need some help with EMS shipping from China to USA

[seeker2k]

Hi

I just went through a nightmare scenario dealing with USCIS and Consulate in Guangzhou, I finally flew out to GZ since my fiance lives there and straightened out most of the mess they made of our K1 proceeding.

Anyways, she finally got her package, and shipped all the copies to me by EMS. Now it seems stuck in Guangzhou. We have used China EMS many times before http://www.ems.com.cn/ and our documents, packages always got to me very quick, 4-6 business days and without any problems.

This time, she sent the copy of her package to me on Nov. 21. When I use the tracking number provided I get the following:


2009-11-22 20:51:00 GUANGZHOU Posting
2009-11-22 21:10:00 GUANGZHOU Despatch from Sorting Center
2009-11-22 22:13:00 GUANGZHOU Arrival at Sorting Center
2009-11-23 01:01:00 GUANGZHOU Despatch from Sorting Center

and thats it. I was thinking that maybe its stuck in customs, but in our previous times she sent anything to me, it specifically stated "in customs" on the tracking, which it does not do this time. So our documents have been stuck pass this "Sorting Center" for about 10 days now.

On their website they give a phone number 11185, but that number seems kinda short. I searched the web, google, etc. for some sort of a cutomer phone number, specifically to the EMS in Guangzhou, but without any luck. All the listinsg I get are for intermediatary companies handling parcels for EMS and things of this nature.

So if anyone could please help I would greatly appreciated it, what I am looking for is a customer service phone number, specifically to EMS customer service in Guangzhou, and a number or extension / option, to get help in English because my Mandarin is just not adequate for this sort of thing.

So if someone could please let me know of a phone number or provide me with a direct link where I could find it I would greatly appreciate it.

Also wondering if anyone else has had anything like this happen to them and what did they do and how it turned out.

Thank You

[Bert]

The short number works in China, but that doesn't help in the US. My wife said she was able to call using Skype by putting a 021 in front of the number. It never worked, according to her, with any other calling service, only Skype. I did dial 86 021 11185 with Skype a moment ago. I do get an answer in Chinese, which doesn't help me much. I have no idea if it was EMS.

[Bert]

I found this web page for calling EMS internationally. The number it says to call is +86 10 11185

 

http://www.ems-tracking.net/contact-ems-china.html

 

I don't think it matters whether or not you use "10" for Beijing or "21" for Shanghai or "20" for Guangzhou. The number does work, but it is in Chinese.

[seeker2k]

I found this web page for calling EMS internationally. The number it says to call is +86 10 11185

 

http://www.ems-tracking.net/contact-ems-china.html

 

I don't think it matters whether or not you use "10" for Beijing or "21" for Shanghai or "20" for Guangzhou. The number does work, but it is in Chinese.

 

it wont even let me make a phone call i tried like 10 times to each one, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai dialed 0-11-86-11185, as soon as it connects it just automatically disconnects me, except the number for Beijing, which gives me a message with other numbers to call but in Mandarin, then it disconnects.

 

what else do i do ? how do i get in touch with someone that can help ?

Edited December 5, 2009 by seeker2k (see edit history)

[Bert]

I found this web page for calling EMS internationally. The number it says to call is +86 10 11185

 

http://www.ems-tracking.net/contact-ems-china.html

 

I don't think it matters whether or not you use "10" for Beijing or "21" for Shanghai or "20" for Guangzhou. The number does work, but it is in Chinese.

 

it wont even let me make a phone call i tried like 10 times to each one, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai dialed 0-11-86-11185, as soon as it connects it just automatically disconnects me, except the number for Beijing, which gives me a message with other numbers to call but in Mandarin, then it disconnects.

 

what else do i do ? how do i get in touch with someone that can help ?

 

My wife is in China. I will ask her to call and see if they have an English help line.

[Randy W]

I found this web page for calling EMS internationally. The number it says to call is +86 10 11185

 

http://www.ems-tracking.net/contact-ems-china.html

 

I don't think it matters whether or not you use "10" for Beijing or "21" for Shanghai or "20" for Guangzhou. The number does work, but it is in Chinese.

 

it wont even let me make a phone call i tried like 10 times to each one, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai dialed 0-11-86-11185, as soon as it connects it just automatically disconnects me, except the number for Beijing, which gives me a message with other numbers to call but in Mandarin, then it disconnects.

 

what else do i do ? how do i get in touch with someone that can help ?

You need to dial 0-11-86-10-11185 (you are leaving out the city code)

 

But you can also track via the US' USPS EMI (Express Mail International) web site (they access the same information) - this is the US end of the EMS system).

 

The tume is variable - be patient

[Kyle]

I have found that the tracking on their website to be completely unreliable. On more than one occasion (most recent being last week) the tracking status was never entered into the system so the EMS website never produced the actual status of our package. The package still arrived. Can your fiancee contact them to see what's going on? As long as she has the tracking numbers, I'm sure she could get to the bottom of this.

Edited December 5, 2009 by Kyle (see edit history)

[Bert]

She went to the PO. They told her to dial the 11185 number and select English. She did it. She had to dial 9 for English once the menu selection started. Otherwise, they suggested that you send your fiancee by the post office with the tracking number. No other solution was offered.

[Bert]

She went to the PO. They told her to dial the 11185 number and select English. She did it. She had to dial 9 for English once the menu selection started. Otherwise, they suggested that you send your fiancee by the post office with the tracking number. No other solution was offered.

 

I tried dialing the Beijing number (011 86 10 11185) about 5 times before it ever picked up. I entered 9, but it still continued in Chinese. I used the Shanghai area code (011 86 21 11185). It did give me the option to select English by pressing 9. However, a voice in English said, "The English service line is busy", and, then, immediately dropped the line.

[seeker2k]

Update on the situation:

 

I still cant get through to the english language helpline or customer support of any sort, tracking still showing our shipment stuck in Guangzhou Sorting Center since Nov. 23rd and it still has not arrived here yet.

 

My girl went to the EMS twice, the 1st time they told her "they will look into it, it will be there soon, bye bye..."

2nd time she talked to a manager, at this point she demanded her money back since shipment was guaranteed in 4 business days, so she did this to get some attention for us.

She of course didn't get any money back, the manager told her basically same thing as the 1st person and in the meanwhile our shipment is still completely stuck and lost.

 

At this point we are trying to just get the embassy to send another package, so we can get everything going again and we will try using DHL for our shipping in the future.

[tonysnow1984]

I'm having the same problem with EMS did your package ever come

[Randy W]

I'm having the same problem with EMS did your package ever come

 

seeker2k hasn't been on CFL since 2009 - Bert-Jie Lin was on earlier this year. If you are sending a package internationally, you may need to switch to a different tracking site.

 

I can't help with making claims - I've never had a problem when using EMS.