TeaChat

I placed an order with Jing Tea Shop on 10/1 - a Friday. They shipped promptly on the very next business day - 10/4 - a Monday, via China Airmail Post. I still haven't received the package 3 weeks later.

My question is - should I give up hope, or would it be realistic to continue to watch for the postman to come with my goody bag? Of course I'll continue to watch and hope even if it's unrealistic, but I might order more tea from someone closer like Tea Trekker or Seven Cups.

My chinese orders sometimes take less than 2 weeks, but often take 4 or 5 weeks. I would not worry for another 3 weeks.

Sometimes they are slow arriving from China, sometimes they lie around in Customs while the "poor overworked customs staff, drink tea whilst deciding whether or not to open the package "

Yeah at a minimum I get stuff 10 days to the UK at worse it can be 4-5 weeks. Its been a lot better recently though.

JRS22 wrote:I placed an order with Jing Tea Shop on 10/1 - a Friday. They shipped promptly on the very next business day - 10/4 - a Monday, via China Airmail Post. I still haven't received the package 3 weeks later.

My question is - should I give up hope, or would it be realistic to continue to watch for the postman to come with my goody bag? Of course I'll continue to watch and hope even if it's unrealistic, but I might order more tea from someone closer like Tea Trekker or Seven Cups.

I would start to worry if it does not come in the next week or two. For some reason shipping from China seems to be the most notorious of places I have ever ordered from in terms of the wide range of time that is considered "normal." Basically if I ever order anything from China (and I am not paying for EMS), I consider it a bonus if my package shows up in under two weeks ( I think I only had that happen once), but for the most part I expect it to show up in week 3 or 4 after the order.

My order from Jing Tea Shop sat in my post office for weeks because I did not get the 'attempted delivery' notice. I think it arrived in under 2 weeks, before I was really looking for it, and I heard from Sebastien several weeks later that it was there. I guess they were tracking the delivery.

Thanks for all the speedy replies - I feel much better about the shipping time. It's so different from ordering tea directly from Japan. All the times I ordered from O-Cha the tea arrived in a week, and my one order from Artistic Nippon was here in 3 days.

Yeah Taiwan is usually under a week for me as well.

After my cousin from Guangzhou shipped a package before Christmas and it arrived in Pennsylvania in April of the next year, I don't much trust the Chinese Post to ever be timely. Personally, I'd wait a month before worrying too much. Then, I'm also still waiting for something that was shipped around the same time as yours.

I typically have to wait at least a month for orders from China...but then Canada Post is awfully slow too...

So I've accepted the slow mail delivery from China, and also, I took another look at my tea supply. What with all the chinese tea purchases I made so far this year, and the raw puerh OTTI and generous samples of assorted puerh a fellow teachatter gifted me with, I can probably make it to the next harvest if necessary.

Thanks for all the feedback.

There are those fairy tales where the good witch tells the children that if they all believe in magic then the desired outcome will ensure. You all got me believing this past weekend that my tea wasn't lost in transit, and it arrived today. Six 25 gram "samples" and two 7 gram free samples from Jingteashop. I really am set for tea for some time, especially with another OTTI on the way.

Awesome, all is well that ends well!

I have been impatiently awaiting for tea from China since Friday of last week. And I haven't been waiting nearly as long as you... My last shipment arrived promptly 10 business days after ordering and after that I ordered some from California which arrived in four days... I guess I have been spoiled lately. Now I'm scared that my tea won't arrive until next week.

I suppose the lesson to be learned is no emergency orders from China. If you're out of chinese tea and need more now (an emergency for teachatters) - buy from a local supplier.

JRS22 wrote:I suppose the lesson to be learned is no emergency orders from China. If you're out of chinese tea and need more now (an emergency for teachatters) - buy from a local supplier.

Or pay for EMS!

Or get some Japanese tea from Japan which takes a week +/-.