Speedpost HK - bad experience ?

Hi Guys

Anyone out there had bad experiences with Speedpost ?

Talk about a contradiction in terms .... 

My parcel came from Redwolf HK and made good time until it was stopped and held by UK customs .

I watched it on tracking a few days then contacted UK Customs direct via email .

I included my VCRA proofs and documents even though the items were none RIFs - only parts .

No contact several more days then at last , its moving again - out for delivery then ......

....Stop !

Unpaid " costs " have caused my parcel to be held again and I am now waiting to be contacted by whoever to receive my bill !!

Where the heck is my parcel ???

...and how much on top of what I already paid am I going to have to cough up to get my parcel ?
The item ( s ) were unavailable in the UK so I had no recourse but to order from overseas ..... 


I seem to remember back in the halcyon days pre vcra when I was ordering from abroad every other month that Speedpost had a reputation but still I thought I would be ok with these few none RIF metallic parts . Obviously not .

Any of you guys had bad experience ordering form abroad ?

Carl.  

Check with up-to-date local laws, it will become clear what you need to do. Laws do change in time, and you cannot rely all the time on your past experiences.

"Unpaid costs" are most likely duties and VAT on the model. You import from outside EU, so you need to pay those to your governement. What you already paid was only item cost and shipping, since shops do not prepay duties.


Nothing of that is HK SpeedPost fault, from your description it looks like you failed to understand import process for your country.


As for buying abroad and importing, I had good experience over ten years, various countries (including UK) and continents, various package carriers (including many times with HK SpeedPost), various sellers and shops (including Redwolf), changing laws (pre- and post-VCRA). It was enough that I knew current law and made sure to follow correct process. Even when packages were held by Customs it was easy to retrieve them after providing clarifications, or paying duties/VAT.

The only time I lost a modelgun (and a rare one) in shipment was when a seller failed to follow simple shipping directions, and additionally failed to stand up to his words and reimburse me when model was confiscated due to that.
He conveniently blamed everything on Post, as far as I remember. Talk about contradiction in words...

It’s an interesting point as you haven't tried to get around UK import duty/VAT by getting it from abroad, but I don’t think the UK government see it that way.

It’s a crap shoot with which parcels getting stopped for charges with some getting through while others don’t.

Usually the extra charges are VAT @ 20% and an administration fee from the UK courier (parcelforce are around £10)

8ace

Received a letter from Parcelforce inviting me to pay £35 on top of my fee to Redwolf - which I recall covered all postage costs , but once it reaches the UK they sure as hell are quick to stick more fees on top for " handling charges " and import taxes .

Interesting that they state if I fail to pay within 20 days the parcel will be returned to the vendor .

I wonder how much more it would cost them to do that rather than let it go on its way in the UK ?

Almost tempted to leave it just to f**k them off but I would then lose 3 times the above fee - they know that they have you by the balls .

It just puts you off importing items doesnt it - I certainly would not bother attempting ordering RIFs its just too much hassle now .

Carl.

phobus wrote:

Received a letter from Parcelforce inviting me to pay £35 on top of my fee to Redwolf - which I recall covered all postage costs , but once it reaches the UK they sure as hell are quick to stick more fees on top for " handling charges " and import taxes .

You paid all postage costs, but government fees (taxes, customs) are totally different from that. They are only assessed at the border, and that's when you you get to pay them.

This has existed for about forever.

Recently very few shops (Amazon) offer you to prepay taxes/customs in advance and package will cross the border without additional payment, it is covered by what you paid in advance. This however works only in some specific cases (countries), and you still need to pay extra fee for that, I think.

Return to sender is a standard procedure. Depending on country and parcel type you usually have at least 14 days to pick it up. Whether shipping back is cheaper doesn't matter here - what matters is that goods cannot legally enter country without going through Customs, and if Customs doesn't complete import procedure (=doesn't receive your payment) they can only send it back (like a person without a valid visa/passport at the border).
Money is not everything.

Quote :

It just puts you off importing items doesnt it - I certainly would not bother attempting ordering RIFs its just too much hassle now .
Carl.

No, it doesn't.

I still import a lot. I just always took care to learn law and understand the import process.
Ignoring the law leads to lost packages, and then it's only up to honesty of the person let it happen to get reimbursed.

BTW: your situation isn't even particular to RIFs, you would still need to pay taxes/customs on most other items imported from outside EU (or your country previously). Basic rule of import - government wants your money.