irishmail

A week after paying the customs charges still no parcel! An post are just using Brexit as an excuse to make money charging €3.50 for every parcel. Would not be surprised if there profits increase this year. An post customer service is a complete waste of time they just fob you off with some feeble excuse. Fourth parcel that has had this problem, Will have to investigate taking this further. Just not good enough, they are quick to take your money but not honouring their delivery agreement.

There seems to be no logic to it at all. All of the parcels that I have received from Hatton's since the new Brexit rules came in have had the address label and customs label all filled out, which to me looks correct and gives the relevant information. As I mentioned previously of the recent (July/August) orders I have had from Hatton's three were stopped for customs charges. Of these once I received the items there were no difference to how the labelling was done. Even our local post person could not understand it. I currently have two parcels on the way from Hatton's this week so will see what happens with them.

An post at it again! This time it is some crafting supplies that SWMBO ordered from England, the company are registered and charge the Irish VAT @ 23% on orders. Like me with my Hatton's orders she had a text message and email from An post to pay customs charges, she phoned the company she ordered from and advised her to pay it and email them the receipt and they would refund the cost, similar to what Hatton's do, she got the refund straight away, but now have to wait over a week now before An post decide to deliver the parcel.

Used to visit Peco many times before I moved over to Ireland. The cream teas in the Pullman are very nice indeed.

Sometimes it can be quite a few months before they publish articles, I think that the articles for RM is usually planned two or three months in advance. I subscribe to the Railway Modeller and will look forward to reading about your layout when it is eventually published. Regards, John

In August I had 7 parcels from Hattons and 3 of them were stopped for customs! No logic to it seems to be random, as the largest parcel (still well under the €150 limit) came with out any problem but a low value item which was £12.00, approx. €18.00 with postage got stopped for VAT! As Bob229 said Hattons were good at refunding the VAT & charges. Also took over a week for the 3 items to be delivered once i paid the charges!!. Never had a satisfactory response from either customs or An Post about this despite sending several emails. Last week had a Hattons parcel with no problem at all. Maybe someone in customs don't understand the parcel labelling properly or do not like Hattons parcels.. I have found them to be very helpful with the 3 parcels that I have had to pay VAT/customs charges on.

Great looking layout there, what track did you use? Regards, John

Hi, JPK, Yes the 141 is still available at the moment. Regards. John

Now Sold.

Bachmann/Murphy MK2a coaches in IE livery MM4108 coach No. 4101 MM4108 coach No. 4108 MM4110 coach No. 4102 MM4110 coach No. 4110 €55.00 each plus postage or €200.00 for all four.

Bachmann MM0161 class 141 loco No 161SA in CIE livery. Has only ever been out of the box about two times just for test running. All lights are working and detail pack still unopened. Few minor scuff marks on box from storage. €225.00 including registered post within Ireland.

PM sent.

Its some Lima pre-owned locos that I have been buying recently, I am aware of Modellbahnunion thanks, and Modelbahnshop Lippe which I have used a few times in the past.

Just had another email for customs duty on another low value item I ordered from Hatton's. An Post and Irish customs are a right PITA!!!! When you try to speak to them they just fob you off with feeble excuses. Sometimes makes me wonder if its worth bothering with railway modelling anymore.

The saga continues! I paid the Anpost customs charges and Hatton's have refunded me, so far so good. This was on Thursday and the receipt from Anpost said we will now deliver your items. It is now Tuesday and still no delivery. Been in contact with Anpost customer support but total waste of time just keep getting fobbed off with feeble excuses! Nothing wrong with our local postie or our local post office, but as for their customer care staff!!

Certainly a good model shop which stocks a range of additional detailing accessories would be good, I used to get things like metal buffers ( for my Parkside and Dapol kits) to replace the plastic ones supplied in the kits, along with coupling hooks. Most of these used to come from Peters spares, the postage to Ireland used to be around £5.00 but since brexit they want £23.99 !!! which is way over the top for a small packet. Local model shop, well Marks models is about 3 hours away in Dublin and Modellers corner in Enniskillen 2 hours away.

I had a reply from Hatton's earlier, they said that they are having a few problems with shipment caused by Royal mail to the EU, despite Hatton's using all the correct labelling on parcels, however they said that I should pay the VAT/Customs charge and email the receipts to Hatton's and they will refund me. Fair play to Hatton's for sorting it out.

Hi George, An Post charge €3.50 fee on top of the VAT. Spoke to An post customer service, waste of time, phoned customs only to get recoded message to email them! Phone call to Hatton's and hopefully they are going to sort it. I have copied the breakdown of charges from one of the emails but deleted the customs and tracking No's. Regards. John Customs Value: Customs Reference Number: Tracking ID Number: Date: Import Duty: Excise Duty: VAT: An Post Fee: Total to be Paid: Pay by Date: € 52.11 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx 05/08/2021 € 0.00 € 0.00 € 13.31 € 3.50 € 16.81 29/08/2021 Had reply from customs, they say its An post applying the charges!! "Good morning John I have forwarded your query to ecommchargequery@anpost.ie as an Post are now putting charges on the packets. Regards M Burke Customs Officer, Dublin Mail Centre, Oak Road, Knockmitten, Dublin 22"

I have just had an email and text message from An post (Irish post office) to say that I have to pay VAT + handling charges on two parcels from Hatton's!!! They are both well below the £135/€150 limit. Email sent to An post explaining that Hatton's are registered for Irish VAT, now awaiting their response.

Hornby railroad class 31 body, running No. 31 256 Will fit Hornby railroad or Lima chassis. All glazing intact. €30.00

WWT is short for Working Timetable, and TT is just Timetable, The WTT is/was issued to rail staff and had more information, ie, head codes, type of train etc than the ordinary public timetable.

Thinking of the same thing myself.

Not sure if the new VAT changes will affect orders from the likes of Hatton's as they are apparently VAT registered for Irish VAT so should not be any issue hopefully. If not the modelling is going to be a lot more expensive!

Maybe worth posting a list and see what happens. What do you have in the way of the Roco stock? Any SNCF, SBB or FS?

G0G Gazettes, February 2018 - February 2021 inclusive.