Ok, David, I think I agree with you. I went back to the USPS site, and clicked the option for "additional details", and this is what I got:
"Label/Receipt Number: 0306 2400 0001 4875 7607
Detailed Results:
Notice Left, August 31, 2007, 2:27 pm, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117
Acceptance, August 29, 2007, 2:54 pm, GREAT FALLS, MT 59401
Not that much detail eh? I am kind of wondering which post office, how long do they keep it before it is considered unclaimed, is it on its way back... Maybe I will go to our post office on my lunch hour tomorrow, and see if they can get any more details.
Sorry Mark.
S
David Liddle hoyas
Opps I repeated what Sara had written:-)
This message was edited Sep 5, 2007 7:52 PM
Do keep a look-out, Sara. I think the package is lost somewhere here though, they would have told me (I guess) if the package were being shipped back. It is probably in the back of the wrong carrier's truck or misplaced in the carrier station. I've talked to everyone from the postmaster on down, (and been to the P.O. five times- they act like I am oppressing them by coming in and bothering them so much!) and no one can supply any information, so it will just have to surface (or sink)!
This message was edited Sep 5, 2007 8:52 PM
You know....I kind of like the $100 minimum fee for insurance with express mail, because then I'd have an "excuse" to buy $100 worth of cuttings!
Mark,
I got H. lambii through this order. I don't think I ordered the large-leafed clone though...I got IML1046 (I don't have the catalogue in front of me, so I don't know which one that is). Anyway, the leaves are gigantic...so I'm thinking that maybe I did order the large one. Either way, I think my cutting only has 2 nodes now, so I can't do anything now.....but you are MORE than welcome to a cutting when (or IF) it grows. I know DGers are very generous and you'll probably get a replacement before then, but just keep that in the back of your mind. And as far as multiflora goes, by your description I definitely have javanica. No worries....you will either find your package or we will all do everything we can to replace the cuttings you ordered.
Carol,
You know, I completely forgot that you ship via FedEx and I never have to sign for the package. I guess most places that use that carrier don't waive the signature requirement, so I got confused. Thanks for the clarification.
Gabi
I know that shipping costs have gone up considerably in the past few years. It has now become a factor when deciding whether to place an order. I think that besides Fed Ex, UPS is also a valid alternative to the Post Office for shipping plants. I order a lot of stuff from Amazon so I'm a prime member, which entitles me to free 2 day UPS shipping on everything. The beauty of UPS, like Fed Ex, is the ability to track the package. I know where that box is at any given minute. I think with the Post Office it will always be a crap shoot. I for one would be willing to pay more for a more guaranteed track-able shipping method. Although, I understand the why Priority mail is chosen so often - It is easy. You don't have to hunt around for a box, you know exactly what it will cost to ship -$8.95 for as much as you can squeeze into the box. It would be the way to go, if only you could adequately track your package.
For those worried about not being there to sign for a package, have you considered having the package sent to your workplace. I have everything sent to me at work, because I know that I would never be home to sign for something if necessary, or worse yet, they would just leave it outside where it would be at the mercy of the elements.
I have had so much bad luck with UPS. I find them worse than USPS! But that's just me...not sure if anyone else has had problems with them. I think in a month's time they lost 1 package, reshipped a package back to the sender for no reason, and didn't buzz a neighbor's apartment when I left a note at the door to do so (so I had to go pick up the package). And even though having things sent to your workplace is a good alternative, I'm sure many people are not allowed to receive packages at work. I know I'm not! But I guess there are always other alternatives, like having it sent to a neighbor or something.
I think there is always a chance we take with any carrier. However, my opinion is that it's easier and *cheaper* to use USPS. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't want to go in on an order if the shipping fee was $20 - that's just way too much. Also, in addition to the shipping fee, we'd have to pay our share of the shipping fee to the person receiving the package, and also the phytosanitary & freight fees (which is about $1 per cutting). So it could run about 30 bucks for just 10 cuttings!
If it is any consolation, I had cuttings survive that arrived in an envelope (!) after being in the mail somewhere betw. 10 and 15 days, so I would think that packed well in a box, most of them should be ok as long as they arrive soon.
I've never had an ounce of trouble with UPS or FedEx and like Hoya_24 said with those two you can see every single movement that a package makes. I happen to know that when I order from Carol my box goes to Los Angeles,then to Memphis,then to Columbia,S.C. then to Myrtle Beach and the next stop is my front door steps. I dont even have to track it.I know the route by heart!!!!
I would say from now on for anyone who doesnt do this already,when you ship or order plants also get insurance on the box. They dont have to know whats inside of the box but insure it anyway. I have found that when you get a box insured through the USPS they handle it much better and it always gets to where it's going. With just delivery confirmation they dont care how your box gets handled or even if you get it or not.
dmichael
Just to prove how sorry the postal service is about keep their website updated as far as being able to track anything goes here's some proof. I ordered a box of hoyas from Asiatica nursery online monday night. Got an email wednesday notifying me of their shipment on tuesday along with a delivery confirmation number.
I have been tracking it since I got the number. No updates as of yet. Well the box arrived today so I thought i'd go back to the USPS site and track it again. Guess what it says?? The USPS has been electronically notified to expect a package from Asiatica to be sent to me. No udpates at all and the hoyas are already in their new pots.
dmichael
Dmichael,
That says it all. USPS cannot track a package. I've received tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise primarily from UPS with some from Fed Ex and DHL and never one problem.
Doug
So sorry Mark, I feel your pain. I would be happy to help out with any hoya's I can as well.
I really think we've all had our experiences, and we're not all going to "like" the same carrier. I receive a several boxes a month (on average) from USPS, and have never had a problem....ever. I've probably received thousands of dollars worth of stuff via USPS (with no problems), and I've probably received 1/4 of that via UPS (with more problems than smooth transactions!). Maybe it's just the luck of the draw. Of course, tracking services are great and that is definitely a bonus with UPS and FedEx....but maybe we should all think about this and talk about the positives and negatives of each service for the next David Liddle order so that we don't have to figure it out at the time. Or maybe the person handling the order decides! Either way, we'll figure something out.
Gabi
I've received a few items via DHL and have only had one complaint. I ordered a VERY expensive 14" specimen claret cup cactus form Nevada. I didnt realize it would be sent DHL but it was. The day the box arrived I just happened to be in the backyard and saw the van as it was pulling into the drive. Before I could get form where I was at to the front yard I head a very loud thump!!
Instead of the driver opening my fence(no dogs) and taking an additional 10 steps to my porch to sit the box down,he just threw it as far into the yard as he could and was gone before I could get around the house to see what was going on.
I knew what was in the box as it was all that I was expecting and all I could do was keep saying to myself please dont be damaged!!! Luckily the cactus clump was still intact and no visible signs of damage so I didnt call and complain to anyone even though I should have.
dmichael
I guess everyone will have a different take on every carrier- it is likely that whatever consensus is reached there will be a few people who opt out. I think the reliability factor does rise with price, so the safer options will be too expensive for some.
Like Gabi, I have had really good luck with USPS up 'til now, but there IS a risk. In the last DL order Annie's box was lost for two weeks, and Mel tells me that in a previous order she brokered for David Liddle that one participant never received his box, even though USPS tagged it as "delivered".
For me $30 is an acceptable price to feel confident that the rare (and in some cases costly) cuttings I am having shipped from the other side of the earth reach my home safely, though I would feel differently about smaller, less expensive orders.
I feel overwhelmed by how generous everyone has been- I've received tons of offers via D-mail and on this thread offering condolences and replacement plants!
Thanks to everyone.
M
Mr. Roy,
I just moved to Sand Frandcisco.
Have you got your box from Austria yet?
Freddie
Welcome to the hoya forum Freddie!!
Where in San Francisco are you located. Mark and Julia from this forum live in San Francisco too. Do you have many hoyas? I am sure you will find them as addictive as we all do .
Actually Mark's shipment came from Australia, maybe you would like to join in future orders. The cuttings are very generous.
Sara
I live in the Castro District. I have an obscura and a pubicalyx of some kind - I find the aroma is absolutely devine. I would love to learn more about these australiam hoyas.
I have my addictions but haven't found hoyas to be one of them yet ;-0
Freddie
Oh my.
Fred,
Welcome.
The hoyas aren't austrialian...but the person who ships them (David Liddle) is in australia.
So you have 2 hoyas and aren't addicted yet?? Wow, what is your secret!
Gabi
Sorry Freddie, should have clarified about the hoyas, Gabi is right, they aren't all Australian, but yes they come from David Liddle, who has a very large collection.
How are you liking San Francisco? I have a cousin in San Francisco, very nice area, though a bit intimidating, as I come from small town, in rural MT. I have many "big city" relatives though, and love visiting the Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and San Francisco ares.
You are right, most hoyas do smell divine, but I have heard that there are some that are absolutely repulsive. It is all in the nose of the beholder I suppose. HA! :)
S
This message was edited Sep 8, 2007 7:23 AM
It is so funny .....on this one Swedish website where it lists the "perfume of hoyas", there is one that says it smells like "dung of elephant"..ha ha.
Hi Freddie,
Welcome! My daughter and fiance live in Bernal Heights. Been there a bunch. I'm just starting my hoya addiction. I'm addicted to beardless iris, daylilies, peonies, rose of sharons, roses, epis, huernias, walking iris, and I have 160 orchids. Never to late to start another addiction.
dear boojum,
Oh neat have you ever been to the Bernal Heights Produce Market? They are a phenomenal source of fresh fruits and vegitables (and really fabulous locally-produced gifts). Im a lacto-ovo vegetarian so I love shopping there!
Freddie
Freddie,
Never been. My daughter is a vegetarian so I bet she's gone. I'll hafta ask her when we talk tonite. Maybe we can check it out next visit. Yum.
Wow, the PO called me today saying they had found my package! I picked it up post haste, but as they had lost it for 11 days after its travels from Australia, I didn't think there would be anything worth salvaging. Surprise!
There was:
Looking Good- none!
Looking Like They Might Live- sp. 1598 (looks the best), revoluta, lacunosa var.
pallida, and, surprisingly, lanceolata, which looks okay!
Looking Like They Will Certainly Die: inflata, australis ssp. oramicola from Melville
Island, archboldiana (red form)
Looking Dead: lambii, albiflora, and most definitely, IML0153 multiflora
I'm so happy they didn't lose it completely! They are all (except the obviously dead ones) soaking in a bath right now.
Ah, shoot Mark, what a bummer that they lost it for 11 days!! Did you get any kind of explanation from them as to what happened?
I am really happy that it wasn't a total loss. You might want to soak the dead ones in their own bath anyway...you might be surprised!
S
Glad you FINALLY got your plants, Mark - wish more had survived....but I agree with Sara, "maybe" there's a hoya miracle waiting to happen!
Karen
Wow Mark.
I check this thread all the time to see if there is an update from you. Been thinking alot about you and your lost package. I'm so glad it's finally in your hands now. Sorry some didn't make it but like others above said, try anyway and a miracle might happen.
Jen
Mark,
I'm also very glad you finally received the missing package. It is just so hard to understand where these lost packages end up. Unless the address label gets accidentally ripped off the box, it just makes no sense. They should have tried to get it to you before now. Anyway, good luck with the plants; maybe you can salvage a little more than you think.
Doug
Mark,
So happy to hear you got your package. That's great news! I wish you much luck getting the "not-so-good" ones back to life.
Gabi
Mark, so happy to hear you got your missing box. I guess it took the scenic route to you. At least they didn't try sending it back to AU. I hope those hoyas revive. With all your hoya skills, you might be surprised that more will make it..
Karen
The cuttings are potted up into perlite now, after a good overnight soak. Thanks for everyone's good wishes, and thanks in particular to an anonymous DGer who sent me a really lovely speckled leaf lacunosa as a consolation prize for my order ending up being so lame. Thanks, you-know-who-you-are!
This is the first EA plant I've ever seen, and it is really nice and full. Now to try and get the watering just right!
p.s. H. multiflora is not looking so bad after the soaking. I am sure it will lose most if not all of its leaves, but maybe there is some life in the thing after all. If not, I have had another very kind offer for a replacement from a DGer!
Good things happen to good people!
Blessings,
Awanda
Mark, I have an H. kentiana that is also an EA plant that has been growing in its own EA soil for over 3 years now with zero problems.
A little over a year ago when they began to put out these newer varieties like multiflora,curtisii,polyneura and linearis,the soil was BAD. It stayed wet for months on end without you ever having to water it again. That's how I lost the first H. curtisii basket that I found from EA. At the time there was a tremendous amount of complaining going on by people who had bought these plants and lost them very quickly due to root rot from staying too wet.
I personally made it my business to call Hermann Inglemann (SP??) gh's and let them know and I think they caught wind of all the other complaints as well because it wasnt very long afterwords that I noticed that the soil had been changed on allof the new plants that were coming into my local box stores. It seemed to dry ooout very quickly.
I've had my speckled lacunosa now for just over a month and up until last week it was still in the original soil and wasnt having any problems. I decided to go ahead and remove as much of the EA soil and put it nto my own because one day I took the plant from its hanger and it was so lightweight that I could lift it with one finger. Upon looking into the basket I noticed that the soil had dried out so much that it had pulled away from the sides of the basket.
At this point I just lifted the entire plant out to inspect the rootball and see what it was planted in. It appears to be nothing more than 100% peatmoss with some perlite and possibly a wetting agent but not sure about the last one.
I dont like growing anything in straight peatmoss because it takes way too long to get it wet and it dries out quickly and tends to compress itself around the rootball when it dries out again. So I removed all but about an inch of the EA soil leaving just enough to hold the plant intact and then repotted back into the same pot but only this time using my own soil mixture.
I would say that if you leave it in the soil that it's in you wont have any problems knowing when to water it. Just lift one side of the plant up and see if the soil has pulled away from the sides of the basket and if so water it. You'll also see a very noticeable difference in the weight of the basket when it's wet as opposed to when it's dried out.
These EA plants,once purchased by someone with a brain in their head( box store employees dont have one) usually tend to dry out rather fast in the new potting mix. They die when they stay in those stores because they get watered at least 12 times a day everyday and sit sometimes for just a bit too long before one of us finds them and by thent eh damage has begun below the surface.
I dont worry about loosing any of their plants anymore because I frequent lowes and home depot ( at least 3 X each per week) so often that if a new one comes in that I want, it wont have had the chance to have sat there and been watered beyond saving before I can buy it!
Congrats on "RECEIVING" and enjoy your new plant and when and if you find out who your anonymous DG'er is who was so kind and thoughtful enough to send you that plant, give them my name as I am looking for an EA H. linearis hanging basket and have been for 2 years now and they might just be able to hook me up as well!!!!!
dmichael =^..^=
Mark, sorry to hear about your woes with the SF PO. They lost a package a few weeks ago that my sister sent for my daughter's 1st birthday. Hmmm...maybe we should alert the press. I wish I had some of these more exotic hoyas to offer you, but your collection whoops mine's butt. Let me know if you wanna put in a "consolation" order to Carol, we could split shipping....Julia (happily back from Norway, land of the $3 coke)
Julia, now there's a thought!
I hear coffee is super expensive there too, and don't the locals near the water often cross into another country to buy liquor?
I'll bet it was really beautiful though.
The fjords were beautiful. And the small towns. But the culture was a little creepy - very quiet and reserved, no yelling, honking, loud laughing, music, etc.. Two men playing chess on the sidewalk drew a large crowd.
Everything was expensive to an American. But then again, the minimum wage is $15 an hour in Norway! As for booze, it's plentiful and starts flowing mid-morning for some folks. I'm just happy my publisher paid for everything...I wouldn't have been able to afford it.
Ah, I had it confused. I looked it up- it's Swedes who raid the border with Denmark to buy cheaper booze.
Norwegians do too. Traditionally Norway has lots of blue laws. (My DBF used to be married to a Norwegian woman and has been there a bunch).
OK, I gotta' ask.... what does DBF stand for? Even my teenager didn't know that one :~)