Parcel force customs bureau

newman2023

I’ve had a parcel stuck in customs for nearly 2 weeks. Parcel force customs bureau are in charge and requested additional information which I’ve sent to them three times now and my parcel is still waiting to be cleared. They haven’t responded to me and it says in their automatic emails they only hold the parcel for 28 days and could take up to 10 working days to respond to you. There is no telephone number to call them directly. I’ve tried calling parcel force which I spoke to a very unhelpful lady who basically said they’re not part of parcel force even though it says in the name refuse to let me speak to a Manager. I want to know how you are meant to Complain directly to parcel force about About the bureau and the time it takes to respond to emails when they keep giving me the runaround saying it’s not part of their company. Also, would like my parcel

 

Aylesbury_Duck

newman2023 said:

I’ve had a parcel stuck in customs for nearly 2 weeks. Parcel force customs bureau are in charge and requested additional information which I’ve sent to them three times now and my parcel is still waiting to be cleared. They haven’t responded to me and it says in their automatic emails they only hold the parcel for 28 days and could take up to 10 working days to respond to you. There is no telephone number to call them directly. I’ve tried calling parcel force which I spoke to a very unhelpful lady who basically said they’re not part of parcel force even though it says in the name refuse to let me speak to a Manager. I want to know how you are meant to Complain directly to parcel force about About the bureau and the time it takes to respond to emails when they keep giving me the runaround saying it’s not part of their company. Also, would like my parcel

 

There is no obligation for a business to have a complaints policy.  You'll just have to go through whatever complaints process they do have, if they have one, or do some detective work to find an email address you can write to.

MattMattMattUK

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

born_again

Useful contacts for importers

For general enquiries about Customs import taxes / duties (including VAT, excise duty, customs rules & procedures) contact HMRC's National Advice Service on 0845 010 9000. (Welsh language - 0845 010 0300) (+44 208 929 0152 for international callers), the office is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm or consult HMRC website at: www.hmrc.gov.uk Opens in new window, especially Notice 143 - "A guide for international post users" under the "Forms & Publications" section.

For HS (Harmonised System) Tariff Code assistance, HMRC's Tariff Classification Helpline gives verbal (non-legally binding) advice on 01702 366077 (national call rates apply).  The office is open 08:30 to 17:00 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) with voicemail from 17:00 to 20:00, or by e-mail at intenquiries@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk Opens in new window.

newman2023

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

MattMattMattUK

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

Do you know what was declared on the accompanying documentation, because Parcel Force almost always just demand payment and leave the recipient to sort it out with HMRC, or they reject the consignment and send it back to the country of origin. 

newman2023

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

Do you know what was declared on the accompanying documentation, because Parcel Force almost always just demand payment and leave the recipient to sort it out with HMRC, or they reject the consignment and send it back to the country of origin. 

Yes it’s high valued item so that’s why they’re holding it. They requested information if it has ivory or critters which I sent them with the invoice but they haven’t responded since and it hasn’t cleared. I contacted HMRC National clearance Hub Which they told me to contact Parcelforce or public enquiries I’ve already contacted parcel force with no help as they say it’s not part of them

MattMattMattUK

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

Do you know what was declared on the accompanying documentation, because Parcel Force almost always just demand payment and leave the recipient to sort it out with HMRC, or they reject the consignment and send it back to the country of origin. 

Yes it’s high valued item so that’s why they’re holding it. They requested information if it has ivory or critters which I sent them with the invoice but they haven’t responded since and it hasn’t cleared.

Was this information on the original documentation or was it only supplied by you at this point? Could they have reasonable suspicion that the product does contain ivory or is a bio-security risk?

newman2023 said:
I contacted HMRC National clearance Hub Which they told me to contact Parcelforce or public enquiries I’ve already contacted parcel force with no help as they say it’s not part of them

They are correct, Parcel Force are the clearing agent, they process the relevant information, HMRC then issue a demand for duty and/or VAT and that becomes payable. There are also other checks that might be required for potentially banned items, especially if they have suspicions that the information supplied is inaccurate and it always takes much longer if that was not supplied correctly by the shipper in the first place. 

Have they given you an amount yet, a request for payment? If not then I think you are somewhat stuck, you can continue to try calling them and potentially write, but from previous experience these kinds of departments tend to work through things chronologically, so may not have even got to your reply yet.

newman2023

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

Do you know what was declared on the accompanying documentation, because Parcel Force almost always just demand payment and leave the recipient to sort it out with HMRC, or they reject the consignment and send it back to the country of origin. 

Yes it’s high valued item so that’s why they’re holding it. They requested information if it has ivory or critters which I sent them with the invoice but they haven’t responded since and it hasn’t cleared.

Was this information on the original documentation or was it only supplied by you at this point? Could they have reasonable suspicion that the product does contain ivory or is a bio-security risk?

newman2023 said:
I contacted HMRC National clearance Hub Which they told me to contact Parcelforce or public enquiries I’ve already contacted parcel force with no help as they say it’s not part of them

They are correct, Parcel Force are the clearing agent, they process the relevant information, HMRC then issue a demand for duty and/or VAT and that becomes payable. There are also other checks that might be required for potentially banned items, especially if they have suspicions that the information supplied is inaccurate and it always takes much longer if that was not supplied correctly by the shipper in the first place. 

Have they given you an amount yet, a request for payment? If not then I think you are somewhat stuck, you can continue to try calling them and potentially write, but from previous experience these kinds of departments tend to work through things chronologically, so may not have even got to your reply yet.

I understand that I’m at the mercy of parcel force, :-(
as haven’t received amount due.
but I find it ridiculous that it takes so long to reply to an email in this day and age, so hire more people to deal with the emails. 
and give better training to parcel force telephone reception are giving me the run around saying they can’t help,
HMRC gave me a public inquiry email but it just came back undelivered. 
Sorry for venting 

MattMattMattUK

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

newman2023 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Was this a shipment sent from abroad to you in the UK, or by you from the UK to another country? 

I have the address and it’s coming from the US

Do you know what was declared on the accompanying documentation, because Parcel Force almost always just demand payment and leave the recipient to sort it out with HMRC, or they reject the consignment and send it back to the country of origin. 

Yes it’s high valued item so that’s why they’re holding it. They requested information if it has ivory or critters which I sent them with the invoice but they haven’t responded since and it hasn’t cleared.

Was this information on the original documentation or was it only supplied by you at this point? Could they have reasonable suspicion that the product does contain ivory or is a bio-security risk?

newman2023 said:
I contacted HMRC National clearance Hub Which they told me to contact Parcelforce or public enquiries I’ve already contacted parcel force with no help as they say it’s not part of them

They are correct, Parcel Force are the clearing agent, they process the relevant information, HMRC then issue a demand for duty and/or VAT and that becomes payable. There are also other checks that might be required for potentially banned items, especially if they have suspicions that the information supplied is inaccurate and it always takes much longer if that was not supplied correctly by the shipper in the first place. 

Have they given you an amount yet, a request for payment? If not then I think you are somewhat stuck, you can continue to try calling them and potentially write, but from previous experience these kinds of departments tend to work through things chronologically, so may not have even got to your reply yet.

I understand that I’m at the mercy of parcel force, :-(
as haven’t received amount due.
but I find it ridiculous that it takes so long to reply to an email in this day and age, so hire more people to deal with the emails. 
and give better training to parcel force telephone reception are giving me the run around saying they can’t help,
HMRC gave me a public inquiry email but it just came back undelivered. 
Sorry for venting 

It is a pain, the import process is a pain in the proverbial if not done properly. I regularly have to ship goods both in and out of the EU for work and even with correct paperwork there are sometimes customs delays which make no sense to anyone, duty or VAT amounts that are not correct or just incompetent customer service departments that you have to deal with as part of the process. Unfortunately there does not see a way around that and generally yes you just have to wait for them to get around to doing their job properly, you can scream, shout, beg, cry, nothing makes a difference, they will just deliver when they deliver. 

I have no direct experience of Parcelforce bringing in an import shipment, but even their UK courier system is a nightmare if something does wrong, gets mis-sorted etc. It is just a waiting game unfortunately and I do understand how frustrating that can be. 

movedto03

born_again said:

For general enquiries about Customs import taxes / duties ( ..... ) contact HMRC's National Advice Service on 0845 010 9000. (Welsh language - 0845 010 0300) (+44 20 8929 0152 for international callers), .....

HMRC changed from premium rate 0845 numbers to inclusive 0300 numbers in (or before) 2013 - more than a decade ago. The expensive 0845 numbers were completely withdrawn in (or by) 2015.

Where are you seeing this advice to call an 0845 number?

There's a list of those HMRC number changes here:
www.rousepartners.co.uk/new-0300-hmrc-helpline-numbers/