Plotblogging: OH YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME.

They are utter, theiving little bitches. BEst of luck, though, they're stubborn too.

They can be as stubborn as they fucking like-- if they OPEN the damned thing they will notice IT's GIFT WRAPPED. With a bow, and ribbons and everything.

This is not rocket science. It's a gift.

Urgh. the buggers.

I've had to make three trips instead of one to the Post Office sorting office this week.

alas, It's pretty much definite that the parcel won't get released without the fee being paid, claiming it back afterwards will be an option, but they aint gonna give that box up easily for free.

This entire thing is just *retarded*. How hard can this be? Get package, deliver package. NOT COMPLEX.

hmm, sounds familiar. just going throught the motions of having to pay someone back £120.00 after royal mail lost the mobile i sold him on e-bay. so if you see a postman wandering around with a brand new shiny nokia 6260, hit him over the head with a big length of 4"x3" for me would you....

The thing is there shouldnt *BE* a fee! It's a fucking GIFT! YOU know what's in the damned box-- what. the. fuck? This makes NO sense to me. I'd call over there now but Im so damned angry I dont think anyone would understand me anymore, my accent is so bad...

it's just the UK customs people being cnuts...my friends recently had to pay an extra 30 quid to get *their own* playstation 2 through customs.

*furious* I insured it cause the contents are truly VALUABLE, not because there should be VAT on the things!

and the thing is... HE DOESNT EVEN KNOW WHAT'S IN THE BOX!!!

similar system to banks in the UK. I remember explaining to my Polish wife that in order to open a bank account here you have to go crawling to the local branch with every document you've ever had virtually begging them to PLEASE take my money for the next 20 years. It's a bit different abroad, where they seem to understand the concept of having a 'c u s t o m e r' and running a 'b u s i n e s s '. Strange that....funny how the only nations to make a ton of money from the biggest war in history were in europe (ie. the Swiss).

At least the US postal service does, in fact DELIVER YOUR MAIL most of the time.

This is NUTS. Someone needs a beating they won't enjoy.

maybe that's the trouble... the only group with the clout to force royal mail to sort itself out are the politicians, and no-one enjoys a good beating as much as they do. they'll pay top money for it!

I think there are a couple of swiss people around here who will wholeheartedly disagree with that statement JudgeTredd...

elf: I think the people who you've got a problem with are HM Revenue and Customs. (something to do with import duty...)

*sigh* But he didnt buy it.. *I* did. It was a gift. It's GIFT WRAPPED.

He doesnt even know *what's in the damned box!*

no offense joe - i reckon that's just plain old good business sense.. they can spot a customer...

bronxelf, maybe they can call you?
if you could just explain that you wrote the value on there because it's sentimental/etc... maybe it wouldn't be a big deal?
=( hope this gets resolved okay.

*sigh* that's not why the value is that high.
That;s *really* what it cost me.

do you have a copy of the form you filled out stating it is a gift / can it be found by the post office? what postal service did you use? recorded? registered?

then that's *really* why they want someone in the UK to cough up 100$ to get it...
: (
I've basically been told not to send anything other than mail, because with the exchange rate being insane right now, they're being very strict with things like this. even if it says "gift"...
that's really upsetting. it would be easier if there was one person at fault, that you could punch, for this. : \\

or that I could punch by proxy....this is one of the many reasons why I am not going to spend the rest of my life in this country.

isn't it the responsibility of the courier (royal mail) to ensure that appropriate charges are incorporated into the shipping fee prior to despatch. they are entering into a contract to move the item from a to b ( b being receipt by the third party) with prior knowledge of the value you have informed them that the item is worth...
this argument probably won't work because it is logical...

The bad news: if you declare it as being worth over £36, even if it's a gift, then the recipient has to pay duty/VAT on it.
[much shorter link]

so where are you going to go joe?

that would work inside the UK Judge, the issue here is that Customs believe there is excise duty outstanding on the item, jeez Belf, it would probably have cost less to hand deliver it :D

We're considering Canada, Judge, but even the republic of ireland would be an improvement over this place.

thought so teflon. worth trying...i'd say there's little choice but to cough up the folding & claim it back later. damn shame...does this mean i've gotta be careful selling to the usa on e-bay?

true. canada is a very nice place. also (you may not have considered this one) new zealand.

heh my parents are emigrating there soonish, they'd just think I was copying.

This is gonna cost me another 100 bucks....

It would have been cheaper to fly there.

Joe- Just come here. Fuck it.

know any french joe? it's a big advantage in canada...


(sorry to hijack your moblog page bronx - having been around the world a bit I'm always interested when someone syas they're emigrating...)

*shrug* S'ok.

last ex-pat job was Romania. you don't want to go there if you don't like administration joe...

I don't think they'd let me in 'elf...
I don't speak any french at all Judge, but I'd be planning on living towards the west, probably the vancouver/vancouver island area, I've been a few times.

why wouldnt they let you in?

We'd get you in. Trust me. ;)

gotta go now, by the way guys & girls, check out rikaitch's moblog - he's been to see scaryduck & have a free bbc tour, lucky dab!

I'm not at liberty to divulge that information ;)

*grin*

I've come late to this. What a right royal pain in the arse! You don't deserve this Bronxelf, you really don't. I'm happy to contribute to any release fee (Joe, I know where you live :D), although I know on principle that you have fundamental objections to anyone paying. I am a pragmatist, though :)

I'll gladly pay it, (I wont allow him to pay anything for that box-- I just wont.) But the thing is Id have gladly paid it if they told me about it before hand.

Honestly? At this point? Same amount of money for me to have gotten on a plane with the thing. :(

I concur with Euphro, I'll help out with the fee any way I can.....It'll be worth it just so see XXX's reaction when he opens the parcel :)

Let me know how much. I have my cheque book in my hand (I'm serious).

Really honey, I will *gladly* pay it. It's not the money! It's the principle of the thing.

You're a friend. Let us help.

....

they told him what was in the box.

*speechless*

Aw, bloody hell.

Im just going to go attempt to write my paper now.

Whee. The use of stones in weaponry, 5 pages.

it's ok, because what they've said, can't possibly describe how cool the actual contents are....the recipient will still go boom! when he actually opens the box, trust me

Just spotted the thread (been working) and I am fucking PISSED for you, elf! :(

I hope so. If the customs department ruined this....

Erm, don't let your paper inspire you too much, elf. ;)

Bloody customs. :(

WTF !

Just deliver the damn package.

thats all I *thought* they were gonna do.... :(

I have my retirement plan ready - ideally retire by the time I'm 50, and move to Tuscany.

How about a quick Paypal style whip round? I don't mind donating some cash and if everyone gave £5 we can pay the ransom and get the scumbags to release the gift.

I'd be in.

It's not the money, guys. The money will get paid. It's nothing. He will pay it, and I will give it to him and it will be *fine*.

It's that they told him.

They TOLD HIM what was in it.

Weeks. I spent WEEKS.....

Arseholes :(

AND?

As a bonus? When he gets the thing? I'll be in class. NICE.

Damnit.

Muchos de suckage.

It's clobberin' time, etc.

Im just so upset now Im not even angry. I was *angry* when it was about the money.

Now Im just....

....

It'll be alright, it'll get sorted one way or another.

It's a shame, but it really isn't completely spoiled by this, not at all.

I'm sure it's not. Im sure there will be glee. There may actually be genuine jaw-dropped shock.

Damn - I'm late to this, but must add my bit.

If I were in the UK I would begin a campaign of approaching customs officials, yelling "Package from The Bronx for you!" followed by kicking them in the shins and running away.

If I did that here I would end up in Guantanamo Bay.

But we don't have a Guantananananamo.

They could send you to Morecambe bay. That would be just as bad.

Or the Isle of Man. Or Wales.

*hem hem*

wales is real nice

that is all...

I love Wales, really. I just used to get trapped there, a lot, in a small metal box and once I was made to go see Ken Dodd in Llandudno -- so maybe you can see why I might associate the country with torture? Although obviously it is not Wales' fault that I suffered such things within its borders.

Ken Dodd :D

I apologise to Wales and insist that they ban Ken Dodd from crossing their borders (unless he happens to be in Wales, in which case it might be a good idea to let him out before they make such a refusal).

Sadly, they're actually correct to charge the £55 - regardless of whether an item's a gift or not, if it's worth more than £18, import duty is payable.

Tom:

It's not the 100 bucks I object to. It's the means by which it's collected. this should have been charged on the sender-side,. not the recipent side. Had they simply told me when the package was sent that $x in insurance costs x (pounds sterling) on the far side, I'd have paid it then. My objection is to them in effect, creating a hostage crisis on parcels that are intended as gifts, and thereby forcing the recipents to pay to get them out of limbo on things they may or may not even know they were scheduled to receive.

It does rather take the fun out of say, sending your grandmother a surprise present, when you know theyre going to make her run all over hell and creation to get it *and* charge her money for it to boot. In this case it will be fine. The money will get paid and he and I will fight over who's actually going to pay it forever, which ought to be fun. But the fact is that the transaction *should* be taken care of *in toto* on the *sender-side*. The contract with the carrier is from MY end. If they would have just told me, I'd have just paid it (after blinking in astonishment and saying "are you *serious*?" four or five times. My anger comes from how and where the money is collected, not the fact that there's an import duty. The money itself is irrelevant. The inconvenience to *him*, afaiac, is *not*.

It's very common practice to do that, though. That's why I'm so hesitant to order stuff from overseas -- rhey can never quote me a definitive price because all kinds of customs and taxes might apply... They have no way of knowing that. And the USPS is too damn lazy to look it up, and even if they did, they woudn't be allowed to charge you, an American citizen, British VAT etc.

But I have to say that 18 pounds is an AWFULLY low gift-value... In Germany, it's 45 Euros (about 30 pounds, which is still quite a low value) - and the point is that the value has to be on the parcel paperwork in Euros, otherwise, you're SOL apparently.

thats my objection-- the entire system makes no *sense*.

Thank GOODNESS the next thing Im sending over there? Won't need this nonsense.

But what is in *that* box is *not* replaceable.

But, honestly: You're lucky they actually delivered it to his post office. A friend of mine's parents once wanted to send her stuff from Germany to America and stupidly put on the customs form that there was something in there that contained alcohol - not sure if it was wine, or just some truffles - but anyway, after a few weeks, almost months,, said friend received a letter from U.S. customs somehwere in VA I think, stating that there was a parcel for her, and if she wanted it, she had to collect it herself. In VA. The Friend was staying in Texas... And she had to pay a hefty fine, too.

fortunately the next several things slated for UK delivery will either not be worth nearly what this was, or be delivered by people traveling back and forth.

Good. :)

I think within the European union, there are no customs duties or anything like that, so if you have people travelling to france etc., they might be able to just mail it out for you, too.

Well with any luck I can just go to France my damned self.

whee! :D

Still? Even with all this (and the fact that Alf and I are going to drunkenly argue over this $100 forever?), this really IS the best caper evar.

Just you wait. He's gonna *lose his shit* when he finally gets that box.

MOTHERFUCKERS!

I'm *way* pissed, D. trust me.

I cant blame you, this is crazed.

Ah well.... at least he's finally got it... mostly.

I'm ok now (ive slept) but I cried for hours from frustration yesterday. sleep dep was not helping, but I hate this shit.

Tom's wrong, as it goes. It's £36, the minimum value to pay import duty. But elf's right - they should apply it (or at least give you the option to pay it, or even just tell you about it) sender side.. (and enter into a world of international tax confusion right there....)

actually this really doesnt have to be confusing at all. This is really simple, technologically speaking. All this would *really* take is a decent computer program and a trained fucking monkey to hit the correct button which applies the fee paid electronically to where it needs to go.

The royal mail are cunts!!!

Cant argue that one bit.

Hitting the whats this button cleared my nice long comment... grr, now you arn't getting my insight!

I get the impression I'm better off, so it works out.