Customs?
I have a watch on its way to me from the States via USPS. In a week it’s been tracked in and out of a number of USPS sites in the US and crossed the Atlantic. So far so good...
According to the latest tracking info it left Heathrow on the 1st of November (a week ago). Since then... nothing!
Why would it have stopped moving for an entire week?
Any thoughts?
Simon
Customs?
Been sent to Coventry.
Customs for up to 2 weeks is perfectly normal.
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A week is nothing to worry about Simon, it won't appear on Parcelforce / Royal Mail tracking until Customs have released it. Probably be the middle of next week. Hope it's not Parcelforce (see my rant in BP ).
USPS often end up in Royal Mail/Parcelforce - this is where the tracking and delay issues kick in.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Had a watch come via the same carriers recently, took 9 days just to clear customs, 3 weeks in all from USA to Lincs.
I just had a watch (Rolex) "disappear" in The Netherlands for week. No tracking, no records, nothing.
It was held up in customs despite 1.) being sent from the UK (still in the EU!) and 2.) having a declared value of $50.
It arrived yesterday and I was VERY relieved
Thanks to Paul, Ken and others for the reassurances. It’s occurred to me that I’ve never bought a watch of real value from the States before, so I had no idea what to expect (apart from a big VAT invoice, of course!).
Cheers all, I’ll update this thread when it reappears...
Simon
16 days now without any apparent movement or any information ...
Simon
You could always contact the courier, it can often lead to things moving.
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if you have a long tracking number ending in a country code (GB / US / &c) type the code into the royal mail tracking service, I suspect it's hung up in the Langley HWDC (Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Center) due to customs checks. This is pretty common and can take a while to process. Once you have determined that the parcel is indeed at HWDC you can do a bit of light prodding but it's a bit Orwellian and they are a law unto themselves.
So after 19 days with no updates whatsoever, Royal Mail attempted to deliver the watch!
I wasn’t in...obviously.
Curiously, no sign of an invoice for the VAT, though .
Simon
Don’t worry, It’ll arrive, and you won’t have to suffer the guilt of receiving a watch from overseas without paying the full amount of import taxes etc.
I have lived with this guilt for approx 15 years, in my shady past I received a watch from overseas and never paid tax/import duty. My initial exhilaration has to be tempered by the profuse guilt I’ve lived with (and continue to live with) for a significant proportion of my life.
Seriously, I hope it all works out OK and you enjoy the warm feeling of receiving the watch AND paying your dues.........in the distant past I enjoyed the former but was deprived of the latter
The fact that they tried to deliver it is better news than the thing going missing. A pain I know, but once you have collected it this sorry saga will all be over.
Don't let this turn into 'I cannot bond with the watch' - wasn't the Watch' fault
Hope it all ends well Simon.
Paul, I’ll be happy to pay the VAT - it’ll still be a really good deal.
Ken, wise words indeed. I’m not worried about waiting and it certainly won’t put me off the watch. I waited 5 months for my Doxa and still love it!
Simon
Simon, glad to hear you’re happy paying the VAT..........I’m still living with guilt if not doing so
Seriously (!), if you get the watch you want, it’s worth paying the taxes etc. The halcyon days were around 2093, $2to the £, very lax customs, lots of bargains on US ebay ( and German ebay) if you accepted an element of risk. In hindsight I wish I’d filled my boots!
Re-delivery now planned for Monday. It’s inching closer!
Simon
Now I really need some advice, people.
I have received a letter from Border Force stating that my watch cannot be delivered to me until I complete and return Customs Form C88.
I’ve managed to download the form which is a full-blown and completely incomprehensible 12-page Import/Export document. I’m sure if I was a professional shipping agent it would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately I’m not and my chances of completing it correctly are zero. Apparently this is because Drop choose to ship using the US Postal Service rather than a courier company .
If anybody can offer me any advice or guidance I’d be immensely grateful - I have almost $2k invested in a watch that now appears to be locked up in ‘the system’ and I genuinely don’t know what to do...
Simon
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The couriers always get stick on here for their ~£10 fees but saves this hassle!
Could you post link to the form?
This is the link to the form...
https://assets.publishing.service.go...849123/C88.pdf
I guess you can see my problem!
I’ve been in touch with the Government advisory service who have offered no advice whatsoever...
Simon
Search for something like ‘example completed C88 form’. Still won’t be easy though and you’ll need to look up commodity codes etc.
Surprised you have to do this though, pretty sure I’ve had stuff via. USPS w/o this hassle.
I had similar in the past - twice - with Creation watches and eventually got the items after just over a month, but don’t think I had to complete a form, I just got given the runaround. Actually I’m sure I rang the customs where they were being kept and paid the VAT over the phone with a credit card? When they watch finally arrived they came with the paperwork showing the duty was paid. Sorry can’t remember more but I’ll look for the paperwork and see if I can help. Suffice to say it was such a pain in both instances, I haven’t ordered anything from them since!
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I don't see how anyone could be expected to complete that form and whoever designed it deserves to taken outside and given a good kicking.
I have just bought a watch from the US that is currently with USPS. You have me worried now. In the past they have been passed across to Parcelforce once they have cleared Customs.
I have no idea where the watch is being held unfortunately. The letter came from Border Force rather than HMRC. I called Border Force and they referred me to the HMRC advice line, but Customs had no interest in discussing it with me at all. I seem to be between a rock and a hard place at the moment.
I’d be interested in knowing about your paperwork, though, Rob.
Simon
I will keep you fully informed of progress. It's currently travelling across the US. If you do complete the form or obtain help completing it, please keep some images of it in case I or others on here have to go down the same road, but I have bought several watches from the US without incident, just the usual VAT to pay once it's cleared Customs.
Maybe e-bay and their Global Shipping Program is the answer for future purchases. It is expensive, but at least they handle all the Customs stuff.
Edit: just checked mine and the USPS reference is showing up on the Parcelforce tracker, which is what you would expect to see at this stage.
Last edited by Wallasey Runner; 30th November 2019 at 20:21.
I’ll have a dig around - but moved house since then so not sure I still have it (both were cheap Seiko monster type purchases so not big money) - I think border force sent me a letter with details of where they were being held, I contacted them and I was able to arrange payment to HMRC who them released the watch. Mentioned it to my wife and she reckons the whole thing was about 6 weeks.
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Any progress Simon?
I hope things are getting sorted and you get your watch. Do you know how your seller completed the Customs declaration, I just wonder if they put something that our guys didn't like?
Mine came through okay, was only in Customs a little over 24 hours. As usual my problems were caused by Parcelforce messing about, but it's here now.
Fingers are still crossed for you.
Ken
As I’d had no success with Border Force or HMRC I thought I’d try a different approach.
I contacted Royal Mail and asked them what was going on, since I’d been notified by them that they had made an unsuccessful attempt to deliver the parcel, had then accepted a request from me to re-deliver and then hadn’t done so .
I didn’t tell them I’d had a letter from Border Force.
They then came back to me after investigating, to tell me that they (Royal Mail) had lost the parcel, which is why they hadn’t redelivered it!
I have now raised an official complaint with RM, they have gone away to “try and find it” (their words!), and I’ve been promised an update by the end of this week.
I’m rapidly losing the will to live.
The only good thing is that I paid for the watch with Paypal, so I hope if all else fails I can put in a claim to get my money back...
Simon
This is crazy, on one hand HRMC want you to complete a 12 page form, whilst RM are checking because they think they have lost it. You couldn't make this stuff up.
Hope it turns out okay in the end.
Crazy and unfortunate.
Hope atleast you get your money back.
My original title for this thread was “Where is it, I wonder?”. The truth is that over a month has now passed and I am none the wiser!
I’m going to follow up my complaint with RM tomorrow and if they have no more information for me I’m going to open a case with PayPal...
Simon
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^^^ Good luck with RM/Parcelforce.
By the way, the fact that it was sent by USPS is utterly irrelevant as far as the C88 form is concerned. Loads of stuff is sent via USPS to RM or Parcelforce and no one needs to fill in a C88!
I wonder, however, if the sender did not fill in a customs declaration on the package. If so, this might explain why Border Force want you to fill in a C88 at this end. If this is the case then it would be nothing to do with the item being sent via USPS, per se.
The sender is Drop (previously known as Massdrop). You’d think they would know how to do the paperwork properly, wouldn’t you?!
Simon
Hello chaps, one of the strings in my bow is that I’m a customs broker. The fault here would seem to lie with Drop misdeclaring the terms of shipment (incoterms) to USPS. Happy to offer assistance if needed.
PS This helps to illustrate the value of a broker for the naysayers who rattle on about service charges on imported goods!
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You'd think so, wouldn't you. However, what sometimes happens (I have experienced this myself) is that customs declarations are left off entirely if the vendor's procedures are faulty, i.e. they erroneously treat it as if it is a domestic shipment. This then results either in the item coming through with no import taxes at all or with a request for more information at this end. I've never been asked to fill in a C88 though!
So for the benefit of those who have been following this sorry saga and contributing to this thread in support (thank you all), the answer to my original question is... “I don’t think we’ll ever know” .
Royal Mail have now written to me and confirmed that they have definitely lost the package (which I assume means that somewhere out there there’s a toerag with 2 grands worth of Muehle-Glasshutte on his wrist for free ).
The only good news is that Drop have been excellent and are refunding me in full over the next few days. It has put me off buying from them ever again, though...
It’s a real shame - their deal on the See Batallion was incredibly good value - I’d have preferred the watch over the refund. Hey ho... 1st World problems in the grand scheme of things.
Simon
Just seen this Simon, and sorry to hear the issue you've been having. At least you're getting your money back, that's something; but it must have been extremely frustrating having to jump through hoops to get there!
As you say though, some scrote somewhere now has a very nice and expensive watch for free!
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
What a nightmare, glad you got a full refund
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Well glad you got your money back at least Simon. What I don't get is if it was lost, why on earth you still got the question of customs. And also why you basically had to chase up to figure out it was lost. Anyway it seems a totally bizarre saga, but Drop have at least been good.
Excellent Simon, I'm really pleased that you are getting a refund, although I'm sure you would have rather had the watch.
When my watch was stolen in transit PayPal refused to pay despite making me go to the Police to obtain a crime number and when the seller in France received full compensation for the loss he simply kept it and stopped responding to my e-mails. He was therefore paid twice for same watch and I lost £400.
I think in future things like the e-bay Global Shipping Program are the answer for overseas purchases. Although it is expensive, there is no additional bill to pay before they will deliver and they take all the risk in getting the item to you. It offers buyers more protection than simply bunging a watch in at the local Post Office.
I always use GSP for overseas sales on eBay. As soon as they receive it at the distribution centre in the UK, they're responsible for it. I've had two watches go missing in France that I've sold and both times eBay have stepped in and refunded the buyer whilst I kept my money. It might lose you some buyers due to the cost but for the lack of headaches, it's well worth it.
Steve
Less than optimal but still better than the alternative.
Glad you got refunded.
Sorry to hear it turned into a bit of a clusterfunk Simon - I track the prices of all the watches I own () and at the moment there are a few new/unworn Seebatallions
on Chrono24 for just under 2k from EU sellers... it’s still a great watch!
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