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

An Post are sending parcel back wholesale and blaming Customs on it.

I have twice confirmed with Customs that my parcels were never sent to Customs.

An Post will receive a parcel, arbitrarily decide the customs declaration does not conform to the July 1st rules

and return it without ever informing the recipient. I've lost quite a few this way.

When you try to challenge them, they blame Customs. I've checked every statement they made to me and in not one, was Customs to blame.

Maybe we all need to pressure the decision and policy makers in An Post, starting with the Chief Executive david.mcredmond@anpost.ie

I had a package arriving from Japan recently, and after it arrived in Dublin and was sorted, I heard nothing. A week later, I had the dreaded message "we could not deliver your post. we will try to return it to the sender.", like some of you have recently too.

I've spent a week emailing, calling and webchatting. An Post told me it was Revenue's fault, Revenue told me it was An Post's fault, and I spent a full week being bounced back and forth between the two like a demented tennis ball. It's only just now I've actually found out what the reason is.

The answer I finally found is that An Post have a new system since the 1st of July, and if any one field is incomplete, the package is returned to the sender instantly without being looked it, as far as I can tell. In my case, the HS Tariff Codes were missing. Most international retailers don't have systems that allow them to include these on the CN22 forms, since most countries will still import the packages if they're missing. That seems to be what's tripping people up recently with packages being returned.

There's no obvious solution, and a lot of people are being caught out with this, sometimes very badly. There should be some mechanism to allow items like that to be imported, even if it means they have to be opened and there's a delay in the process.

The total value of the package was just over €26 (depending on the conversion rate you use) including shipping. The package contained two secondhand vintage watches (both from the 1970s) that cost about 1000 JPY (about €8) each. I was sent a copy of the shipping label when the package was dispatched. The information given on the CN22 form listed each item, and gave the value of each item separately along with the country of origin.

The only field missing was the TARIC codes, and I was informed by the relevant department in An Post that this was the reason for the package being returned. Additionally, the information I was given states that this is due to the new automated system in place since the 1st of July and that it's happening often now. Because they're used to calculate import duty, the TARIC codes are only used if the total value of the package is more than €150 including shipping costs. And yet packages worth sometimes as little as a few euro are being sent back now because of missing codes that are not even needed.

As far as extra information, I was sent the shipping label as usual when the package shipped, and it was identical to all the other ones apart from the listed contents and their value. Those other ones arrived between April and July. My package contained two secondhand watches I bought off Yahoo Auctions Japan using Zenmarket as a proxy service. The other five packages I've had from them this year all got to me without any trouble. The last one that was delivered actually reached Dublin on the 4th of July, so after the new system came into force. I wasn't asked to pay VAT either, oddly.

Zenmarket have heard nothing and weren't even aware of the issue. I contacted other proxy services too, who all said packages being sent to the EU are being delivered fine at the moment, including Ireland apparently. The spiel I had from both Revenue/Customs and An Post's eComm Charge Query people is that TARIC codes are now mandatory for all non-EU packages regardless of value. Since packages from Japan are being delivered fine to Ireland at the moment, apparently, it might be that An Post and Revenue are telling a bit of a tall tale. My guess is that some packages are being selected at random for this kind of inspection and that you and I simply got unlucky.

I'll be using a courier to get the package back to Ireland as well, probably UPS or maybe Fedex.

My advice would be to not even attempt to contact them, you'll wait and wait only to get some depressed woman or a robot on the other line. Just use couriers anymore.

Well, initially An Post were telling me the parcel had been "extracted" by customs (like a rotten tooth, I guess, hah) and that it was their fault. Customs told me An Post handle all of that and that they had never had any interaction with my parcel. If it had been Customs, like in the old system, I'd have been asked for proof of purchase, etc, to prove the declared value was real. They'd have been welcome to open it - they'd have seen two watches, just like the label said.

What I can't figure out is if every parcel is being sent back or only a sample. I had a package arrive at my house on the 5th of July after arriving in Dublin the previous day, so it certainly wasn't happening then. The package I had this month arrived on the 9th and was sent back on the 15th, which is nearly a week. So it wasn't sent straight back.

That's what I wonder myself. Not only do they have transport costs, but there's admin work to be done too and other things, and the people who do that need to be paid. And every package sent back means VAT revenue lost by the State.

This is going crazy!!! I never have problems until now, as said: 4 packets sent back! This is something new from EU rule or the goverment. I repeat I never had issues before just now 4 packets sent back and its looks that there is another coming from US that is in limbo. I thinks they are pushing so people only buy stuff in the EU, that is only think I can think of.

A vodafone one from about 10 years ago. Probably the only one alright haha

No, not the issue for me either. I needed to pay VAT through An Post, so some other reason has caused the customs declaration to be deemed 'insufficient'. I think it's the omission of the TARIC code in my case.

I would like to pay extra for the item to be delivered using a different courier now to avoid An Post, but it seems the company will only use Royal Mail and then it just automatically goes to An Post. I don't think I will ever get what I need.