Baggie Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 G'day guys, Just wondered if anyone else is waiting for post from the UK? We fine that the postage times vary hugely. I am currently waiting for a box from Hattons that has taken a month so far, yet other things can arrive in under a week! Cheers Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54Strat Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Hi Jon, I post quite a lot to Aus, and recently I posted 2 parcels airmail to Perth, both identical sizes and both less than 2kg and one took 8 days and the other 27 days and both had no customs issues. It's been like that for the past 8 years, which is how long I've been sending stuff over. It's not very good is it? Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebnoswal Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Have been recieving stuff from the UK for years now, and the time has varried from 5 days to 8 weeks. I've noticed this year with Hattons, since they have moved to a new distribution centre tha the arrivla time has grown. In the past I knew I could get a new release with 5-10 days, way better than the 6-18 month wait till it here down under stores. Now, with their new facilities its been upwards of 2 weeks. Still, can't complain, the pound vs Aussie dollar is the best its every been, most places take of the VAT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Harbour Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I order most of my stuff from the UK - mainly Hattons and Rails. It's soooo much cheaper than buying local. I'd love to support my local store, but when I can get the items I want from the UK for somewhere around 1/3 - 1/2 of the local price, why on earth would you... For example, a Graham Farish Mk1 coach costs £16.00 (including VAT) from a 'box-shifter' in the UK. As nebnoswel says, most UK suppliers take off the VAT when shipping down under, so that £16 before £13.33. At the current AUD - GBP (AUD 1.00 = GBP 0.6556) rate that becomes roughly $20.34. Same item in my local shop is $45.00. Even allowing for shipping, it still works out at around half price... If like me, you 'bundle' purchases, the cost of shipping soon disappears per piece. In terms of shipping times, I'm not overly bothered if the delivery takes a couple of weeks. It really isn't the end of the world! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggie Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thanks guys for the replies. I started the thread as postage times from Hattons seamed have increased over the past 6 months. They say: Thanks for your patience during this time. We've recently found out a little more about City Link's procedure when taking parcels from the UK to Australia. City Link will wait until a cargo container is full before putting it on a plane. This is all well and good if your parcel happens to be one of the last on board but if your parcel is one of the first in to the container it will be held until it fills up. This is why City Link can offer such competitive rates for their parcels. Its the first time a delivary has taken more than 2 - 3 weeks. But as far as the cost goes, you can't argue with being about to purchase items and have them sent to Australia, cheaper than you could buy them in the UK! Cheers Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Harbour Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I just received a package yesterday from Hattons. Got the E-Mail saying it was packed on June 15th, so two weeks to reach my doorstep using Royal Mail. Can't complain too much at that! The only thing extra I could have hoped for was that it arrived on a day where I got home from work before my wife, so I wouldn't have to face the "Spanish Inquisition" about what I had bought this time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggie Posted July 2, 2011 Author Share Posted July 2, 2011 I just received a package yesterday from Hattons. Got the E-Mail saying it was packed on June 15th, so two weeks to reach my doorstep using Royal Mail. Can't complain too much at that! The only thing extra I could have hoped for was that it arrived on a day where I got home from work before my wife, so I wouldn't have to face the "Spanish Inquisition" about what I had bought this time! Thats funny. I usually get away with using the excuse 'Its been on order for ages Dear!' I've been waiting six weeks now for a parcel... and counting! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted July 3, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 3, 2011 I have probably had over a hundred parcels from the UK in the past few years and from numerous retailers plus a few private or eBay transactions. The transit time varies but for small packets by air mail is typically 7 - 10 days irrespective of weekends and public holidays. Some of the major retailer offer different shipping options. It is up to us, the customer, to make a selection though we may have little information upon which to base that. In almost all cases surface mail will be very much slower and not that much cheaper than other options. Hattons and other retailers who had used City Link had major issues with their service. The contract price was cheap and - as we read above - it has become apparent that their shipping method is not as reliable nor as speedy as other options. Some of us waited months for parcels to arrive at the height of the problems. I now pay the extra - usually an additional £1 - and have things sent Royal Mail. They arrive within about two weeks. But it does depend upon what is ordered and where it is being sent to. Large and / or heavy items (boxes of track and the larger transformers are examples) can cost very much more due to the pricing structure of package size as well as weight. And for routes where air freight is less frequent it may well take longer than UK - Australia where there are several daily flights. Based upon experience I would simply advise you avoid City Link and take another option when that is possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold lakeview770 Posted January 1, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2012 Had similar issues here in the USA when using the city link option and as mentioned paying that little extra means the difference between 3 to 4 weeks or 3 days Andrew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Royal Mail isn't the answer. Three books from two different vendors took exactly one month to reach me just outside New York. It's not the vendors fault, security checks become tighter around the Christmas time plus sheer volume of traffic. You can get lucky if what you waiting for ends up being the last item batched together to a particular location in a flight container. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummy-Joe Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I recently made a purchase from Hattons. When it came to paying for shipping, I thought I'd pay a bit extra for the '3-5 day' option. Somehow this ended up being 15 days. While it is nowhere near as long as some of the times mentioned here, I was still a little disappointed, as, in my experience, postage times between NZ and the UK are usually very good. The day prior to placing my order with Hattons, I made a purchase from The Signal Box, Rochester - which even with their slightly sub-par checkout system, arrived in 6 days on cheap postage rates. It's kind of ironic that the only time I make a conscious decision to shell out for a 'better than cheapest' shipping option with Hattons, I have my worst ever delivery time from them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Most likely it depends on airlines rather than postal services. Standard letters and small parcels usually go on passenger planes, larger parcels have to wait for a cargo flight. In my experience, delivery times have varied from 4 days to 2 months after the postmark date. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I would agree with the majority of comments above. I have had ebay purchases turn up in 8 days from the UK, purchases from Rails in 10-14, now waiting on a purchase from Hattons, who stated 5-7 days. I'll wait and see. Then again, I have waited upto 28 days for purchases to turn up on my door step from Adelaide !! Figure that out ?? Although, it was during the Christmas period... Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Harbour Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I had a package from DCC Supplies in the UK arrive today after ordering it on Thursday night whilst working on site in Hong Kong. I don't think you could get better turnaround than that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR Man Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I have found that Hattons parcels usually take about 3-4 weeks to come , as I think that they use courier service ,but even when they send by Royal Mail this can take between 2 -5 weeks to arrive. Rails take foverever to arrive .Bromsgrove Models ,dcc Supplies , The new Modellers Shop seem to come within a week ,I think this is because they use 1st Class airmail and whilst it is not Railway based THE BOOK DEPOSITORY( Free postage worldwide) arrive within 4-6 days regards GWR Man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I just went searching for the email from Hatons that notified me when my purchase was picked & packed, then mailed out. That was on the 17th May. My wife ordered a parcel from Saltburn on the opposite side of the UK, the day after my purchase was mailed out and her parcel it arrived in 4 days... Hmmm. To think I was only waiting on 3 x packets of Bachmann bogies and she recieved a large bag of wool... Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggie Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 A month ago I ordered some track from Hattons, I remember thinking 'surely City Link aren't that bad...' I'm still waiting. Note to self, don't be a tight ###### and spend an extra £1 on the Royal Mail option! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggie Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 A month ago I ordered some track from Hattons, I remember thinking 'surely City Link aren't that bad...' I'm still waiting. Note to self, don't be a tight ###### and spend an extra £1 on the Royal Mail option! I'm happy to report that the track I ordered on the 25th April arrived today. Just 6 weeks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR Man Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Hi Baggie perhaps it took longer to get to you ,(as the standard time I wait for Hattons is 3-4 weeks), is because you live in the deep south of the country and it takes Australia Post that much longer to worki that out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallaroonian Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I had a few issues with this over the last couple of years. There was a thread about it. My experience in a nutshell is t,: - one package out of a three package shipment from Hattons was lost and replaced by them. Issue was time and hassle - one single package shipment appeared lost and Hattons replaced; original subsequently turned up after .. I forget.. over 2 months anyway - large order from Hattons requested via courier and turned up in 3 days (Perth Aus). Shipping price on that weight same or less than RM. - other orders from anyone else (Rails, Bromsgrove, ebayers) all turn up within 1o working days of posting sometimes less. So my conclusion. Hattons are great but there is something going on with the RM out of their area.Another eg - tracked parcel shown as still in Liverpool showed up at the door. etc etc etc. I think sometimes items go sea freight from Liverpool sorting office when they are supposed to be air mail Therefore always get registered air mail as a min if using Hattons (or prob anyone else) and try to build up a large order and get it couriered, this is far more reliable. Rgds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR Man Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Hi Guys ordered stuff from Peters Spares in Mibblesboro, UK , parcel posted Monday 25th June ,arrived in Blue Mountains N.SW. Monday morning 2nd July ,can't complain at that service. Also they do answer emails which apart from some of the well known shops is a rarity Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 My 3 packets of Bachmann bogies finally turned up from Hattons and it only took 16 days... What I couldn't believe was the size of the box they turned up in. This box was big enough for 7 DVDs in there cases. Now I would have thought a padded bag would have been sufficient, not a box full of those oversized bubble bags. Anyway, they arrived. Then again, I had ordered two books from the UK, from a member on another site (YMR) on the 17th June and those two books turned up in 6 days... Go figure ! Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Hi, I use nothing but good old Royal Mail for all post and it can be 5 to 10 days to NZ, Australia and USA but mostly 5/7 days as customers have let me know when it arrives. Had an email this morning thanking me and the postal service for a Tuesday PM to the following Monday AM delivery, UK to Australia. I've heard that some carriers will wait a few days to fill an air cargo container but 4 weeks is a bit off IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcmacchipilot Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Honestly, I often tend to think the hold up can more often or not result in Australia post. I tracked an Item coming from hattons and it was within australia within 3 days via plane. It then took just under 2 weeks for the item to arrive. I lived at that time less than 40k's from the airport... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetersSpares Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Dear all we are still reviewing our postage UK & overseas and as soon as we can get a better deal from someone other than Royal Mail we will re-work it. We do try our best to ship items the same or next day (excluding a weekend / bank holidays when we do not get a collection service) . Thanks for all the kind coments and please feel free to browse our eBay stoer and new sibe site just went live last Thursday. Peter, Peters Spares Model Railways Ltd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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