Tuesday 16 December 2008

I Could Scream At UK Rules

I am really using this post to vent my anger and try very very hard not to swear. Can you imagine my eyes are wide, my lips tight and my stomach is upside down.

What a way to fill the government coffers. I can just see their bright eyes when this time of the year comes. Rummaging through all those big boxes with goodies. Greedy ~~~~~~!

Who am I on about?? The blooming customs & excise. Rules for gifts £37. Woopie doo dah. What can you get for a loved one for £37.00? Not very much!

I will keep this short but all I did was put my daughters Christmas presents, her partners Christmas presents and my daughters birthday presents all in one box. Logical isn't it?
For my daughter this was a kick in the teeth surprise. To receive her parcel she had to pay £32.27, £24.27 which was VAT and £8.00 Parcelforce clearance fee.

Now if I try to send her some money to compensate this I will be accused of money laundering.

My response to all this - what a load of crap. Lesson learned. Put presents for different people and different occasions in different packages and ship separately. Items that I purchase from the internet, request delivery direct.

Can you see me sitting here with gritted teeth and clenched fist.

11 comments:

lyptis said...

This sucks so much!
and no worries, u can swear, let it all out! its a damn shame people have to PAY to receive their PRESENTS! what the hell is wrong with society??!
this surely isnt very impressive!;)

Chrisy said...

yes...go ahead and swear...we don't mind!...you've done a good thing in blogging about it...hopefully others will read and send stuff separately...or lie on their forms...

Made By Tammy said...

Lesson learned!

It all sounds just crazy to me! I thought, a gift was a gift!?!

kjbeads said...

%&^((()_*&^%$#@#$%*&)(&%$#@@!

There ya go, see how easy it is and it makes you feel tons better, I swear. ( pun intended)

Seriously though, that is a real bummer.

Anonymous said...

This is a major bug bear for us in the UK. You buy something from the US because you thought it was a bargain (well when the GBP was worth anything) to be hit by good old customs and excise.

Anonymous said...

Yes there are plenty more things about the UK that suck, the government control so many aspects of our lives we can't breathe, we ahve more CCTV cameras than any other country in the world, we have no bill of rights, we are subjects not citizens, besides that yep the customs and excise are a law unto themselves. Most people who make it big here leave... and I can't blame them - we pay through the nose for everything.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I learned that about customs from shipping overseas handmade items on Etsy.com (plumuniqprettiesplus.etsy.com). I never had a problem with it, as my orders are light, but I know others who encountered this and the customer had to pay the customs and was angry at the seller. Sucky is right!

jealousydesign said...

That is soooo bad! Easy to feel the christmas spirit ..not.
Unfortunately it isnt only in UK they have these rules.

Dave Robertson said...

I sympathize! When we lived in Canada, we used to have to pay large fees just to receive our kids' birthday presents from relatives in the States. Ridiculous stuff...sorry for your pain.

--Dave
at Rings & Things

Duni said...

That's outrageous, but thanks for letting us know!

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I wish you Yuletide Joy and A Blessed New Year together with your family.

Happy Holidays!