My sob story

It all started when I first saw the Asus G71G-A2 on XoticPC's website, I was very excited and did a bunch of research so I ordered it!
XoticPC was very helpful, informative (I spoke with Justin).

I live in Hungary (Central Eastern Europe) so I was very particular about shipping arrangements. After consoling me, I took the plunge, went to the bank and sent the wire transfer (as not many companies take foreign credit cards which is understandable).
Wire transfer took like a week or something which made me very, very nervous and emailed them numerous times, Justin was never anything but helpful and polite. The payment went through and it went to preorder, as it was supposed to be released in those coming days.
Anyway, it got released, they did their work and they shipped it! I opted for USPS because their shipping cost as about 225 USD and the UPS was almost 600 USD. I never knew of USPS reputation having never lived there...
It shipped on November 25 2008. It still hasnt arrived today which is Feb 5 2009....
After it didnt deliver, Justin made the Lost package claim (of his own accord) on Jan 7 at the end of the delivery deadline. I emailed USPS numerous times and I just got the generic response, "Have sender contact us, you can sod off" or something to that effect.
USPS then started their investigation on that day and it is due to end on Feb 7, having located the package or declaring it lost.

It turns out that Asus isnt making the G71G-A2 anymore and have replaced it with the Q1 version and the only differences in it is that it has a Quad core instead of a dual and 2x250GB Hard drives instead of 2x320GB. The price being the same as the A2.
Justin has told me that if USPS declares the package as lost they can change my order to the Q1 version. This is a but of really good news.

So my questions are. If USPS declares the package as lost, how long will it be before the insurance can be claimed by XoticPC?
Couldnt really expect them to just send another laptop without payment...
And also if I want to change the Postal service to UPS, can Xotic send it through UPS, paying them that 225 USD and let me pay the remaining fee here when it arrives? (the wire transfer takes a very long time... and yes I do see UPS vans here in Hungary so they are present here)

Edit: Sorry for the huge block of text, I never thought I would make one...
Btw, This is in no way XoticPC's fault, their service is fantastic (especially making the lost claim on their own accord). It was entirely USPS's fault...

 

I'm from Latvia (eastern Europe) and I buy many things from USA every year but I always try to buy using Paypal from eBay. When item doesn't arrive they pay you compensation after about 2 months.

Anyway 225USD for shipping is too much. For that money you almost can buy tickets to USA and back. Fly there for couple days and buy everything you need I don't know if Hungary still need USA visa because then it is quite a problem.

I hope you will get money back.

 

Thanks, but did you mean 2 months after declared lost or 2 months after shipment?

 

I wont worry much Xotic-Pc is very respected here and Justin will take care of you. Once USPS declares your package loss its pretty fast process. I will see if they can find a better shipper next time around.

 

oh dear, another darn hungarian! (one of my best friends is hungarian, im being sarcastic with the "darn hungarian" comment)

any way...
in the US, USPS will only let you make a claim after 21 days of shipment, and they will take a few weeks to "investigate".
My guess, is because of high value of the shipped item, some postal worker stole it...

 

I think the reference is to the PayPal process which takes about two months for undelivered merchandise...

USPS is hard to deal with, and with a lost international package, it could take a long time for them to "investigate". However since it was insured your claim should be approved eventually, and you should get your insurance check perhaps after a month or two. Just make sure you have a copy of the receipt and customs form in case you need extra details. However most of the responsibility lies upon the shipper (the place you bought it) in terms of managing the claim with USPS.

I've only had this happen once in my years of doing business on the internet, and the claim took months. It was for a $200 audio interface so I ended up just taking the hit for the buyer (gave them a refund) until USPS eventually came through with the insurance check.

That's a brutal situation to be in, and I wish you the best of luck.

 

Well, the "investigation" started on Jan 7 and the completion deadline is tomorrow the 7th of Feb. I was expecting this kind of slow process from them after reading up about them, I am not sure about the insurance though. Hopefully the insurance is very quick after its declared lost, etc.

 

could be held up in customs.... I shipped a tshirt to the uk from the u.s. using usps a few years ago and it took nearly 60 days for it to reach the guy.

 

Yes, trans-border shipping is always a hassle. Be careful if you send stuff to Canada! I got a $50 used video card off ebay to fix the Dell in my sig. Customs sat on it for 2 weeks, and then taxed me. To add insult to injury, they also hit me with a handling fee!

 

I suppose this could be true but why does USPS say their average international shipping time is 3-5 postal days for Hungary? I thought this stuff wouldnt be so annoying

 

Maybe that's just letter mail?