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Post by honjo7 on Jul 12, 2021 11:22:12 GMT
I recently received notice that my Albion Maximilian will soon be ready to ship. I will probably use MYUS.com for shipping, but is there anything I should be aware of before choosing a courier? I purchased a sword sometime in 2018 or so, and while Fedex would release them from customs, they wouldn't deliver them within the UK, which required a rather expensive (and risky!) trip on public transport across the country.
Has anyone else in the UK imported a sword recently? I'd appreciate any advice.
Update - I decided to change the thread title as a warning to anyone who would consider choosing FedEx to ship to the UK. Long story short, FedEx declared the sword as prohibited and began the process of returning it to sender. After two months of waiting, they have now apologised for losing it. As of yet, they have made no offer to reimburse me for the loss (though the item was fully insured).
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Post by turningpoint on Jul 27, 2021 0:27:44 GMT
Sorry, this may be a little late after your question but if it helps... my last international delivery to U.K. (couple of weeks ago) was from LK Chen via UPS. No problems at all. I think I saw something from Matt Easton saying that the recent rule changes had meant there were more delays at the border (from customs officials not really knowing what the new rules were) but no real change. i think it's more about the carrier than the local laws (which was your question). The only problem I have had was last year getting a Golden Peony Jian from Forge Direct. FD were hugely apologetic but said their carriers wouldn't ship to U.K. at that time (mid covid?). I used a freight forwarding company (Planet somethingorother). Sword got here eventually with not too much extra cost. So... from my experience and what I've heard there are only problems with certain carriers but UPS or freight forwarding worked for me. Let me know how your situation goes. Good luck
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Post by honjo7 on Oct 16, 2021 8:27:52 GMT
Sorry, this may be a little late after your question but if it helps... my last international delivery to U.K. (couple of weeks ago) was from LK Chen via UPS. No problems at all. I think I saw something from Matt Easton saying that the recent rule changes had meant there were more delays at the border (from customs officials not really knowing what the new rules were) but no real change. i think it's more about the carrier than the local laws (which was your question). The only problem I have had was last year getting a Golden Peony Jian from Forge Direct. FD were hugely apologetic but said their carriers wouldn't ship to U.K. at that time (mid covid?). I used a freight forwarding company (Planet somethingorother). Sword got here eventually with not too much extra cost. So... from my experience and what I've heard there are only problems with certain carriers but UPS or freight forwarding worked for me. Let me know how your situation goes. Good luck Thank you for your response. Albion contacted me a few days ago to inform me that the sword has shipped as is on the way to the MyUs warehouse. I'll probably try DHL and hope for the best, though I will consider UPS after what you've said. It's been a long twelve month wait, but (fingers crossed) I'll soon have something to show for it. Providing it arrives safely, I'll upload a review as well.
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Post by honjo7 on Oct 19, 2021 17:23:28 GMT
It looks like I'll have to go with UPS after all. MyUs sent me a message saying that DHL wouldn't transport "dangerous goods"...
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Oct 19, 2021 19:27:28 GMT
The different ways the desk jockeys with the vaious companies, costumes, etc. interpret the regs is amazing. It appears arbitrary at times. I’ve had DHL transport several kukris over time. Two of the last three had their description changed by the freight forwarder from knife to sword after arriving, requiring additional paper work. Those kukris had a 13” and 15” blade. Another, next to the last, with a 13” passed no questions and they have passed other and 13” and 15” kukris without issues.
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Post by honjo7 on Oct 19, 2021 20:54:30 GMT
The different ways the desk jockeys with the vaious companies, costumes, etc. interpret the regs is amazing. It appears arbitrary at times. I’ve had DHL transport several kukris over time. Two of the last three had their description changed by the freight forwarder from knife to sword after arriving, requiring additional paper work. Those kukris had a 13” and 15” blade. Another, next to the last, with a 13” passed no questions and they have passed other and 13” and 15” kukris without issues. It seems it's often the luck of the draw. Now MyUs tell me that UPS won't accept such a large package, and have requested that I switch back to DHL, which was my first choice. I'm not sure what my options are if that fails, since Fedex definitely won't deliver the package within the UK.
Update -
The sword was released for shipping, but before I could choose a courier, it went back under review. Hmm...
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Post by honjo7 on Oct 20, 2021 18:08:00 GMT
Sadly, I was just informed by MyUs.com that they cannot ship "dangerous goods" to the UK. It's odd, because for a brief time the package was listed as "ready to ship." They tell me that they can either ship it back to Albion, or destroy it. At this stage I don't know what I can really do about it.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Oct 20, 2021 18:59:16 GMT
Damn, that’s a crying shame. Bought an Albion, waited your turn in queue, now can’t find a carrier. KoA and MRL will both ship overseas. Perhaps they will do this for you, at a price of course.
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Post by honjo7 on Oct 20, 2021 20:29:53 GMT
Damn, that’s a crying shame. Bought an Albion, waited your turn in queue, now can’t find a carrier. KoA and MRL will both ship overseas. Perhaps they will do this for you, at a price of course.
Tell me about it. Thanks for the advice. I might give KOA a try, just to see what they say. At this stage I don't mind spending a bit more just to get my hands on the thing. Restrictions only seem to get tighter each year. It's frustrating because most information available is now very out of date.
Fortunately, Mike at Albion tells me that if I return it, he will hold onto it while I make other arrangements. I think I just got unlucky to be honest. The box was initially held up because it was too large to ship with UPS, but they did release it for shipment at first. Someone else must have overuled the earlier decision for some reason. I've now contacted another courier, Planet Express, to see what they say.
Update - MyUs now tell me they will ship it, but only if I use Fedex. Now, I know for a fact that Fedex will not ship swords domestically within the UK, which I discovered first hand the last time I bought an Albion. They haven't explained why I can't use UPS or DHL either. So my options are, either send it back to Albion and try to make other arrangements, or, ship using Fedex, and see if I can't get a third party courier to collect it for me once it reaches the UK, which will no doubt prove to be very expensive.
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Post by perignum on Oct 28, 2021 16:17:39 GMT
There is a work-around but it might involve travelling a bit. But if it's either that or lose your 1000 euro/dollar/ pound sword, you might be willing to try it.
Northern Ireland is, for all intents and purposes both within the EU and part of the UK. There should be some sort of FedEx depot in Belfast. You could enquire if they'd ship to Belfast and you could pick it up there.
Or have it shipped to the Republic. The Common Travel Area still exists between the UK and the Republic so you could get a ferry across from Liverpool or Fishguard or Holyhead, arrive in Dublin, grab your sword, turn around and go back.
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Post by juster on Nov 1, 2021 6:12:12 GMT
Speaking as a Belfastman, with Dublin you are still entering through UK customs. Belfast is indeed in the EU twilight zone, no duty, I'm not current about specific sword regs but my guess is it would work. Rail may be expensive.
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Post by honjo7 on Nov 3, 2021 7:02:17 GMT
Speaking as a Belfastman, with Dublin you are still entering through UK customs. Belfast is indeed in the EU twilight zone, no duty, I'm not current about specific sword regs but my guess is it would work. Rail may be expensive.
Thanks for your advice. Funnily enough, my Da' is from Dublin, and suggested the same thing. Sadly, I spoke to FedEx last night, and they informed me that the package is now being returned to the US. I'll try again when it gets back to MyUs headquarters.
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Post by honjo7 on Nov 26, 2021 10:36:38 GMT
Update - the sword still hasn't moved from the Fedex warehouse in Faltham, UK...Sadly, I'm beginning to think this package is either lost or stolen. Contacting Fedex seems largely pointless. I've sent over a dozen emails and they rarely answer any questions straight, almost appearing automated. I've rang three times, but the foreign customer service agents are almost unintelligible. They can't understand any of my questions and simply restate over and over that the package is being returned to the US. Madness.
Anyway, lesson learned. In future, I will either have to order from a UK based smith, or get a flight to collect it myself. If the sword ever returns to the US, that's probably what I'll have to do.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Nov 26, 2021 12:48:53 GMT
Thanks for the update. So sorry, I empathize. I hate dealing with the government directly and normally use a freight forwarding service. I recently had a similar problem. My sister sent a package but sent it to my PO box. It arrived in country late August and I received a document to complete. Which I did, then received another saying that since this was a gift the new one was needed. Then I received a bill from the government with the usual government promptness valuing the package at 10 times the declared value and instructions on how to pay. I carried the letter to the bank so there would be no mistake on what was needed and transferred the fee from my account to customs. I scanned copies of all paper work involved, hit the reply button on the payment instructions only to receive an unintelligible reply which I carried to the PO where I was told a different address was needed to which I responded only to be told via email a different address, to which I sent again and heard no more. Sometime around mid-October I sent a message telling them to keep the money (which they would have done anyway) and gift. I was afraid they were going to charge additionally for storage as I was given a time period to claim my package or be charged for storage. It has happened before. The next day I received email saying package was at my local PO branch, but not to retrieve it until I received a text message giving instructions on how to do so????????? That was the last I heard.
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Post by eastman on Nov 26, 2021 21:01:10 GMT
Update - the sword still hasn't moved from the Fedex warehouse in Faltham, UK...Sadly, I'm beginning to think this package is either lost or stolen. Contacting Fedex seems largely pointless. I've sent over a dozen emails and they rarely answer any questions straight, almost appearing automated. I've rang three times, but the foreign customer service agents are almost unintelligible. They can't understand any of my questions and simply restate over and over that the package is being returned to the US. Madness. Anyway, lesson learned. In future, I will either have to order from a UK based smith, or get a flight to collect it myself. If the sword ever returns to the US, that's probably what I'll have to do.
I live 2 hours east of Albion (they are in New Glarus WI and I'm a couple miles from Lake Michigan). You would be looking at a 2.5-3 hour drive from Milwaukee Mitchell or Chicago O'Hare airports. They are open by appointment on Mon-Thurs during the week, but a lot of New Glarus is closed on Mon/Tues.
New Glarus has a really good brewery (just south of town) and the town has a lot of Swiss heritage. Next time I go it will be later in the week to try another Swiss restaurant.
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Post by honjo7 on Dec 2, 2021 3:10:05 GMT
Well, I'm completely gutted. Fedex informed me this morning that the package has been "lost", which I suppose means it was stolen. It was fully insured but they haven't agreed to pay anything out yet.
I can't express how disappointed and angry I am about this. Fourteen months wait, and 1870USD down the drain, including £140 shipping. My concern now is that I will be denied compensation on account of the sword being considered as "prohibited goods".
Keep an eye out for an Albion Maximilian, with half-wire grip in green leather for sale somewhere. I doubt there's many of those around.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Dec 2, 2021 12:20:56 GMT
😒
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Post by ThomasW on Dec 2, 2021 13:49:56 GMT
:/ sorry for your loss. I will keep an eye out.
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Post by honjo7 on Dec 2, 2021 16:36:52 GMT
:/ sorry for your loss. I will keep an eye out. Appreciated. I feel like the most likely thing, however, is that they destroyed it as a "dangerous weapon" or some rubbish. To my knowledge, straight swords like the Maximilian are perfectly legal to own in the UK. But I suppose it's possible that a mistake was made. In any case, I doubt I will be compensated, since they can always claim the packaging was unsafe.
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Post by clydehollis on Dec 3, 2021 17:58:52 GMT
It looks like I'll have to go with UPS after all. MyUs sent me a message saying that DHL wouldn't transport "dangerous goods"... I would doubt UPS will either. The UK has updated what can be brought in. And Weapons is a broad use of the term. Automatics and gravity knives are illegal and considered dangerous, but knives are ok. But swords they are grouping under weapons. I have contacted all 3 shipping companies and neither one will allow swords into any of the UK area. I wanted that business. I am sorry that happened to you.
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