Hey all,

I ordered an item from eBay from a German seller. It was sent via DHL's International Päckchen (basically just Deutsche Post's international packet service, it's not a courier or express service and based on the cost I paid I don't think proof of delivery was included) on the 16th April i.e. just before the volcano disruptions. So while annoyed by the delays as Päckchen is not cheap for a low cost item (well I only paid EUR 1.51 for the item) more so since I later realised* the item could have been sent by Deutsche Post's brief service for over half the cost as I wasn't urgently expecting the item I didn't worry or think that much of it. However it's now been a month and I still haven't received the item, the target delivery time from the PDF I found is 10-12 days. I've had a look on the internet and I can't find anything suggesting this sort of delay is to be expected or usual due to the volcano disruptions. Has anyone else had similar problems? (I recognise very long delays are always possible in unusual cases even without the volcano disruptions.)

*The seller is the one who quoted shipping when I asked but I did check myself later to see if there was another option however the website automatically directs you to the Päckchen thing if you select packet but if you look at the mail conditions for the brief service there's nothing stopping you sending small packets via it, unlike say the NZ Post letter service the dimensions are fairly generous and don't limit you to 1 cm thick. I obviously don't know if the seller would have sent the item via Deutsche Post brief but that was the way they were planning to send it for German delivery and as a small private seller they may have particularly since as I mentioned I don't think they included proof of delivery so there doesn't seem to be much advantage or reason.