My commissioned sword from Rob Miller of Castle Keep in Scotland was shipped global priority using a service called parcelforce. Anyone here have an idea of what to expect as far as receiving the package? I assume customs will delay shipping. Rob said it will take 5-7 days for delivery...thanks, Larry

Hi Larry,
Parcelforce delivers it to your customs,
then your postal either UPS or USPS bring it on to you,
the tracking number you may have, will convert your side in and around clearing customs,
Never had a problem with swords going your way except the cost differences we have, compared to your services, which in my mind are a steal,
So in your position, I wouldn't be too worried bar the wait,
but over here, parcelforce can be either excellent or not, not much middle ground, but been ok of late, ;).
Don't forget, pic's and thoughts on your sword, good choice, Rob does some really nice work, stellar chap too,

Thanks kind sir! I will post thoughts and pics when she arrives....Larry

I wish you all the best with this and hope it gives you no problems. All I can say is that I usually refer to them as 'Parcelfarce'.

I cannot remember the shipper for certain, it may have been Parcelforce - I know it was one with which I was not familiar, but I bought a sword from Armour Class two years ago that arrived 48 hours after I was notified of the shipment. I thought that was amazingly fast. I hope you are as fortunate. Customs did not delay anything.

Will come UPS or USPS or whatever. As the destination, you most likely won't notice any difference from any other kind of delivery and assuming Rob did everything right it is likely to get to you faster than expected. I've recently purchased bicycle wheels out of the UK which are light but bulky and had them here in three business days with free shipping from the vendor. So overall, at least from Western Europe, it can be pretty much the same as buying from Ebay, Amazon, here or whatever.

I ship to the US regularly and personally have found Parcel force, which is the parcel delivery arm of the generally excellent Royal Mail to be very good, though due to the weight of items I send I usually fine cheaper options.

I would say that Robs' estimate of 5-7 days is about right and there is no worry if he has filled out the customs form. In 12 years of shipping to the US I have only ever had one parcel go missing and that was due to no customs form.

USPS does have a black hole that things sometimes drop into for a couple of weeks, but they inevitably get vomited out at some point.

My only tip (as a shipper) is that USPS often does not leave a note to say they have attempted delivery, so if you know it is on the way stay in close contact with your local USPS office.

Dont worry - it will get to you, very likely in 3-5 days possibly up to 10 and in exceptional circumstances within3-4 weeks - but you will get it.

Oh - and it will be worth the wait.

Tod

Thanks so much gents for the advice. much appreciated....Larry

It looks like parcelforce delivered very quickly to the US but its now stuck in the abysmal black hole of the NY customs arm of the USPS. Who knows when it will get cleared now..what a joke