2011/1/14 Tomasz Ganicz polimerek@gmail.com:
2011/1/14 Daniel ~ Leinad danny.leinad@gmail.com:
In Poznań (Poland) we've just received a package (we are very happy :D), but after many problems:
- the address was wrong (only postal code was correct)
- the telephone number was wrong
- 2 times a tracking number has been changed - when we watched the old
numbers, there was still status "Initiated"
- accordance with the procedures (these are similar across the
European Union), the package was detained for customs, but customs office did not have my e-mail address, so they could not contact me (office requires filling in a declaration which is in the package and what is its value) - if I did not call the office, this package would be sent back to San Francisco after 5 days...
Good luck to all those who are awaiting shipment :-)
Yes.. And the package sent to WMPL was sent back due to customs problems, which in Poland are more tricky when the package is sent to organisation or company - no to the person.I don't know about other EU countries but it might be similar - starting from January 1st 2011 in order to receive package from customs a company or institution needs to have EORI number (http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/eorihome_en.htm) - in Poland it takes around 2 weeks to get it. In our package there was also missing a "letter of origin" without which it is impossible to go through customs. I think for future actions of this kind it will be better if one of EU chapters prints and sends promotional materials to other EU chapters...
So sorry to hear this (and about the other bad experiences with customs too).... when we sent things to Poland for Wikimania I believe a package or two got lost then as well. We just have bad luck with the mail :( Maybe we can start to document this kind of "best practice" for mailing things around the world on meta or the outreach wiki for any big future events -- things like mailing to an individual rather than an organization, or having to enclose a letter of origin, are very useful to know and will make it much smoother in future.
And yes, maybe distributing printing so a chapter takes it on for the region might be the way to go in future -- let's try it next time!
-- phoebe