How To Ship A Laptop To Spain

[Pyrotequila 401]

Do you still have to fill in all those forms even though it's classed as a gift?
It's not like you're selling it, or the person has bought it.

 

You may  as well be shipping it from you, to you, but abroad.

[gingablade 10]

Just a thought I think these may take all the hassle from it a quote is free and it does say even a small box . No idea what it would cost but if they take all the hassle out of it  might be just worth if

 

https://unitylogistics.co.uk/road-freight-to-spain/

[The Joker 10]

Just to update you all, I posted the laptop today.

 

I contacted DHL again, but this time I spoke to someone who seemed to know his stuff.

 

He spent over an hour on the phone with me, guiding me through the necessary steps to complete the documentation.

 

Now, some of the information I entered into the DHL website didn't tally completely with what my expectations were (the Commodity Code was different, as was the reason for posting) and there's a chance the lucky recipient is gonna get stung with a VAT bill of several hundred quid (!)

 

Nevertheless, the customer service agent said that DHL would smooth over any customs issues, so we'll see what happens a week from today, when the item is supposed to arrive . . . it should have arrived quicker, but Germany has been hit by recent snowstorms which are affecting air freight since it's a major European hub, as those of us who've seen Captain America: Civil War will no doubt be aware (yes, it's Leipzig airport).

[tinfoilhat 11]

2 hours ago, The Joker said:

Just to update you all, I posted the laptop today.

 

I contacted DHL again, but this time I spoke to someone who seemed to know his stuff.

 

He spent over an hour on the phone with me, guiding me through the necessary steps to complete the documentation.

 

Now, some of the information I entered into the DHL website didn't tally completely with what my expectations were (the Commodity Code was different, as was the reason for posting) and there's a chance the lucky recipient is gonna get stung with a VAT bill of several hundred quid (!)

 

Nevertheless, the customer service agent said that DHL would smooth over any customs issues, so we'll see what happens a week from today, when the item is supposed to arrive . . . it should have arrived quicker, but Germany has been hit by recent snowstorms which are affecting air freight since it's a major European hub, as those of us who've seen Captain America: Civil War will no doubt be aware (yes, it's Leipzig airport).

Keep us updated. It's not keeping me up at night, but I'm very interested.

[The Joker 10]

1 hour ago, tinfoilhat said:

Keep us updated. It's not keeping me up at night, but I'm very interested.

It's been keeping me up at night for over a week, and I'm sick to death of the whole farcical episode.

[tinfoilhat 11]

10 minutes ago, The Joker said:

It's been keeping me up at night for over a week, and I'm sick to death of the whole farcical episode.

I'm not surprised. If you've promised to send it, you want to send it.

[The Joker 10]

The good news is the laptop has already arrived in Spain. Yeah, that was fast.

 

It left the UK at 3AM, bypassed Germany and arrived in Spain shortly after 7AM.

 

While in flight, DHL submitted the necessary paperwork to Spanish customs, and the laptop passed through customs within minutes of it landing.

 

It's on the way to the recipient now.

 

The bad news?  The recipient has been stung with a charge for several hundred Euros 😲

 

 

 

 

[tinfoilhat 11]

4 hours ago, The Joker said:

The good news is the laptop has already arrived in Spain. Yeah, that was fast.

 

It left the UK at 3AM, bypassed Germany and arrived in Spain shortly after 7AM.

 

While in flight, DHL submitted the necessary paperwork to Spanish customs, and the laptop passed through customs within minutes of it landing.

 

It's on the way to the recipient now.

 

The bad news?  The recipient has been stung with a charge for several hundred Euros 😲

 

 

 

 

Even though it's a gift? 

[L00b 441]

At least the laptop physically made it to Spain.

 

Close to a couple decades ago, I recall buying an MP3 player from a Canadian online seller, that was due to be couriered by DHL, but never made it to Ireland (DHL eventually confirmed to me that they had lost it -somehow- between the seller and the airport).

 

Yet DHL's VAT & customs bill (computer-generated-from database-records) certainly made it to my doormat just fine, for €12.something.

 

I refused to pay it of course. That eventually ended up with debt collector letters (Intrum Justitia, no doubt still computer-generated-from database-records) . Those ended abruptly after my reply letter by recorded delivery, cc'd to DHL and some Irish Commissioner or other at the time.

 

Oh, the fun I had...and now you've got it all to rediscover, you lucky sods 😆

 

[Vaati 11]

1 hour ago, tinfoilhat said:

Even though it's a gift? 

Yup even gifts are subject to the charges. I've had to tell one of my EU friends I can no longer send her a gift for her birthday cause she may get hit by charges.

[carosio 186]

A friend bought a big heavy valve amplifier from a company in Hong kong (although this was about 10 years ago) and it was labelled as a gift! The box had been opened by customs for some unknown reason, however there were no extra fees over the original ebay price.

[geared 303]

On 16/02/2021 at 14:41, The Joker said:

The bad news?  The recipient has been stung with a charge for several hundred Euros 😲

 

I said on the first page, be sure to thank your local gammon faced Brexiteer, now perhaps you can ask if they'll be happy to cover the cost of their freedom?

 

As for, "just a little bit more admin", well thats some bloody expensive admin, thats for sure.