Due to the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, flights to Europe, including flights by some shipping carriers, have been disrupted. Local Post Offices are currently backlogged with packages being sent to Europe thus, the shipment of your parcel to Europe will probably be delayed.

Air traffic will be affected for the next few weeks, and we encourage you to follow the measures below to avoid claims for Item Not Received caused by the delay in delivery and to minimize the loss to your business.

1.  Keep the communication with your buyers  in Europe open

You can use our standard email template (see below) in your emails to your buyers who have  already purchased an item from you. You can also send out regular emails on item tracking, reminding them the “volcanic eruption in Iceland”, to ensure your buyers are well-informed and to alleviate their concerns.

2.  Clearly inform your buyer on your website

Place a clearly visible notice on the expected delay of shipments to Europe due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

3.  Agree with your buyers to cancel the orders

Discuss with your buyers the option of receiving a refund by canceling any transactions made during this period, but that have not yet been shipped out.

4.  Update your Customer Service Message message on PayPal

You ccan post an update on your PayPal account, to inform your buyers about the shipments to Europe being delayed, before they open a dispute/claim against you. You can also use our standard email template in your Customer Service Message template for your PayPal account.

Customer Service Message:

Here‘s how to set up the Customer Service Message:

1.  Login to your PayPal account.

2.  Click “Profile” at the top of the page.

3.  Click “Customer Service Message” under Selling Preferences.

4.  Type the message that you would like to leave to your customers.

5.  Click “Save.”

Regular updates available on the websites below:

Hong Kong Post: http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/publications/news/2010/20100421b/index.htm

Royal Mail: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=112300784&mediaId=3800088#1600082

Singapore Post: http://www.singpost.com.sg/singpost_04media.htm

DHL: http://www.dhl.com/publish/g0/en/volcano_eruption.high.html

FedEx: http://fedex.com/be/alerts/volcano.html

UPS:http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/about/news/service_updates/20100415_european_volcano.html

Current Shipping Status:

China

  • China Post: Shipments to Europe resumed as of Apr. 21. China Post is now accepting new parcels but the shipping delay is inevitable until the existing backlog is cleaned up, which will take 2 to 3 weeks. China Post is currently working on organizing extra cargo flights to shorten the backlog clean up to 1 week.
  • Private couriers (Suntek, 4PX) and other commercial couriers (DHL/Fedex/UPS) seem to be operating normally.

Hong Kong and Taiwan

  • Hong Kong Post and Taiwan Post haven’t resumed the shipments to Europe yet. The limited cargo space has affected the shipping to the US and Brazil, so there will be delays in shipments to the US as well.
  • It will take at least 2 weeks to clean up the backlog.

South East Asia

  • Thailand Post accepts shipments to Europe, but those will be delayed due to the existing 2 week backlog.
  • There’s no impact on other destinations.