I much prefer USPS, it is a lot cheaper, and I have never had any problems with it. I don't need my gear to arrive the next day, I just want a cheap reliable service, which is what I get using USPS from the USA to Australia.
USPS does provide a little more detail than what Paul describes, as it tracks it into and out of customs as well...
Track & Confirm
Shipment Details
Your item cleared customs in AUSTRALIA at 12:50 pm on February 21, 2005. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.
Here is what happened earlier:
ARRIVED ABROAD, AUSTRALIA, February 21, 2005, 10:25 am
INTO FOREIGN CUSTOMS, AUSTRALIA, February 21, 2005, 10:25 am
INTERNATIONAL DISPATCH, LOS ANGELES AMC, February 18, 2005, 1:52 pm
ACCEPTANCE, February 17, 2005, 4:57 pm, EL SEGUNDO, CA 90245
Simon
Canberra
AUSTRALIA
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Schreiber [mailto:
synth1@...]
Sent: Monday, 21 February 2005 5:13 PM
To: MOTM litserv
Subject: [motm] More on foreign shipping
c) there is only ∗1∗ way to "track", and I use that term loosly, USPS packages.
That is a service called either 'Express Mail' (delivery in USA) or 'EMS Global
Mail' (foreign). The reason I say "loosly" is that the package is NOT tracked
station-to-station in great detail like say Fed-Ex. Rather, all you get is
really 3 possibilities:
the package was mailed
the package left the US and entered country XYZ
the package was delivered
you DO NOT see Fed-Exish detail like "it's on the truck in Berlin scheduled for
delivery at 4:11PM".
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