"TimeCast - Orders shipping to the EU now going by courier" Topic

Due to increasing problems with European postal services we are now shipping all orders to the European Union using courier services such as DHL.

This will ensure that all orders going to EU customers are tracked, signed for and accountable in transit. In the event of a problem we can also deal directly with the Courier service to resolve it.

TimeCast

Two remarks:

1. What will this mean for the costs ? Couriers, at least in my experience, are more expensive than ordinary mail and less trustworthy.

2. Complaints about possible mistakes and such of a courier are not accepted by the courier if offered by the recipient. So if something went wrong, you will be the one to have to solve it.

Porthos,
There is information at their website, follow the link to read some details.
link

Over the past fourteen years, I have placed many orders for Old Glory miniatures through Timecast and have had nothing but excellent service from Mark and Barrie.

I like that they now accept bank IBAN transfers to make payment.

Hi Robert,

I have been very satisfied too with the service from Timecast a number of years. Unfortunately the service from (especially) DHL was not up to standard from for instance (in my case) Dutch Mail. The link you provided showed me information I had already read and did not contain the cost of using a courier. The way of paying – through IBAN transfers – is not a way to lesser cost, on the contrary: since the @!#$% Brexit my bank will charge me extra. Years ago I used to order Old Glory from the USA, but US Mail raised the costs so much that it became a blockade. As I see it, the only reasonable way of ordering new toys is a. ordering in Europe (for instance Miniaturicum in Germany) b. order from manufacturers in the EU (Spain) or c. visit Great Britain for a small holidays, including a convention, and a large empty bag. The fact that this year's CRISIS is cancelled (and not only because of Covid-19) is a bad sign.

Luc.

Hi Porthos

The reason for the shift to couriers is down to the simple fact that we are finding that the EU postal services (and their customs services) are no longer consistent or reliable.

We have taken this step after talking to other UK companies who are experiencing similar problems such as:

Packages being returned to us 4-6 weeks after posting with either no explanation or else citing some excuse such as being unable to electronically scan a barcode on the package (we don't use barcodes) or not having a commercial invoice with the package (every order we ship has a commercial invoice inside the package).

Funnily enough we are having no problems with items delivered to us from the EU. A package from Germany arrived with us in 3 days – no problems for the Royal Mail to get it to us.

In addition, our EU customers are not happy with the delays imposed by the EU postal services and have complained to us that in the event of a problem it is extremely difficult to know how to track their packages.

By using a reputable courier we can ensure that the package is signed for on despatch (and the courier will confirm that all the paperwork is correct otherwise they won't accept it), it can be tracked en route and the courier will deal with the relevant customs, and finally will deliver it directly to the customer.

In the event of a problem we can talk directly to the courier service. In the past we have been able to resolve some issues with a couple of phone calls or an email. Try doing that with a local post office.

Incidentally, most of the companies we spoke to about this are already using couriers rather than post to the EU, or are considering doing so.

TimeCast

Edited to add that we sent a parcel to a customer in Portugal yesterday (Thursday – collected by DHL at 4.00 pm). It is out for delivery to the customer today (Friday).

With shipping to the EU done by courier now, is DDP (delivery duty paid) an option?
I don't mind paying the VAT, just the ridiculous handling charges on top of it…

or else citing some excuse such as being unable to electronically scan a barcode on the package (we don't use barcodes) or not having a commercial invoice with the package (every order we ship has a commercial invoice inside the package

Well, that tells me you are potentially doing two things wrong. Customs/postage labels for items sent by post now have a barcode containing customs information that can be electronically scanned. And commercial invoices need to be attached to the outside of any package in a documents enclosed pouch. If you're using, for example, franked postage and an old fashioned CN22, your parcels simply won't be customs compliant.