RebelScum

I did wonder if Reading was either my local depot, but it's more likely that's where they "investigate" lost parcels when the system wonders why something hasn't been scanned for two weeks. I'm betting that the actual parcel hasn't moved from Stanford Le Hope since it arrived. I had to chuckle that I only found out that the parcel had been lost for a day by clicking on the link out of boredom. Clearly me signing up for email updates was a total waste of time. So is my obstinate hope that my parcel might get put on a van a complete waste of time, or should I just start the process of disputing the purchase and see how that plays out? I'm not sure I can face ringing UPS Customer Sevices to ask them what this latest update means and TG aren't really covering themselves in glory by ignoring my emails, even if I recognise that they are probably getting nowhere with UPS themselves. All in all it's pretty poor. Update: So TG emailed me this morning, although I'm utterly mystified as to what documents UPS might have actually need, or whether this is simply TG trying to be helpful. I would say emailing TG seems to be the way forward, but we'll have to see whether what they have done is sufficient to release the parcel from the clutches of the UPS black hole.

Well this is a new one for UPS. I mean genuinely what on earth does that mean? Doesn't look like it's moved from Stanford Le Hope and it's simply a variation of an import scan. If they want instructions how about: "deliver the bloody parcel"

Courier post is not held for weeks by Border Force, given the urgent nature and fast turnarounds most companies operate to. I'm sorry, you are being fed a load of nonsense by UPS. They said the same to me and I challenged this, given I work in this area. This morning I received the update below. I'm presuming it's an automated response reflecting the fact that UPS are incapable of processing the backlog of parcels they have. I think for me it's got to the point I'll dispute the purchase, given TG have also stopped responding to my emails.

I wouldn't bother. You are the customer. TG are the retailer. Your relationship in this matter is with TG, not with UPS, and let's face it, all the evidence suggests that UPS investigations go nowhere. You'd be far better off raising this with TG as I did again today. I have asked what TG are going to do to get this shipment to me given 30+ days have now passed, and this beyond the timescale of what is considered reasonable for distance selling in both the EU and the UK. I'll give them a week and then if they don't respond I'll simply dispute the payment. PayPal will then give TG time to respond. They should be able to prove it was sent, but I can prove that it's not arrived in a reasonable timescale. Then PayPal will adjudicate. Then I'll dispute the duty and VAT payment made to UPS, given they've failed to import the parcel through the border. Given UPS are such a shambles I suspect they won't be capable of responding to this. Yup. Me too. I paid two weeks ago. They will have accepted the value on the invoice and applied VAT and a flat rate of duty, not that you'd actually know what this was because they won't break down the percentages applied in their invoice. It's very opaque and you won't get anyone in UPS to tell you what the money you paid was for. Luckily duty rates are quite low for most imports, and it's the VAT that makes up most of the costs. Anyway now their brokerage department has to apply the tariff codes and I bet they've no idea what they are for some items. Just for information (and to show people what I mean by tariff administration), this is what I was sent by DHL recently. They simply wanted to confirm the declaration made on the invoice was OK, given it was partially written in Cyrillic. I confirmed it was clothing by email and they applied the necessary part of the tariff: Note the bit about DHL being the agent for submitting the importation declaration. This took approximately 4 hours to clear, with a 5 minute phone call, just as a comparison.

I'm sorry, but the way that UPS have phrased this is very misleading. If Customs (e.g. Border Force) were in any way unsure as to what they were looking during an examination they have two options. Detain the items, and directly contact the importer (e.g. you), or seize the goods and send you a seizure notice. I think you need to remember if Border Force conducted an examination and didn't consider it to be a RIF it would either be cleared as a legitimate import (in whatever category they thought it fitted), or seized as a prohibition (e.g. as an unlicenced firearm). They wouldn't contact the courier company for screenshots and internet links. What this sounds like is that the brokerage department in UPS (e.g. their Customs agents who are clearing this through the border on behalf of TaiwanGun) don't understand the description on the invoice they are looking at, and therefore are struggling to fill in the tariff information. From comments made elsewhere it apparent that UPS are really struggling with import tariffs rules, applying them when they shouldn't be and making other basic errors. They operate in a very secretive way and getting a breakdown of how the tariff has been applied is nigh impossible. Ironically a lot of this work can be done retrospectively, if the brokerage department had a clue what they were doing.

Seeing as we are comparing tales of woe, mine hasn't shifted since the 8th March and they can't even be bothered to scan it anymore. I managed to get hold of someone in UPS brokerage today after 40 minutes of being on hold, to ask what was going on. They said my package was being "held by Customs", giving the impression that it was nothing to do with UPS. After challenging the agent as to what this actually meant and why tracking hadn't been updated as a result, I realised I was wasting my time, as it was clear they were just making it up as they went along and really couldn't be less interested in helping. Anyway, with parcels arriving with an 8-week in-country delay, I'll be looking at a delivery sometime in mid-April, if at all... 🙄 Still good news for everyone who managed to get a delivery this week.

Can I ask when did it arrive in-country?

I was genuinely willing for someone to get their parcel today, if only to give us all a little hope. To amuse myself I got the UPS tracking system to send me updates via email, so I could pretend there had been progress when I was dutifully told me the parcel was "In Transit". It made as much sense as talking to UPS customer services. I think I'll email TG again mid-week to ask what their plan of action is, given we'll be well over the 30 days delivery time for distance selling, and keep an eye on the forum to see what happens. UPS do have a habit of randomly delivering parcels a day late without updating the tracker, so we'll know by the end of the week if they are just messing everyone around. I wouldn't order anything in the UK either, if UPS are trusted to deliver it. Even Yodel managed to lob a parcel over our gate, which now seems like a premium service.

@L3wisD any luck? My experience with UPS is they tend to knock off work at 1700.

I feel your pain. It's one of the reasons why I can't be bothered to waste my time chasing UPS. You are absolutely right that their customer service desks have absolutely no control over what is going on in the hubs and they have exactly the same tracking information as we have online. Emailing social media platforms is an equal waste of time, as you get fed a scripted response. Some of the Trustpilot reviews are horrendous and it makes me glad I'm not a retailer having to deal with this. This one review really sums things up for me: It's one of the reasons that in the end I'll pass the responsibility for this mess to the retailer. As others have said TG aren't a bad company, but they do have a role to play in resolving these issues for their customers.

It must be a day for UPS to clear their emails. I just received this from UPS brokerage as well: Good day, Thank you for your email, In regards to your package, I have already uploaded the documents needed and set it to complete. Now, we'll just have to wait for customs to clear your shipment so that it will be delivered to you as soon as possible. All the best, Bryle B. Patalinghug Customs Clearance Advisor Just to be absolutely clear the whole Customs clearance excuse is nonsense, as is any suggestion that these parcels are being held by Customs. Most parcels and freight in the UK are cleared electronically and never physically see anyone at the border. The courier firm will need to input tariff information on entry, which in turn informs how much VAT and duty you pay. Given UPS took the VAT and duty (plus their admin fee) weeks ago they've already done this (or should have). Any physical checks are then based on the risk that electronic manifest presents, with parcel post having a very limited hold time at the border, given the urgent nature of many packages. Indeed DHL confirmed all the tariff information for me retrospectively the other day, so they didn't delay delivery. The firearms form that UPS insist on, is only for their own purposes. It is not an import requirement, but it will obviously help if you have a parcel lost in the black hole of the UPS system. It does make me wonder if a bulk load of TG parcels are stuck in Stanford Le Hope, waiting for UPS to grind through their paperwork. If any parcels are missing their documents they won't release the whole lot, as was suggested in a previous posting. Given how rubbish their tracking system is, you'd be better advised throwing a dart at a 2021 calendar for the actual date of delivery. I'm genuinely hoping for all the best for those expecting a delivery today, but I'd be amazed if any packages turned up. Fingers crossed for everyone though.

I'm inclined to agree. I've written to TG again this week to press the point that this is reflecting so badly on their business and everyone affected is going to think twice about using any retailer that uses UPS (for anything). If you used PayPal for the purchase you have 180 days from the purchase date to open a dispute over the purchase. I think the retailer needs to prove the item was sent (which TG will be able to do), but they won't be able confirm delivery, which is the issue for the buyer. I had a similar issue with a parcel that was lost in the Russian postal system and PayPal refunded me once they'd reviewed the case. I would assume that there would be similar limits on the time you have to open a case also apply if you've used different methods of credit. @Laserhawk's experience suggests that UPS are perhaps concentrating on dealing with parcels that have just been imported (e.g. not adding to the backlog), although it could also be put down to general incompetence, given that no RIF paperwork was demanded. Given how my own parcel hasn't been scanned since the 8th March I'm wondering if it's suffered the fate of many parcels in this warehouse. I'm interested to see if @L3wisD and @kasaran receive anything on Monday 15th March. This for me will be the test of UPS. If parcels start to arrive (giving a 4-week delivery time) then there is hope that UPS are attempting to clear these imports from TG. If not I'll be looking to dispute my purchase, given online distance selling rules in both the UK and EU state that the retailer has 30 days to deliver the goods, after which they become liable to make refunds.

I'm impressed Luke didn't swear in his Trustpilot review. Many others do!

TG got back to my email enquiry: I appreciate the reply and hope that the retailer may have better luck dealing with UPS than individual customers. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this.

A quick question. If this situation continues on beyond 8-weeks or so (stuck in the UK), or UPS suddenly loses track of these parcels, is there a time limit to dispute the payment of this issue with the retailer, assuming of course you've used credit to pay? I appreciate that this is a worst case scenario, and this is not about punishing TG for the sins of it's courier. Without games on at the moment I'm absolutely fine with waiting (albeit disappointed we are all in this mess), I just want to make sure that if it ever comes to this, what's the latest point you as the customer raise this as an issue with the credit company, without the whole liability falling back to you? I did also wonder if you could dispute the payment of Customs charges with UPS, even though it's not for physical goods per se. Any Watchdog consumer advice gratefully received. 😄 I'd also be interested if TG has got back with any information. I have wondered what they think of this, as it can't be good for business.

UK Customs. This ties in with the discussion I had with UPS on Friday about their firearms declaration form. The parcel hasn't been in Poland since the 20th February, when it arrived in their German hub.

Just received a new update from UPS. Whilst I'm still not banking on delivery any time soon, at least the parcel is moving in the right direction. Hopefully everyone else will have something similar soon.

That's hilarious, but I confess that a recent kit purchase from Poland went wrong when I accidentally put my country as Uganda (it was next to the UK on the drop-down box). The retailer was like, not our problem you idiot - you'll have to wait until it gets bounced back. I was saved by the Polish postal service who made sense of my Google translated email to them, realised a complete muppet had filled in the address, stopped it flying to Africa after it arrived in a hub in Germany, then arranged for the label to be amended and forwarded it on to the UK. Lesson learned was don't buy anything at 0130 in the morning when you are really tired. This probably also applies to buying RIFs as I find my willpower to resist wanes as the hour lengthens.

Trust me. It's all down to UPS and nothing to do with Brexit. They can't even move packages inland at the moment, never mind at the border, and they've suspended paying compensation to customers, such is the mess of their logistics. If you are brave enough just look at current online reviews (I particularly liked the one where someone sent a parcel from the East Midlands to the West Midlands and the delay was blamed on Brexit). Even Yodel and Hermes do better. However, in a development today UPS phoned me to ask me to complete their firearms declaration form. Just to reiterate this is not a Customs declaration form (Border Force do not require anything separate for RIFs) and this is despite the fact that TG explicitly added my UKARA membership details on the shipping notice and declaration. It's an unnecessary piece of additional bureaucracy, but who am I to argue as they've got my parcel, and if it helps their clearance team then it's worth doing. I think @EvilMonkee had a similar request a few days ago, which suggests they are working through the TG shipping container, but given no-one has reported receiving a parcel yet, I think delivery will be a while yet. Two other things. I emailed the UPS brokerage desk, just to politely enquire what was going on, which may have prompted the phone call today. Their address is: [email protected] I also emailed TG just to let them know that I was one of their UK customers whose parcel was stuck in Essex and that they might want to make enquiries with UPS as the retailer. This at least brings the problem to the attention of TG, who like many businesses are at the mercy of UPS.

So as expected my parcel from Moscow, thanks to DHL, arrived this morning, clearly demonstrating what courier companies are capable of when they are good. Customs duties and VAT all paid in advance. Great tracking and ridiculously quick delivery of 2 days to the UK. Well done DHL. In the meantime my poor TG parcel is enjoying a holiday in Essex courtesy of UPS. I gave up ringing them today as I actually had to do some work after 40 minutes of being on hold. I think I'll go back to TG next, just so they register what a mess UPS are making of this. Still the goodies from Russia are most welcome. Don't worry. That's the UPS hub in Germany. They tend to move them through here for UK shipments. The Europe bit is usually quick-ish; it's once they hit UK shores the problems start.

I'll be honest I'm reasonably sanguine about this, and I wholly accept the point about logistics post-transition. As a bit of fun I'm going to see if my DHL parcel from Moscow posted this afternoon, arrives before my parcel currently sat for a week in a warehouse in Essex. I'm betting it does. Interestingly enough the UK isn't even applying full import controls yet. These start in July 2021. I'd avoid ordering anything around this date that involves UPS.

I'm still seeing this message, after the parcel arrived in the UK on the 22nd February. I'm guessing I have a few more weeks of pain to go yet. I'm not even sure I can be bothered to phone their Customer Services (I think it's based in the Philippines), given the brokerage desk was meant to call me today with an update, but that was clearly nonsense to fob me off. I love the fact that the estimated length of time for delivery to the UK by UPS on the TG website is 3 days. Made me laugh.

No, shouldn't do at the UK end. I've had quite a bit of kit posted from Russia recently. eBay purchases by regular airmail are taking about 3-4 weeks, but most of that time is spent getting clearance out of Russia. I say this having just received a boonie hat yesterday and the estimated time for delivery was 1 day out. DHL from Grey Shop was just two days with their expedited post (taxes all included at the sales end - so no hassle at the point of import). The last time I used EMS that was also OK, although that was pre-December 2020. Indeed I've only ever had one issue with a surplus store in Russia and Paypal refunded for non-delivery, which worked out OK.

I don't think any of these delays are anything to do with the inspection of the parcels by Customs per se, and more to do with the fact that UPS seems to be in meltdown and seem to be incapable of processing and delivering parcels at the moment. Other courier firms are getting parcels through from the EU absolutely fine, and whilst there is a Covid impact on Border controls I think the situation with UPS is down to UPS. Some of the recent reviews for UPS I've seen online are suggesting a 5-week delay from postage (and ironically most of this time seems to be spent in the UK), which supports the information that @EvilMonkee managed to get that his parcel is currently sat in a container. I suspect there are quite a few GF and TG parcels in there with his, all waiting for someone in UPS to be assigned to them. Depending on how this all pans out it might be worth giving some feedback to TG and GF and asking them to consider offering alternative couriers, as relying on UPS may well impact their business. I for one will be very wary after this experience. Fingers crossed someone gets their parcel soon, as it'll give everyone an idea as to how long these imports are taking with UPS.

And always pay by credit card or Paypal. The Consumer Credit Act is you friend.