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To HELL and back: shipping the '08 Standard Custom


polara

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A guitar I bought from overseas arrived at the FedEx hub in Memphis and for three days is sitting in "Clearance delay" purgatory. The only detail is it's waiting on FDA clearance for animal products.

FDA?

CITES ain't FDA territory, it's Fish and Wildlife (Dep't of Interior) and anyway this guitar has zero rosewood of any variety, and not even a bone nut. Just normal mahogany, maple top, ebony board. No lizard skin, unicorn testicles, or mother of elephant. It's not even an old guitar.

No one at FedEx says more than "we're waiting for customs." Anyone else experienced this? Any magic words or incantations to release this guitar?

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Had many Chicago Customs delays when getting guitars shipped via EMS/USPS from Japan. But that's all they were, delays. Eventually cleared and got to me the next day.

I have a lot less experience with having things shipped via FedEx. However, the few times I used them there were no delays whatsoever. I thought FedEx acted as a customs agent and cleared items themselves.

I did once get a call from FedEx customs clearance area asking if the guitar contained any real shell material. I answered no and that was the end of that. It was delivered on time. 

My guess is your package was probably randomly selected for inspection.

Good luck.

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I managed to reach a very nice guy who was asking what the guitar was made of, and I explained that by 2008, CITES mahogany restrictions has been in place for 5 years, the COA build sheet was in the case, etc. etc. etc.

30 minutes later I got two emails. One from a FedEx person saying I needed to email "a Lacey Act" for it to be released, and another saying it had been released.

I shall choose to not have seen the former, and (cautiously) celebrate the latter.

Studio C, I owe you man! I hope.

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Fingers crossed, good vibes sent for a quick resolution and positive outcome for you.

Like Tom Petty said, "the waiting is the hardest part...".

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Fingers crossed! I know about custom's delays as a normal. Sometimes they are about 'attention to detail'. That's what had Hamer builds delayed for years as far as I remember.

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My last guitar from overseas is now a few yrs back. I remember some customer delay (two or sree dayz on zhe airporrrt in Frankfurt), but nothing that worried me. But that was before the CITES madness, then....

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21 hours ago, Studio Custom said:

Yes, Washburn Frankenstein #1 sat in Memphis for two months, it was a paperwork error from the sender that caused the delay. 

I dealt with Jesse Mays at FedEx to resolve my problem  844-321-3936 ext 5562

kudos to Studio for keeping notes!  I usually write them on the back of a junk mail envelope that gets taped to my apt door.  When the issue gets resolved its off to the big recycle chute down the hall.  bombs away.

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  • polara changed the title to ""Clearance delay" in customs is now FedEx has LOST the HELL '08 Standard Custom

After a flurry of emails and calls 'tween Kev, myself, and three FedEx offices, we got the magic "cleared" notification on Monday.

Then silence.

Several phone calls, and as of this morning (Wednesday) they have not scanned it and no one knows where it is. I'm particularly bugged as this is Kev Bowers' 2008 custom-order Standard as seen in HELL videos and as heard on their albums. It's in a wooden shipping case, weighs 51 pounds, and was sent Priority Overnight, ferchrissakes!

But it's lost.

Fingers crossed.

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1 minute ago, 0054 said:

It will work out. That is a heck of a guitar, and a greatprice too! Congrats, can't wait for a tone report!

I'm PLANNING on playing it at a festival Sunday, as it's "Welcome to the nation of your birth" moment. We shall see...

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On 3/19/2018 at 12:57 PM, polara said:

A guitar I bought from overseas arrived at the FedEx hub in Memphis and for three days is sitting in "Clearance delay" purgatory.

I don't understand.  You're not an Explorer guy.  

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15 minutes ago, kizanski said:

I don't understand.  You're not an Explorer guy.  

I'm not. But this guitar is already weathered and beat, so I don't have the "I keep bumping into things" paranoia.

Plus I genuinely like Hell.

Plus it's just so badass, black with binding and an ebony board!

I know, insanity is saying I can't bond with that shape and then doing it again, but I have to try!

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I think you’re jumping the gun here.   It’s a pretty large 51 lb crate. Probably requires more handling than something small.   That said. Go to FedEx and add email notifications to the tracker .

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On 3/21/2018 at 5:46 AM, polara said:

I'm PLANNING on playing it at a festival Sunday, as it's "Welcome to the nation of your birth" moment. We shall see...

Hey Rick if it doesn't make it in time for the gig and you gotta have that look, you're welcome to play #33, it's in your neighborhood. B)

Shishkov_0033.jpg

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4 hours ago, DaveL said:

I think you’re jumping the gun here.   It’s a pretty large 51 lb crate. Probably requires more handling than something small.   That said. Go to FedEx and add email notifications to the tracker .

Oh, I did that. On a Priority Overnight that had an original delivery date on Monday, it was last tracked on a Monday, then no scans for three days. That's pretty clearly not normal.

Also the email notifications stopped coming... on the train to work this morning, I logged into FedEx and saw that at 3 this morning at had been put on a plane from Memphis and is now in my town. But never got an email notification. Crazy! But at least it's in the right ZIP code!

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1 hour ago, polara said:

Oh, I did that. On a Priority Overnight that had an original delivery date on Monday, it was last tracked on a Monday, then no scans for three days. That's pretty clearly not normal.

Also the email notifications stopped coming... on the train to work this morning, I logged into FedEx and saw that at 3 this morning at had been put on a plane from Memphis and is now in my town. But never got an email notification. Crazy! But at least it's in the right ZIP code!

Ok that's good...   we'll need pics!

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On 21.3.2018 at 12:34 PM, polara said:

But it's lost.

Sometimes it is better to keep the mouth shut and patiently let officials do their work rather than explaining to everybody what’s in the case and stimulate silent takeaways.

I wish you well of course!

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Made it. They never even opened the case, but apparently somehow just... lost it, as the Shishkov went through the same facility at the same time with no delays. What a frustrating experience...

gorch, I actually was told by the helpful FedEx manager in Memphis that it was a CITES issue and we started talking wood. He was actually interested in music and when I was supposed to play it, so perhaps he got the woman who asked for "A Lacey Act" to release it.

Arrived in tune, and in much better condition that Kev had advertised. Lovely guitar, nice neck, really easy to play. Full report after this weekend's show!

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One of the things that I learned is that if you hit the $2,500 value level when importing, it may requires a more "active" clearing process. I had a higher priced guitar (over $2,500) shipped to me from Japan via DHL. I wanted them to use FedEx, but they made a mistake and once it was gone there was no way to change it. Anyway, I ended up having several phone conversations with the clearance department at DHL and filling out several forms (one was a Lacey Act form detailing the different materials used in the manufacturing of the guitar) to clear it.

Back to the OP, glad it arrived safely.

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Just now, devrock said:

I wonder why Andy Sneap didn't buy this off Kevin to use for the Priest tour. He only plays his Edwards explorers on stage....

Question asked and answered.

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