Sofirn Warning! *Shipping Now Take Many Moons*

I do find myself wondering if organisations like China Post will eventually get fed up with waiting for aircraft cargo space and just charter seagoing freighters.

Dump the whole backlog for Europe in shipping containers, wait 2 months for it to reach Rotterdam and let the local EU postal services use ground transport from there. Do the same with the backlog for North America via San Francisco. I wouldn’t put it past them if the backlogs pile up enough.

I’ve been waiting over 6 weeks for a package that would normally arrive in 3 weeks, and I wouldn’t be surprised to wait another 10 weeks if they sent the backlog by sea. I’ve been trying to stay relaxed in a “it’ll be here when it gets here” sort of way, albeit with limited success :slight_smile:

I am more worried about things getting lost at this point. It sucks but I can wait it out. Buying within the continent from now on for a while.

Me too. I’m not ordering anything else from China until I see what happens with the stuff I have in transit.

Here in the good old U.S A. we have protected free speech so moaning is not only allowed , it’s encouraged .

Sofirn does not delay in taking my money .

I am waiting 6 weeks yet the tracking says the following :

“Origin Post is Preparing Shipment -> We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece.”

Ive had good luck with Express shipping from China from both Banggood and Hank. I asked Hank about it with my recent order from Intl on 4/4 but he said that it would probably take the same amount of time as the standard since everything was so far behind.

I was patiently waiting for some heater cartridges and the max delivery time expired. They had been reminding me the order was about to be “complete” for a free days. So AliExpress or the shipper suddenly changed the status last night from awaiting dispatch to on an airplane then delivered. On a Sunday. I was being patient but that forced my hand to open a dispute.

I ordered their rail mounted light a couple weeks ago and it arrived in a reasonable time frame… I’d have to check exact dates but it was only a couple weeks.

…/ free days. / Would that be “few” days or ‘free delivery’ ?

Anyways, seems like the shipper (store) is stalling for manufacturer to ship then once they did ship the system gives a status of ’delivery”. In other words the seller is having the heater cartridges drop shipped and there was some confusion with your order notification. The seller should have been given the delivered notice, not you. I too would cancel the order and open a dispute.

Had my problems with FastTech; they didn’t have the merchandise but awaiting OEM. After much time and many exchanges, it eventually did get resolved but these shenanigans are not good business practices.

Missed that one. It’s obnoxious how bad the Google keyboard is now. It used to work great but if course they couldn’t leave it alone. I meant to say “few”.

My issue is resolved, got a refund. The good news is that Hank Wang uses a better shipper, so it does look like my KR4 is somewhere at a domestic airport already. At least the status is being updated. His slow shipping method is way better.

Ordered some facemasks from Sofirn on March 30 and they got here today, so 28 days. Not much longer than normal.

Still waiting on my order since it shipped on the 18th of March and tracking fell asleep on the 20th.

I have some glow gaskets that have not moved from the “automobile transfer station” since the 5th. I figure if they do show up it will be a nice surprise.

My headphone cables were rerouted via Chongqing and are now apparently heading to Europe via a series of trains. They keep “arriving in destination” but I’ve no idea where these destinations are.

I never got any tracking information on my order, but it showed up eventually. Have faith.

I bought stuff from Aliexpress early and about mod April and most is in transit, but my Shockli batteries are in limbo I think. Like you, I’m buying mostly local, but refuse to pay outrageous prices for batteries if I can help it. And some stuff just isn’t available stateside. Alas, hurry up and wait…

You start unboxing your long multi-AAA penlight…

“Ewww, is that coronavirus on it?”

and then…

I gave up waiting and filed a Paypal claim. Six weeks with no movement on the tracking number is enough for me. I claim again never to do business again with Sofirn… until the next time they offer me a coupon.

Then I will get to go through this process all over again - either the coupon being faulty and my order being cancelled, the item being out of stock and my coupon being wasted, the item shipping with a tracking number that never works, or the package disappearing en route.

I am in the same boat. I Placed an order middle of March , tracking number indicates it is still in China.
Another order I placed 3 months ago never showed up.

I love their flashlights but I swear I will never buy another Sofirn product shipping from China .

How is the package travelling around the world?

1. Packages have to wait for flights to USA, Canada, Germany etc., some catches a flight after a week waiting, some 2-3 weeks, some didn’t pass the scan of post office and be sent back.

2. Then the packages have to pass the customs checking. Some passs in the same day, some in several days, some in weeks.

3. Once the package is in your country, usually it takes several days to get delivered, if the pandemic situation is not that bad.

Why the tracking information is not updating for a long time?

Example 1:

2020-04-22 23:48
Last mile=> USPS, number 4202120292748927005303010033764137

2020-04-22 21:48
Departed from Yanwen Facility

2020-04-21 16:38
Process completed in Yanwen Facility

2020-04-21 11:58
Picked up

2020-04-21 08:52
Jamaica, Picked Up by Shipping Partner, USPS Awaiting Item

2020-04-21 03:38
Baltimore, Shipping Label Created USPS Awaiting Item

It says USPS Awaiting Item, and offers a new tracking ID 4202120292748927005303010033764137, if you track it

It says
2020-04-21 09:52
JAMAICA, NY 11434, Picked Up by Shipping Partner, USPS Awaiting Item -> Your item was picked up by a shipping partner at 9:52 am on April 21, 2020 in JAMAICA, NY 11434. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date.

What is going on?
It means the Yanwen logistic company rent an airplane to JAMAICA, NY. All the packages to JAMAICA, NY are waiting for it. And these packages will be transferred to USPS on arrival.

So there won’t be update before it arrives in JAMAICA, NY.

Example 2:

2020-04-11 17:03
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment -> We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece.

2020-04-11 17:03
CHINA, NANNING EMS, Processed Through Facility

2020-04-11 09:11
CHINA, NANNING, Processed Through Facility

2020-04-09 18:13
CHINA, Acceptance

It says EMS is preparing on 11th April and nothing.

Well, it seems China post can not get the priority for airplanes.

How about the DHL, UPS, FedEx? Their serivce is suppose to be much better.

Actually DHL, UPS, FedEx are much more expensive but offer the same slow shipping now especially to USA. Because the packages have to wait for 2 weeks or longer before catch the airplane.

If you are located in USA, please give it 4-8 weeks. Even amazon shipping takes longer than before, how could international shipping not be delayed?

Sellers are more anxious and worried than you. All we can do is waiting and push the logistic company to look into some unusual cases.

Stay at home, keep safe and healthy. Some day, your package will arrive.

Thank you for that insight into the world of international shipping. It seems like shipping oberseas is a mixed bag unless you pay lots extra for Express. I doubt I’ll pay $40 for Express shipp9ng for a $10 order of emitters though! I shipped 4 stand up paddleboards to Japan once when I worked for a online retailer that sold internationally. Shipping on FedEx was I think over $350. But it got there in about a week (5 business days). That was 7 years ago though. I am sure the rates for that fast overseas shipping has gone way up.