UPS - courier company from hell

Hoenir

NeillB said:

Hoenir said:

NeillB said:

noitsnotme said:

NeillB said:

Ive a friend in the US who posted me items.  They were a gift so no customs charges.  

Depends what the value is…

”Gifts over £39 are liable to import VAT. Customs Duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135.”

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-vat-and-customs-duty-on-gifts

Why are you quoting me links to what I already know?  Its already cleared customs. Sorry but thats no help at all.

You said. 

The useless UPS tracking appeared to show they were back in some sort of customs hold! 

Still might be held pending payment of charges. 

Its a gift and declared as under £39 so no charges.

Parcels do get inspected. What's the commercial value of the contents? 

NeillB

Its gifts that are militaria so no value that UPS would know.  The point of the matter like the previous poster states is their atrocious business model and appalling tracking being inaccurate. Check Trustpilot.  

swingaloo

Did you ever get a refund for the last lot of militaria you bought on Ebay which never arrived?

RFW

Murphybear said:

I have never used UPS so can’t comment on how good they are, or not.  I was wondering if you were a bit unlucky.  

No, you weren’t just unlucky.  I had a look on Trustpilot.  They’ve had over 36,000 comments on UPS.  I was a bit stunned to see 92% gave them 1*

All the couriers have multiple accounts on Trustpilot. UPS has a UK account that's a little better. Evri have a 4.2 average, which seems pretty good, they also have over half a million one star ratings!

I use UPS regularly in the UK and occasionally internationally. I've found them to be better than most of the couriers and I've used all of them over the years.

Hoenir

NeillB said:

Its gifts that are militaria so no value that UPS would know.  The point of the matter like the previous poster states is their atrocious business model and appalling tracking being inaccurate. Check Trustpilot.  

Having spent over 20 years importing for my sideline business primarily from the USA.  HMRC aren't dumb and stupid. Treating them as such and ranting about UPS is utterly pointless. 

superbigal

UPS collect any Taxes or Duty or handling Fee they require 99% of the time via a link within the tracking details. 
Clearing customs simply means often that it is sitting waiting for said payment.
If you want to share the tracking number plenty better judges should be able to advise.
One tip I would suggest NEVER to give a value of Zero on a declaration.