International Mail Theft?

[Auronum]

Good Evening all, 

I wondered if fellow import/exporters were noticing parcels going ‘missing’ at postal depots lately? 
 

I have now had two gold coins go completely off the grid at depots and no one knows where they went, both were international shipments.
 

The process is causing a lot of time consuming administration work in claiming back the value of the coins and it’s terrible for cash flow too.
 

The trouble is that the customs declarations tell postal workers exactly what is inside. 
 

Has anyone else had this issue lately? I am starting to think it just is not worth doing business internationally whilst this is going on.

 

[ArgentSmith]

22 minutes ago, Auronum said:

The trouble is that the customs declarations tell postal workers exactly what is inside. 

what could possibly go wrong 🤦‍♂️

[Auronum]

10 minutes ago, ArgentSmith said:

what could possibly go wrong 🤦‍♂️

I know, trouble is if it goes missing you can only claim the value of what you declared (to my knowledge)

[James32]

1 hour ago, Auronum said:

I know, trouble is if it goes missing you can only claim the value of what you declared (to my knowledge)

I've sent a few items to Canada and the buyer ( won't name him ,but if he reads this can probably offer better insight) specifically asked for items to be undervalued, not to save on any charges,but simply to make sure he actually received the item.

So it must be a very serious problem stateside/Canada etc.

I believe @stackerp5 is very well versed on import/export and might be able to offer some further knowledge 

[stataman]

Did you use Fedex or UPS for international? Never had a problem if you use them. With royal mail had a coin stuck in customs for 6 weeks once shipping to USA. 

[Auronum]

1 minute ago, stataman said:

Did you use Fedex or UPS for international? Never had a problem if you use them. With royal mail had a coin stuck in customs for 6 weeks once shipping to USA. 

UPS is the culprit. I will not use them again, I have had a lot of problems with them over the past year 

[Pete]

3 hours ago, James32 said:

I've sent a few items to Canada and the buyer ( won't name him ,but if he reads this can probably offer better insight) specifically asked for items to be undervalued, not to save on any charges,but simply to make sure he actually received the item.

So it must be a very serious problem stateside/Canada etc.

I believe @stackerp5 is very well versed on import/export and might be able to offer some further knowledge 

Two things to consider if under declaring value -

1. It is illegal and the sender could be prosecuted.
Check the rules w.r.t. customs declarations

2. In the event of loss or damage the declared value will be the starting point of any claim.
If you ship something worth £1,000 and declare £10 guess the outcome from an insurance perspective.

[James32]

16 minutes ago, Pete said:

Two things to consider if under declaring value -

1. It is illegal and the sender could be prosecuted.
Check the rules w.r.t. customs declarations

2. In the event of loss or damage the declared value will be the starting point of any claim.
If you ship something worth £1,000 and declare £10 guess the outcome from an insurance perspective.

Buyer was very clear on this and put in writing that he was prepared/happy with all liability if loss ensued. 

Thank you on the first point though, I genuinely was not aware. I naively assumed that because I was just sending a gift ( marked as souvenir) then all was good in the world and the low value would stop/lower the chances of theft. Will definitely keep this in mind though moving forward.

[LawrenceChard]

15 hours ago, stataman said:

Did you use Fedex or UPS for international? Never had a problem if you use them. With royal mail had a coin stuck in customs for 6 weeks once shipping to USA. 

In my experience, in the UK Fedex are one of the worst.

One parcel we sent never arrived at the Preston depot, so never got logged onto their tracking system.

The driver must have lost or stolen it between us and the depot.

We have since learnt that as opposed to our usual practice of keeping packages as small and light as possible, because we have usually used Royal Mail,. with Fedex, the bigger the box, the more difficult it is to lose, hide, or for the drive to stick up hus back passage.

We must have made about 20 lengthy phone calls, plus some e-mails, and every time a "manager" promised it would be sorted out, and it never was.

I think it is part of their complaints / losses / thefts strategy, infinitely repeated promises in the knowledge that most people will give up eventually.

Almost all shippers / couriers incur problems, delays, customs errors, etc.

The absolute worst UK one seems to be Hermes (Herpes would be preferable).

"stuck in customs for 6 weeks once shipping to USA" seems almost standard, and not just for USA, also applies to many international destinations.

Brinks, Malca Amit, etc, are all much better, but much more expensive. Starting prices for some point to point shipments can start at £1000+, and increase almost exponentially.

😎