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

Back to UK postage again here.

Received a small package this morning from a UK company.

Customs clearance from the sender marked it as a Gift and of zero value.

Parcel was hand written address etc and post office stamp. Same company I would buy from would always have printed address sticker and franked postage

This is probably a big difference in why I received it. It took 8 days from posted to arrive.

Granted all companies won't do this and can't due to size of goods etc.

Without being flippant, it's their job.

Just for reference and I know it won't help many as your post is in the system but after reading this thread I had to send a family package from London to Ireland.

I used DPD, They did all the paperwork while I booked it in, gave me the 4 commercial invoices that I had to put on the item. (No VAT due as it was a gift/present) But they would of worked that out for you too.

Picked up Friday and delivered to the west coast of Ireland yesterday (Monday) So next day delivery. When I saw the alert that it was in customs my heart sank but it came out again in an hour.

So if you can ask your suppliers to use DPD. (recently I had issues with a website and they said next time put 'Please use DPD' in the special instructions box and they would use DPD.

I'm not sure how you know there are no problem in other countries.

An Post are the carrier for the high volume low value stuff where it makes sense to keep postal charges low hence ruling out DHL \ UPS etc. UPS \ DHL etc are the same company. An Post are expected to handle packages for multiple international postal services with different standards and prices.

In many cases there is no contact info on the label, just an address. The packages often don't indicate the value of the item either. Where should An Post go from here?

An Post are trying to implement customs rules imposed upon them. Internet shopping a sky rocketed since Covid. Then Brexit happened. An Post are understandably struggling to keep up.

They have to return package because they don't have space to store them indefinitely.

They struggle in the end to get reciprocal payments for the international postal services for the work they do handling their packages.

I'm not sure how you know there are no problem in other countries.

1. If the other 440 million people in the EU were having the same pro rata problems as us 5 million, you'd have heard about it.

2. My supplier said so, only Ireland, and they would supply to 88 times the amount of Irish customers in the rest of the EU.

In many cases there is no contact info on the label, just an address. 

I have a previous packet pre July 1st from the company. Every single field is correctly filled out on the C22. They still sent my next packet back.

Click on Italy, Netherlands or Portugal here and stop talking rubbish.

https://business.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317/~/international-incidents-update

Many EU countries are experiencing customs delays due to new customs regulations. what is the issue in pointing that out?

They are rejecting correctly filled out CN22 forms according to reports on this thread.

I guess you don't understand the difference between CN22 and CN23 either. What a coincidence.

As I said earlier, An Post are trying to implement customs rules imposed upon them.

Quote ".....which are resulting in the return of some items by the Irish Customs authorities."

Read the thread. They are not being returned by Irish Customs. An Post are returning the packages because of the lack of the electronic code required by An Post since 1st July, which appears to differ from the rest of the world according to many sellers (who have now stopped selling to Ireland as a consequence).

Everyone knows An Post have to comply with the new rules, but how anyone could justify how An Post are responding to this issue or the way they are communicating with people is baffling.

I don't know if you actually believe this or just parroting on An Post's behalf, but it is clearly wrong!

I have had THREE packages returned to the UK for "incorrect paperwork" "incorrect declaration" etc. When queried with An Post, the usual ignorant non-response was the only result. When queried with Customs, the longest response time was 20 hours, the fastest was 40 minutes. In all three cases, Customs informed me that NONE of these items had entered the Customs system and the decision to return was arbitrarily taken by An Post.

Who benefits from this approach though? What is the purpose of An Post?

I just had 2nd demand for import VAT from AnPost (its legit and not a scam), for goods sent by SeeSense in NI, which is also where goods originated (I checked with See.Sense). The thing is AnPost delivered the items last week, a day after first VAT due notice. Again the mind boggles. Now you if they would just deliver or return my ebay uk item. Instead its on its way to its 17th sorting in Dublin mail centre.

I came home from work an hour ago to discover An Post had sent on the Customs Charge in my mailbox. Just paid it now £5.06 ( 1.56 vat+3.50 admin). I'll see what happens and keep you posted. T