Interparcel & Hermes Disaster

epm-84

deal_deal wrote: »

hello,
new to this, need to post parcel to spain, who to use as keep hearing horror stories , parcel is 4k, 64cm long not wide , confused !!
if anyone can help please let me know , and can i send elecrical items ? as some sites say no???

I've been looking at Hermes recently but not actually use them. You can send electrical items but they are excluded from compensation: https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html So in short I think that means if your parcel goes missing they'll only refund the cost you paid to send it.

However, if you're sending abroad you need to check whether customs allow it and whether they may be import or export taxes applicable if it's a high value item.

Kernow666

epm-84 wrote: »

I've been looking at Hermes recently but not actually use them. You can send electrical items but they are excluded from compensation: https://www.myhermes.co.uk/help/carry-guide.html So in short I think that means if your parcel goes missing they'll only refund the cost you paid to send it.

However, if you're sending abroad you need to check whether customs allow it and whether they may be import or export taxes applicable if it's a high value item.

you can pretty much send anything with any courier , just whats not covered by insurance which is pretty much anything which kinda defeats the object

i have sent electrical items to germany and france and have always used royal mail

epm-84

Kernow666 wrote: »

you can pretty much send anything with any courier , just whats not covered by insurance which is pretty much anything which kinda defeats the object

i have sent electrical items to germany and france and have always used royal mail

Royal Mail have exclusions too. If you send jewelry you have to use Special Delivery, even if it's below the £20 threshold, to be covered by their compensation scheme.

Royal Mail and pretty much every courier refuse to accept things like firearms, live animals etc. while some refuse to take batteries and perfumes/deodorants.

mgdavid

epm-84 wrote: »

........
However, if you're sending abroad you need to check whether customs allow it and whether they may be import or export taxes applicable if it's a high value item.

er, we have been in the EU for decades, there are no customs or taxes between member states, Spain being one of them.

SimonSays

epm-84 wrote: »

Royal Mail have exclusions too. If you send jewelry you have to use Special Delivery, even if it's below the £20 threshold, to be covered by their compensation scheme.

Royal Mail and pretty much every courier refuse to accept things like firearms, live animals etc. while some refuse to take batteries and perfumes/deodorants.

Parcelfarce for a while would accept firearms and live ammo for carriage in the UK

epm-84

mgdavid wrote: »

er, we have been in the EU for decades, there are no customs or taxes between member states, Spain being one of them.

I said you need to check not that it necessarily applies. If you're posting to the Canary Islands which are part of Spain then it counts as a 'special territory' like the Channel Islands and is subject to excise duty and import VAT if the value of the item is over £15. Better to check than to wrongly assume there's no such charges imposed!

mrcol1000

epm-84 wrote: »

I said you need to check not that it necessarily applies. If you're posting to the Canary Islands which are part of Spain then it counts as a 'special territory' like the Channel Islands and is subject to excise duty and import VAT if the value of the item is over £15. Better to check than to wrongly assume there's no such charges imposed!

Agree with the above. Its not as clear cut as just being in the EU. It also is surprising which countries are and are not in the EU. Switzerland being one that causes confusion in our local post office.

epm-84

mrcol1000 wrote: »

Agree with the above. Its not as clear cut as just being in the EU. It also is surprising which countries are and are not in the EU. Switzerland being one that causes confusion in our local post office.

For a really confusing one - Gibraltar. Gibraltar is not an EU member but is a British Overseas Territory with Britain being an EU member.

This causes some conflicting arguments in the dispute with Spain. Spanish Nationals can show their identity cards are accepted in lieu of passports at the border control (identity cards can only be used in lieu of a passport within the EU.) However, Spain argues charging a fee to people crossing the border wouldn't breach EU law as Gibraltar is not a EU member.

Another confusing one - Montenegro. Neighbouring Croatia is an EU member but doesn't have the Euro as it's currency, Montenegro has the Euro as it's currency but isn't an EU member.

darius_jedburgh

epm-84 wrote: »

For a really confusing one - Gibraltar. Gibraltar is not an EU member but is a British Overseas Territory with Britain being an EU member.

This causes some conflicting arguments in the dispute with Spain. Spanish Nationals can show their identity cards are accepted in lieu of passports at the border control (identity cards can only be used in lieu of a passport within the EU.) However, Spain argues charging a fee to people crossing the border wouldn't breach EU law as Gibraltar is not a EU member.

I'm sorry but you are wrong there. That is not an argument Spain has tried at all.

Some spanish officials claimed informally (but never officially and it was never enacted - because they know they would loose in court), that they could implement a 'congestion charge' that just happened to coincide with the border, then exempt certain persons from this. There are so many legal issues with this, they know it is a non-starter.

Secondly, the way you have described the situation with regard to Gibraltar and the EU is a bit misleading.

Gibraltar is part of the EU, the member state that is *called* 'the United Kingdom..' actually includes Gibraltar.

Now to be clear, Gibraltar is not part of the UK. The UK and Gibraltar are both British and they have an integrated constitutional relationship with each other, but are separate from each other - and recognised as distinct international places from each other. Even the UN recognises Gibraltar as a distinct internation place. (That is why Gibraltar is on the ISO country list (country code 3 chars: GIB, 2 chars: GI - hence .gi domains).

So we are NOT saying Gibraltar is part of the UK, BUT rather that the scope of the membership of the member state that is called the 'UK' is defined to included both the UK and Gibraltar as well.

Gibraltar is the only British Overseas Territory that is part of the EU. So despite the many French 'overseas departments' around the world that are part of the EU, and the Dutch Antilles, etc, the BOTs Bermuda, Cayman Islands, etc are not part of the EU, only Gibraltar.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not part of the EU either.

Because the member state called the 'UK' actually has two wholly separate entities within it, Gibraltar and the UK for many matters treat each other as if we different member states from each other, re-enacting bilaterally between them the same agreements that are in effect on both the UK and Gibraltar with all the other member states.
Hope that makes sense.

jeffuk

darius_jedburgh wrote: »

I'm sorry but you are wrong there. That is not an argument Spain has tried at all.

Some spanish officials claimed informally (but never officially and it was never enacted - because they know they would loose in court), that they could implement a 'congestion charge' that just happened to coincide with the border, then exempt certain persons from this. There are so many legal issues with this, they know it is a non-starter.

Secondly, the way you have described the situation with regard to Gibraltar and the EU is a bit misleading.

Gibraltar is part of the EU, the member state that is *called* 'the United Kingdom..' actually includes Gibraltar.

Now to be clear, Gibraltar is not part of the UK. The UK and Gibraltar are both British and they have an integrated constitutional relationship with each other, but are separate from each other - and recognised as distinct international places from each other. Even the UN recognises Gibraltar as a distinct internation place. (That is why Gibraltar is on the ISO country list (country code 3 chars: GIB, 2 chars: GI - hence .gi domains).

So we are NOT saying Gibraltar is part of the UK, BUT rather that the scope of the membership of the member state that is called the 'UK' is defined to included both the UK and Gibraltar as well.

Gibraltar is the only British Overseas Territory that is part of the EU. So despite the many French 'overseas departments' around the world that are part of the EU, and the Dutch Antilles, etc, the BOTs Bermuda, Cayman Islands, etc are not part of the EU, only Gibraltar.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not part of the EU either.

Because the member state called the 'UK' actually has two wholly separate entities within it, Gibraltar and the UK for many matters treat each other as if we different member states from each other, re-enacting bilaterally between them the same agreements that are in effect on both the UK and Gibraltar with all the other member states.
Hope that makes sense.

Err, thats what epm-84 said, anyway, back to the OP, I've just used Myhermes for the first time, all parcels delivered to happy customers.