Ebairsoft and customs

T.C.

Hi guys,

I wonder if you could help me out here - opinions, suggestions whatever.

I ordered an Army MEU from ebairsoft, my first time purchasing with them. After it being a while I checked on track and trace and was told that customs was holding it. I rang customs looking to see if I needed to pay them import duty but the (actually quite helpful) guy on the other end told me that the thing had been seized because
a) it was mis-declared as an electric something-or-other and
b) it looked like an attempt had been made to conceal it from customs xrays by covering the thing in tinfoil!!

He said that they could hold it because it looked like an attempt had been to get it past customs, but that they didn't really want to. I'm to send them on the invoice that I have and if I can also tell them what the FPS is they'd appreciate it.

So, I'm annoyed at ebairsoft for silver foil wrapping it, and for making an arse of labelling the damn thing. however my questions to you:

1. So far the only figure I've seen for the FPS is on gunner where they declare it to be "300 FPS with top gas". I'll go with that if I can, but does anybody have another source on the FPS for this airsoft(Army R27 MEU)?

2. Your experiences in the same circumstances?

thanks,
TC

Puding

a) it was mis-declared as an electric something-or-other and

unfortuntaly this is not uncommon to have a an incorrect information either in discription or price, i;ve stopped using retailor that do this as it cause nothing but problems

b) it looked like an attempt had been made to conceal it from customs xrays by covering the thing in tinfoil!!

bit of a strange one, tin foil is not somthing you find normaly in packing so a bit odd, never heared of it myself

i would do as customs has said send of the invoice and quote the fps advertised, be patiant and polite with customs and they should be fine

T.C.

Thanks Puding. As I said, the bloke in customs seems like a nice chap, and I honestly don't mind paying the import duty on such a small item (only about 50 quid incl delivery).

I've sent them the invoice, and thankfully the WGC shops page on the same item provides much more detail.

I think I might be avoiding them in the future if this is the sort of carry-on that ensues.... :-(

Masada

It might be just the box hes talking about. the army MEU comes in a silver box that may or may not have foil in the manufacturing process. i may be way off though but ive never had anything from that site come wrapped in tin foil.

Its not uncommon for it to get stopped in customs and by the sounds of it they just want their cut of the tax on it as aposed to seizing it and forwarding to garda ballistics.
you'll have to pay them about 25% of the total cost of the gun uncluding shipping and they'll send it straight out to ya.

Bernie Mac

a couple of weeks ago i ordered an m4 reciever off ebaybanned and it was held in customs for a good while but i recieved the rest of my gear grand

The reciever was wrapped in a silver foil inside the cardboard box. Could be the same type of thing they scan it all they see is a metal box

Spetzcong

That's wierd, why wrap it in foil? I mean what we're ordering is legal here. Maybe try stating no foil on the package in the paypal order comments section.

Stone.cold

i have a reciever from Eb, was with customs for about 10 days spoke with them yesterday and once i sent the paypal receipt they said their releasing it but nothing was siad about tin foil, be interesting to see when it arrives

Masada

that does seem very odd., theres an old rumour out there that tin foil fools the scanners like the ones in the airport. its not true though.

Bernie Mac

Spetzcong wrote: »

That's wierd, why wrap it in foil? I mean what we're ordering is legal here. Maybe try stating no foil on the package in the paypal order comments section.

I have no idea...now i didnt ring up customs and ask what the story was but when it arrived it was wrapped in the foil. The entire xray thing i got was from a cousin of mine who works in airport security and has seen it before.

Puding

as far as i was aware the tin foil thing was a myth, but even if it was not customs are not idouts, they get a parcel go by that they can not see anything in, there just going to open it anyway

Frank the Manc

I have received some items previously that have come in Mylar packaging, the same type of silver material that childrens helium filled balloons are made out of.
You might also get computer parts in them as i think they are anti-static.

Either that or the "silver" on the outside of the box as previously posted.

Id ring customs and ask to speak to the member in charge, explain the situation to them and have them put it in writing under which act they are empowered to seize the item, and to state clearly that they a seizing it under said act.

No offense to customs but it can depend a lot on the lad youre dealing with, when you see some of the stuff they attempt to sieze the mind boggles at their thinking, and it has nothing to do with being uneducated re: airsoft, its a lack of common sense.

If there had been an any way serious attempt to smuggle the goods in surely it would have been placed inside a lead lined photographic fim pouch that you can/could get for safe transport of film.

That i could somehow understand.

Puding

im sorry manc but the guy from customs seens to be very upfront and friendly i see no need to change the stance to a more aggressive one

Frank the Manc

And im sure he will continue to be upfront and friendly for the next six months while this chap gets bounced around from person to person.

They only way to deal with them is to get someones name as a point of contact, state the facts clearly and be informed of youre rights and legal standing, and to keep going back to that person and failing a satisfactory response within a reasonable ammount of time, contacting his supervisor.

if the choose to seize his private property, they must give a valid reason, and quote the act that they are seizing it under, not some BS about it being wrapped in tinfoil to evade detection, what ever that may be.

im not advising a more aggresive stance, just a more assertive one, which he is well within his legal rights to do, especially given the proximity of the new legislation.

BornToKill

Softly softly catchee monkey. Customs would be well within their rights to send it for testing to be sure it's under one joule. If that happened and it should turn out to be over, and incorrectly declared as the OP said, that's an attempt to smuggle an unlicensed firearm into the country.

Personally I'd be sending them what they asked for rather than asserting my rights but it'll be your call.

Puding

Frank the Manc wrote: »

And im sure he will continue to be upfront and friendly for the next six months while this chap gets bounced around from person to person.

They only way to deal with them is to get someones name as a point of contact, state the facts clearly and be informed of youre rights and legal standing, and to keep going back to that person and failing a satisfactory response within a reasonable ammount of time, contacting his supervisor.

if the choose to seize his private property, they must give a valid reason, and quote the act that they are seizing it under, not some BS about it being wrapped in tinfoil to evade detection, what ever that may be.

im not advising a more aggresive stance, just a more assertive one, which he is well within his legal rights to do, especially given the proximity of the new legislation.

we must be dealing with completely different people in customs then, never ever had to resort to the kind of approce your talking about, and anything I've had stopped as been dealt with within 48 hours and shipped back out to me

they guy has been given a valid reason for holding the item the item was incorrectly declared on the invoice, in my eyes customs have been very helpful in this case, the person dealing with this case has given a lot of info and informed him what is needed, to suddenly asking for this and that and being aggressive is a little counter productive and not needed

Horse84

My experience with customs has always been cordial and professional but not always positive. About 12 months ago i attempted to import a standard gbb plus spare mags from wgc it was first detained, I immediately sent off all invoices and paypal receipts only to be sent out a notice of seizure and was told the device was to be sent for testing. So i waited about 3 months sent on more letters and phoned them all to no avail. No results received from the 'testing'.

About 6 weeks ago i sent off an order for another gbb this time from redwolf. Same thing again a notice of detention served, no problem there sent off the usual paperwork and this time immediately rang them, the guy i met on the phone kept on referring to it as a firearm and questioned me at length about the time of ammuntion it fired etc.

Nothing heard then for a few weeks until another notice of seizure was sent out this time with a note about wanting me to come in for a meeting to discuss this and the previous seizure. It was the same officer in question that was dealing with both cases, very professional and seemingly well informed about airsoft. when asked about the previous seizure i was told they still have the package which would suggest the item was never tested at all. The most recent package was in their posession as well and they didn't mention anything about sending it for testing. The meeting has still to materialise despite about 3 phonecalls.

bear in mind too that the 2 gbbs in question should be well below the 1 joule limit, regardless the seizing of one''s property BEFORE testing seems to me to be heavy handed and extremely frustrating.

Hopefully I'll hear something within the next few weeks but at this stage I'm more than a bit disillusioned to say the least.

Frank the Manc

Puding wrote: »

we must be dealing with completely different people in customs then, never ever had to resort to the kind of approce your talking about, and anything I've had stopped as been dealt with within 48 hours and shipped back out to me

they guy has been given a valid reason for holding the item the item was incorrectly declared on the invoice, in my eyes customs have been very helpful in this case, the person dealing with this case has given a lot of info and informed him what is needed, to suddenly asking for this and that and being aggressive is a little counter productive and not needed

I would imagine so. The repore you may have built up with one or two customs officers through your commercial capacity will no doubt be different from what individual importers face.

Ive seen a plastic grenade launcher kept for 8 months +, on the grounds tha it could be converted to fire live (presumably 40mm) ammunition.:rolleyes:

I been charged the HK dollars rate several time, with my very first import 3 years ago, my refund is still outstanding after sending every bit of info requested.

I have no problems with someone doin their job, once with the parameters of what they can legally do.
What i do have is a problem with those lacking common sense.

My intrepretation of this mislabeling would be that EBB are based in China, therefor their writen English may not be spot on, if they are used to sending AEGs, which wouldnt be too remote from the "electrical something or other" as described by customs themselves, surely a more definite description as appears on the packaging should be given to the customer if they are to have all the facts in which to prove their case.

Likewise the "tin foil" warrents further clarification, from customs.

As previously stated im not advising more aggressiveness, simply furnish them with the information requested, but at the same time be assertive of youre own legal rights, within reason and exercising common sense, and dont be fobbed offby escused, if something stated doesnt make sense, seek clarification.

Puding

The repore you may have built up with one or two customs officers through your commercial capacity will no doubt be different from what individual importers face.

i've never had to deal with customs from a commercial point of view, all my deals or from personal importation

i;ve experianced a lot of the same issues thats you listed in your post, i just seem to come at the from a differant pov

Stone.cold

Well there it is my receiver was delivered today and when i opened it it look like my lunch, tin foil?? and i have to say not impressed with the item either it looks second hand its scratched to bits

Puding

i can see why customs would have a problem with that to be honest

horgan_p

WTF were they thinking ??

Stone.cold

horgan_p wrote: »

WTF were they thinking ??

i was expecting maybe a foil bag or some sort of wrapping but its off the shelf tin foil, go figure

moggser

Stone.cold wrote: »

Well there it is my receiver was delivered today and when i opened it it look like my lunch, tin foil?? and i have to say not impressed with the item either it looks second hand its scratched to bits

at least its fresh lmao

T.C.

Hi lads,

Thought I'd let ye know the update. My MEU from ebairsoft finally got delivered yesterday.

Sure enough, the description on the customs docket was "Electric Toy" and inside the silvery cardboard box was.... more tinfoil than you need to wrap a bloody turkey!! The gun had been in it's usual foam cutout, but they had wrapped a layer of tinfoil around the foam.

I don't actually blame the customs lads for being suspicious. Spoke to a different person in customs on monday, very helpful, rang me back even with the vat to pay, so I had it ready for the an post guy yesterday.

I'd recommend that anyone ordering again from ebairsoft ask for the non-tinfoil variant of their purchase....

bullets

T.C. wrote: »

I'd recommend that anyone ordering again from ebairsoft ask for the non-tinfoil variant of their purchase....

Did you ever find out why they wrapped it in Tin-Foil ?


~B

Stone.cold

bullets wrote: »

Did you ever find out why they wrapped it in Tin-Foil ?


~B

it appears all there deliveries r sent that way now

bullets

Maybe they are trying to stop Alien Abductions.

http://www.stopabductions.com/

Stone.cold

bullets wrote: »

Maybe they are trying to stop Alien Abductions.

http://www.stopabductions.com/

LMAO Cool hat but would it stop a bb

ED E

Just to clarify here, the large 3 month delays are NOT the fault of customs. Thats the fault of the Garda Firearms Dept. in the park. They have loads of work on their plate and airsoft testing is the last thing they'll do. Unfortunately the only way to track an items status with the firearms lads it to have the ref number given to the person who sent it off, ie. customs. They wont give it to you though, least they never gave it to me.

There really is nothing that can be done about this, just a fact of life for an airsofter. Seems that soon it wont be a problem though...:(

Horse84

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Just to clarify here, the large 3 month delays are NOT the fault of customs. Thats the fault of the Garda Firearms Dept. in the park. They have loads of work on their plate and airsoft testing is the last thing they'll do. Unfortunately the only way to track an items status with the firearms lads it to have the ref number given to the person who sent it off, ie. customs. They wont give it to you though, least they never gave it to me.

There really is nothing that can be done about this, just a fact of life for an airsofter. Seems that soon it wont be a problem though...:(

Not what i was told lad, i originally thought that that when my gbb was seized after maybe 3 weeks detention and i was thinking that was a very quick turnaround by ballistics but no supposedly they got extra resources and they were getting through the back log. it eventually turned out that mine was actually never sent there in the first place however....

Also someone from the IAA or whomever can correct me on this but customs don't send items directly to ballistics, it has to be handed over to a garda and then they hand it over to the ballistics and u are then entitled to know the guards name and number as a reference.

ED E

Yeah, now that you say it, IIRC there is a gard present in the postage terminal and the customs people refer suspect stuff to him.