[James Laraway]

Just a wee note to everyone buying reels etc from a firm on the continent is great as large companies know how to send things to the UK post Brexit but beware of returning goods

Back in early 2018 (pre-Brexit) I bought an Air-One from Vosseler. I needed to return it for them to re-fit the spool into the cage as it was getting a wee bit loose ( line escaped through the gap twice)

Vosseler said they would take a look no bother. No need for a guarantee as i bought it from them perfect. Very professional - as expected

However....getting the reel back to them has been a total nightmare

Went to post office, they get you to fill in a customs form explaining the package contents etc. I put in  I  was returning it for servicing by the manufacturer. Gave a value for the item (just in case) but its now been 4 weeks and the reel is still not with Vosseler !

Apparently what happens is:
Royal mail hand over to DHL
The hand it to customs at the point of entry
If they think there is some 'issue' they give it back to DHL
DHL give it to a local customs office  - in this case near to Vosseler
Local customs then send a letter to Vosseler asking them to get in contact....

i could go on....and on...

Oh and when Royal Mail say 'what is the contents worth' they don't mention if you need to make a claim for the contents you need to be able to provide proof of purchase - not always easy if you bought something years ago ! Without proof of purchase Royal Mail will only refund the postage...not great on a 200 euro reel.....

Luckily i tracked down how i purchased it and got proof of purchase from Paypal - so if things go wrong i am covered. But it took me a lot of effort to work out when and how i bought it !

So just beware.....

This of course has nothing to do with Vosseler who are excellent.....its just the post-Brexit customs nightmare....

[Hamish Young]

I've recently sold some things to some people in China. Despite express postage etc it's now five weeks in and they've still to arrive  Post Office staff tell me this is quite 'the norm' in post-Brexit Britain, that there will be delays here leaving the UK and there - in China - on arrival and possibly if the parcels end up in mainland Europe the delays could be worse.
Yay.
No more international sales for me on eBay - lesson learned.

H

[James Laraway]

So, I am happy to say that I now have my reel back from Germany repaired and serviced.

I posted it on 8th July and that is it just back this morning - 18th Aug.

A massive relief.

So if you are sending something to the EU......just be prepared for a long wait and some real headaches.....

[Rob Brownfield]

I've recently sold some things to some people in China.

I bought some cheap lines from Maxcatch in China for scraping over the rocks when Pollock fishing, and they turned up in 10 days. Quite surprised as the two previous purchases about 3 years ago took weeks.

I bought some live coral from a place in Holland, 24 hours. That was a guaranteed 24 hour delivery.

I also bought a rucksack from Poland, 3 days.

It really does seem to come down to the shipper and their efficiency in sorting any paperwork.

[Hamish Young]

Interesting observation Rob, my stuff to China has been sent via Royal Mail but (of course) it moves to China Post and here is where it gets interesting. By all accounts, stuff can be with them for months before it's delivered 

I'm intrigued by how tax etc is being worked out, have a couple of things I can really only reliably source from Europe, so I dare say I'll have to see how it goes.

Good that James has his reel back 

[Andrew Parker]

Long before Brexit, I needed to send a once-worn pair of Simms G3 waders to Flyfish Europe (FFE) for warranty repair: FFE is based in Norway, outside the EU; an odd choice of European distributor for Simms, Scientific Anglers, Waterworks Lamson, et cetera
Parcelforce managed to get the waders to somewhere near FFE, but expected them to collect from some local shop!
Obviously the Simms never got to FFE
They are now back with me. Really weird Parcelforce could get them through customs out; all the way to Norway; customs into and out of Norway; all the way back; customs inward; return to me, but couldn’t actually deliver to FFE
The issue may not be Brexit: may be all to do with Royal Mail/Parcelforce