Parcelforce - diff between clearance and charging?

[jonstatt]

Hi,

I am waiting on a camera lens coming in from Korea. I have imported quite a bit and normally it goes from "Awaiting customs clearance" straight to "Released with charges" or "Awaiting customs charging" straight to "Released with charges".

But in this case, it seems to be moving forwards much more slowly as if clearance and charging are two separate steps. I have imported from Japan and US before and never seen this. This is my first time importing from Korea.

This is the tracking so far:-
16-03-2012 22:37 International Hub Awaiting Customs Charging
14-03-2012 15:39 International Hub Awaiting Customs clearance
14-03-2012 15:37 International Hub Received in destination country
13-03-2012 08:12 Delivery Agent - SEOUL - PTT Forwarded for export
12-03-2012 17:15 Delivery Agent - KOREA, REPUBLIC OF Collected from customer


It is going slower than usual, but this is more of a question of curiosity about the separate customs steps here....

[GreenBean]

Parcelforce have been slower than usual over the past 3 weeks .

Have you called them to check?

We had another new user with an import taking a long time to land.
Glitch was merely Parcelforce

[jonstatt]

I did call them

Firstly they said that customs were in "double check" over-drive lately particular for shipments from the Far East and in particular China.

Then I asked them to look at my shipment anyway, and they could see more than I could see on the web tracking. They said it had already been through customs and I had a charge (which was expected), and they told me what it would be. Once it reaches the local depot, I can shortcut waiting for the letter and just call them to pay it or even just go to the depot and pay/pick-up in one go.

But they did admit it was out of customs on Friday, so why it didn't move into the main Parcelforce network yet was a bit of a mystery. However, I rather naughtily tried a few tracking numbers above and below mine and found them to be in the same status as mine. So Parcelforce are slow on taking things out of customs into the main network at the moment it seems.

[jonstatt]

Just a further update..it is finally starting to move. It spent almost an entire week in customs but it is out the other side now. Hopefully it will be with my local depot tomorrow. Being a delicate item like a lens, I just hope customs didn't rip the box open and mess around with it for any inspection.

20-03-2012 12:34 National Hub Received and processed
20-03-2012 05:55 International Hub Forwarded for UK processing
20-03-2012 05:50 International Hub Revised charges to be paid
16-03-2012 22:37 International Hub Awaiting Customs Charging
14-03-2012 15:39 International Hub Awaiting Customs clearance
14-03-2012 15:37 International Hub Received in destination country
13-03-2012 08:12 Delivery Agent - SEOUL - PTT Forwarded for export
12-03-2012 17:15 Delivery Agent - KOREA, REPUBLIC OF Collected from customer

[rsot]

Hope it works out for you.

[GTB]

national hub is your local depot

phone them now to see if you can get things moving

[jonstatt]

Thanks for the help and kind wishes

Actually "National hub" is a central sorting point for Parcelforce. This morning it reached the depot and my tracking has a new line:-

21-03-2012 07:24 Welwyn Garden City Depot Awaiting payment of charges

They said I can pay over the phone and get it delivered tomorrow , but I am impatient for my lens and to see if it is one piece, so I am going to go there and pay and collect later on today.

Parcelforce always blame customs for being slow....so how do companies like FedEx always get everything through in an hour or two, rather than a week?! FedEx may cost more than EMS but its not like 5 times the price. And believe it or not, when paying customs fees, the handling fee FedEx charge is LESS than Parcelforce!

[GTB]

in my experience when it says national hub,it means local delivery depot

but they can say different things now n then

international hub....is conventry

national hub is your local/ish sorting office

[jonstatt]

I have my camera lens. And its in one piece. The outer box looked like it had been through hell but it had never been opened. I opened it at the Parcelforce depot because I was quite concerned, but fortunately it was packed well enough. So customs didn't even really inspect it but still took a week throwing it around their offices. I was a bit lucky to be honest, because the customs declaration had a completely silly low value on it (I didn't ask for that to happen). It was marked as a gift but over the minimum threshold for gifts. But oddly camera lenses are subject to both sales tax AND import duty. But by marking it as a gift, it actually escapes the duty and only gets sales tax. Parcelforce's handling charge was equal to the tax which is annoying.

*A relieved eBayer*

[GTB]

congrats...its always a worry

[rsot]

You got it? Good stuff.

[Callidus]

Yeh when it says awaiting customs charges sometimes means awaiting charges