Beware HMRC at Portsmouth Port

JonMac

We had just arrived from Bilbao after an uncomfortable night, and we were invited into the HMRC shed for a "chat."
Shame on us, but we both smoke. We had purchased cigarettes a few weeks before and packed them away in the back of the car.
I was feeling a bit groggy and when asked how many cigarettes we had, I couldn't remember and just hazarded a guess.
Turns out we had 4 times that many, and were accused to lying to the staff. Not pretty.
Now their own poster on the wall of the shed says you can bring in an unlimited quantity from the EU for personal consumption. However, their rule of thumb is 800 per person; more than that and you are going to be grilled.
After an hour they let us go, but we are now in the computer as people to be watched... .

exaisle

Maybe you should give up smoking, they're bad for ya..

gerard2210

How many fags did you have in the car?

JonMac

HMRC's guidance is 4 cartons each, we had a total of 21, so 2.6 times their number.
The real issue was that I "lied."
Moral of story - make sure you tell them the correct number of dutiable goods.

Del2005

I don't think it's an issue with HMRC at Portsmouth, if you tell any customs person the incorrect amount in any country you'll get a grilling.

Try driving a yellow self-conversion. I always get grilled. :rolleyes:

Agent_47

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Try driving a yellow self-conversion. I always get grilled. :rolleyes:

Is that the yellow 04C transit with the stove stack popping out the top? Seen it parked on the quays in Docklands last week

CeilingFly

So you didn't tell them the truth and they question you further - then you whine about it????

CelticRambler

JonMac wrote: »

We had just arrived from Bilbao after an uncomfortable night, and we were invited into the HMRC shed for a "chat."
...
Now their own poster on the wall of the shed says you can bring in an unlimited quantity from the EU for personal consumption ...

Maybe they were running a stop-and-search exercise for how things'll be post-Brexit. You'll be paying duty twice on your ciggies if you take that route to get from Spain to Ireland in 2019!

Agent_47

Agent_47 wrote: »

Is that the yellow 04C transit

94C Merc T-series.
Yurp. ssshh don't tell everyone about my free all day parking space.

JonMac

CeilingFly wrote: »

So you didn't tell them the truth and they question you further - then you whine about it????

Several of you are missing my point. I wrote this as a warning to be careful with HMRC, it is NOT a whine.

piuswal

JonMac wrote: »

Several of you are missing my point. I wrote this as a warning to be careful with HMRC, it is NOT a whine.

Understood.

Coming through Dover many years ago, in transit to Holyhead, we were questioned.


How much cigarettes, none,
Alcohol, 2 bottles of wine, can I see it ; sure, and then got a lecture that one was a fortified wine etc etc. Four children asleep in the back may have tempered the lecture and we were sent on our way with "don't do it again".

Not so lucky was an old vw beetle pulled into a bay beside us. It had a carpet sticking out the rear window and within a very short time the sniffer dog was rummaging around having first sniffed the two occupants as they stood beside the car.

I'm not sure whether it was before or after that, that our eldest daughter said,

"Mammy, why don't we really like the English?"

.

SeamusG97

At Calais about ten years ago boarding the ferry to Dover. Got diverted at the customs check into the queue for the random thorough search. When we drove over to the search place the HMRS official took one disbelieving look at ourselves, at our loaded MH and two sleeping kids and said something to the effect of “what the hell were they thinking of to send you over here “, wished us a happy trip and sent us on our way. Like many frontline services I guess you can meet all kinds...

CelticRambler

Once upon a time, when living in Kent, I used to drive a Volvo 740 estate over and back across the Channel, complete with wife and children. Four children, so we had rear-facing seats fitted in the boot, which meant all our "en-route" baggage was piled up against the side windows. Trip after trip after trip, we were picked out of the Eurotunnel line for further inspection, and I'd be asked to open up the boot, and every time the customs guy would nearly fall over when he saw two little faces peeking out from amongst the back-packs and colouring books!

piuswal

SeamusG97 wrote: »

At Calais about ten years ago boarding the ferry to Dover. Got diverted at the customs check into the queue for the random thorough search. When we drove over to the search place the HMRS official took one disbelieving look at ourselves, at our loaded MH and two sleeping kids and said something to the effect of “what the hell were they thinking of to send you over here “, wished us a happy trip and sent us on our way. Like many frontline services I guess you can meet all kinds...

Yes, my story was the only "incident" in 35 years. Not always going through UK though.