Experience with BigBadToyStore international shipping, especially to Canada?

[andrewsaurus rex]

Sorry to harp on another etailer but i'm having a problem with BBTS.  I placed my first ever order with them on Feb 10.  A week later I get a shipping notice and tracking number for FedEx International Mail Service.  Great. 

Nine days later the tracking has not updated at all, so I call FedEx and they tell me they are still waiting for the package to be given to them by BBTS, that all BBTS did was create a FedEx label.  I contact BBTS by email and voice mail (not able to talk to a live person) and am told that the package was given to FedEx and is moving along as it should be.  Oy.

So, anyone with experience with FedEx FIMS?  Is it normal for the tracking to not update at all, and the item just shows up one day, or are their supposed to be regular tracking updates? 

And for anyone in Canada, how long does it usually take for FedEx FIMS to get delivered?  A couple of weeks.? A month?

Thanks for any info.

[stargatedalek]

I ordered a BOTM raptor through BBTS a few years ago, it never showed up and I demanded a refund which I eventually got, despite repeated insistence it had already shipped despite the tracking only showing "label created".

[andrewsaurus rex]

i'll record this for posterity, as I don't think anyone is very interested.

However, after 5 weeks and 3 days my package from Big Bad Toy Store finally arrived.  About 2 1/2 times longer than packages normally take form the US to me here in Canada.

The only reason i'm mentioning this is because of the following reason.  The package went from Wisconsin, to Newark New Jersey.  From there it was sent to Sweden and mailed to Canada from there.

I know from discussions on various forums that this was not an error.  This is the way FedEx does it when shipping packages to Canada, at least with their International Mail service.

If anyone can explain to me why they would do such a seemingly crazy thing, I am all ears....or I guess since this is an internet forum, I am all eyes...

[Halichoeres]

It might be as simple as having lots of scheduled flights between the US and Europe, and lots between Canada and Europe, but few between Canada and the US. That could make it faster to send it the long way.

[andrewsaurus rex]

interesting thought...that would explain the lengthy delay in shipping as they wait for empty space on flights so the cost of shipping to Europe and back is essentially nothing.

But FedEx has a huge presence in Canada so it's hard t believe there is a lack of flights.  Plus this has been going on for years (at least back to 2015), which is way before covid and there were surely plenty of flights between the US and Canada.

[andrewsaurus rex]

In fairness to both Big Bad Toy Store and FedEx i'm posting this update.

Though my first order took 35 days to arrive, I decided to place a second order with BBTS and I had it shipped FedEx International Mail Service as before.

This time it only took 20 days to arrive.  BBTS took 6 days to ship (7 days the first time) and while somewhat slow dispatch times seem to be the norm with them (from various forum posts I've read), it really isn't a big deal.  So overall a good transaction and i'll most likely be purchasing from them again.

And by the way, this package too went from Newark, to Sweden to Canada.