Shipping to the UK; a cautionary tale

[craigr]

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You would think that shipping items to the United Kingdom from the United States would be "Bob's your uncle" easy, eh?  I mean, we've got a common language (sort of), good(ish) foreign relations and a mail and cargo exchange system not entirely dependent upon bribery and/or subject to routine grand theft.

Ah -- BUT, there is still bureaucracy to contend with and herein lies the rub.

I (fairly) recently sent an M2 off to the fabled Alan Starkie at Cameraworks-UK for some viewfinder service. On his excellent website, Alan has posted a clear warning. If possible, he says, do NOT employ the National Postal Service (i.e., USPS) to ship your goods to him. Use UPS or FedEx instead. He explains that the UK mail reception and courier service for parcels is an outfit called, aptly, Parcelforce Worldwide. Parcelforce, apparently, is allied to the Royal Mail which sounds like a good thing. BUT -- and Alan is clear about this in his warning -- Parcelforce routinely treats all incoming items as duty-eligible imported products, including clearly labeled items sent for repair, such as my camera. Accordingly, Parcelforce burdens the recipient -- Alan in this case -- with a goodly amount of paperwork to be completed and returned attesting to the fact that this incoming shipment, indeed, is not subject to import duties. Then, and only then, will the shipment be delivered.

So, how long does this process take?  Frankly, I don't know.  I shipped my camera by USPS on the 22nd of June. It arrived in the UK to be processed by customs on the 24th.  According to USPS tracking, it's still in the hands of Parcelforce through NO fault of Alan's. That's two weeks so far with no resolution in sight. I'm frustrated, of course, and I wouldn't blame Alan for wanting to take a ball peen hammer to my M2 in retaliation for the trouble Parcelforce and I have caused him.  

As I said, Alan warned this could happen. So, why didn't I heed his advice?  Well, FedEx recently long delayed a couple of shipments I made (we'll blame "the plague" for that) but completely lost another. UPS utterly destroyed another very carefully packed overseas shipment. So, I said to myself, I'll use the good old post office. They've been a little slow from time to time, but they've never lost or trashed anything.  Besides, how much trouble can it really be on the other end?

Now I know.  The lesson here is to heed Alan Starkie's good advice. Don't use the United States Postal Service to send your camera to him because once Parcelforce gets hold of it...

Hoping to see my M2 again someday and with sincere apologies to Alan Starkie, I am,

Craig

Washington, DC (so I should know a thing or two about bureaucracy)

[NigelG]

7 minutes ago, craigr said:

So, I said to myself, I'll use the good old post office. They've been a little slow from time to time, but they've never lost or trashed anything. 

You are obviously not familiar with Royal Mail in the UK 😂

Having moved to NYC the service/prices of USPS are a pleasant surprise!

Edited July 7, 2020 by NigelG

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[Charles Morgan]

Sorry about that. Parcelforce at Leicester is where hope goes to die. 

 

[michali]

Learnt that lesson long ago when I shipped my M6 from France to the UK for a service. I used the French postal service La Poste (all good with them), until it ended up with Royal Mail, for some unknown reason it took 5 weeks from arrival in the UK to get to the recipient. Used DHL on the return leg and that took all of 48 hours. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by michali

[250swb]

So as I see it you shipped your parcel by USPS after 'Alan' told you not to? Have I over complicated your actions?

Either way all mail services in the world are trying to deal with the virus with many curtailed mail routes especially if the parcel has to go from one organisation to another. And while in the UK Fedex and UPS are the utter pits for mail delivery they maybe have their own mail hubs with inbuilt Customs clearing, so perhaps you should have stuck with the recommendation?

 

[pedaes]

5 hours ago, craigr said:

for some viewfinder service.

Is there no one in the USA competent to do a 'viewfinder service'?

I am pleased all goods entering the UK get a Customs check, even if it is inconvenient for companies offering international service.

[FrozenInTime]

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I wonder how much of this is down to the international mail systems being overrun by millions of direct shipments weekly from Asia.

A change in the Universal Postal Union rules was enacted to prevent the United States exiting, allowing the US to set it’s own rates from this July and no doubt the UK will follow, bringing this flood to an end.

[Jeff S]

57 minutes ago, pedaes said:

Is there no one in the USA competent to do a 'viewfinder service'?

 

I and others here hold DAG (Don Goldberg) in higher regard than Leica NJ service.  He would have been my first call; work is highest quality, efficient and reasonably priced. Sherry Krauter also specializes in repairing M film bodies and vintage Leica gear. But I don’t know the OP’s specific repair issues.

Jeff

[earleygallery]

So you are complaining that the Post Office in the UK carries out due process on incoming goods, which takes a little while and causes some hassle for the recipient this end, even though you were advised to use a different service that would avoid such delay?

Hmmmm.

Hopefully your camera is returned before January when Brexit kicks in. Who knows what will happen then!!

[M9reno]

Craig, I sympathise.  I hope you get your M2 back soon!

PS:  I tried earlier in the week to buy an adapter from Stephen Gandy´s Cameraquest shop, only to find out that all his shipments to the UK are suspended.  He wrote to explain: “USPS has stopped international shipping due to lack of flights during COVID.”

Edited July 8, 2020 by M9reno

[pgk]

Parcelforce can be good and I have had great service from them, but others I know have not! I have no simple solution. All parcel delivery services into the UK seem to be problematic at times - I assume due to the sheer volume of material they are handling. That said DHL seem pretty good in my experience, but then again USPS and Fedex have been fine too. Sometimes stuff does seem to sit and take a break for no apparent reason. Its a lottery I'm afraid. FWIW one postman I spoke to said that he'd been to the Post Office International sorting centre and there was a continuous conveyor belt of parcels and some get randomly screened in addition to automated checks so these can be scrutinised and this I assume takes time as it may be as much as 10% at times. And FWIW I believe that Fedex and DHL are well versed in battery shipping and have airfreight fireproof container systems to deal with battery contains equipment. I'm not sure that all other couriers do.

[craigr]

Yes, I shipped my camera by USPS despite Alan's good advice otherwise, but for the reasons stated (having recently experienced lost and severely damaged shipments at the hands of the alternative services).

The point of my post was to advise others that Alan's warning was sound and one that, in retrospect, I should have heeded. My message was not primarily to criticize Parcelforce Worldwide or the Royal Mail.

[craigr]

My M2 has returned -- via USPS -- from England!  Problem is, it never got to Alan Starkie for service. In fact, the camera languished in UK Customs in the custody of the Royal Mail/Parcelforce for over six weeks, then was returned to me with no explanation nor notice. This was after Alan was required to submit two batches of paperwork to Parcelforce, presumably to attest that the contents of the parcel addressed to him were for repair and not liable for customs fees.  I made two very courteous  inquiries to Parcelforce about the fate of my camera, pointing out that the customs forms affixed to the package clearly stated that the item was "for repair".  In return I received only lengthy, polite but totally uninformative form letters.

Still, these are "difficult times" (we are told constantly), so I'll cut the folks in the UK a little slack. They have a huge volume of cargo to handle and transportation problems bred by "the plague" makes it even more challenging.  But, from now on, I will certainly heed Alan's wise advise and employ only UPS, FedEx or DHL when shipping to the UK. 

[zeitz]

Having had many international shipping issues, including a package that took 1.5 years to get to recipient in Thailand, I can feel your pain.  And you would think that after 6 months of being in this pandemic companies would have solved their problems.  But the shippers are inundated with packages and hire anyone they can find, and governments are not expanding their workforce.  While Alan is indeed fabled, I would take the path of least institutional resistance and send the M2 to Don Goldberg, who is equally fabled.

[willeica]

On 7/8/2020 at 12:29 AM, earleygallery said:

Hopefully your camera is returned before January when Brexit kicks in. Who knows what will happen then!!

Should make no difference unless President Biden decides that the US should join the EU 😀.

William

[jdlaing]

UK. The gift that keeps on giving.

[andybarton]

That’s somewhat un-called for.

[LocalHero1953]

21 minutes ago, andybarton said:

That’s somewhat un-called for.

Trying to think of the appropriate smartass response. All I can think is to suggest that two countries with glass houses shouldn't lob stones at each other. Sad times.
Should I declare this a non-political post?

Edited August 8, 2020 by LocalHero1953

[andybarton]

So much that could be said, but best kept to oneself. 

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[250swb]

2 hours ago, jdlaing said:

UK. The gift that keeps on giving.

I guess parcels from very high virus risk countries may be kept back for the full two weeks quarantine period. In the rest of the world there is a different assessment of where the USA is regarding contagion to some in America, so please forgive the UK for not accepting your 'gift'.

Edited August 8, 2020 by 250swb