If you’re a regular visitor the the Forum (if you’re not, click on the Forum link above and register) you’ll know that overseas subscribers regularly report back on the delivery times of their magazines. The company we used to deliver these copies, Mercury, were taken over by DHL a few months ago and since then we’ve seen delivery times lengthen considerably.

Here are DHL Global Mail’s approximate delivery times to various parts of the world (copy and paste the URL, I can’t seem to get the link to work):

http://www.dhl-globalmail.com/dpgm?tab=1&skin=hi&check=yes&lang=en&xmlFile=54

We use ’standard’ delivery because, as you can see, there’s very little difference between that and the more expensive ‘priority’, and delivery time within the UK itself is about five days anyway.

Overseas readers will be amazed. As I told DHL Global Mail again this morning, there is no way magazines are arriving anywhere in approximately those times, especially North America where they seem to be taking several weeks. It’s an incredible difference and clearly DHL are not delivering the service they promise, not that they seem to mind.

However, they have promised to send our next two mailings ‘priority’. That’s to North America only ‚Äì sorry, I tried. On the face of it that would be a difference in delivery of just four days, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens. Delivery should, at least, be quicker.

What we do after that I’m afraid I’m not sure. I asked. If the ‘priority’ delivery time turns out to be approximately ten days (to the USA) it sounds like they’d expect us to pay the ‘priority’ rate despite receiving the ’standard’ service.

So, for the next two mailings ‚Äì Black Static 2 and Interzone 213 ‚Äì please register for the Forum and post your reports of arrival. I’ll let you know, on that Forum thread, the exact date DHL Global Mail pick the copies up from TTA Towers. Thanks.

Tags: Black Static • DHL • Intezone • subscriptions