An Post returning packages from outside the EU-See 1st post

pnott

Purchased an item that arrived from China on November 18th in the Dublin parcel hub. The An Post tracking says it was delivered to Limerick D.S.U that morning. Since then it hasn’t moved. Received no customs notice or anything. Rang An Post to ask what’s going on and can’t get any information. They don’t seem to know why it was delivered to Limerick sorting office when I live in North Wicklow. What can I do?

youcancallmeal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119967999#Comment_119967999

Assuming all the customs info is correct then it could be just down to how busy An Post is this time of year. A lot of stuff ordered from China in November can take significantly longer than usual to arrive to due to a backlog, in my experience it seems like Ireland, EU, Non-EU post/packages are prioritised in that order this time of year. In the past I've ordered stuff from outside the EU including China in November and it wouldn't get delivered until January. Just keep following up with them though, maybe there is some other issue

pnott

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970068#Comment_119970068

Got some more information from An Post. It turns out my package when scanned somehow had University of Limerick as the address! Obviously someone in the university refused delivery hence why its still sitting in in the sorting office. They advised me to ask the sender for proof of the name and address that was provided when the pacel was sent. Waiting to hear back from the sender.

deezell

Meantime they're sticking this flyer in our postboxes

"Use your AddressPal account to shop US and UK sites that don't deliver to Ireland".

And pay VAT twice. Reverse of flyer says " Pay customs at the click of a button". No mention of VAT

I'll bet they don't send those packets back. Fwiw, even pre brexit, some UK suppliers would not deliver here, or to AnPost forwarding address.

whiterebel

Paying VAT twice is nothing to do with AddressPal/An Post. If the UK company does it correctly there would be no VAT on export and only VAT in Ireland. They have agents in the UK and USA to ensure the paperwork is correct and isn’t sent. No fan of An Post but there is no point in accusing them of doing things that they have no control over.

deezell

You're missing the point. The goods are delivered to a local address, UK or US, so the supplier has to add VAT or US sales tax. Remember, AnPost has no function in this part of the transaction, you order the goods in your name with a UK address. You can't order it VAT free as it's not for export. ( and this is a supplier who won't deliver abroad, possibly licensing reasons).

Anpost then import it to Ireland where it attracts Irish VAT and possible customs charges. If the supplier wanted to sell for export he could remove Vat, and send it to directly, whereupon you jusr pay Irish Vat, but only if AnPost don't return it. They don't have any issue delivering it when it's them who's carting it over though.

The ad is misleading, it makes no reference to Vat, and pretends its a customs charge

whiterebel

You can ask the exporter to invoice it you the Irish address and ship it to the AddressPal address less VAT. That would allow them to export it less VAT. However, most UK companies till don’t understand how exporting outside the UK works, so you would be blue in the face trying to get them to understand.

AddressPal is in operation long before the new customs procedure came into being. An Post brought this new procedure in far earlier than it should have been and they should have been pulled up over it. An Post don’t ever seem to be keen to do too much work, and find it easier to send back rather than fix.

Customs charge isn’t “pretending” anything, its easier to put it under a general description than “possible Excise Duty, Ad Valorem Duty, VAT and charges” An Post collect these charges for Revenue, apart from the customs clearance charge.

deezell

If they are willing to export, and do the paperwork, you can bypass Addresspal and bring it in yourself. The point of Addresspal is to buy from a business who only deliver locally, in the UK, requiring only a name, address and a few stamps. No complicated customs forms on the packet. If you can get the Invoice printed to a non UK address, good luck with getting a UK Vat refund from HMR, as the goods were delivered to the UK. Nothing you or AnPost can do to change this, unless Anpost sets up a Uk vat registered company and orders the goods for you, then exports them to you and does all the UK vat work. I don't think so.

Padraig Mor

Well, this is interesting - and dare I say unprecedented such is the public nature of the spat?

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2022/12/13/an-post-row-with-uk-post-office-causing-return-of-online-purchases/

Apologies for the paywalled article. Some highlights:

A row has broken out between An Post and the UK’s Post Office about the implementation of post-Brexit customs rules, which are leading to thousands of online purchases by Irish customers being returned each day to smaller British retailers.....

An Post chief executive David McRedmond said it is “extraordinary” that the UK’s Post Office has yet to invest in the technology needed to add certain digital codes on to packages that are dropped off at local offices by SMEs.....

Mr McRedmond accused the UK Post Office of not looking after the interests of its own citizens and SMEs, because its inability to add the codes to packages sent to the Republic from British post offices was, he said, damaging trade for small British businesses that sell to Irish customers online. “It is crazy. It isn’t complicated. I do not know why the post office hasn’t implemented the system. It must act in British citizens’ interests,” he said....

Mr McRedmond had a letter published in British newspaper the Financial Times on Monday, in which he blamed the issue for contributing towards a 52 per cent decline in postal trade between Ireland and Britain. The letter sparked fury within the UK Post Office, which contacted An Post in Dublin to complain. The UK Post Office, a state-owned entity, insists the codes are the responsibility of the separate, privately owned Royal Mail, which runs the delivery of items left into post offices.

Mee-ow, saucer of milk for Table 2!

NewbridgeIR

An Post blaming the Brits

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2022/12/13/an-post-row-with-uk-post-office-causing-return-of-online-purchases/

whiterebel

McRedmond has some cheek, considering An Post introduced it way too early.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119992910#Comment_119992910

And blame all returns on sender, not on failures of their automated rejection process. Unseen by a human, the packet and the evidence in your favour is returned. You can't query it, see what the system scanned, or look at the data, packet has already gone into the abyss of returns.

JTMan

I want to order a watch from a small UK retailer.

I guess the chances of the parcel never getting to me are very high in the current situation?

If so, is using Address Pal a workaround? I.e. extra costs but near guaranteed delivery?

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120006459#Comment_120006459

It will cost you 20% extra plus Addresspal fees. Retailer can't remove UK vat, but you'll have to pay 23% Irish VAT on the entire transaction including initial delivery . Say you buy a watch for €240 equivalent in euro, of which 40 is UK VAT. Add €10 for UK delivery. Irish vat 23% on this total, add another €57.50. €6.50 addresspal, €3.50 customs fee, total, €317.50 for a watch that cost €200 before tax, and that's assuming it doesn't attract a customs or excise charge.

deezell

https://prestige-watches.co.uk/shipping-watches-around-the-world-how-to-avoid-tax-and-duty-nightmares/amp/

The other side of the story from UK perspective.

deezell

The final insult announced today, Parcel Motel closing down. Effing Tories and their Brexit really made a sh¡t of the European free market, compounded by ridiculous bureaucracy on simple personal post. For a few years we finally had choice, competition and freedom from cozy cartels and it was too good to be true.

Dammij

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120104856#Comment_120104856

Totally agree with you and if you think it's bad here, your head would spin to see how it's affecting ordinary Brits over there!

I'd hoped the Tory downfall would be the end of it, but Labour's Keir Starmer is no better - he want's to continue his "softer" version of Brexit, despite it being a massive con job in the first place.

Anyway, sorry for the rant!

I just wanted to pass on this link:

https://www.parcelcollectiondepot.com/

It's a bit different to PM, but depending on what you're buying, they can be very good.

Small value items, maybe not, but I used them for a fairly pricey piece of electronic kit, small size and weight.

It cost me £5 for their receiving fee and they hand it to Fastway which costs another £12 to the South.

All you do is order your stuff to your name, care of this company (a bit like address pal) except that's it.

Mail them to say it's coming and they'll let you know when it arrives and then you pay them!

It's obviously more expensive but it's another option!

I used them again just before Christmas - I'm a Londoner living in Dublin now and fond of my munchies that

can't be got here, so I did a shop in Sainsbury's in Newry and these guys boxed it up and sent it down to me and

all very quick and smooth!

Hope this helps!!

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120105255#Comment_120105255

Sounds good for NI collect, but if you contract them to forward it south they will have to apply 23% vat and any duties before they hand it over, otherwise its smuggling! It why parcel motel closed, they could no longer forward goods, posted to their NI address, to the South without all the paperwork, tax and duties.

blade1

Looking like others will be following an post's lead.

Got this from DHL

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133517#Comment_120133517

It isn't An Posts lead. It's a global initiative amongst post and parcel carriers that was due to come in around March this year. An Post decided to do it nearly 2 years before anyone else, hence the total confusion.

blade1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133539#Comment_120133539

Yeah that's what I meant by lead.

deezell

Jumping the gun more like, hoping to get the medal or a business award. I didn't know there was a category for 'Sh¡tting on your Customers'.

blade1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133627#Comment_120133627

It's not as if they plucked a random idea out of the sky.

Several services folded because of it.

I suppose some people would rather that.

You'd have even more complaining then.

Nodferatu

Hey all

I've had several packages all of a sudden be returned to senders. One seller in the UK even sent me a pic of returned package it has all the correct data EORI number, CN23 , all digital barcodes and forms filled and included. Still returned. I'

I got two packages from a website I've bought from multiple times last few months and now all of a sudden these two packages are being refused and returned. Is there something new going on or changes to customs or something?

I've heard from a few international sellers that they've never had as many issues with any other country in the world as they do with Ireland. We are apparently the worst country to send international packages to.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that there's no explanation or reason, customs just refuse a package and return it to sender. No way of knowing what was wrong or why it was returned!! Typical of this country.

youcancallmeal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120169165#Comment_120169165

Its all automated, no humans eyes in An Post are looking at these packages. I've been trying to understand why they don't provide exact reasons on the returned package then I realised they don't want the hassle/cost of providing customer service, easier to just send it back and give a blanket explanation that something was wrong it. It'll be interesting to see if the likes of DPD will provide exact reasons when a package is returned to sender, I'd assume they will as they cannot afford to alienate customers the way An Post have

deezell

It sucks. A business critical commercial service operated by an agent who has no obligation whatsoever to be accountable for errors and failures in the system, and no liability for these failures to the paying clients it serves, the sender and receiver. The last and only organisation that had this coded into it's mission statement was the Church. " The Pope is infallible, that is, he cannot err." Who remembers being taught that gem? "The (an) Post is infallible, it must be your fault".

NewbridgeIR

I had a choice between Royal Mail and Fedex last week and picked the latter. A €15 handling fee (An Post's is €3.50 if they deem it acceptable) but the package will arrive without hassle.

Nodferatu

I have packages from 4 different US sellers all currently being returned. One being returned to UK and another one just returned to UK last week. I also have one from China stuck in customs for about two weeks now with no update. Thats in limbo! Is there nobody to take responsibility for this absolute mess and lack of communication or is this the future of Irish post/customs now?

Some of my tracking numbers say we couldn't deliver post one of them even actually says I refused the package!! That's an outright lie as I'm off work for the week and nobody attempted to deliver anything. This country is an absolute f**king joke.

Nodferatu

Hopefully it arrives for you. At this point it's a 50/50 buying anything

tphase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120180473#Comment_120180473

the reasons for non-delivery on the tracking information are usually made up, it's not a new phenomena and happens with all couriers. The driver has to select a reason for non-delivery and "the van was completely overloaded" is not an option so they pick an option that will keep the desk jockeys in the depot happy