Taiwangun Shipping Disruption (Brexit Related Content)

[Piman]

1 hour ago, kasaran said:

£90 for just shy of 800 isnt horribly high? suspiciously low.  but if thats the case then my wishlist from TG isnt dead yet xD (mine would total around 400 to 500 before tax etc)

I would be cautious about that. Either they have made a mistake or I am getting another large bill on arrival into the UK.

 

James

[GothicGhost]

Not airsoft but I order some flight sim stuff from the Netherlands  in January for £170 and I never got any fees from UPS or customs vat and duty.

And it had the invoice and order total on the box so customs could see it easy.

 

 

[ak2m4]

16 minutes ago, GothicGhost said:

Not airsoft but I order some flight sim stuff from the Netherlands  in January for £170 and I never got any fees from UPS or customs vat and duty.

And it had the invoice and order total on the box so customs could see it easy.

 

 

Were you charged any local VAT? 

 

I suspect just like when you order from HK, that due to the amount of parcels coming in not all get stopped.  This is especially true when going through the national carriers like Royal Mail / Parcel Force / EMS

[Piman]

11 minutes ago, GothicGhost said:

Not airsoft but I order some flight sim stuff from the Netherlands  in January for £170 and I never got any fees from UPS or customs vat and duty.

And it had the invoice and order total on the box so customs could see it easy.

 

 

I suspect there is a lot of room for errors at the moment in the current Brexit/Covid chaos. I suspect this was missed as they try to work through the back log. 

[EvilMonkee]

My Gunfire Order from the 9th has only just hit the UK - my mates arrived a few days ago and he didnt get hit with VAT at all so we will see what happens.  Could be that they are just so swamped at the moment.

[Tommikka]

3 hours ago, GothicGhost said:

Not airsoft but I order some flight sim stuff from the Netherlands  in January for £170 and I never got any fees from UPS or customs vat and duty.

And it had the invoice and order total on the box so customs could see it easy.

 

 

Over £135, so ought to have been picked up on entry

 

It’s either managed to get through due to the quantity going through, or there are a couple of companies who have retrospectively charged after delivery in the past 

[RebelScum]

OK.  So on a TG order of £193.32 (including £9.69 postage), I've just been advised that the import charges are as follows:

 

NOTE: the total value used for calculation of all Duty-based fees is 0.00.

Government Charges: 47.09

Brokerage Charges: 11.50

Freight Charges: 0.00

VAT: 0.00

 

Given UPS haven't filled in the VAT total and have zero-rated the duty, I would still hazard a guess that the £47.09 includes VAT and duty.  The UPS handling charge is £11.50, on par with what Parcelforce tend charge on import.  

 

I honestly think this is pretty much on par with what was expected, as I was looking at about £40 in VAT and under £10 on duty (despite what the UPS receipt says).  The handling fee is ridiculous, but I've been paying that on imports from the US for years, so again was expected.

 

Overall, it is probably marginal in terms of whether any additional costs have been incurred.  If you meet the minimum spend, it seems about the same, and still cheaper for me than getting the kit/RIF in the UK.

[Piman]

Has your shipment arrived yet?

 

Mine was originally due yesterday but they are quoting 'Brexit' delays at the moment and have not updated the estimated delivery time. It is still in Poland at the moment.

 

Interesting how my order had 3 times the brokerage charge. I guess they decide to rip me off for more money as it was a larger order even though the effort for them is the same. That's disgraceful.

 

I also note (sucker that I am), having placed another order with Taiwangun, that their shipping cost has gone up 50%.

 

James

[Lozart]

5 minutes ago, Piman said:

Has your shipment arrived yet?

 

Mine was originally due yesterday but they are quoting 'Brexit' delays at the moment and have not updated the estimated delivery time. It is still in Poland at the moment.

 

Interesting how my order had 3 times the brokerage charge. I guess they decide to rip me off for more money as it was a larger order even though the effort for them is the same. That's disgraceful.

 

James

 

It entirely depends on what it says on the CN22 customs declaration. Your order was a lot larger so I would expect higher charges but you've not said what it was or what was on the CN22.

[Piman]

I expect higher charges in regards to duty and tax but not handling fees. I do not know what is on the CN22 but the shipment included many spares and parts as well as guns. However things are not looking good as the shipping has update to:

 

"UPS is holding the cargo at a secure facility, pending instructions and agreement."

 

I suspect paperwork issues.

 

James

 

[ak2m4]

2 hours ago, Piman said:

I also note (sucker that I am), having placed another order with Taiwangun, that their shipping cost has gone up 50%.

 

I know it's a bit of a kick in the nuts but £15 for a courier is still a pretty good price for Poland to UK.  As for the rest it does all depend on what is on the CN22 label.  The fees they originally quoted you didn't make much sense so maybe they are holding it to re-asses.  Just a waiting game at the moment, I've a couple hundred motors stuck with UPS god knows where for 2 weeks now.

[Tommikka]

22 minutes ago, Piman said:

I expect higher charges in regards to duty and tax but not handling fees. I do not know what is on the CN22 but the shipment included many spares and parts as well as guns. However things are not looking good as the shipping has update to:

 

"UPS is holding the cargo at a secure facility, pending instructions and agreement."

 

I suspect paperwork issues.

 

James

 

The fees are likely to be on a percentage rate or sliding scale, as in the examples linked below:

Royal Mail £8

DHL minimum £11, or 2.5%
 

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-55734277

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/27/anna-customs-duty

[Piman]

1 minute ago, ak2m4 said:

 

I know it's a bit of a kick in the nuts but £15 for a courier is still a pretty good price for Poland to UK.  As for the rest it does all depend on what is on the CN22 label.  The fees they originally quoted you didn't make much sense so maybe they are holding it to re-asses.  Just a waiting game at the moment, I've a couple hundred motors stuck with UPS god knows where for 2 weeks now.

Very true, but strange how quickly it changed (or may be not if they and UPS realised what they had committed to).  I was looking at ordering from another EU based company to get a handful of small parts I can just not find anywhere in the UK. The want over 45 Euros to ship.

 

Not to mention the truly ridiculous situation with the likes of Evike. I have ordered a couple of times from them before and anticipate a high shipping cost and or the normal fees and VAT. However they are now only offering the most expensive shipping option and this is stupidly high. I wanted a trigger that only they have that costs $30. Shipping is over $50 for such a small item. I thought I would add a few extra small items to see if I could spread the cost. Nope, went up to over $100 in shipping. Adding a PVC patch added $3 to shipping on its own.

 

James 

[RebelScum]

My order was due to arrive today, but has been pushed back to next Wednesday, due to shipping delays.

[Piman]

3 hours ago, RebelScum said:

My order was due to arrive today, but has been pushed back to next Wednesday, due to shipping delays.

Whatever you do don't look at the recent reviews on Trustpilot for UPS. It is scary. I just hope it arrives into the UK before my UKARA runs out.

 

James

[GenuineGerman]

We use UPS at work and I had a call with out account manager yesterday. Apparently a lot of the delays have been due to resourcing mainly at East Midlands. I was told they have over 150 people off with Covid and self isolating just in the Midlands area from my understanding. We are currently experiencing 2 weeks shipping delays into Europe and the same coming back in the UK 

[Kls77]

Well I ordered a gunfire order in mid January . Took s week to get to UK . And been stuck in ups warehouse at Stanford for three weeks know . Gets scanned every day  on tracking . Emailed gunfire and basically was told not there fault and they won't chase it as in UK know . Rang ups , on hold for 40 minutes to be told they would send a email form me to claim . So followed the email and then it tell me can't put claim in as it's not lost as still in network and due for delivery ( God knows when Tho) luckily it was a PayPal order and pay after delivery so haven't been charged yet . Had  parcels from the US in four days this year . 

Some good customer service in the UK and gunfire !!!!! 

Have to hope it turns up before I play again lol 😾

[TheFull9]

Not super thread relevant, but having been importing loads from the US every year for a good 6-7 years or more, the one thing I'd recommend above all else is to find an american you can trust who'll happily take a few extra bucks to forward things.  It sounds counterintuitive, but paying shipping twice if you use a mate and tipping them a few vs. the crazy money the stores charge to ship right to you will always work out cheaper and if they don't mind putting a few orders in together for you the savings rocket up exponentially.

 

Shipping within the lower 48 states is cheap af, as many will have seen at checkout the cost for international compared to US is crazy.  So if you buy a few pouches, a shirt and a stock (for example) it'll cost maybe $5-10 to get to your mate, then if they pool a few such orders together in a box that box will probably cost $50 or so to the UK and you'll get dozens of items in it.  Even after tipping them $10-20 you can save in the region of hundreds sometimes.  Personally I import heavy boxes with roughly the volume of a box for a 32" tv, they'll cost around $110 to send but each one will have items from a dozen+ different stores and ebay sellers etc, which each would've costed in the $30-60 region.

 

Obviously be most certain that they are 110% super duper honest with the customs declaration form because HMRC don't have a damn clue what pouches and camo are worth.  Don't accidentally pay short on your tax bill (meaning your outlay is lowered even further), that would be bad and I discourage it with much fervor.

 

Granted if you've got no family or friend connections there this won't work for everyone, but if you've even got a mate across the pond you've ended up chatting to on IG or through a facebook group there's a decent chance they'll be happy to make a couple of extra notes in their spare time.

[lukeB]

Just ordered a hpa nozzle from amped, could send it in a letter. Still cost as much in delivery as the item.

 

Also ordered a new gnu, parts and bbs from TG today. Having read the comments above, i won't be expecting it any time soon.

[Hudson]

Not from TG or GF, but ordered from airsoftpro in Czechia and just had it arrive yesterday without a problem via DHL. 

 

Express shipping (4-5 days), no charges or duty paid on it (so far). 

[Laserhawk]

Hey guys, just to say that I've also ordered twice from Taiwangun since they started sending to the UK again. Dispatched via UPS as usual on 12/2/21 and still waiting now for them to arrive due to Brexit delays.  Delivery has been rearranged twice.  According to the UPS tracking notes, it came from Poland to the UK, and was then sent back to Poland two days later, then Germany and now back in Poland again.  Have been charged the Brexit fees which totalled £110 approx. Will let you know when (if) they arrive.  Think its safe to say, this is a bit of a nightmare, especially when I've spent near enough £400 on items. 

[Laserhawk]

38 minutes ago, Laserhawk said:

Hey guys, just to say that I've also ordered twice from Taiwangun since they started sending to the UK again. Dispatched via UPS as usual on 12/2/21 and still waiting now for them to arrive due to Brexit delays.  Delivery has been rearranged twice.  According to the UPS tracking notes, it came from Poland to the UK, and was then sent back to Poland two days later, then Germany and now back in Poland again.  Have been charged the Brexit fees which totalled £110 approx. Will let you know when (if) they arrive.  Think its safe to say, this is a bit of a nightmare, especially when I've spent near enough £400 on items. 

Further to this, I've just been contacted by UPS who have since sent me an email asking me to complete a Firearms Form, detailing my UKARA details and the details of the venues I regularly play at.  Have completed it and sent back.  Hopefully, everything will go smoothly....

[ak2m4]

 

56 minutes ago, Laserhawk said:

Have been charged the Brexit fees which totalled £110 approx. Will let you know when (if) they arrive.  Think its safe to say, this is a bit of a nightmare, especially when I've spent near enough £400 on items. 

 

Did you pay your charges yet?  I normally pay VAT and duties etc direct to the driver on delivery however looks like they they've switched to paying before delivery now.  However their whole payment process isn't geared up.  Even their way of informing you of payments isn't that clear.  My packages came from China though so slightly different. 

 

Got a vague message on the tracker to say charges need to be paid, but no link to pay or instructions.  So called UPS support and was told "ohhh ignore that, just pay the driver" .  So I wait for another week, no movement on the tracker.  Called support again, got Steve from Delhi 🙂 on the worst quality line.  He said I had to pay now, so paid over the phone as this was the only way to pay, arrived next day even though tracker said parcel still in China.  Seems they are overwhelmed, but still taking on packages.

[Laserhawk]

2 minutes ago, ak2m4 said:

 

 

Did you pay your charges yet?  I normally pay VAT and duties etc direct to the driver on delivery however looks like they they've switched to paying before delivery now.  However their whole payment process isn't geared up.  Even their way of informing you of payments isn't that clear.  My packages came from China though so slightly different. 

 

Got a vague message on the tracker to say charges need to be paid, but no link to pay or instructions.  So called UPS support and was told "ohhh ignore that, just pay the driver" .  So I wait for another week, no movement on the tracker.  Called support again, got Steve from Delhi 🙂 on the worst quality line.  He said I had to pay now, so paid over the phone as this was the only way to pay, arrived next day even though tracker said parcel still in China.  Seems they are overwhelmed, but still taking on packages.

Yeah I paid them via the UPS website.  The charges came through almost immediately. Literally a day or so after the package was shipped.  I'm hoping it will be here relatively soon.

[Piman]

I have two shipments coming from Taiwangun.

First shipped on 11/02/21 - Fees requested on 15th, paid on 16th through their tracking web page. Since then delivery has been rescheduled 4 or 4 time due to 'Brexit delays' but it is still stuck in Poland. Currently due to be delivered in the next  15 minutes according to their tracker but that is a fast van from Poland!!! Expect it to return to a delayed and await new made up delivery estimate soon.

Second shipped on 19/02/21. In and out of clearance and customs agency in Poland. No request for any payments yet. Still stuck in Poland with 'Brexit delays'

No request yet for further documentation, i.e. Firearms form. If they don't hurry up my UKARA will have expired which would be a disaster.

 

Latest reviews on line for UPS show horrific delays and customer support so my expectations are low.

 

Not very encouraging and I will not be ordering from Taiwangun anytime soon. Not because of them but purely because they are using UPS.

 

James