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

I sometimes buy books from a very small independent publisher in the UK, and I also subscribe to their weekly newsletter.

In 11th Feb newsletter:

Mail to Ireland

We have had a real problem with sending mail to Ireland. I had hoped that it was one set of books, posted towards the end of November, which had not got through customs. But we have now had a couple of FOCS magazines returned, together with a book.

  Only one person in Ireland has let me know that she has received her FOCS magazine, and only one person has let me know that a book has arrived.

  If you live in Ireland and have ordered a published book this year (not last year) or if you are a member of FOCS, please could you email and let me know if you have received your book or magazine or not.

  The problem has only happened since late November so unless there were new rules which came in then (not earlier) which we don't know about, we feel that it must be someone with a personal spite who is returning everything. All addressee's names have been obscured. We know that the Customs Declaration form is filled out correctly, because items are getting through to other European countries.

  Ann is coming very close to saying that we will not send anything to Ireland again, but I would like to do a bit of research first. What I need to do is to contact someone senior in the customs in Ireland. And this is where I need your help. Does anyone know anybody? Could someone please do some google searching and find out the correct person to speak to? Please don't think someone else can do this - if I don't get this sorted during the coming week Ann will just refuse to send mail to Ireland again. It has cost us hundreds of pounds to replace items. Obviously, if it does come to that, people will be fully re-funded.

  It would also be helpful if you could share this on social media so that others who do not receive this email can also be aware of the situation. 

 Mail Elsewhere Outside the UK

Mail going elsewhere does now seem to be getting through - and quickly, too. It is still very helpful if you can let us know when things arrive, or if you think something has taken too long.

In 18th Feb newsletter:

Mail to Ireland

Thank you so much for all your replies. We are now a stage further in the right direction.

  First of all, several people in Ireland have let us know that their mail has arrived, both magazines and books, rather more have let us know that their mail has not arrived, and we have had about 8 packages back here. One encouraging thing that someone who last Friday had not had her Kenya, emailed a few days later to say it had just arrived.  

  Many of you gave suggestions about what to do and two really helpful things have come from that. I have been given the email address of the Chairman of the Revenue Board in Ireland and have emailed him about the problem, and have had an acknowledgement to that. A proper reply will take a few days to come through.

  The problem seems to be bypassed if items are sent from a Post Office, rather than being franked here. We have now sent two items via two local Post Offices, and are waiting to see if they do arrive. We still need to fill in a CN22B customs form, but that should be enough. We do not want to have to send from the PO all the time, though, as it is rather more expensive than franking and also our own PO is only open on a Monday for a few hours. (We were mis-informed that a large letter would not need a form at all - that is only correct if there is an actual letter inside.)

  On checking one of the websites someone suggested we look at, Ann discovered that if you frank mail, as well as filling in the CN22B form you also need a S10 barcode. She rang our franking company, The Mailing Room, to ask why they had not told us - they had no idea of this, they had not been told - and they are the largest franking supplier in the country! However, they got hold of their PO contact, and gave me his email. He is sending me 200 (I hope) of these, and has also instructed me how to get on to the PO Website to order consumables as a business. I have got as far as registering but have had to go back to him because it will not let me order yet.

  It seems all this has been a closely guarded secret, and that people have not been told which is why there have been such problems. None of the local Post Offices know.

  Action we are taking - once we have these S10 barcodes, we shall send the mail we have had returned to us, and also any new mail. 

  When we return from our break on Monday 28th we will re-assess the situation, and will probably have to then re-send items which have still not arrived. So, please could you email on Saturday 26th to inform us whether or not you have received your magazines or books. Don't do it before, because we won't be taking any action until Monday 28th.

  Then we will give you an update on the e-newsletter of Friday 4th. 

It seems more like they were caught wholly unprepared by the new regulations last year and don't want to invest in a better process if they can get away with it. The announcement earlier this week of increases to stamp prices was a bit of joke too. Customer service levels dropping off a cliff and then price increases to go along with it. I only just realised that the An Post CEO David McRedmond is also the chairman of Eir so it kind of makes sense that customer service standard would be so poor in both organisations.

Today's Newsletter from Girls Gone By Publishers in the UK. It seems ridiculous that they are having all these problems just trying to send books and magazines! Books are supposed to be zero rated for VAT aren't they?

Mail to Ireland

During our break, we had about 15 FOCS magazines returned to us from Ireland, and Ann spent quite a long time on the telephone to our franking people, The Mailing Room.

  We had sent a couple of items from the Post Office which we heard on Monday had arrived. So now, what we are doing, is to send all post to Ireland from the Post Office, rather than franking it, although it is more expensive.. Ann re-did all the returned FOCS envelopes, not just those 15, with CN22B forms, fully filled in. The compulsory S10 barcode is at the bottom of the form and the HS tariff number is now included on the form. Ken C took these to the Post Office in a village a few miles from here. Not only are the parcels stamped, but each one is recorded so that we have a record of when it was sent. It took Ken about half an hour to send these, so huge thanks go to him.

  Please continue to let us know when post does - or does not - reach you in Ireland. We have separately heard from a couple of people who had not received their FOCS magazines or books which had not been returned and these have been sent. 

  Also, all the pre-ordered Top Secrets have been sent to Ireland - another 20 minutes in the Post Office for Ken C.

I'm getting seriously annoyed about this issue. It is affecting my business, every time I order supplies for my business they are getting sent back to the UK, there is no supplier in the EU. The latest one is a package from Amazon which feels like the straw that broke the camels back, I order personal items from amazon all of the time with no trouble at all and because I needed something fast I paid more for it on amazon only for it to be sent back by customs. Yet when I order goods from India they fly through customs and I never even get charged VAT? I'm so frustrated at this point but it doesn't seem like there is anything I can do about it?

I have to agree with the last comment. If you have Prime, life gets a bit easier (BTW although it's 7.99 per month, if you get regular take outs, signing up to Deliveroo Plus {no cost} will get you free deliveries too!).

The only times it doesn't have any value is when

a) You're looking for food items

b) What you're looking for are small trader goods or crafts

both of which concern me!

Prime does at least ease the headache!

It was sent Prime delivery, I don't understand it either, like I said I have never had this problem before with Amazon.

Quick question - are packages from Switzerland treated the same as non-EU ones?

you will have to pay vat if it is has not been paid in advance. any notifications I have received have either come via email or text. they don't accept cash at the door any more, they havent done that in years. the posties refused to handle cash.

An Post emailed me last month about VAT due on a UK order. They got my email address from the label on the package. Had to pay it within 3 weeks.

Paid it within 2 days of getting the email and the item was delivered the following day.

Later on that week, I got a postcard-type thing through the letterbox with the same content as the email. Obviously they send a paper reminder as well.

i'm sure any response from Sammy will be reasonable and well-considered.

Still the same. Had a package returned to a retailer in the UK last week. They told me they didn't get any explanation why it was returned, just a sticker on it that said "Returned to sender". They are reluctant to try again as they aren't sure what the problem is.