What You Can Do About Our Shipping Problems

I wanted to share some recent experiences I've had with customs policies affecting my shipments from Element14. I've been receiving shipments from Element14 since 2015, and the process has generally been smooth. While I've encountered minor issues with customs policies in the past, Element14 always provided excellent support to resolve them.

However, my recent experiences have been less favorable, though this is due to new customs policies implemented in August 2023 and not due to any fault of Element14 or UPS. My last two shipments were marked as 'abandoned' because they were sent to me as an individual consignee. Under the new rules, shipments to individual consignees require physical inspection by a customs officer. Once in the inspection queue, the shipments are beyond the reach of courier services like UPS, which led UPS's automatic labeling system to mark them as 'abandoned'

The main issue is the unpredictability of the inspection process. No one knows when an officer will inspect the shipment, as it depends on the queue length. For me, this process took over two months. Despite contacting UPS multiple times, they could only advise me to wait.

During this period, Element14 kindly sent me another shipment to ensure I received my materials in time for a design challenge. Despite their best efforts, the second shipment faced the same issue and was also marked as 'abandoned'. Eventually, I received both shipments, but unfortunately, I couldn't participate actively in the design challenge due to the delays. This was quite disheartening.

I also faced similar delays with a prize sent to me as a winner of the "Little Free STEM Library" design challenge. Again, the individual consignee issue caused significant delays. I even received phone calls from customs officers who were unfamiliar with such technological products being shipped as prizes or samples. These conversations, which felt more like interrogations, lasted about 20 minutes each. Although I managed to convince them, the process was uncomfortable and frustrating.

This situation has made me hesitant to apply for other events so far... like road tests, as the risk of missing deadlines due to local customs issues disrupts my plans. One potential solution could be to use a business entity instead of my personal details to avoid the 'individual consignee' issues. This would require a Business Identification Number (BIN), possibly from the company I work for. However, I'm unsure if this aligns with Element14's policies.

Despite these challenges, I greatly appreciate Element14. There are several other ways I can engage with and contribute to this community. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I felt it was important to share my experiences and how these customs policies have impacted my involvement with Element14.

I wanted to share some recent experiences I've had with customs policies affecting my shipments from Element14. I've been receiving shipments from Element14 since 2015, and the process has generally been smooth. While I've encountered minor issues with customs policies in the past, Element14 always provided excellent support to resolve them.

However, my recent experiences have been less favorable, though this is due to new customs policies implemented in August 2023 and not due to any fault of Element14 or UPS. My last two shipments were marked as 'abandoned' because they were sent to me as an individual consignee. Under the new rules, shipments to individual consignees require physical inspection by a customs officer. Once in the inspection queue, the shipments are beyond the reach of courier services like UPS, which led UPS's automatic labeling system to mark them as 'abandoned'

The main issue is the unpredictability of the inspection process. No one knows when an officer will inspect the shipment, as it depends on the queue length. For me, this process took over two months. Despite contacting UPS multiple times, they could only advise me to wait.

During this period, Element14 kindly sent me another shipment to ensure I received my materials in time for a design challenge. Despite their best efforts, the second shipment faced the same issue and was also marked as 'abandoned'. Eventually, I received both shipments, but unfortunately, I couldn't participate actively in the design challenge due to the delays. This was quite disheartening.

I also faced similar delays with a prize sent to me as a winner of the "Little Free STEM Library" design challenge. Again, the individual consignee issue caused significant delays. I even received phone calls from customs officers who were unfamiliar with such technological products being shipped as prizes or samples. These conversations, which felt more like interrogations, lasted about 20 minutes each. Although I managed to convince them, the process was uncomfortable and frustrating.

This situation has made me hesitant to apply for other events so far... like road tests, as the risk of missing deadlines due to local customs issues disrupts my plans. One potential solution could be to use a business entity instead of my personal details to avoid the 'individual consignee' issues. This would require a Business Identification Number (BIN), possibly from the company I work for. However, I'm unsure if this aligns with Element14's policies.

Despite these challenges, I greatly appreciate Element14. There are several other ways I can engage with and contribute to this community. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I felt it was important to share my experiences and how these customs policies have impacted my involvement with Element14.