USPS routing to Canada. Grab some popcorn!
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:39 am
This is my first SparkFun order. I live in Oakville, ON, Canada, near Toronto. I got caught up in the Cyber Monday fun (you guys had me refreshing my browser all day with those hourly deals!) and I couldn't help but fill my shopping cart with cool stuff. Sure, I'd take a hit on the exchange rate... and shipping... and duties... and brokerage fees... not to mention the usual taxes... but I figured the discounts were deep enough to make up for it. (I didn't notice that you guys have local distributors. Doh. More on that later.) I totally get that the USPS is completely out of your control, so the following is not a criticism of SparkFun at all. I haven't yet received my order, so at this point this is all just... entertainment? (I'm feeling a mix of patience, befuddled amusement, and trepidation.) So without further ado, here's the USPS's account of where my order is, with my annotations: (click on the image to see it full-size)
So the package got to the airport that's a 20 minute drive from my house, only to return to the United States for one more go around. :doh: And if, for fun, "Long Beach, UNITED STATES" means Long Beach, California, and "Louisville, UNITED STATES" means Louisville, Kentucky, then the trip -- driving -- looks something like this: (click on the image to see it full-size)
That's over three cross-country trips. If driving, the point of origin would have been revisited, not to mention hitting the destination twice. And it'd be over 8800 miles, that's over a third of the way around the world. :think: Surely, the USPS means a different Long Beach and Louisville?
Since placing my order, I've learned there are a couple of somewhat-local shops that are SparkFun distributors. :doh: I'll be sure to pay them a visit, but they seem to have only a tiny fraction of Sparkfun's catalog listed.
I'm generally a patient guy, so I wasn't expecting the fastest delivery with the USPS. And if the package arrives intact, I'm sure I'll be happy. I'm just hoping there are no major surprises with the brokerage fees, duties, taxes.....
:pray:
p.s. It's only fair to note that this may not be entirely by USPS's fault. I have no idea why my package turned around and boarded another flight home for another go around. I'll update this if I learn more and if there's any interest.
So the package got to the airport that's a 20 minute drive from my house, only to return to the United States for one more go around. :doh: And if, for fun, "Long Beach, UNITED STATES" means Long Beach, California, and "Louisville, UNITED STATES" means Louisville, Kentucky, then the trip -- driving -- looks something like this: (click on the image to see it full-size)
That's over three cross-country trips. If driving, the point of origin would have been revisited, not to mention hitting the destination twice. And it'd be over 8800 miles, that's over a third of the way around the world. :think: Surely, the USPS means a different Long Beach and Louisville?
Since placing my order, I've learned there are a couple of somewhat-local shops that are SparkFun distributors. :doh: I'll be sure to pay them a visit, but they seem to have only a tiny fraction of Sparkfun's catalog listed.
I'm generally a patient guy, so I wasn't expecting the fastest delivery with the USPS. And if the package arrives intact, I'm sure I'll be happy. I'm just hoping there are no major surprises with the brokerage fees, duties, taxes.....
:pray:
p.s. It's only fair to note that this may not be entirely by USPS's fault. I have no idea why my package turned around and boarded another flight home for another go around. I'll update this if I learn more and if there's any interest.