Taiwangun Shipping Disruption (Brexit Related Content)

[Piman]

Do not believe the estimates. I had many of those during my shipments and they never met any of them. My first one was also overly optimistic as yours. It is an auto generated date base on assumptions there is no processing for customs or any of the backlogs they have at their depots.

[Neptune]

1 hour ago, Piman said:

So UPS strikes again. This time not from Taiwangun but an order from the US. I have already ordered other items from the US and had no issues with other couriers. For instance it took 3 days with FedEx and they clearly understood the import limits. Now I am struggling to deal with UPS as they want to apply charges to shipment that is below the £135 limit. The government website is very clear on this stating:

 

"You will not have to pay anything to the delivery company to receive goods worth less than £135"

 

But UPS are a law unto themselves. I even had the delivery driver turn up today with an invoice to pay but he has had to return the parcel as I was not willing to pay. I have still not heard anything back from UPS after having raised this issue with them via phone and email. For a logistics company they have no clue what they are doing.

 

I have an order in my Taiwangun basket but it will never be placed until they offer an alternative courier. Their excuse that there are no other couriers that will handle airsoft RIFs is BS. I suspect it is more a contractual/cost/to much effort issue.

 

James

 

Did you pay VAT to the seller then? What was the total value including postage?

[kasaran]

@Piman i thought those thresholds were only for the EU?

Edited May 6, 2021 by kasaran

[Tommikka]

7 hours ago, Piman said:

So UPS strikes again. This time not from Taiwangun but an order from the US. I have already ordered other items from the US and had no issues with other couriers. For instance it took 3 days with FedEx and they clearly understood the import limits. Now I am struggling to deal with UPS as they want to apply charges to shipment that is below the £135 limit. The government website is very clear on this stating:

 

"You will not have to pay anything to the delivery company to receive goods worth less than £135"

 

But UPS are a law unto themselves. I even had the delivery driver turn up today with an invoice to pay but he has had to return the parcel as I was not willing to pay. I have still not heard anything back from UPS after having raised this issue with them via phone and email. For a logistics company they have no clue what they are doing.

 

I have an order in my Taiwangun basket but it will never be placed until they offer an alternative courier. Their excuse that there are no other couriers that will handle airsoft RIFs is BS. I suspect it is more a contractual/cost/to much effort issue.

 

James

If it was under £135 AND the overseas retailer has registered with HMRC, charges you UK VAT, marks the package with the reference numbers & declarations, and will then pay HMRC on a quarterly basis.

 

If not then you will get a bill

41 minutes ago, kasaran said:

@Piman i thought those thresholds were only for the EU?

No.

 

It’s a change to how imports are handled from anywhere

[hitmanNo2]

If overseas retailers don't register for the scheme, let's face it, a lot I'm sure can't be arsed, is there any downside for them?  I can't see HMRC writing to them asking very nicely if they'll sign up to their dumb scheme.

[Piman]

12 minutes ago, Tommikka said:

If it was under £135 AND the overseas retailer has registered with HMRC, charges you UK VAT, marks the package with the reference numbers & declarations, and will then pay HMRC on a quarterly basis.

 

If not then you will get a bill

I guess that is the problem that they have not marked the shipment. The statement on the Government website is very clear though. I should not get a bill and I should not pay anything to UPS for this shipment. The issue is then with the shipper and UPS.

[Neptune]

1 hour ago, Piman said:

I guess that is the problem that they have not marked the shipment. The statement on the Government website is very clear though. I should not get a bill and I should not pay anything to UPS for this shipment. The issue is then with the shipper and UPS.

 

No, you're importing goods that need to be taxed, the tax hasn't been paid.

 

From the very same website you're quoting:

 

Quote

VAT is charged on all goods (except for gifts worth £39 or less) sent from:

• outside the UK to Great Britain
• outside the UK and the EU to Northern Ireland

VAT is not charged on goods that are gifts worth £39 or less.

You pay VAT when you buy the goods or to the delivery company before you receive them. If you have to pay VAT to the delivery company, it’s charged on the total package value, including:

• the value of the goods
• postage, packaging and insurance
• any duty you owe

VAT is charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods.

 

You're supposed to pay the tax to the seller, who then sends it to HMRC (on orders under £135), but you didn't pay the tax and HMRC still wants it's cut.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Neptune

[Piman]

1 hour ago, Neptune said:

 

No, you're importing goods that need to be taxed, the tax hasn't been paid.

 

From the very same website you're quoting:

 

 

You're supposed to pay the tax to the seller, who then sends it to HMRC (on orders under £135), but you didn't pay the tax and HMRC still wants it's cut.

Agreed, but you need to take that statement in context as it immediately goes on to explain that it is paid to the delivery company when over £135 and when under £135 it is not my responsibility. This is an error on the part of the sender and UPS who should have identified this and be chasing the sender and not me.

 

James

[Druid799]

9 hours ago, GoopGoop said:

Order placed: 4/5/21
Order shipped: 6/5/21

Order delivery estimate: 11/5/21

 

... 5 days? Well I find that hard to believe. Did anyone else's state a 5 day delivery before having actually left Poland?

 

Pre all this Brexit induced bollox you were looking at a week minimum so 5days with all this bullshitery going on ? Don’t think so !!🤦‍♂️

[Tommikka]

13 minutes ago, Piman said:

Agreed, but you need to take that statement in context as it immediately goes on to explain that it is paid to the delivery company when over £135 and when under £135 it is not my responsibility. This is an error on the part of the sender and UPS who should have identified this and be chasing the sender and not me.

 

James

Ultimately it is always your responsibility as an importer.  If VAT is not detailed by the retailer when you checkout then they aren’t charging it in the first place.

 

The context of not paying VAT to the carrier on goods below £135 is based on the retailer having already handled the VAT.

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad

 

Page 2:

•  
• You pay VAT when you buy the goods or to the delivery company before you receive them. 

[EvilMonkee]

I am just flabbergasted that they turned up with your parcel at your door, and having been witness to this thread over the last 28 odd pages and with everything you know YOU TURNED THEM AWAY!!! What were you thinking? Pay the damn charge get your goods argue it later.

[Lozart]

13 hours ago, Piman said:

Agreed, but you need to take that statement in context as it immediately goes on to explain that it is paid to the delivery company when over £135 and when under £135 it is not my responsibility. This is an error on the part of the sender and UPS who should have identified this and be chasing the sender and not me.

 

James

 

No, you're the importer. It's your responsibility to ensure that the tax gets paid either by the seller IF they're registered with HMRC to pay it directly or yourself if they're not. It's the carriers responsibility to collect the tax on the behalf of HMRC but it's still your responsibility to pay it.

[Piman]

2 hours ago, Lozart said:

 

No, you're the importer. It's your responsibility to ensure that the tax gets paid either by the seller IF they're registered with HMRC to pay it directly or yourself if they're not. It's the carriers responsibility to collect the tax on the behalf of HMRC but it's still your responsibility to pay it.

I have been looking online at a lot of sites and the Government website and I cannot see this anywhere. That certainly used to be the case but with the new rule changes they all clearly state this is now the responsibility of the shipper. I am trying to get a clear understanding of this so if you can find a clear reference on this that would be really helpful. 

[Lozart]

3 minutes ago, Piman said:

I have been looking online at a lot of sites and the Government website and I cannot see this anywhere. That certainly used to be the case but with the new rule changes they all clearly state this is now the responsibility of the shipper. I am trying to get a clear understanding of this so if you can find a clear reference on this that would be really helpful. 

 

from here: https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad?step-by-step-nav=849f71d1-f290-4a8e-9458-add936efefc5

 

Quote

Your responsibilities

Before receiving your goods, you may have to pay VAT, Customs Duty or Excise Duty if they were sent to:

• Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) from outside the UK
• Northern Ireland from countries outside the UK and the European Union (EU)

You must also check that the sender:

• pays Excise Duty on any alcohol or tobacco sent from the EU to Northern Ireland
• declares goods correctly if they’re sent from outside the UK (or from outside the EU for Northern Ireland)

 

also this:

Quote

VAT

VAT is charged on all goods (except for gifts worth £39 or less) sent from:

• outside the UK to Great Britain
• outside the UK and the EU to Northern Ireland

VAT is not charged on goods that are gifts worth £39 or less.

You pay VAT when you buy the goods or to the delivery company before you receive them. If you have to pay VAT to the delivery company, it’s charged on the total package value, including:

• the value of the goods
• postage, packaging and insurance
• any duty you owe

VAT is charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods.

Goods worth £135 or less in total

If you bought the goods yourself and they are not excise goods, the seller will have included VAT in the total you paid.

You will need to pay VAT to the delivery company if the goods are:

• gifts sent to you by someone else and worth more than £39
• excise goods

Goods worth more than £135 in total

You will have to pay VAT to the delivery company either before the goods are delivered or when you collect them.

 

BUT that assumes that the sender has charged you VAT at point of purchase and is registered to reverse charge HMRC. If they haven't then the you will still have to pay the VAT yourself. As far as HMRC is concerned it'll be down to you to either check that they have paid it or to pony up the difference.

If you think you've overpaid then you'll need to fill in the appropriate form and throw yourself on the tender mercies of HMRC https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-repayment-or-remission-of-import-duties-c285-chief

[GoopGoop]

17 hours ago, Druid799 said:

Pre all this Brexit induced bollox you were looking at a week minimum so 5days with all this bullshitery going on ? Don’t think so !!🤦‍♂️

 

On 06/05/2021 at 12:38, Piman said:

Do not believe the estimates. I had many of those during my shipments and they never met any of them. My first one was also overly optimistic as yours. It is an auto generated date base on assumptions there is no processing for customs or any of the backlogs they have at their depots.

 

Yeah though as such, thanks for confirming though!  

[Laserhawk]

Does anyone know of a way of contacting customs at Stanford Le-NoHope?

 

According to the latest update from UPS, my package has been with customs for the last month. They've said I'm more than welcome to contact them but can't provide me with contact details! This was after they asked me to contact TG to ask them why my parcel was delayed, because UPS couldn't tell me the details! Just can't seem to win at the moment.  TG can't help any further and fair play to them, they have tried to assist where they can.

 

Thanks in advance 👍

 

 

[Piman]

17 hours ago, Laserhawk said:

Does anyone know of a way of contacting customs at Stanford Le-NoHope?

 

According to the latest update from UPS, my package has been with customs for the last month. They've said I'm more than welcome to contact them but can't provide me with contact details! This was after they asked me to contact TG to ask them why my parcel was delayed, because UPS couldn't tell me the details! Just can't seem to win at the moment.  TG can't help any further and fair play to them, they have tried to assist where they can.

 

Thanks in advance 👍

 

 

In general their support over the phone is not good. However you can try the following for UPS Brokerage.

Tel: 03457 877 877

 

Then choose option 6, then option 1.

 

Be prepared to wait easily over an hour in a queue. In fact I am in that very queue right now at 1 hr & 12 minutes after two unsuccessful calls last week.

[leadly]

I had to call UPS today to get them to re-open my previous lost parcel claim. Apparently they don't expect to lose the same parcel twice during the 2 months they've been looking after it for me, so I couldn't file another claim myself online.

 

With all the time I've spent on this thread, messaging them and on the phone I reckon I could have driven to Stanford and back from Derby quite a few times.

[Piman]

41 minutes ago, Piman said:

In general their support over the phone is not good. However you can try the following for UPS Brokerage.

Tel: 03457 877 877

 

Then choose option 6, then option 1.

 

Be prepared to wait easily over an hour in a queue. In fact I am in that very queue right now at 1 hr & 12 minutes after two unsuccessful calls last week.

 

Just when I think it is impossible for UPS to be any more incompetent they outdo themselves again. So I got through, provided my tracking details and said I wanted to query an issue and I get put straight back into the queue again.  Now at 1 hr 57 minutes in the queue.

[Adolf Hamster]

2 minutes ago, leadly said:

I had to call UPS today to get them to re-open my previous lost parcel claim. Apparently they don't expect to lose the same parcel twice during the 2 months they've been looking after it for me, so I couldn't file another claim myself online.

 

With all the time I've spent on this thread, messaging them and on the phone I reckon I could have driven to Stanford and back from Derby quite a few times.

 

honestly at this point i'd just be claiming back on paypal.

 

i know hitting the shops in the wallet isn't fair given it's ups's incompetence, but a shop arguing with them over a few hundred orders is gonna have more leverage than joe bloggs on his own could do.

 

plus it'll convince the shops that they need to switch to competent couriers.

 

 

i mean last international order i placed took 6 days from moscow, which is how long an international order should take when it's handled by a competent company.

[leadly]

@Adolf Hamster That's where I may have made a slight boo boo. I always always always use PayPal when available.

 

However, for some reason the transaction didn't go through with PayPal so in my haste I just used my debit card.

 

I assume this will be a bit harder to claim?

[Adolf Hamster]

6 minutes ago, leadly said:

@Adolf Hamster That's where I may have made a slight boo boo. I always always always use PayPal when available.

 

However, for some reason the transaction didn't go through with PayPal so in my haste I just used my debit card.

 

I assume this will be a bit harder to claim?

 

owch, you're gonna be stuck with how willing the shop is to go through with cancelling then.

[GoopGoop]

9 minutes ago, leadly said:

@Adolf Hamster That's where I may have made a slight boo boo. I always always always use PayPal when available.

 

However, for some reason the transaction didn't go through with PayPal so in my haste I just used my debit card.

 

I assume this will be a bit harder to claim?

 

If you want to go down the refund route I would first contact TG and ask them. I have seen TG state a refund is posible in earlier pages of this thread. If that doesn't work, you can always contact your bank and ask for a chargeback. Depending on which bank you use, this option has a decent chance of succeeding. If you chose this route, provide as much evidence as possible, including your request (and TG's decline) of a return/refund.

[Laserhawk]

1 hour ago, Piman said:

In general their support over the phone is not good. However you can try the following for UPS Brokerage.

Tel: 03457 877 877

 

Then choose option 6, then option 1.

 

Be prepared to wait easily over an hour in a queue. In fact I am in that very queue right now at 1 hr & 12 minutes after two unsuccessful calls last week.

Ouch. Thanks for the help 👍

[Rigal]

Just thought I'd weight in with my issues that I'm having with UPS/TG right now. Might want to get a coffee and it's a long 'un.

 

Bought the JG works P98 (P90 with M4 mag adaptor) about Oct, Nov last year and had it arrived here all safe and cosy. Also ordered extra mags, better battery, optic and sling. So about £ Except for the cockup TG made when depowering it and breaking the flanges for holding the trigger bar in place. Their "fix" was to stick in a bit of rolled up electrical tape to jam it back in place.

Spoke to TG tech support about this and they said it doesn't affect the gun and it would work just fine. Normal tests at home, it worked fine, but come game day early December, where I was running it as my side arm to my sniper, it failed badly. The trigger was sticking and couldn't get any consitant shots out of it. No full auto that game at least so it didn't get stuck in full auto on the field. The real kicker was when trying to check it in the safe area, the trigger bars popped out of the lower receiver and got jammed back by the upper receiver causing it to go full auto, even with the safety on. Got yelled at about it, but at least I'd cleared it and removed the mag before leaving the field.

 

Got back on to TG and they said I could send it back for repairs. So after xmas and a few other issues, it went back mid Feb 2021. They've repaired it and have tried sending it back. Where it sat is UPS purgatory for a month before they returned it to TG. Apparrently they were waiting for extra info from TG, but no idea what info TG sent, if any at all. Had chased them up multiple times and the said they were dealing with it.

So after it got returned, they finially got around to resending it again towards the end of last month. Where it has again been sitting in UPS purgatory. Switching between "On The Way, Delayed" and "Held, waiting further instructions, information". It did once, for a day, switch to actually being on the way with an actual delivery date! Then it went back to being "Held".

I've been on to UPS about this and they don't seem to know their arses from their elbows and cannot see it on their systems as it's still in Poland. They've at least tried to contact the Poland office and are awaiting a response. Lets see if it takes them another week to do anything more with it.

 

TG seem to have got tired with me and are ignoring my emails and messages.

So what info do they need?!?! It was bought pre Brexit, so VAT and other crap shouldn't be an issue. They have my address, email, phone, UKARA and all the original invoices, work orders and what ever else is needed to prove it's an RMA. How hard is it to post an item. Getting really miffed by all this.

According to the TG website, they also send things with DPD. Anyone been able to get them to use DPD? Airsoft RIF's can be sent via DPD by the looks of it too.