Awaiting UK customs clearance ohh the pain

[Pumpytums]

Hi everyone,


I purchased a 2nd hand 1ghz Pandora from Belgium and as the title suggests its stuck in Uk customs awaiting clearance. Has anyone any idea how long this takes ? Parcelforce can't give an answer as its outside their control which is fair enough. I would imagine the delay is probably due to the declared value and that it has wires and looks like something dodgy if you get my drift on X-ray. Do Uk customs work 24/7?


I wish I had got one from ED now. The waiting is killing me and its only been stuck since Wednesday not years like so many people waited.


Thanks

 

[MarkW]

Hi everyone,


I purchased a 2nd hand 1ghz Pandora from Belgium and as the title suggests its stuck in Uk customs awaiting clearance. Has anyone any idea how long this takes ? Parcelforce can't give an answer as its outside their control which is fair enough. I would imagine the delay is probably due to the declared value and that it has wires and looks like something dodgy if you get my drift on X-ray. Do Uk customs work 24/7?


I wish I had got one from ED now. The waiting is killing me and its only been stuck since Wednesday not years like so many people waited.


Thanks

Not sure I understand. Belgium -> UK shouldn't really require more than a cursory stop @ customs. Anything moving within the EU should go straight through, more or less unhindered - almost as if it were domestic mail. Its only stuff arriving from outside the EU that goes through detailed customs inspection for possible revenue recovery/confiscation. Although the sender probably would have had to fill out a customs declaration on despatch, and the item would have been scanned prior to loading on board aircraft for security reasons, I don't understand why it would be further delayed at the UK end - after all, if it got to the UK without going bang, its probably not much of a security threat (if you get my meaning)! I could understand a delay at the sending end - but the receiving end??!!!! Just what do they think is in there? What did the sender put on the customs declaration??!!!

The item will almost certainly be with ParcelForce - it'll just be sitting in a caged area in a bonded warehouse, untouchable for delivery until released by BorderForce. There are no set timescales, I'm afraid - you'll just have to be patient, but they're not usually too bad. Not much help I know.

 

[MagSe7en]

Out of curiosity, how do you know it is stuck in customs? Can you track it through the parcelforce site and it shows that it is in customs?

Sending items from the UK to Belgium doesn't even need a customs declaration form, so I imagine it would be the same the other way around. Anything being sent within the EU (with a few exceptions) just needs an address and the type and value of item doesn't need to be declared.

I hope you get your Pandora soon.

 

[Pumpytums]

Hi all,


I have the tracking code which works on dpost and Parcelforce. The package is insured and signed for.


I haven't ordered anything this value before from within Europe but time have changed so maybe customs are hotter. Hopefully it doesn't contain any conflict diamonds or anything more exotic.


The track looks like this


25/09/2013 18:01 Handed over to customs INTERNATIONAL POST


25/09/2013 18:00 Arrival at international office of exchange INTERNATIONAL POST


24/09/2013 02:51 Item information registered manually LCI


24/09/2013 02:35 Departure from office of exchange INTERNATIONAL POST


23/09/2013 19:57 Your item has been sorted Charleroi X Parcel Sorter


23/09/2013 09:38 Item accepted in network BOUSSU


It could Parcelforce been lazy perhaps because once the item is shown to clear customs they have no reason not to deliver.


Just me being impatient though


I used to order loads fom play in jersey when they were cheap and it used to take approx a week for delivery but that was years ago.


Cheers


pt

 

[Pumpytums]

It arrived yesterday as expected, so everything is good.

Absolutely amazing system exactly what I have been after all these years I nearly found it a few years ago with a Sony Xperia Play but the Pandora beats it hands down,

Thanks for everyone help

PT