Shipping From Conid?

[alaskazimm]

I've had my eye on a Conid for some time now and am finally ready to make the plunge with my yearly dose of Alaskan "mad money" (the yearly Permanent Fund Dividend). I vacillated between the Regular Bulkfiller and the Minimalistica for some time before settling on the demonstrator Minimalistica with the Delrin cap. Also getting the Ti fine and a steel medium nib.

 

The order page contains a note that standard shipping is now via DHL, whereas previously (I think) shipping could be regular post or DHL. I've not heard much of anything good about DHL especially with regards to exorbitant fees to release packages from customs. Despite their reputation, I haven't had problems with the USPS system on my various orders from the EU and requested that be the shipping method when I ordered. So I'm wondering how recent experiences have been with the shipping from Conid to the US, especially to out of the way places where DHL doesn't regularly deliver. Should I be concerned? Be prepared to open the bank account further?

 

Still, looking forward to my first Conid!

[SpecTP]

yes.. you will likely need to check regularly to see if you have to pay custom fees

[alaskazimm]

Thank you, I feared as much.

[fountainbel]

Hi alaskazimm,

You actually have the choice between registered shipment with Bpost - the Belgian postal services- or DHL.

DHL became the standard shipping shipping method for Conid, but if you send an E-mail to Conid -asking for registered Bpost shipment ,they will surely send it as such.

Regards,

Francis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've had my eye on a Conid for some time now and am finally ready to make the plunge with my yearly dose of Alaskan "mad money" (the yearly Permanent Fund Dividend). I vacillated between the Regular Bulkfiller and the Minimalistica for some time before settling on the demonstrator Minimalistica with the Delrin cap. Also getting the Ti fine and a steel medium nib.

 

The order page contains a note that standard shipping is now via DHL, whereas previously (I think) shipping could be regular post or DHL. I've not heard much of anything good about DHL especially with regards to exorbitant fees to release packages from customs. Despite their reputation, I haven't had problems with the USPS system on my various orders from the EU and requested that be the shipping method when I ordered. So I'm wondering how recent experiences have been with the shipping from Conid to the US, especially to out of the way places where DHL doesn't regularly deliver. Should I be concerned? Be prepared to open the bank account further?

 

Still, looking forward to my first Conid!

 

Hi

[alaskazimm]

Thank you, fountainbel. I'll send an email their way.

[oldrifleman]

You can request that your pen be shipped by BP post and in the USA it will be delivered by the post office. Per their notes this is an on-demand service as DHL is the default. Just ordered another Regular, ECD for shipping is Oct 6th

Edited September 12, 2017 by oldrifleman

[sketchstack]

I will say that I have had more than one Conid sent to me and while one of them was "pulled aside" and was delayed a few days in customs, the rest were in and out of JFK customs within 24 hrs. I never had to pay any fees and there was no evidence that any of my shipments were opened.

 

Also keep in mind that the tracking information is not exactly real time. Or customs might forget to mark it "outbound". So if it ever appears that the shipment is stuck somewhere (esp. customs), it may very well be in transit.

[alaskazimm]

Thank you for the replies. I guess my main question is how does DHL handle the delivery to out of the way places? Do they shift it to the USPS system for final delivery?

 

I live in "bush" Alaska, off the road system in a fly-in only village. We get UPSP deliveries M, W, & F; FedEx doesn't deliver out here but curiously UPS is delivered to the post office. When I go to Anchorage I see UPS and FedEx trucks regularly but have never seen a DHL truck or airplane, so I'm concerned about the pen being sent back to Belgium because they don't/can't come out here, or even worse being routed to a black hole of undeliverable parcels.

[sketchstack]

This message below is from the DHL website. If you ring them up I'm sure they can give you specifics.

 

These days it's hard to know who ends up handling a given package as they appear to contract with one another. Which is nice because that usually means there are more options --but as in your case, it's hard to tell exactly how the parcel will end up.

 

If it's helpful, I had Conid sent Bpost to my PO Box (USPS) and everything went smoothly.

 

Alaska

DHL has a long history of experience in Alaska, maintaining offices in both Anchorage and Fairbanks since 1970. With specific expertise in the mining and petroleum sectors, our staff of transportation professionals has both the experience and resources to effectively support your logistics needs throughout the region.

http://www.dhl-usa.com/en/logistics/freight_transportation/domestic_services/alaska_solutions.html

 

Thank you for the replies. I guess my main question is how does DHL handle the delivery to out of the way places? Do they shift it to the USPS system for final delivery?

 

I live in "bush" Alaska, off the road system in a fly-in only village. We get UPSP deliveries M, W, & F; FedEx doesn't deliver out here but curiously UPS is delivered to the post office. When I go to Anchorage I see UPS and FedEx trucks regularly but have never seen a DHL truck or airplane, so I'm concerned about the pen being sent back to Belgium because they don't/can't come out here, or even worse being routed to a black hole of undeliverable parcels.

[mulrich]

Have you tried going on DHL's website and creating a shipment to your house? I assume they'd tell you no pretty quickly if they can't make it to you.

[alaskazimm]

These days it's hard to know who ends up handling a given package as they appear to contract with one another. Which is nice because that usually means there are more options --but as in your case, it's hard to tell exactly how the parcel will end up.

 

If it's helpful, I had Conid sent Bpost to my PO Box (USPS) and everything went smoothly.

 

That is helpful, thank you. And given my good experiences in the 4 or 5 times I've ordered from the EU, in the end I decided to go with Bpost.

 

Have you tried going on DHL's website and creating a shipment to your house? I assume they'd tell you no pretty quickly if they can't make it to you.

 

That's a great idea and one that never crossed my mind. I'm the master at getting lost in the weeds and missing the obvious path I may have to go that route for the next Conid.

[alaskazimm]

Although I've had my new Minimalistica for a week now, I thought I would try to bring some closure to this thread; but at the same time there isn't really much to tell. As noted above, given my good experience with shipping via the post office on several pen orders from the EU, I decided to go with Bpost for shipping. I got shipping notice right on the expected ship date from the initial order - great work there Conid! The enroute time to bush Alaska was one day short of two weeks, which is a little longer than usual but not out of line. It typically takes about 2 to 3 days longer for mail to reach us here than most other places.

 

The packaging came through great, no extra import duties. The only bad thing was there wasn't any tracking so I couldn't see where it was at any time. So the upshot to all this is if you want to avoid DHL for whatever reason, Bpost and USPS came through great. I wouldn't hesitate to use that shipping method again for my next Bulkfiller!

[Lloyd]

... for my next Bulkfiller!

I guess that means you really like the Minimalistica.

[alaskazimm]

I guess that means you really like the Minimalistica.

 

Oh yeah - I've already gone through 1 1/2 fills on it. Feels great in the hand and the Ti nib is sublime. But I also love the M400 size pens so a Slimline is looking mighty tempting at the moment as well. I have a feeling that Conids are like Pelikans in their breeding habits.