So I thought I'd do a quick update on the parcel I mentioned a few weeks back.
Basically I'd been sent two figurines from Japan and HM Customs made a complete mess of the charges. The figures themselves were worth less than £90, but they'd somehow managed to work out that I owed them more than £200 in import VAT & other charges.
Clearly this was ridiculous and it was so far off what I should pay I wasn't willing to stump up the money, even if I could have afforded it, which I couldn't.
As such, I filled out the required form and sent it in, including loads of supporting evidence, such as a photocopy of the sticker on the box and e-mails from the company I bought it for showing the real price. I even worked out what the charges should have been for them.
And of course I heard fuck all back and the parcel was returned to Japan.
I've therefore had to pay again for the figures to be sent to me. What I did, though, was ask them to split the order and send each figure individually. Unfortunately, by putting them together in one box last time they had to send it via the airmail tracked service, so it cost a lot of money. By splitting them up and sending them individually via surface mail it was a lot cheaper. Although of course I will have to pay twice as much in the way of parcel force charges.
I did also ask parcel force to hang on to the figures for as long as they could, but if they did then it was only a few days over the norm. I'm also going to be sending them a complaint as I was told I would receive a reminder, but never did.
But the point is it means that the useless fuckers in customs (those who can do, those who can't become civil servants and don't get me started on the immoral robbery that are sales taxes) have cost me extra money I'm going to send in a complaint, though I may wait until I finally get the figures.
And speaking of which, there was actually another figure that the company sent me shortly after these two but there's no sign of it. This was sent via surface mail, which can take a while, but I've not had it take this long before.
Showing posts with label figurines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label figurines. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Thursday, 16 May 2013
how much?
I appear to have been the victim of a massive cock-up.
I buy figures directly from Japan. They are expensive things, but the site I use sells them at good value and I’m happy to take the VAT charges on the chin for importing them.
Two figures were recently dispatched to me. Because they have had to be put in a big box (both are together, where I was originally expecting each individually) they’ve had to upgrade the postage to EMS, which is a tracked service and is quicker, but a lot more expensive.
I mention this because the figures are only about £50 each and the new postage cost is about £30. I’m obviously converting from yen, but the upshot is that the total cost is about £130. At worst case we’re talking £150.
This is important because customs charges only kick in for items that cost above £135. Below that you only pay VAT and even above it they waive it if the charge is less than £9. I’ve never paid customs charges, only VAT.
VAT is at 20% so I was expecting a charge of around £26 and then the (extortionate) parcel force handling fees would take it up to about £40.
The bill arrived yesterday - it is for £273.68
Thy want to charge me £57.39 for customs and £202.79 for VAT.
Those numbers are bigger than the original value of the items + postage!
I have absolutely no clue how that has happened, but I figure one of a few things might be the source of the problem - the original forms were not filled out properly, so they’ve done the calculations based on wrong numbers, or perhaps they’ve fucked up the yen to pounds conversion, but what is definitely the case is someone's made a huge mistake somewhere.
Unfortunately, this now gives me the horrible problem of having to work out who’s make the mistake, how I get it corrected, who I have to deal with to do that and all sorts.
There’s a form you can download on the customs site, but they want me to send the bits of paper you get with the parcel. Well, I can’t send those until I’ve got the parcel, and I can’t get the parcel without paying and I’m not paying £275 for a parcel whose contents cost me £130.
Particularly since I can’t afford £275.
Of course there’s an added problem - parcel force say they will only hold onto the parcel for 20 days (and that was about 4 days ago). Can I get this sorted in 20 days? Do I think HMRC will even look at the form in 20 days?
Marvellous.
I buy figures directly from Japan. They are expensive things, but the site I use sells them at good value and I’m happy to take the VAT charges on the chin for importing them.
Two figures were recently dispatched to me. Because they have had to be put in a big box (both are together, where I was originally expecting each individually) they’ve had to upgrade the postage to EMS, which is a tracked service and is quicker, but a lot more expensive.
I mention this because the figures are only about £50 each and the new postage cost is about £30. I’m obviously converting from yen, but the upshot is that the total cost is about £130. At worst case we’re talking £150.
This is important because customs charges only kick in for items that cost above £135. Below that you only pay VAT and even above it they waive it if the charge is less than £9. I’ve never paid customs charges, only VAT.
VAT is at 20% so I was expecting a charge of around £26 and then the (extortionate) parcel force handling fees would take it up to about £40.
The bill arrived yesterday - it is for £273.68
Thy want to charge me £57.39 for customs and £202.79 for VAT.
Those numbers are bigger than the original value of the items + postage!
I have absolutely no clue how that has happened, but I figure one of a few things might be the source of the problem - the original forms were not filled out properly, so they’ve done the calculations based on wrong numbers, or perhaps they’ve fucked up the yen to pounds conversion, but what is definitely the case is someone's made a huge mistake somewhere.
Unfortunately, this now gives me the horrible problem of having to work out who’s make the mistake, how I get it corrected, who I have to deal with to do that and all sorts.
There’s a form you can download on the customs site, but they want me to send the bits of paper you get with the parcel. Well, I can’t send those until I’ve got the parcel, and I can’t get the parcel without paying and I’m not paying £275 for a parcel whose contents cost me £130.
Particularly since I can’t afford £275.
Of course there’s an added problem - parcel force say they will only hold onto the parcel for 20 days (and that was about 4 days ago). Can I get this sorted in 20 days? Do I think HMRC will even look at the form in 20 days?
Marvellous.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
tired
I've been working my nuts off this week.
The reason is that there's a proposal I'm working on that needs to go out the door this next Friday. What's made it difficult is two things.
First off, they only gave a very short period of time for the ITT to be written in - just a few weeks. But secondly, we've had to use some outside expertise to form a team and it's been like herding cats.
Even when they did eventually produce some stuff, it really hasn't been up to par, so I've had to rewrite a lot of it, which is never fun.
It's been really hard work.
And what's made it even less fun is that there's a much more important activity going on as well. We've been invited to interview for another thing we're bidding for and it's a really quite important piece of work, so a lot of attention has been focused on that.
Indeed, I've been working so hard that today feels like Friday - it's like I've done a full 5 days of work in a 4 day period. This effect is really confusing me, actually - I keep thinking 'tonight I can have a rest' type thoughts, when really I can't :(.
Newtype, animedia and animage turned up this week, but I've hardly had a chance to even look at them. One thing that was a bit odd was that Newtype came with a figurine. It's not a large figurine, but equally it's not small - maybe 4 or 5 inches tall?
She's actually a character in Evangelion, only she's completely new to me, and I've seen the Eva series and the first movie, so she must be a new character in the Eva remake movies. She's another pilot - at least she's dressed a bit like a pilot (the plug suit she's wearing is not quite like other pilot's suits) and I've seen her pictured with Rei so I'm guessing she's a new pilot.
Intriguing.
And speaking of figures, I had something of a surprise yesterday - a figure turned up that I wasn't expecting!
I've moaned before that I keep getting walloped for customs charges on figures I've been buying directly from Japan, well this figure was no different. I got a note saying a customs charge was due.
Oh, actually that reminds me - I decided to try paying online for it, rather than in-person. It was a mixed bag - initially, the website wouldn't accept any of my credit cards at all. It just would not play ball.
However, I retried it a couple of days later and it worked. But - and this was where things got a bit weird - there was no reference number on the note I'd been left. But I figured what the hell and paid the amount anyway.
A couple of days later and I hadn't seen any sign of the parcel so was thinking I'd have to go to the post office and argue about it, when it arrived. How they tied up that it was this parcel and I'd paid without a reference number I'm not sure, but success was had.
But what was the surprise? Well, I hadn't been excepting it - what I was actually expecting was a DVD, so quite where the DVD I was expecting has gotten too, I don't know. I did receive another note saying there's another parcel, with customs due, so maybe that's it?
Dunno.
But what I will say is that the figure is excellent. It's of Yoko from Gurren Lagann and if I'm honest, her face isn't the best - it looks a bit big and cute compared to how she is in the show. What makes up for that is all the details and extras in the model - her gun comes as loads of separate parts and you assemble it, but what this also means is you can assemble different options/variants too. Plus, you get a second facial expression, several different hair variations and some bits of clothes that are optional too (not in a rude and nude way!).
Plus, it's a really weighty piece and feels and looks like it's solid and well made. It's probably one of the best figurines I own - all that from something I wasn't expecting!
The reason is that there's a proposal I'm working on that needs to go out the door this next Friday. What's made it difficult is two things.
First off, they only gave a very short period of time for the ITT to be written in - just a few weeks. But secondly, we've had to use some outside expertise to form a team and it's been like herding cats.
Even when they did eventually produce some stuff, it really hasn't been up to par, so I've had to rewrite a lot of it, which is never fun.
It's been really hard work.
And what's made it even less fun is that there's a much more important activity going on as well. We've been invited to interview for another thing we're bidding for and it's a really quite important piece of work, so a lot of attention has been focused on that.
Indeed, I've been working so hard that today feels like Friday - it's like I've done a full 5 days of work in a 4 day period. This effect is really confusing me, actually - I keep thinking 'tonight I can have a rest' type thoughts, when really I can't :(.
Newtype, animedia and animage turned up this week, but I've hardly had a chance to even look at them. One thing that was a bit odd was that Newtype came with a figurine. It's not a large figurine, but equally it's not small - maybe 4 or 5 inches tall?
She's actually a character in Evangelion, only she's completely new to me, and I've seen the Eva series and the first movie, so she must be a new character in the Eva remake movies. She's another pilot - at least she's dressed a bit like a pilot (the plug suit she's wearing is not quite like other pilot's suits) and I've seen her pictured with Rei so I'm guessing she's a new pilot.
Intriguing.
And speaking of figures, I had something of a surprise yesterday - a figure turned up that I wasn't expecting!
I've moaned before that I keep getting walloped for customs charges on figures I've been buying directly from Japan, well this figure was no different. I got a note saying a customs charge was due.
Oh, actually that reminds me - I decided to try paying online for it, rather than in-person. It was a mixed bag - initially, the website wouldn't accept any of my credit cards at all. It just would not play ball.
However, I retried it a couple of days later and it worked. But - and this was where things got a bit weird - there was no reference number on the note I'd been left. But I figured what the hell and paid the amount anyway.
A couple of days later and I hadn't seen any sign of the parcel so was thinking I'd have to go to the post office and argue about it, when it arrived. How they tied up that it was this parcel and I'd paid without a reference number I'm not sure, but success was had.
But what was the surprise? Well, I hadn't been excepting it - what I was actually expecting was a DVD, so quite where the DVD I was expecting has gotten too, I don't know. I did receive another note saying there's another parcel, with customs due, so maybe that's it?
Dunno.
But what I will say is that the figure is excellent. It's of Yoko from Gurren Lagann and if I'm honest, her face isn't the best - it looks a bit big and cute compared to how she is in the show. What makes up for that is all the details and extras in the model - her gun comes as loads of separate parts and you assemble it, but what this also means is you can assemble different options/variants too. Plus, you get a second facial expression, several different hair variations and some bits of clothes that are optional too (not in a rude and nude way!).
Plus, it's a really weighty piece and feels and looks like it's solid and well made. It's probably one of the best figurines I own - all that from something I wasn't expecting!
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
I just can't figure it
I'd never really been in to figures.
Figures (or figurines if you prefer) are sort of like half-way between dolls and models. A doll has moveable parts and is pretty much meant for playing with. A model has to be assembled, but once finished is more for decorative purposes.
A figurine doesn't have moveable parts and you don't assemble it. It's pre-moulded plastic and is assembled and painted at the factory. They're basically only for looking at.
Which is pretty much why I'd never been into them. I make models (well, I used to--I haven't done any actual modelling in years) and used to get dolls when I was a kid (well, actually, technically they're called action figures (Star Wars toys, basically) but really they're virtually the same thing--dolls for boys). But that whole "you just look at them" thing about figurines didn't really appeal.
I say didn't because I have loads of them now.
I dunno what it was that kick-started it. I think it was partly because I love Ugetsu Hakua's artwork so much, and especially his designs for BakuTen, that I wanted to get a couple of the figures. They were pretty cheap as well, I seem to remember.
Then it just sort of snowballed. I got those first figures from United Publications, but one of the sites I use the most (and would highly recommend), cd-japan, has a big section of its site devoted to figures. They also send out newsletters each week with all the pre-order figures and I dunno, I liked the BakuTen ones so much I just sort of bought more.
I like them all and I don't regret any of the purchases, but some of them are pretty expensive. Obviously, importing from Japan isn't cheap as such anyway, but some of the figures can be the best part of £100. That's a lot of money for something that you just sit and look at :/.
Anyway, I mention this because my latest purchase turned up last week--Ringo Noyamano from Air Gear dressed as the "Masked Hentai"--and it kinda occurred to me that this figure has sort of stepped past that line of displaying the figures and looking at them. What she's wearing is beyond "skimpy" and into pornographic (hence 'Masked Hentai' :/) so where can I put it that it wouldn't raise more than a few eyebrows?
Not that I specifically care what other people think about me, it's more to save them the embarrassment of seeing it :/.
Figures (or figurines if you prefer) are sort of like half-way between dolls and models. A doll has moveable parts and is pretty much meant for playing with. A model has to be assembled, but once finished is more for decorative purposes.
A figurine doesn't have moveable parts and you don't assemble it. It's pre-moulded plastic and is assembled and painted at the factory. They're basically only for looking at.
Which is pretty much why I'd never been into them. I make models (well, I used to--I haven't done any actual modelling in years) and used to get dolls when I was a kid (well, actually, technically they're called action figures (Star Wars toys, basically) but really they're virtually the same thing--dolls for boys). But that whole "you just look at them" thing about figurines didn't really appeal.
I say didn't because I have loads of them now.
I dunno what it was that kick-started it. I think it was partly because I love Ugetsu Hakua's artwork so much, and especially his designs for BakuTen, that I wanted to get a couple of the figures. They were pretty cheap as well, I seem to remember.
Then it just sort of snowballed. I got those first figures from United Publications, but one of the sites I use the most (and would highly recommend), cd-japan, has a big section of its site devoted to figures. They also send out newsletters each week with all the pre-order figures and I dunno, I liked the BakuTen ones so much I just sort of bought more.
I like them all and I don't regret any of the purchases, but some of them are pretty expensive. Obviously, importing from Japan isn't cheap as such anyway, but some of the figures can be the best part of £100. That's a lot of money for something that you just sit and look at :/.
Anyway, I mention this because my latest purchase turned up last week--Ringo Noyamano from Air Gear dressed as the "Masked Hentai"--and it kinda occurred to me that this figure has sort of stepped past that line of displaying the figures and looking at them. What she's wearing is beyond "skimpy" and into pornographic (hence 'Masked Hentai' :/) so where can I put it that it wouldn't raise more than a few eyebrows?
Not that I specifically care what other people think about me, it's more to save them the embarrassment of seeing it :/.
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