DHL UK customs problems at Leipzig?

indielad · #1 01-27-2015

I'm an ebay selling pro who's been importing from China to feed several stealth ebay accounts over 8 years.

My items are small label clothing with the tags removed and the lables partly cut out. It's been quite a nice little earner over the years. They are not Vero. Several of my parcels have been held up by customs in the past, though usually by EMS, never by DHL before. This is What tracking says.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 Location Time Pieces
5 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 03:02
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 Location Time Pieces
4 Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 09:38
1 Pieces
3 Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 09:17
1 Pieces
2 Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 07:21
1 Pieces
1 Shipment picked up HONG KONG - HONG KONG 03:47

I've never had 'shipment on hold' status before. Note the long 6 day delay between flying out from Hong Kong to Leipzig. DHl said its in German Customs, but I'm not sure why German customs would be interested in a parcel bound for the UK. I prepaid the VAT, I'm not sure if its because its undervalued, but I've never had this problem before. Highly annoying, as Im losing a lot of income while they faff about

GreenBean · #2 01-27-2015

lol, two way problem.

HRMC are annoyed your declared values are inaccurate. Your seller is taking the mickey out of you by suggesting this is OK.

pffft.... they are not a Charity. Importers who do not declare true values get caught for duties.

indielad · #3 01-27-2015

I didn't really ask to be preached to from some none UK citizen about tax, especialy as i already pay one round of Vat and Income tax to HMRC from my business, and especialy as big corporations like ebay don't pay any tax at all by stationing their company in Luxembourg.

Any constructive help or information from anyone who has had the status 'shipment on hold' from Leipzig would be appreciated. Rather than some naive, sanctimonius knee jerk twaddle ;O)

JamesNorth101 · #4 01-27-2015

Give it a couple of days and see what happens.

It may well be nothing, but only time will tell.

GB is right in what she says. HMRC are hot on under declared goods values at the moment

RosieTosie · #5 01-27-2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by indielad

I didn't really ask to be preached to from some none UK citizen about tax, especialy as i already pay one round of Vat and Income tax to HMRC from my business, and especialy as big corporations like ebay don't pay any tax at all by stationing their company in Luxembourg.

Any constructive help or information from anyone who has had the status 'shipment on hold' from Leipzig would be appreciated. Rather than some naive, sanctimonius knee jerk twaddle ;O)

That sanctimonious knee jerk twaddle is actually true indielad, bestie thing you can do is read it and learn!

indielad · #6 01-28-2015

hey, thanks for letting me know about the duty crackdown, likesay Im already paying 20 %VAT for the stuff in my shop plus income tax....so greenbeans comment saying I should be paying a second round of 20% vat as HMRC are not a charity makes me seethe.

There seems to be a conspiracy of silence against making large corporations like Ebay and Amazon pay a penny in tax, while small guys are squeezed for everything theyve got. Instead people care more about the few people who cheat the benefit system

Ar3s · #7 01-28-2015

I had a similar issue last week but in Germany. They told me most european shipments were routed via Leipzig. I received an sms from DHL with the request to call them back which I did. They simply asked me if the shipment was personal or business. And to provide them a snapshot of the online order. I mailed it to them. One day later the status changed and it was forwarded to me. I had to pay the customs fee to DHL plus a additional handling charge of 10 Euro. So maybe calling DHL might help.

indielad · #8 01-28-2015

hi thanks Ars, HMRC know Im running a business, so that shouldn't be a problem...I rang DHL in UK and they said its rare for there to be a more careful customs check in Germany, but it does happen...the value of my items are pretty subjective as though new, they have tags, and labels removed and sometimes arrive in such a state I have to sell as shopworn or used.

JamesNorth101 · #9 01-28-2015

The parcels do not actually run though Germany. Its just the paperwork

lfld77 · #10 01-29-2015

Not sure if is the same or of no use at all but they can get checked in Germany . I lost 2 parcels last year on seperate occasions last year and was told by Dhl they were part of random checks by german customs and were found to be vero and there fore sizes in Germany awaiting the rights owners inspection . Not saying this is what's happened to yours in just sharing my experiences

indielad · #11 01-29-2015

Thanks theyre not vero...I sell on ebay so I dont think they let you sell vero brands on there anyways? I tried one vero brand and was knocked off straight away.. They're pretty legit, it maybe undervalued, but likesay the price is pretty subjective.. They're still in German customs, the lady said at DHL , they are waiting for paperwork from HK, but their staff are very inconsitent with their explanations. Out of 200 parcels, only one got lost, but a few have been held, the worst was 3 weeks, but never been this long with dhl before!

indielad · #12 02-02-2015

My parcel is still stuck in Leipzig after 10 days...I dont know why, as theyre not vero items..They don't seize parcels for being slightly undervalued surely? Subsequent, parcels Ive ordered from HK have whizzed through, so it hasnt black listed my address...its totally baffling...I must comment on the incompetence of the dhl phone staff in UK, ok, they might not know if its stuck, seized or lost, but at least they could ring to say they dont know, if they can't give a general indication. They just keep rasing cases with Leipzif, which are ignored. They're as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike over other issues I've had.

Constructive advice please, instead of sanctimonious rubbish or gloating over the slight undervalue. Im actually a socialist, and agree with paying tax, however I do object to paying VAT twice! Im charged VAT whether I make a profit or loss, at least with income tax, I only make tax on the profit!

Bunneh · #13 02-02-2015

If it's been stuck since the 27th that is six days not 10.
You cannot include the weekend for all areas.

A number of things can cause delays, short staff, false declaration, and THE SNOW being a few reasons.

If there was issues with your parcel your tracking would update to ' contact DHL' and it doesn't even look like it has even gone through customs in Germany yet.
And I'm sure the DHL call centre would have notes on the system if there was a problem.

The only other reason I can tell is that it has gotten lost.

You should contact your supplier and ask them for help with tracking/ tracing your parcel.

indielad · #14 02-03-2015

hey its 2 weeks on Thursday, the parcel just got scanned a week after it flew out from HK...the tracking is like a stuck record

Tuesday, February 03, 2015 Location Time Pieces
9 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 04:37
Friday, January 30, 2015 Location Time Pieces
8 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 04:33
Thursday, January 29, 2015 Location Time Pieces
7 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 04:12
1 Pieces
Wednesday, January 28, 2015 Location Time Pieces
6 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 04:49
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 Location Time Pieces
5 Shipment on hold LEIPZIG - GERMANY 04:02
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 Location Time Pieces
4 Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 09:38
1 Pieces
3 Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 09:17
1 Pieces
2 Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 06:21
1 Pieces
1 Shipment picked up HONG KONG - HONG KONG 03:47

awful, truely awful, the amount of tax I have to pay in relation to my income is mind boggling, while ebay contributes nothing to this country...it wasnt so bad when it was 2$ to a £1 when i satrted now ,its like $1.45 !

GreenBean · #15 02-03-2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by indielad

My parcel is still stuck in Leipzig after 10 days...I dont know why, as theyre not vero items..They don't seize parcels for being slightly undervalued surely?

Sometimes, incoming freight is held should the seller be blacklisted. If there appears a track record of values on the manifest being less than the perceived value, seizures can occur.

Their bottom line is such imports undermine the garment industry. This is not just common for the UK but other countries.

indielad · #16 02-03-2015

The address isnt blacklisted as two parcels ordered at a later date have gone through...with previous parcels customs have raised the duty if they didnt believe the invoice, its defdinitely not standard procedure.

As for undermining the garment industry, if the uk based companies hadnt fired all their uk workers to save a buck by importing cheap chinese labour...I wouldnt be doing this in the first place, so have no symapthy with them at all.

indielad · #17 02-03-2015

I'd definitely appeal if it did get seized, I'd ask them to put a value on items with stock that is one to two years old with heir tags, labels and bags removed etc...unless the supplier forgot to cut the tags :O/

joew8989 · #18 02-03-2015

This is interesting, these governments have you arguing with each other, that is good for them. As long as you keep asking the wrong question it doesn't matter what the answer is!

rsot · #19 02-03-2015

Time is now good to begin speaking with your seller as well indielad

indielad · #20 02-03-2015

yes DHL say its being checked in german customs..so thats an issue all uk members need to take note of, the parcels do physicaly go tto Leipzig, and can be stopped..I did have a parcel stuck in customs for 3 weeks, but that was with ems in uk customs 5 years ago...eventually parcelforce gave me their direct number and customs released it in a few hours, they seemed amused about me fretting over it

indielad · #21 02-03-2015

my supplier has been great...she said I can raise some debt with our account, while this is going on, not sure whether to use the same address, all my friends work so are not there to accept parcels

samspalace · #22 02-07-2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by indielad

my supplier has been great...she said I can raise some debt with our account, while this is going on, not sure whether to use the same address, all my friends work so are not there to accept parcels

I see this post is around 6 years old but I’m in a similar situation with my parcel. So did you get your parcel delivered in the end or did it get seized?