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

What is the reason though that a company is reporting that they ship hundreds of items a day to EU countries from the UK, and only An Post is sending stuff back. The company has checked to see what's wrong and they cannot see a problem with their customs declaration and An Post won't tell them what was wrong - they just send it back. Is there something very different required for an Irish customs declaration than for other EU countries?

Totally agree, I had a small metal adapter bracket costing £7.49 on eBay from the Uk sent back by customs, there was a tracking number and that told me it was sorted on August 13.

I sent an email enquiry form to an post four days ok, nothing back.

I was caller 39 in line on the phone to customer services wanting to know where this tracked item was, it was a specialized bracket for a brake master cylinder, they told me it went to portLaois mail Centre and customs returned it as they did not accept the description or the value of the item.

I paid full price on eBay, I had the seller send me the Customs declaration and it was perfect.

An Post tracking system is not fit for purpose full stop and they could not care less, this item was returned wrongly and I have no way to discuss this direct with Customs.

the result is the uk supplier told me that’s it no more supplies to Southern Ireland.

how many machines are out of service waiting on a part to arrive from the UK.

Has anyone got "we could not deliver your post. We will try to return it to the sender"

What happens next? I've never had something so vague on tracking before, it's clothing from Russia.

Just had a Buyee package sent back too, trying to explain what's happening is so stressful, they don't understand I had no opportunity to do anything, maybe I should get a friend to translate or something. I see parcels going back as 'rejected' but it's just automatic.

You really are getting quite obnoxious at this stage.. Just because someone points out(correct) information that doesn't align with what you think, doesn't mean they have nothing to contribute.. A little humility would go a long way..

DXhound2005's link is very helpful as it includes a worked example from the Revenue of how the charges are calculated, I would think most people haven't the slightest notion of this.. If people actually took the time to read the links, there would be a lot less people moaning about being "Robbed" by An Post or other agents filing customs clearance on their behalf..

The constant An Post bashing is really getting old, even more than you still think you are their customer when you are NOT.. You are essentially buying goods from a supplier on terms DAP(Delivered to you Duty and VAT unpaid) or DDP(Delivered to you Duty and VAT paid).. It is up to your supplier to fulfil their end of the contract and deliver the goods to you under the terms of your contract.. They are not forced to use Postal service to do this, they could just as easily use a courier or even a freight forwarder.. But in the instances you are taking offence with, the chose to book with their local postal service(probably because it is the cheapest).. In turn, their local Postal provider passes the shipment on to An Post to complete the necessary customs procedures and deliver to you. An Post's customer is the overseas Postal service with the IPU, not you!

There is no way to be certain, as An Post will never admit to it, but I would imagine what is happening is that An Post have taken a hardline with overseas postal operators and are insisting that they be provided will all the correct information in the correct format required to complete the customs format(if DAP), or the IOSS in the correct format correctly embedded into the Postal tracking barcodes(if DDP).. If this is not available, An Post is returning the package until the correct information is provided by the overseas postal operator.. In the past they might have held onto the package and requested the correct information.. However with the removal of the exemption on VAT on goods valued under €22(this was a massive loop hole being abused by (mainly Chinese) shippers by mis-declaring the value of goods, so the EU closed it, saying this has nothing to do with prejudice before you start again) and Brexit, has meant An Post now has to do customs on a much higher volume of packages..

So An Post has two choices, deal with a massive backlog and an administrative nightmare for ever more due to missing information HS codes etc or refuse shipments missing information now in the hope that other Postal operators will learn their lesson and stop sending forward post that is missing important information.. This is obviously causing a lot of issues for people, but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs!

So in summary, the issue is most likely with your supplier or their postal service, and unfortunately you are caught in the middle.. You are however perfectly within your rights to insist your supplier resolves the issues satisfactorily for you as you have entered into a contract with them to deliver to you, and they(or their preferred delivery partner) have not upheld this.

https://revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

some posts are saying it's the taric

A friend said their ems parcel the new form or something theres only room for 4 items

I sent an email to An Post asking the same how do we avoid these things again. I had my parcel from Buyee sent back, my other order was running out of time so trying Fed Ex since the returned one was ems

I thought maybe all the main POs woukd contact each other.

I can't find a single answer.

My DM said about my Japan parcel this but not what in particular to fix, afaik they mark everything as refused

This item has been processed to be returned to sender. The customs declaration which was provided electronically was insufficient. As we cannot amend or rectify any electronic customs data, the item must be returned as a result.

Please refer to the sender to arrange for the item to be re-issued with the correct customs information once it arrives back in the country of origin. This is beyond our control as customs and excise are a separate entity to An Post. 

I'm probably trying Fedex for my Zenmarket package too. I asked Fedex about it, and they said they could import the parcel fine. I'm going to email them the tariff codes just to be safe. If the package ever reaches Japan, that is, which it still hasn't after 12 days.

I'm going to make a formal complaint to An Post (I'd advise others here to do the same too), and I've pointed out to them that I'm An Post in future for all of my purchases from outside the EU. Maybe if we all point that out to them, they'll eventually realise they're losing customers. I'm sure the €3.50 fee mounts up eventually, so it'll hit them if they're losing revenue from that.

Fuc*ing An Post and Revenue!

"We could not deliver your post. We will try to return it to the sender."

Liars - they could have, but decided not to. They have utterly lost the plot. Given the situation with the highly protected and locked down pharmaceutical retail situation in this country, VRT, excise and such, It wouldn't surprise me if this isn't just another cute scheme by the Irish government to use the independence of tax policy to further exclude Irish consumers from the EU supposedly 'common market'.

Hope it works for you.

I've been emailing An Post Customer Services for a few eeks now and all I get is the auto acknowledgement.

They seem to have given up replying altogether!

I've done the same with Customs who have been very courteous and reply very quickly, however while they can find parcel references, they

can't effect any changes. It' seems An Post are controlling everything. They also prefer to blame Customs for everything!

I've written to the CEO David McRedmond twice. The first response was the usual "We're doing everything we can". When I wrote back to him

to address the query he left unanswered in my email, he simply ignored it.

I've had so much to do with a family emergency, I haven't done all I shold, but I'm planning to rectify that soon.

What I can't understand is that not one of the print/digital/broadcast media have picked up on this shambles which is clearly effecting thousands

of customers all over Ireland, and has even put many businesses in jeopardy.

Maybe a little bit of old fashioned writing to the news editors might help!

Sorry I haven't anything better to offer!