Delays, fees and red tape cause shipping chaos from UK to Europe with parcels arriving a month late

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/shipping ... te-1281833

Anyone sending Christmas presents to loved ones should get moving – and be aware of the hoops they must jump through

It’s been almost a month since my father sent a parcel first-class from London to Spain – and there’s still no sign of it. After I vented my fury on Twitter, the Royal Mail got in touch to say they believed it was in the possession of Spanish customs.

A contact in Spanish customs offered to help me trace it without grappling with their website or trying to get some sense from their helpline (which is anything but helpful). But there was no trace of the package to be found.

Anyone sending Christmas presents to loved ones elsewhere in Europe should get moving – and be aware of the hoops they must jump through – after i discovered many in the UK and abroad have faced postal chaos with delays, lost mail and extra costs.

What started as my personal odyssey to retrieve my parcel has elicited scores of stories of problems with the mail between Spain and the UK. With at least 300,000 British residents in Spain, the country boasts the largest population of UK citizens outside Britain in Europe.

Businesses as much as individuals have been affected by changes since the Brexit transition period ended in January.

Correos, the Spanish state postal service, was my last resort – but when they came back to me, the news was puzzling to say the least.

“Your shipment left the UK on Oct 12 but it has not arrived in Spain yet,” said Correos in a statement.

So where, I wondered, was it? In a slow boat to Spain perhaps, or, more likely, lost in the system.

Ovidio Raúl Rodríguez Castro, 46, an IT engineer at a bank who has lived in the UK for 15 years, said he had given up ordering from Spain since Brexit because of delays and extra charges.

“Before Brexit, a case of wine with 12 bottles cost £110 then it went up to £130,” he told i. “I bought a box of Marks & Spencer tea bags which cost £3 to send to Spain. But when it got there, they wanted to charge €52.”

Others told of long waits while mail from the UK languished with Spanish customs.

Alicia Wood, 54, who runs a business called Zooh in Spain making coasters, ceramics and place mats, imports goods from a factory in Peterborough. Delays in orders have prompted her to look for suppliers within the European Union even though British craftsmanship is better.

“We are still waiting for an order from July. Ironically the factory we use in the UK uses wood from Spain and it is facing delays in getting this eucalyptus sent to Britain. It is mad,” she told i.

Ms Wood said she had fewer problems with an order from India than with orders from Britain.

Clive Davies tweeted: “Just picked up a package in Palma (Mallorca) sent from Scotland. Arrived quite quickly but customs charges on £20 worth of children’s books were nearly €13. That must be around a 50 per cent surcharge on goods from the UK.”

A Spanish customs spokesman said 99 per cent of small packets up to the value of €150 were dispatched to customers in Spain on the same day that they arrived from the UK. VAT and charges only applied to commercial packages worth over €150, he added.

“I have the impression that these charges which people have complained about are being made by the courier services because people did not pay enough to send the packages,” he added.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: ”We’re currently experiencing delays to some items being delivered in Spain. Items are leaving the UK on time but are subject to some delay when being processed through Spanish customs. To avoid items being held at customs, please ensure you’re providing complete and accurate electronic customs data and customs documentation.”

So is it my father’s fault for not understanding the bureaucratic red tape? HMRC customs service said that as the UK had left the European Union Customs Union and Single Market, individuals and traders had to follow new customs procedures for sending goods between the UK and the EU, including filling in details of the parcel electronically when they are sent.

But no one told my dad this at the Post Office.

[SpacePhoenix]

I wonder how many people realise that typically customs in any country don't scan anything when it's handed to them or when they pass it onto the local postal service