Importing a No32 scope, nearly but not quite....
For some who don't look over the different forums on Milsurps there is one dedicated to matching rifles with scopes and vice versa.
I was contacted by a forum Member early this year, saying he knew were the correct scope was for My No4 T....... It was a pleasant surprise but thought it could be a hard bargain to drive if I found the owner, not so...... the owner was more than happy to do a straight swap for one of my No32 Mk111 scopes.
After a few exchanges of emails and pictures etc, I agreed to Send the scope I was going to swap, to Peter Laidler to give it a once over and a bill of clean health, which he did and was more than pleased with his Excellent service.
So armed with a scope with a clean bill of health we ( Ron and I) looked at the best option for sending it, I had asked a few members and it seemed the best course of action was to send it to my business address for repair, this way it ties in with my import Licence etc EORI number etc, I would send a repaired scope back. Any fees I could or may be able to claim them back........
Now the thing is this was not just a normal No32 Mk111 scope to me, it was once fitted to my rifle, so you can't put a price on that so I figured with the value Ron had put on the scope I may be looking at a few ££ in Vat and import duty (I wasn't far wrong) but I was happy with that as long as it arrived safely then all would be well.
So I received an email from Ron that it was inbound, he sent me the two tracking numbers so the wait began...... It was tracked to Heathrow on the USPS tracking but was never scanned on to the royal mail tracking (which it should) so I knew it had arrived but where was it........
After many phone calls and still none the wiser that dreaded fear of a lost package was looming once again, but I held on and waited, as the fact a parcel can arrive from the US in a day..... but it will take 2 weeks for a letter saying there are customs charges etc, in the mean time I phoned Royal Mail again to be greeted by a very angry women who told me the process of stuff arriving etc and the procedure, as I stated the package was tracked via USPS but nothing on the Royal Mail, I was told it has to be scanned as soon as it arrives, it obvious it was but never went on the Royal Mail system.
So I arrive home from work (now nearly 3 weeks since it arrived) and had received a letter from Border force and a C88a form to fill in, so the fun started......... trying to fill in the form is a complete nightmare when it comes to the required codes, but eventually I was making progress and retuned all the required documents etc, not quite the process I thought it would be, as at the other end everything is typed in to the computer and if the computer says no then you get an email were you can correct certain parts then these are processed again, so my first problem was I hadn't authorised the repair before hand, so didnt have the required documents, I tried several ways (lots of studying the import codes etc which relate to other codes)
I did get some very generous help from an import company who I can't thank enough and there was no charge, the fact was I was going to have to import it as a general import, so I changed the codes again and with a final email it all went through, but by this time I received the same notification from Border force ( obvious these don't communicate with Customs very much) regarding my parcel and by this time had approx 10 days left, before the item would be returned, eventually I received the invoice for the Vat and Duty and paid asap.
So I assumed all well and good, I contacted customs and all had gone through and Border Force was notified payment had been received and was instructed to release the Parcel to Royal Mail for delivery.......... so after a week I thought I'd better make some enquiries to were my parcel was, customs come back and said they notified Border Force, Border Force called to say They had released the Parcel to Royal Mail........
So on the phone to Royal mail, they didn't know were it was, the USPS site was not updated so still showed it being in the UK....... trying to explain I'd practically read the whole set of volumes on commodity codes, tax codes etc, had sent an received more emails than I ever have in the space of a few weeks, paid a hefty price in Vat and Duty and my blood was starting to boil over and just wanted a straight answer "where is my parcel " ..........
It seemed in there wisdom Royal Mail had decided to return the parcel to the sender......
Begining to think the worse again and after jumping through so many hoops I looked on the USPS site, the item had left the UK and an attempted delivery was made, took a bit to process this but thought I'd double check, yep it was back in the USA and waiting in the local post office for Ron......
I emailed Ron and he replied saying he had collected it..........
To be honest it was a big sigh of relief from me as it was safe........ I'm waiting for my refund of Vat and duty etc and can now Ron for the original postage, for the price of a single ticket it did well.......
So a not so big thanks to the incompetent royal Mail staff who I can only regard now as having the IQ equivalent to a can of mixed vegetables (I know I'm being a bit out of order towards mixed veg)
The whole process could of been easier as I was unaware of the changes in Postal Imports or Postal High value items, it had been a few years since the last import.
To anyone thinking of similar or buying something on ebay etc and bringing it via the UK if it has a declared value of around £890 and over then it will be seized and a form C88 will need to be submitted, I would advise reading up on the subject first, as your stress levels will go through the roof.....
A big thanks To the following,
Ron who was more than willing to part with his scope, Colin who informed me of its location,
Brian Dick who kindly offered his services, But I was trying to keep it between me and Ron, thanks to Peter Laidler who offered some good advice (and for the service of the scope) and Thanks to Warren who was probably in comms more with Ron.
And so begins plan B.........
