Sent a parcel from the UK to Australia

mrcactus

Wondering if anyone can help me.

Almost  2 weeks ago I sent a parcel containing a playstation 4 and 50 odd games, controllers and headset all in the same box/consignment  via DPD.

I weighed the entire package and paid almost £100 (with insurance) with DPD to send it to my friend in Australia. It generated the label and 4 customs invoices with all the details on it.

I didn't know who was meant to sign the customs forms so I signed them, there was no clear instructions on the customs declaration forms on who was to sign them.

Now for the past week, when I track the package, it says my "parcel is on hold, pending customs clearance". Is there a problem with it do you think? WHich customs will it be at, UK or Australia? Perhaps I've messed up with the customs docs?

Anyone on here have experience with sending parcels abroad, particularly with DPD? Many thanks

RFW

It's not massively unusual for a parcel to be held at Customs at this time of the year. The tracking should tell you where it's held but it could be in a country other than the UK or Australia.
I know DPD had some problems here so there may have been other delays with it. It's unlikely to be a fault with the documents, if there had been they would have been more likely to send it you back before sending it out of the country.
That said I can't say I've experienced a problem with documents so don't really know what happens there.

mrcactus

RFW said:

It's not massively unusual for a parcel to be held at Customs at this time of the year. The tracking should tell you where it's held but it could be in a country other than the UK or Australia.
I know DPD had some problems here so there may have been other delays with it. It's unlikely to be a fault with the documents, if there had been they would have been more likely to send it you back before sending it out of the country.
That said I can't say I've experienced a problem with documents so don't really know what happens there.

Interesting. Unfortunately it doesn't say where it's held, that's literally the only info it gives me. I thought perhaps they were busier because of the Royal Mail strikes but didn't think about the Christmas period .

Spoonie_Turtle

What was the previous tracking just before the 'on hold pending clearance'?

You'd expect customs clearance to usually be in the recieving country, because individuals pay fees on importing rather than exporting.  But I have no experience with DPD so I don't know for sure.  For exporting the main issue should just be that it's something allowed to be sent internationally, which they should confirm at the time of acceptance.

https://parcelsapp.com/ might show if it's changed hands at all, and if so, where.

hareng

You dont pay another countries tax the recipient does.

Been through all this with UPS china fighting UPS England who should pay before goods are released after 13 days.

You will have to log in to DPD and click on tracking, ideally DPD Aus should contact recipient or pass tracking to recipient where they can do the rest their end.

martindow

hareng said:

You dont pay another countries tax the recipient does.

Nor necessarily, DPD offer a service where all fees are paid by the sender.  I've used this to Germany recently and didn't need to print out multipler copies of the invoice as was previously necessary for customs clearance.  It was all apparently done electronically based on the commodity code and other information I had declared.

RFW

martindow said:

hareng said:

You dont pay another countries tax the recipient does.

Nor necessarily, DPD offer a service where all fees are paid by the sender.

I think all the couriers do now. The last one I sent to the US via UPS wanted me to pay customs upfront that was more than the recipient would have been paying, so I declined.

DPD may well route everything via Germany. I know I used to get parcels from China via DPD that almost always went through Germany.

mrcactus

I've just clicked on more info for the parcel (which I didn't see before  )

It is in Australian customs according to the dpd website

mrcactus

So my parcel, according to DPD tracking, is still on hold at Australian customs. 

This was on 22nd December last year. I'm getting worried now that something is wrong. I don't know who to contact - would it be DPD I contact?

Should I get my friend to contact Australia customs? I don't really know what to do... It shouldn't take this long should it? I've bought things off ebay and it's come from China faster than this. Thanks. 

martindow

I can't imagine Australian customs are going to help, but your friend could try them.  DPD may have additional tracking information that does not show publically on-line.  I would contact them to see what they say - have you asked previously?  It is possible that it is sitting there until someone pays the import bill which has not be sent or has somehow got lost - DPD should be able to tell you if that is the case.

tightauldgit

I would imagine its not unusual for things to be held in customs for weeks (I've had it take months in some countries) especially at this time of year. Is it going to be something that you recipient is going to have to pay taxes on? If so it will probably take some time to generate the paperwork and contact the recipient - especially during holiday season. 

I would imagine if there was an error in the paperwork it would have been flagged as an issue. It's probably just sitting waiting to be processed.