New Verdant Shipping
While the shipping delay has been frustrating, I can’t reiterate enough how nice the person (Lauren) I’m dealing with at Verdant has been and how hard they are working to fix the problem and work out the kinks with their shipping issues. That alone is enough for me to consider ordering from them again.
Yeah, they’ve been such a good bunch of people for so long. This shipping thing is annoying, but I wouldn’t bail on them for this.
I’ve had two Verdant packages shipped from China.
My first order was Sept 5 (order + TOTM subscription); I received the shipping notification for the order on Sept 14, and the notification for my tea of the month box (Sept) on Sept 26. The order appeared not to actually be mailed out until Sept 24 (10 days later?!), and I received it Sept 30. The TOTM box was mailed out Sept 25, and arrived Oct 5.
Can’t say I was overly impressed with the length of time it seems to take to simply get the package in the system, but as long as I receive it, I suppose it’s ok.
My experience has been similar. My current package that was supposed to have been shipped on Oct. 12 is scheduled to be delivered on Oct. 30. If that holds up, then I’ll be a happier camper. But you’re right. Getting the package prepared and to the shipper (and then moved into the mail system) should be the fastest part of the process, not the slowest. I expect potential transit delays and of course you can’t control US Customs or the USPS.
I hope someone has linked Verdant to this thread – not so that they can explain anything, but so they know this is a concern and something to work on.
I ordered from Harney & Sons once and had a similar experience of 2 week delays before shipping the package. It was enough to turn me off from them, and I’m sure Verdant will see similar results if they can’t improve things.
I did let Lauren at Verdant know there was a Steepster discussion but didn’t give her an actual link. Besides the actual shipping delay itself, they have been a delight to deal with. Prompt and courteous communication and trying to rectify the situation. That’s enough for me to give them another shot and I’m hoping they are able to streamline their process. I like them and I’m sure I’ll like their product, so I want to see them do well.
Depending on where it’s being shipped from and what service is being used there may not be tons they can do unless they actually transport the package elsewhere in China and ship from there. Shandong does not have e_packet and parcels I have regularly received using regular mail from other sellers in Shandong usually take between 16-21 days to arrive. Lately mail from China has taken longer. It often takes about a week from showing mailed at the local station to being scanned at an outward exchange station and after that I usually don’t get any updates until it’s either in Vancouver ( I live in Canada) or at a local sorting station. When I used to compare timings with someone buying from the sellers as me who lived in the west coast in the states. They would usually receive their parcels 4-7 days before me. Even epacket parcels have taken about 2 weeks lately.
Some sellers will sometimes use Singapore post as well. In this case you will often see a change in the tracking information.
I do remember the first parcel I got from Shandong took one month to arrive. The seller was good about it. He was more concerned about the length of time until arrival than I was.
I don’t know if that helps but this is a bit of my experience with China Post. I have only ever had one parcel that was lost and the seller reshipped it to me by courier at their cost.
I received my tracking number for the October box today. :)
I received my shipping note for my second TOTM box yesterday.
Considering that they’ve moved their operations to China, not the easiest country to get things in motion if you are dealing with multiple people and systems, and this is only their second box being sent from China under this new system, they are likely having quite a few things to iron out. In my opinion, understandably so. We should probably give them a bit of a break.
Two weeks from payment to processing to shipping is reasonable given that their teas are coming from the people who have picked and prepared and packaged the leaves. Shipping then takes another week or so to get to us.
I personally see this as quite reasonable.
Also, this month’s teas are coming from a different person/tea farm than they had scheduled and anticipated last month, so I imagine that there would have been a fair bit of upheaval in the interim, for countless reasons.
All said, I think they are doing a great job and I admire their efforts in all this.
I would, however, like to read about the tea farmer(s) who are providing the tea this month. Another indicator that this month has been a bit of a scramble for them. I imagine that is going to be posted at some point soon.
I ordered tea on October 18 and was surprised to find it in the mail today! I was expecting around a month like Teavivre usually takes, so I thought that time was pretty good (to Canada)
My TOTM shipped from China seven days ago and arrived on my doorstep two days ago. Five days from China to Canada. Not bad at all.
They seem to have worked out any shipping issues and things are moving smoothly. When I received the initial package (the teas I ordered were all excellent) I decided to give them another shot and place another order. I placed the order on October 30 and it’s set to arrive early next week. That’s pretty darn quick. The thing I can’t reiterate enough is how great the people at Verdant were to deal with. I’m pretty pleased all the way around now.
November boxes are shipping now. Yay!!! Just got my tracking number.
Verdant Shipping is NO GOOD for me at all, I cant even get an update on tracking to see whats going on or anything. Same thing as last time.
I guess all good things come to an end at some point :(
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