Importing a No32 scope, nearly but not quite....

[bigduke6]

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.........

Information

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[mrclark303]

Bloody hell Geoff, what a nightmare! Might we ask what plan B might be?

Are there any RFD's you know with an upcoming importation from North America, you could add it to their manifest...

[bigduke6]

Plan B, I'm having a rest........ while I think of plan C

Just happy its safe and sound and Blood pressure is back to normal.

[muffett.2008]

Funny that, I set up an import complete with documentation for a couple of rifles, took 2 months just to get the paperwork sorted.
The exporter advised me when the items landed here in OZ.....that's when the funny stuff started.
My documentation said they were to be sent via AusPost to Customs in Sydney, however they arrived by courier in Brisbane and the Couriers name and address was recorded as the recipient.

It took a month to track the items down, a month to have them transferred to Sydney, then I had to have a Statutory Declaration from the Courier to the effect that I was the owner, one from myself with copies of the original Import papers to prove ownership and wait another 3 weeks before I could travel to Sydney and collect them.

As it was both suffered slight damage from the over exuberant safety inspection..............good bit is they waived the Import Duties due to accepting that it was their stuffup.

Only just got the items cleared and returns and PTA's returned before they expired...........I had a bit of a sit down after that little lot too.

[chosenman]

Seems like a right cake & arse party Geoff. We ship out to the states all the time as well as buying in and have no problems what so ever in fact just sent a cased IWS to the US with no issues.
The only problem I've had was quite recently when I purchased a vectronix LRF for $1500 but was presented with an extortionate customs charge. The parcel got rejected by me because the seller had marked its value at his end as $5000. Other than that no dramas.

[bigduke6]

You couldn't make it up..............Going to the States no problem, Its getting here, which it was.......... I got an email off Border Force stating in no way did they instruct Royal mail the parcel to be returned to the sender.

Brian says it really should have an export licence from the DDTC.

[Brian Dick]

Yep, a colossal cluster f--k. You're lucky it wasn't confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection because it must be lodged via the AES system before it can be shipped out of the USA legally.

It's not just me saying Geoff.

ITAR 121.1 Category I(f)

Riflescopes manufactured to military specifications (See category XII(c) for controls on night sighting devices.)

I had to acquire an export license for a Warner & Swasey M1913 musket sight last year for another collector who frequents this forum. The scope is over a 100 years old but is still considered military technology and export licensing was still required. There's no common sense, rhyme or reason, just the law.

[Roger Payne]

........& it's now one of my favourite items in my little collection. A Canadian example too! Thanks again Brian.

[gundoc2112]

Seems like a right cake & arse party Geoff. We ship out to the states all the time as well as buying in and have no problems what so ever in fact just sent a cased IWS to the US with no issues.
The only problem I've had was quite recently when I purchased a vectronix LRF for $1500 but was presented with an extortionate customs charge. The parcel got rejected by me because the seller had marked its value at his end as $5000. Other than that no dramas.

And the IWS arrived safe and sound, thank you!!!

[Promo]

Make a flight over to the US and pick it up in person, might just be as expensive as the customs ..