Hey guys, I ordered a couple of Saint Seiya myth cloth stuff from Singapore, and since the 29th of Nov. the package has been held up at customs, what am I supposed to do? How can I get my items back to me? Help would be greatly appreciated.
That's not that long, as far as Customs go. They'll just sit on it until they can get around to inspecting the package, then send it back out in the mail, and then you'll get it at your doorstep, probably with a nice, pleasant "service fee" attached. Myth Cloths aren't all that large, so the fee may only be about $10.
Customs in the Uk generally holds the parcel until you pay up. Although UPS once had the gall to bring it all the way to my doorstep (not notify me about the customs charge through the tracking) and then put it back on the truck because I didnt havbe any cash on me. Ugh.
I've had some packages sit in customs for one month and 2 weeks, so your wait time is nothing compared to that. It's just random, it may take anytime from 1 day with no custom charges to 7 weeks with an amount coming close to what I paid for the items...go figure. There's usually a phone number for them [etched on the papers they send you with the amount pending payment to get your item] but they never, never pick up.
I don't think there's anything you can do except wait. That is unless they contact you. I had a package sit in customs for 7 or 8 days and then it showed up on my doorstep the following day. Give it another week, you should have it by then.
It used to be that way with Parcel Force too. I thought that it was phased out because of some complaints to the OFT on the lines you mentioned, or something. Customs on my side generally sits on a package for about a week or two before notifying of a charge. I'm not sure if it's due to a high workload or a prioritisation based on what are the most expensive combined with the amount of time something has been sitting in their work queue. At any rate, it's usually a case of a small charge, plus tax, plus a handling fee. A week or two tends to be the average. Don't forget Christmas is a mere three weeks away, so they're going to have more packages coming through than usual to deal with.
My packing sat at the International depot for three days before moving to the National depot. Usuall it gets past it on the day it arrives. Oh well. The package should be with me monday then.
What freaks me out the most is the part on their website where it says if it moves into the warehouse and I didn't claim it, they will auction off the stuff, and they said that it's up to me to contact them, how the hell am I supposed to know who and where to contact??
If you have the tracking details, you should know which carrier it is with. On my side at the least, the carrier will pay the customs charges on your behalf and then send you notification. It is possible, if you have all the details, to get in touch with the carrier and say "I have a package which I understand has a customs charge. I've not heard from you yet about the charges but the tracking number is XYZ, can I please arrange to pay the charges now?" I've done it a couple of times with Parcel Force. I doubt you have anything to worry about yet, though. Most places will hold things for around 30-45 days before going to auction / returns. As i said before, it might just be there's a lot of extra work because of the time of year. If you don't hear anything by Friday, contact the company who is bringing it and see if they can move things along, resend the letters or if they'll let you pay the charges over the phone.
Amazingly, the package showed up at my doors today, no mention of custom charges or anything. Funny thing though, out of curiosity I check the tracking number once more, and it still said "Item being held by customs"
I've had a A/V Famicom sitting in customs in NY now for almost 3 weeks and haven't heard anything. Tracking info hasn't been updated since it arrived in NY in early November. First time I've EVER had anything from overseas held in customs. Wonder what gives?
