That d*mn courier thread.

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WildBoar said:
That sucks.

All the coffee roasters I have bought from that were not local used UPS for shipping; I guess this illustrates why :(
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I've never really had issues with USPS before this. It is wild to me the extent of the problems here in Houston though. I don't know anyone mailing anything with USPS that comes to or from the city that isn't facing huge delays right now.
 
Preemptively before reading a single reply within this thread I will state the following common occurances in regards to couriers:

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esoo said:
DHL yesterday (a Wednesday): your package is in England, you're getting it Monday.
DHL today: your package is out for delivery, prepare to sign for it.

🤔🤷
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DHL more than once said an adult needs to sign for the package. Driver rung the doorbell and was gone before I could even answer it.
 
esoo said:
DHL more than once said an adult needs to sign for the package. Driver rung the doorbell and was gone before I could even answer it.
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This is how it is with all major carriers now. Signature required means a phone call and leave the package. I remember being shocked when the delivery guy literally knocked the door and wanted a signature before leaving.
 
NotAddictedYet said:
This is how it is with all major carriers now. Signature required means a phone call and leave the package. I remember being shocked when the delivery guy literally knocked the door and wanted a signature before leaving.
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Oh, I know and I've seen it. This was the first one I've had where they were so explicit that it was going to need a signature (since covid) and then just ignored it.

Ironically about 20 minutes before that, I look out the front door to discover FedEx ground had dropped off a chair (no doorbell or anything)
 
This week has been the worst week of the whole month. I been waiting for my Ashi Honyaki Gyuto since January the 22nd and it's been sitting in Denver for over a week being sent by DHL.
 
luuogle said:
This week has been the worst week of the whole month. I been waiting for my Ashi Honyaki Gyuto since January the 22nd and it's been sitting in Denver for over a week being sent by DHL.
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my Wok burner travelled inside the US for a month, once it hit the plane it arrived in two days...Jan 22 to Feb 9 is peanuts :angel:
 
ethompson said:
Got some really expensive coffee that’s going to be money wasted because of how far off roast date it will be by the time it gets delivered to me even having selected the expensive 1-2 day shipping.
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Has it shown up yet?

Here in the UK some well-respected roasters have gone full circle on their packaging, to the point where they now use bags without the degassing valves or resealable tops as they found it preserves the coffee better - with the idea being you decant into your own vacuum container on receipt.

I had a bag go missing in the post for months that looked like it was almost fit to explode by the time it showed up, but still tasted reasonably fresh. I drink filter at home though, perhaps it’s different for espresso based brews.
 
Ok__mode_6953 said:
Has it shown up yet?

Here in the UK some well-respected roasters have gone full circle on their packaging, to the point where they now use bags without the degassing valves or resealable tops as they found it preserves the coffee better - with the idea being you decant into your own vacuum container on receipt.

I had a bag go missing in the post for months that looked like it was almost fit to explode by the time it showed up, but still tasted reasonably fresh. I drink filter at home though, perhaps it’s different for espresso based brews.
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have the roaster complain.....it's the only way to correct this...lately courier prices have gone up like a rocket but service levels have not....
 
Heckel7302 said:
Well, in that case, thank you. Appreciated, but totally unnecessary.
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You’re welcome. I’ve found next day and 2 day air service to be kinder to packages and more reliable - sometimes the price gap is marginal and it’s well worth the extra $20 or so, in my opinion, for something like an expensive knife to have the added peace of mind
 
ethompson said:
You’re welcome. I’ve found next day and 2 day air service to be kinder to packages and more reliable - sometimes the price gap is marginal and it’s well worth the extra $20 or so, in my opinion, for something like an expensive knife to have the added peace of mind
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About to open the box so I’ll let you know!
 
Ok__mode_6953 said:
Has it shown up yet?

Here in the UK some well-respected roasters have gone full circle on their packaging, to the point where they now use bags without the degassing valves or resealable tops as they found it preserves the coffee better - with the idea being you decant into your own vacuum container on receipt.

I had a bag go missing in the post for months that looked like it was almost fit to explode by the time it showed up, but still tasted reasonably fresh. I drink filter at home though, perhaps it’s different for espresso based brews.
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It showed up eventually. Not like the beans were spoiled, but I had a decidedly less emphatic experience than a friend of mine who got the same beans but much earlier. Still good coffee, but when you drop money for experimental process gesha you want to get it at its peak. Definitely too aged for espresso, I brewed it all as pour over.
 
Heckel7302 said:
On a positive note, I’m absolutely floored by UPS. @ethompson dropped off a package for me yesterday at 2:51 pm in Texas. It arrived at 10:15 am this morning in Indiana. Pretty sure he didn’t pay for overnight shipping.
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Pretty sure post offices in the US have posters on the wall offering rewards to employees that provide stellar service to ethompson's packages. They don't want to piss him off again 😁
 
The amount of BS UPS will put you through - i'm in Toronto, and i've ordered knives from Joe at Sugi. The first one, even though I paid all the fees, the package was marked as "Not paid for" and the driver wouldn't deliver it. He circled back around the next day, same story. Because they only "attempt to deliver" 3 times before sending it to a warehouse that you need to drive to to pick it up, I literally had to sit in the lobby of my building for the entire 3 hour window just waiting for the guy to show up, and I caught him dropping off yet another "Unable to deliver" slip.

Second time, the exact same thing happened, but I knew the drill so I had to wait for him again in the lobby for another 2 hours.

Thankfully I've moved to a place with a concierge now so it's a lot easier to deal with, and i've gotten a couple shipments through UPS. One was without any issue, the other was a nightmare. I told UPS I was going to take a package through customs myself. They never provided me with the paperwork to do so (which is SUPER Illegal) and then sent it through customs anyway and sent me a bill for over 100 dollars in brokerage fees. The seller for both was from here, and I made the mistake of not giving him instructions of which type of mail to send it through, because the first time he sent it UPS expedited which meant it dodged all the brokerage fees (by no fault of his, he was sympathetic and very understanding and I will 1000% buy from him again if he happens to be selling something I want)

All in all, I'm seriously cautious when ordering from abroad. I've put a hold on buying anything at all internationally until I can put together a "proper guide" on what shipping provider/type to use when sending something my way. Screw UPS, they're rat bastards and even if they have decent tracking it's not nearly worth the hassle to deal with them.

Anyway thanks for coming to my rant tedtalk
 
lately the only courier that seems to work decently is FedEx, funny enough is that DHL-ecommerce is way better than 'regular' DHL.
 
ethompson said:
It showed up eventually. Not like the beans were spoiled, but I had a decidedly less emphatic experience than a friend of mine who got the same beans but much earlier. Still good coffee, but when you drop money for experimental process gesha you want to get it at its peak. Definitely too aged for espresso, I brewed it all as pour over.
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Sorry to hear it, that sucks.

I was sent out a sampler bag of 120 hour anaerobic gesha a few months ago by my regular roaster; it was incredible but getting it dialed in within one or two brews was pure stress.
 
ethompson said:
It showed up eventually. Not like the beans were spoiled, but I had a decidedly less emphatic experience than a friend of mine who got the same beans but much earlier. Still good coffee, but when you drop money for experimental process gesha you want to get it at its peak. Definitely too aged for espresso, I brewed it all as pour over.
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5 days post roast seems optimal for espresso. Enough time to off gas. It's downhill from that point. I used to buy 5lb bags and then aliquot into 200g zippy bags for storage in the freezer. This seemed the best for maintaining quality long term.
 
I roast about a kilo every two weeks, aiming at overlapping by a week but that often goes wrong due to changing consumption patterns/visitors....just drink more coffee to match your buying habits ;-)
Roast level is the most important factor for how long of a rest beans need, my lighter roasts sometimes need approx 7 days, more medium roast levels are good to go after 4 days.
 
Corradobrit1 said:
5 days post roast seems optimal for espresso. Enough time to off gas. It's downhill from that point. I used to buy 5lb bags and then aliquot into 200g zippy bags for storage in the freezer. This seemed the best for maintaining quality long term.
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I have to drink decaf quite often these days for medical reasons and the only one I’ve found that’s any good is from Square Mile, but they don’t have a subscription option and I don’t want to pay postage every time I buy a 300g bag.

Did you notice a comparable difference between this method and buying smaller bags direct as and when needed?
 
Any Canadians to quickly summarize the costs of importing knives to Canada from:

1) American users on BST? (or Europeans)

2) U.S.-based knifestores?

Just trying to figure out how much extra I would expect to pay beyond the base shipping rate. For example, if I buy a $300 USD knife on BST, how much am I really going to be out of pocket for? What about if I buy the same $300 USD knife from a U.S.-based knifestore?

I kind of need to know this to buy from the US (private seller or store), as there's a big difference between knife cost + shipping cost and adding some absurd duties/custom fees on top of that. I know for non-knife stuff people have been dinged 50%+ on the value of the item, which changes the math from "affordable" to "nope" really quick.
 
yoyoma said:
Any Canadians to quickly summarize the costs of importing knives to Canada from:

1) American users on BST? (or Europeans)

2) U.S.-based knifestores?

Just trying to figure out how much extra I would expect to pay beyond the base shipping rate. For example, if I buy a $300 USD knife on BST, how much am I really going to be out of pocket for? What about if I buy the same $300 USD knife from a U.S.-based knifestore?

I kind of need to know this to buy from the US (private seller or store), as there's a big difference between knife cost + shipping cost and adding some absurd duties/custom fees on top of that. I know for non-knife stuff people have been dinged 50%+ on the value of the item, which changes the math from "affordable" to "nope" really quick.
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In my experience:
Mail services (stuff that gets handled by Canada Post on inbound): random checks so you may get away with paying nothing. Otherwise $10 + taxes + duties
DHL: $20 + taxes + duties
FedEx: Ive had come in free, I've been billed en route, and I've been billed afterwards. $20 + taxes + duties
UPS Standard: avoid at all costs. Fee is based in part on declared value + taxes + duty.
UPS Expedited: $10 + taxes + duties

Taxes have been charged at HST rate. Duty is not always charged - it has been dependant on what has been stated on the customs paperwork.

I know it doesn't help much, but that is what it is. Our gift declaration value is so low it's not useful.
 
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