST employees sent notices about the arrival of parcels from China directly to mailboxes.
We needed to get this notice, fill it out, take our passport with us and go to the post office so that they would give us the package - that’s all.
All the parcels, small and large, were eagerly awaiting us at the post office.
Now things have changed a little!
Over time, post offices began to become overcrowded with parcels from China. The Russians sensed that it was more profitable to buy in China than in our stores. A real POSTAL BOOM has begun!
There is now physically not enough space in post offices to hold every parcel!
Therefore, small-sized parcels can now be dropped directly into mailboxes without any notice! Be prepared for this. They won't knock on your door, the parcel will simply be put in your mailbox!
Yes, it can be stolen, but this is your problem, since the parcel was sent by a Chinese seller with free delivery, like a regular letter. Remember, letters are thrown into your mailboxes, you don’t go to the post office to get them! Same with free small parcels!
But there is a way out of this situation. You can get from RUSSIAN POST to keep all parcels with them until you pick them up.
To do this, you need to go to the post office and fill out a special application. After that, they will call you (send SMS) and inform you that the package has been delivered and is waiting for you at the post office. And it will no longer matter what kind of parcel arrived: small or large - everything will be left at the post office.
We have dealt with small-sized parcels - some of them are stuffed by postmen directly into the mailbox. But what about large parcels that do not fit in the mailbox?
Everything is a little simpler here. Even if you did not fill out applications for storage of your parcels at the post office, no one will still put LARGE PACKAGES in the mailbox. Large parcels are always stored at the post office!
When such parcels arrive, postal employees call the recipient so that he can pick up the item due to him.
How do postmen get a phone number?
Everything is simple here too. When you place an order in a Chinese online store, they always ask you to provide a contact phone number, which is written (printed) on the parcel next to the address.
Now you understand why you need to indicate your real phone number in the delivery address. It is also advisable that the number be from a mobile phone and not from a landline phone.
In conclusion of this part of the article, I would like to remind you that each branch of the RUSSIAN POST works differently. Somewhere they still send out notifications for absolutely all parcels; somewhere they immediately call and notify about all the parcels that have arrived: large and small; Somewhere postmen are generally silent and do not notify people about parcels in any way - it all depends on how busy and arrogant the post office is.
In general, something like this.
The package is waiting for me at the post office. I want to come get her myself. What documents do I need to present to receive the parcel?
To receive a parcel at the post office, you need to have a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation, a military ID or a foreign passport.
If you learned about the arrival of the parcel from a notice that was placed in your mailbox, then you will also have to take this notice with you.
So, we have sorted out the documents that you will have to take with you to the post office.
And now I want to answer 4 more popular questions related to receiving parcels:
1. When receiving a parcel from China, do I have to pay money at the post office?
No. If the package was ordered with free delivery, then you do not need to pay anything at the post office. Feel free to go there with an empty wallet.
You will only have to pay if the parcel limit for the month is exceeded. Read more about this -
2. I am 13 years old, but I ordered a parcel from China in my name. Will they give it to me at the post office? Should I ask mom or dad to get it?
A citizen of the Russian Federation under 14 years of age cannot receive the parcel on his own, since he does not have a passport. Parcels are issued only with a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation, or with a foreign passport or military ID.
In this case, you need to ask your parents: mother, father (or a person replacing them) - so that one of them receives the parcel for you.
3. No passport (lost). Is it possible to receive the parcel somehow?
Yes, you can if you show the postal employee your military ID, international passport, or a certified copy of your lost passport. When you receive a parcel with a copy of a lost passport, do not say that it is lost, it is better to say that you simply forgot it at home.
4. Can a stranger receive a parcel for me?
No. No one can receive the parcel for you. Of course, if a power of attorney is issued, then your parcel will be given to the authorized person.
But don’t discount friendly (family) ties with postal workers. In this case, you can negotiate and receive a package from a complete stranger.
How to behave at the post office when receiving a parcel?
When you come to pick up your package, postal employees will ask you to sign a notice before they give you the package. To begin with, you can fill out ONLY your address and passport details on the receipt, but you don’t need to sign anything.
The receipt is signed only after you are sure that your parcel is safe and sound:
1. Carefully inspect the parcel, check the integrity of the packaging. Do this by taking the package into your own hands, and not from the hands of a postal worker.
2. The postal employee is required to weigh your parcel. Make sure the weight matches what is indicated on the address label.
3. If there was anything breakable in the package, shake it - nothing should ring inside.
4. Pay special attention to the tape and various adhesive tapes on the parcel. If there is some kind of tape, postal officials may try to reassure you that the package was opened at customs. Remember that in this case it must be sealed with customs tape, and a Customs Inspection Certificate signed by a customs officer must also be attached.
5. Carefully inspect the parcel for any cuts. If you manage to find something like this, feel free to report it to the postal employee.
If after checking you have no complaints about the appearance and weight of the parcel, you can put your signature on the notice.
Now you can take the parcel home.
I suggest watching the video. Here a man is shown picking up Chinese parcels at the post office. He made one mistake - he put his signature on the notices before he received the parcels in his hands:
Now I’ll tell you about how I personally receive parcels from China:
A long time ago I went to the post office that serves my home and wrote a statement there so that I would be notified by phone about the arrival of parcels. Now all parcels (large and small) are stored within the walls of this post office until I come and pick them up.
Before signing the notice, I carefully inspect each parcel. In general, I do everything that I wrote about in this article.
I'll finish with this.If you have any questions, ask, I will answer everyone.