Destroyed Parcels and Postal Treatments
This video, evidently depicting an instance of the handling of postage parcels in China, is a must watch for regular online shoppers:
Painful, I know… But it is indeed a serious wake-up call for any one who orders online on a regular basis. While this is not representative of all the services that handle packages, most of which do go out of their way to provide excellent service, it is good to be aware of the existence of the bad apples out there.
One must also understand that the state of the package at the end of its journey is usually determined by the people who handle the packages during transport and the local postal service. While the sender of the parcel is indeed responsible for providing it with sufficient protection, there are some things that are beyond their control.
Just a little food for thought and something to consider before you file a complaint with the online store/sender of your new loot. (^.^)
Also, I would really appreciate it if someone could educate me on the precise differences between EMS and SAL, besides the difference in speeds, such as handling procedures, etc. I believe EMS gets treated better?
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Random picture from the interwebs.
OMG!
how could they?!
and i have been buying some expensive stuff from china...
grrr....(though everything in the world is "made in china" lol).
EMS FTW btw...
ems is more faster and caring but dont know about sal sorry...
O.o ... o.O That's not very nice ._. Shame on him... And everybody else who does something like that >.>
You just have to wait in the morning to catch your boxes and they will be OK.
Swiss post is still the best :)
Saw that video a while ago...
They would be way faster if they just had use a broom, and sweeped all the packages in one clean swoop on the ground and then sweeped to the place where they are throwing at it.
Makes you less tired, you are done faster and on the plus side the packages will take minimal damage compared throwing 2 meters in the air.
Oh, wow. He must love his job.
LoL, once again China shows off it's superior quality.
I already hate postal services, and that video makes me hate them even more
Chinese people live under communism, so I doubt they care if they work better than anyone else, since their pay will be the same regardless. There's no initiative for them to spend the effort.
So happy I haven't received crappy packages yet.
EMS and SAL are pretty much the same, they are shipped to and handled by your country's postal service. From my knowledge here in Canada, EMS/SAL do not need Custom fees, or i could be just lucky.
Depending on how your Postal Service works, they can be asses or friendly people who takes care of your packages, But with that said, EMS ensures that your contents are insured up to $ X if your valuables are damaged and or lost. Though this service cost twice as much as SAL
I had 2 SAL packages come earlier this week, both in Pristine Condition, same as if i were to get my EMS packages, but this is Canada Post, i cant say for certain how other countries handle their postal.
OH lucky you! Here in the EAST I get taxed on almost every EMS package with the few lucky exceptions once in a blue moon. But I usually never get taxed on Airmail or SAL package.
EMS is insured, tracked, and usually takes around 3 days at it is sent "priority"
SAL is uninsured, not tracked, and is shipped on a "space available basis" so they usually take 1-2 weeks depending on the room available in the plain/truck or something.
You are just lucky with the customs...
I think its just based on the mood of the customs or they have might a record somewhere. Since my friend who orders a buncha stuff every month gets custom fees nearly every time ;;
As for the condition, im pretty satisfied with Canada Post so far... havnt have any bad experiences on my part, but im sure there are alot of nasty stories out there
i pretty much order every week, whether its SAL or EMS, i havent been taxed ever.
i order things from the states once in awhile, big packages that require pick up, i get taxed but not the things that you can put inside the mailbox.
and as for SAL shipping, i had those packages come within 2 weeks, and frankly...i didnt even know i had packages comming...haha
I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Canadapost as I have some packages which have visible shoe print on, or look like someone sat on them ^^; Also I get customs charges time to time whether it is EMS or SAL, esp with packages from USA ^^; I also had post(wo)man trying to stuff a parcel obviously too big for the door slot and damaged our door slot before at our old place ^^; The movie above makes me want to kick that guy or throw him like how he did to the packages :P
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it reminded me when i started my days as an otaku , i bought shinku and nendoroid Haruhi from ebay (they were bootlegs of course.) the packaging was absolutely terrible especially when it had SAL Shipping , the boxes were damaged badly .
OH: And Actar:
As far as I'm concerned with SAL and EMS, I don't know much about them, all I know is:
SAL is economy air mail, although technically it's treated as surface mail, so they'll give you the rates of surface mail, and also it is slower depending on where you live and where the item is coming from. And from what I know, SAL will only drop the package off at the door, even if you're not there.
EMS is air express mail. In otherwords, if it is sent through EMS, they put the highest priority in getting the mail to you in one piece as fast as possible. As far as I know, EMS will take care of your parcel and make sure you receive it. But of course, it's usually 2 or 3 times more expensive than SAL, which is why a lot of people use SAL anyways.
Yea, it's a major pain if they always do it. lol, best thing about being a Christian, no one mishandled my orders and no re-taping on it because they always sense something.
EMS packages get held hostage here by the customs a lot.
So the 3-5 days delivery time is not correct most of the times.
And I've had semi-smashed EMS packages.
SAL varies and they say it's usually delivered in 1-3 weeks, but can take up to 3 months really.
Ugh that is pretty true I've had quite a bit of ems shipped packages held up at customs my longest one keep at customs was a recent figure I just received few days ago that was held in customs since the 28th of January and it seems they even opened my package because the tape on the shipping box and the figure box was re taped.
I wonder how these people get paid for this. people paid MONEY plus shipping ! for things they would cherish for a long while OR forever . while someone is throwing something they bought and the buyer not even knowing about it? heck no. =_=
Wow that is just terrible. I've never received a package that was that damaged and hopefully I never will but wth how is this shipping company still around. It's like that guy had a grudge against all those boxes or just really hates his job and has to make everyone pay for it to make himself feel better.
As for your question Sal is pretty much cheaper, slower, less covered but it can be very unpredictable at times from my experience. Sometimes it may arrive in 5days sometimes it may take weeks and even months. It is cheaper like I stated but most of the time companies don't offer tracking and Sal packages are usually have less coverage if they are damaged. I usually only pick this if it's the only option or if the EMS price is just to expensive for a small item.
As for EMS of course it's about 2-3times the price of Sal, faster and has a high insurance coverage but the more the item cost the higher the cost of ems and same goes for the weight of course but like someone stated above ems does seem to get held at customs more than sal.
So in short
Sal=people who are patient
EMS=non patient people like me who will spend a bit more for shipping. (I do have my limits tho on how much I will spend for shipping>_<)
that is why i hate shipping box..hate SAL because it take a week or months to get + you don't know what happen to the items why is there a damage..i really hate the EMS too because few days you get it but the customs hold em up that cargo/items then pay up to the thing to them...dammed custom officials here \|||/
O~O Yep, Purchased a Newtonian type telescope a while back with similar looking results.
Had to fiddle with the mirrors for about an hour to get them proper again.
*Didn't have a collimating laser*
And it was one of the biggest names in the world who delivered it too.
I sent a hand written letter to Mead to let them know what was going on at least.
As a former warehouseman, I always took the time to identify on the box "FRAGILE" in BIG letters. Dependent on the item. But once it's on the trailer *shrugs*. Insurance on the item can help out in certain cases. And helps narrow down the who and where, when it happens.
sp* Meade......lol, I always do that.
I saw something like this once. I'm not going to name the parcel service, but I saw a delivery truck parked on the side of busy street one day. As I was stuck in traffic, I couldn't help but notice how he removed the parcels from his van. He stood inside the van, and then proceeded to throw the packages onto the street alongside him. He then got out of the truck, gathered up the packages on the ground, and delivered them to their designated buildings....
Ouch..talk about premium quality service...
EMS typically takes 3-4days for the package to reach Singapore from Japan. Most of the time, the package is cared of properly and will arrive to you in perfect condition.
SAL takes a typically much longer time. Being much cheaper, the trade-off is that the package would usually arrive in Singapore 1-2weeks after it's dispatched. Note that the time taken may be longer, but from my experience, the longest delivery period I had was with my Kagami figma(Winter Uniform), which took two weeks to arrive in Singapore from HLJ. The package is usually dented, and unlike EMS most of the time not in perfect condition...
Adding on, EMS has a higher chance of being tax by the government. In the case of Singapore, the government will tax any online purchases, as long as the purchase exceeds SGD$400... However I have avoided tax a couple of times with shipments far above the $400 line, so I presume that it's probably by luck the authorities chance upon your package, and you get tax... Correct me if I am wrong : ) (Singapore context)
OMG that was painful to watch and I have a lot of packages coming in this month! Hopefully they come safe and sound! *knocks on wood* @_@
And now that I think of it I have received damaged boxes when I bought from sellers/stores in China. Looking at this video explains it all. D:
EMS should have tracking over SAL too ._.
My heart went ouch everytime a parcel hit the ground. TT-TT
That's the only thing I don't like about buying online; if I had the chance to surely get new-release items in my local anime store I would just go there. Luckily I haven't gotten any destroyed or maltreated packages up til now, which is a blessing since 60% of what I buy are books/manga/doujins.
Unfortunately it has much to do with the quality of service in your country/area. If they're usually crappy, chances are your mail is gonna get manhandled.
Waw it's worst than wut I experienced from our local post office.
If someone did that to my package and I found out who it was, Id stab them in their sleep.
EMS should be faster...but for Singapore the EMS comes in fast, but if you miss the delivery...it will be the worst thing you encounter. As you cant schedule a re-delivery on the same day, so if you miss a delivery, most of the time you will only get it like 2 ~ 3 days later. Unless you willing to make a trip to Post Office HQ yourself >_<
Hmm, I always go with EMS, and I have never received a late package, or damaged package. I guess I've been lucky thus far, hope It continues. As for those pesky fellows throwing the packages! I hope one of the packages that he throws is a bomb! and it explodes on impact, maybe then they will treat the mail differently!
I was gonna buy a glass cup online but im in the us so i dont think this ill happen. I have received one broken package from japan even though it was EMS but it didnt affect the inside item.
Now that I am in Hangzhou for around 2 weeks and received more than 15 parcels already, I can somehow understand why they treated the parcels this way. It's very time consuming to handle each parcel with care that we wanted. They had millions of parcel to handle everyday, I believe. That's why I always communicate with the seller when I am getting something.
Oh god, I can't even finish watching the video. This is one reason I hate China.
gezzz... talk about unprofessional wtf ...
EMS ftw, packages from Japan to Australia gets handle pretty well. plus HLJ and their bubble wraps, well not anymore but they still have protection like similar to bubble warp. =D
another reason why I sometimes avoid buying from China, I had this happened to me a few times when I ordered from China......hence why I just stick to either Play-asia or hobbyfan.....though its not without its own problem...
That never happens to me, even buying from China, because they say I'm "The Devil who's walking on the Earth" -brushes off old parcels he got from China and dusts them off- Only damage the parcel would get is from me using my letter opener
I say, it's better than USPS.
= .='