Problems with UK Customs

[peegee]

!!This is a message from banishment island!!

See my other threads for further messages! Just find my profile by clicking on my name and click on "Threads started by peegee"!! Latest news on "Why pay good money to be a rubberist?" thread.

!!Woo-hoo!!

Well, that?s weird! Just logged in (which I?m still able to do), and I saw a post on a thread started by me! I had a look, and found I can edit my original post (which I had previously purged).

I don?t know if anyone can read this, so this is by way of a message in a bottle from banishment island - a sort of experiment, if you will. Note that this is an edit of an old post - the posts that follow this one do not relate to this post.

Anyway, is it just me, or has the amount of posting being done dropped a bit? I personally miss Dark's ramblings - I wonder where he's gone.

Well, today is Saturday 28 January, and it's relatively normal on banishment island. I've been busy collecting coconuts and firewood, which has given me the chance to think about what has happened.

My brief self-analysis reveals that Ata's "avenging parent" approach does not sit well with me, and my reactions have been mainly against that "I'm the boss around here" attitude. I have always had a problem with authority figures who tell me what to do, my immediate reaction being, "Why should I?" I have little doubt that a number of you may feel animosity towards me, because I've "spoilt things" and "it will never be the same again". Well, chums, if Ata had not come the heavy parent, censoring what was fair criticism of a supplier (criticism that has been echoed on other sites, I would add), this situation would not have arisen.

Ho hum.

Well, as I said, I've though about things, and this is not, for me, a good way to leave it. In my view, there is always a compromise, if you look for it. So, here is my latest mail to Ata, in which I have tried to take a more "Adult" (as in Transactional Analysis) approach. Sorry it's a bit long. This was sent Thursday 26 January at 11.40 am - as of today, 28 Jan at 11.35 am, I have had no reply.

"Ataraxia

An Olive Branch

I am sorry for the anger that this situation has caused you.

A Way Forward

Where are we?
OK. We have both thrown our toys out of the pram. What now? You may say that it?s no longer a problem. If you do, read no further.
However, if you feel the IAR is so frail that two people can wreck it in 24 hours, then maybe something does need to happen. We both know that it is virtually impossible to ban someone from a site. My wife is on a teachers? website that is so full of personal bile that at least one person gets banned every week. They almost always come back pretending to be someone else, and everyone else spends ages trying to guess who the ?newbie? was in a previous incarnation! It all seems very pointless and silly.
So, I won?t do that.

What do we want?
Values. I hope we both value honesty and integrity ? I hope we both want to see that reflected in what we do.
Interests. My interest is in a site where I can say what I think. Your interest is possibly this, but you also have an interest in making some money in order to survive.
The dispute ? for me, the dispute is about honesty. For you, the dispute is about money. The dispute is therefore more urgent for you than it is for me.

A Resolution?
As I mentioned before, I really do not think that libel is an issue here. As you know, most publications that print readers? comments use a simple disclaimer, along the lines of: ?The views stated by our readers are not necessarily those of this newspaper, its Editor or its employees.? Looking at the complaints that people make against suppliers on the site (the ones that are not sponsors, that is) they seem well-founded. There are also either balancing comments from other people, or someone says something like, ?Did you try calling them or writing to them??
So, it comes down to the IAR?s relationship with the sponsors. It does strike me that, if I were a sponsor, the fact that I could get feedback on my product that other enthusiasts will see would be a positive selling point. By denying all opportunity for feedback you are eliminating that selling point. (Negative feedback can also be used positively - research shows that customers whose complaints are successfully resolved are more likely to give positive feedback to their friends). Moreover, by allowing feedback for suppliers who are not sponsors, you are providing a disincentive to sponsorship.
One answer may be the disclaimer, but it may be too ?hands off? for your liking.
Another answer may be to put a general note on all Rubberdex entries, along the lines of, ?Please ensure that any feedback you give tells us what happened, rather than just giving an unjustified opinion. Unjustified negative feedback should not be posted and, if posted, will be removed. Disputes with suppliers should be resolved direct with them, not through this forum.? Perhaps this could be used as well as the disclaimer.
The result is that:
? Sponsors get the possibility of feedback, that they can use in their advertising.
? Everyone can give honest feedback on all suppliers. If someone has a bad experience, and gets no satisfaction from the supplier (e.g. they don?t respond to any communications), he/she can post this as honest feedback, along the lines of, ?I ordered goods from X. Waited 3 months, nothing arrived. I tried contacting them, they did not respond. I would be careful about ordering anything from X.?
? You get happy members and happy sponsors.

What now?
If my approach has any merit in your eyes, please let me know. I would not feel happy being ?unbanned? without some explanation being given for how it has occurred. I accept that this is because of my pride ? put simply, I would like it to be known that I have not just ?apologised and promised not to do it again.?

Thank you for reading this far, if you have.


Peegee"

[LatexScene]

?s someone whom has sold and purchased to / from the US on ebay i would be extremely doubtful that custom's would be holding any item like a pair of trousers, i would be expecting that either the vendor didn't ship or they are lost in shipping, i'd ask the vendor for proof of postage, and hope there is some, if its lost in the mail then hope that you had it insured

[Blackice]

?s someone whom has sold and purchased to / from the US on ebay i would be extremely doubtful that custom's would be holding any item like a pair of trousers, i would be expecting that either the vendor didn't ship or they are lost in shipping, i'd ask the vendor for proof of postage, and hope there is some, if its lost in the mail then hope that you had it insured

I'd agree. its more likely to be really slow post which does happen periodically. Also the seller may have sent surface and not airmail as suggested.

M

[dutchbloke2004]

as i bought and received goods too from the USA , i think it greatly depends how it was send, with fedex or ups or firms like that, it normally gets overseas in a matter of days without probl at all, but with normal US post and no priotity ,i found out , it once took over 4 weeks to arrive over here in europe , instead ot the usual 7-8 days it was supposed to take. so i expect it will turn up much later. with our customs it slowed down delivery in my case for just 4 days after arrival, but it always did work out well. so it s still not sure it was misplaced

[Electrojim]

I got a parcel of rubber wear from Malaysia last week. It had been opened by Australian Customs then resealed and delivered next day.
Inside I found a note advising that Custom's "Sniffer Dogs" had indicated an interest in my parcel so it was opened for inspection. Nothing "unusual" was found and the Customs Service appologised for any delay. Wasn't that nice of them?
In the meantime, I wonder what those dogs thought they had found. Perhaps they're rubber dogs.
And finally, this photo shows that nobody but NOBODY escapes Customs inspection these days!!!!

[mandyatnights]

My wife I and ordered a genuine Vacbed last year from the makers in the US. We normally shop here in the UK by Switch Debit and were therefore unable to pay by Credit Visa so had the hassle of asking for an international money order from our bank which took another couple of days to arrive.

We mailed it off and waited a couple of weeks without delivery, thinking the item would surely arrive in a couple of weeks as advised. We remembering seeing a Fedex advert on the television at about the same time, boasting of 'next day delivery' etc.

5 weeks later and little or no contact thru email by the makers, i decided to call their phone number as advertised in Skin Two and the recipient rudely hung up on me!

We sent several other emails asking if they could trace the item in their post system. They eventually replied and said they could not? At this point we thought that it had been intercepted and we would never see it and after 2 further weeks, we thought of asking for own ?220.00 back. Then finally, one day there was a knock at the door and it was here! But we then had to pay the Postman ?48.00 extra TAX so we could have it.

On inspection and further investigation, it had been in US customs for the best part of 6 weeks!

We have since waited nearly a month for 2 Gwen Media videos ordered from the US.
It has definately put us off ordering from the US again.

[Cyberdog]

Luckily Customs does not inspect bits and bytes yet.

Once you have broadband, it is possible to buy films in DVD-quality for download from the states. There is a company called AEBN which is the main repository, and lots of affiliates provide various shop-fronts.

It's dead cheap as well. You can get a download valid for 7 days for $13 (less than ?10) and record it onto a DVD.

That's how I get all my GwenMedia and other titles these days.

[rubbersheep]

Thanx for that tit-bit do you have the e address.

[freespirit]

Thanx for that tit-bit do you have the e address.

Hi I don't know if this is the info. you require , it was obtained using Google with the search words "AEBN film " the first entry was http://www.aebn.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=theatre.main

[freespirit]

H.M.Customs charges if due are collected by the carrier , the Post Office charges are much lower than Fedex or UPS . If you have a choice and there is the possibility of customs duty Global Priority Mail from the U.S. is the prefered method . I was charged ?12 extra to collect ?8 customs duty by one carrier , the Post Office have a ?4 charge I believe .