I too found the story enjoyable. AND could for sure relate. The following was my first experience importing (seeds not bulbs though). A friend and I did a pretty big seed order from Silver Hill Seeds to the USA. The maximum # allowed on the USA small seed lots permit, 50 separate species. We chose shipping via SA post per SH shipping options. Once our order had been dropped off in June 2022 at the SA post office, there were only two recordings within the SA post tracking system. Then it went dark. FOR GOOD. Over the next months, we corresponded many times with Silver Hill. They, in turn, attempted to correspond with the SA post. NOTHING, EVER, came of it! My friend and I, and Silver Hill eventually assumed the worst, theft or loss. SH said theft is a problem within their SA postal system. By the following January all hope had been lost for us, and we were moving on with what was next. Needless to say, we were frustrated, disappointed, and mad. I told my friend...life is short, we only live once. And despite my first SH order being a massive fail, our loss of 50 species, which due to our order timing we were Lucky to get a few real special gems on our order, and nearly $400, I wanted to give it another go. Eventually, I started poking around the SH seed list. Fast forward to late April of the following year, I got a phone call from the USDA, our seed had arrived!! Almost a year later. Obviously, we will not use SA post on future orders. So, to say we understand your grief, is a Galactic understatement! We have since placed another order with SH. I believe it was $20 to ship our next order via FedEx. And we experienced fast shipping, complete success, and a Happy ending. On Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 10:55 PM Robert Lauf via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > It was sure absorbing our attention when we were tearing our hair out at > all the blunders by the shipping company! We spent some time truly > thinking it would be a total loss, which was no fun at all, so the > reasonably happy ending was a real relief. We learned a lot and I think we > can do it better next time. > Bob Zone 7, waiting for the snow to arrive > On Friday, January 10, 2025 at 01:44:44 AM EST, Linda P. Wulf via pbs < > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > I didn't know anyone could write an absorbing account of a successful > group > order of bulbs! Thanks, Robert Lauf and Uli Urban, for your great efforts > in getting the bulbs here from South Africa and your interesting recap in > The Bulb Garden, Fall 2024. > > Linda Press Wulf, with a South African bed in Berkeley, N. California > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > PBS Forum latest: > https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php/… > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > PBS Forum latest: > https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…