WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and one
for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr old's
hand.
:¬)

Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Delivery was around 7 days or so.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:19:47 UTC, "www.GymRatZ.co.uk"
wrote:

WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and one
for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr old's
hand.
:¬)

Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Delivery was around 7 days or so.

Just waiting for my first delivery from them...any day now!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:

Just waiting for my first delivery from them...any day now!

I have got itchy fingers now....
Soooooo much to tempt a man.

Women just wouldn't undestand.
:¬))

www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:

Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Delivery was around 7 days or so.

Are those prices in Hong Kong dollars or US?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and one
for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr old's
hand.

Great site. Just be aware that unless it's showing as "In Stock" the due
dates can be a bit "economical".

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:17:52 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:


Are those prices in Hong Kong dollars or US?

US$

Bob Eager wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:19:47 UTC, "www.GymRatZ.co.uk"
wrote:

WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and
one for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr
old's hand.
¬)

Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Delivery was around 7 days or so.

Just waiting for my first delivery from them...any day now!

Don't bet on it Bob - I've used them before. They sell brilliant little
toys for pennies, but the delivery arrangements are haphazard at best.

www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:
WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and
one for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr
old's hand.


Yep, got one here on my desk - great site but be patient re delivery!

Peter Parry wrote:
On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:17:52 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:


Are those prices in Hong Kong dollars or US?

US$

Shame, or they really would have been good prices!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:

Just waiting for my first delivery from them...any day now!

Don't bet on it Bob - I've used them before. They sell brilliant little
toys for pennies, but the delivery arrangements are haphazard at best.

Haphazard maybe, but not known anything missing. Between a group of us we
must have placed 40 orders with DX over the last year or so - can take
from 5 days up to several weeks to turn up but it always has so far!

Beware the rare earth magnets they sell - strangely addictive

Darren

"Steve Walker" wrote:

www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:
WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and
one for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr
old's hand.


Yep, got one here on my desk - great site but be patient re delivery!


Is air mail delivery really included? I couldn't believe my eyes!

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:03:13 UTC, (dmc) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:

Just waiting for my first delivery from them...any day now!

Don't bet on it Bob - I've used them before. They sell brilliant little
toys for pennies, but the delivery arrangements are haphazard at best.

Haphazard maybe, but not known anything missing. Between a group of us we
must have placed 40 orders with DX over the last year or so - can take
from 5 days up to several weeks to turn up but it always has so far!

Beware the rare earth magnets they sell - strangely addictive

I ordered with 'eyes open' - when it arrives, it arrives...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bruce wrote:
"Steve Walker" wrote:

www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:
WARNING.....
Addictive web-site details follow....

Pack of 2 x 9LED mini flashlight for... five dollars and 48 cents..
whassat about £1.35 per light with free delivery from hongkong.
One for the tool box, one for the glove box, one for your pocket and
one for the hell of it! (Best buy 2 packs)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255
Top quality, just had to prise the 2nd one out of my sleeping 6yr
old's hand.


Yep, got one here on my desk - great site but be patient re delivery!


Is air mail delivery really included? I couldn't believe my eyes!

Slug mail, I suspect.... but it arrives eventually, cheap and fun

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:59:57 +0100, Bruce wrote:



Is air mail delivery really included? I couldn't believe my eyes!

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.
;¬)

Pete

dmc wrote:

Beware the rare earth magnets they sell - strangely addictive

Try supermagnete.de if you like those. They sell everything from pinhead
sized ones up to something called "The Death Magnet". That page says
something like "and please, never, ever allow children to play with the
Death Magnet".

Pete

"The Death Magnet"

Damn, can't see the link for that one :-}

"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.

When did it go up from £18?

On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected
since it probably costs as much to process it.

On 12/07/2008 09:50, Pete Verdon wrote:

Try supermagnete.de [...] They sell [...] something called "The Death Magnet".

that's a measly 100Kg force

try 200Kg
http://www.guldstrom.se/se/magnet/megamagnet.html

or 705lb
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...08-N52&cat=168

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4878cb65@qaanaaq...
On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected since it
probably costs as much to process it.

That isn't an issue as the courier will charge you the fee to process it,
about £14 IIRC.

try 200Kg
http://www.guldstrom.se/se/magnet/megamagnet.html
or 705lb
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...08-N52&cat=168

Hehehehe you could use one of them to hold up a "love swing"

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected
since it probably costs as much to process it.


You are liable on import duty and VAT on all goods imported to the UK,
without exception.

However, HM Revenue and Excise publicly states that it doesn't bother
to collect import duty and VAT on goods for personal use up to £18 in
value in a single package. There is no stated £50 minimum, however I
have had some items up to £50 delivered without any demand for import
duty and VAT.

On the other hand, I have recently been charged import duty and VAT on
goods with values of £22 and £32. That leads me to think that the
limit is still £18, but that the sheer volume of imported goods is
defeating HM Revenue and Excise's efforts to collect all the duty and
VAT to which they are entitled.

On 2008-07-12 17:53:54 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4878cb65@qaanaaq...
On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected since
it probably costs as much to process it.

That isn't an issue as the courier will charge you the fee to process
it, about £14 IIRC.

If it's a private courier firm then the processing charges normally
comprise an admin fee plus a percentage.

Royal Mail, which is probably what is being used by this Hong Kong
caper, sometimes doesn't do either. The problem is that one then has
to put up with the lousy service of Royal Mail.

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:16:29 UTC, Peter Parry wrote:

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:59:57 +0100, Bruce wrote:

Is air mail delivery really included? I couldn't believe my eyes!

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

Arrived today! (actually, may have arrived up to 3 days ago, giving a
total time from order of 7-10 days). I'm not sure because it went to a
PO box and I haven't checked it much this week.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On 2008-07-12 18:14:32 +0100, Bruce said:

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected
since it probably costs as much to process it.


You are liable on import duty and VAT on all goods imported to the UK,
without exception.

However, HM Revenue and Excise publicly states that it doesn't bother
to collect import duty and VAT on goods for personal use up to £18 in
value in a single package. There is no stated £50 minimum, however I
have had some items up to £50 delivered without any demand for import
duty and VAT.

On the other hand, I have recently been charged import duty and VAT on
goods with values of £22 and £32. That leads me to think that the
limit is still £18, but that the sheer volume of imported goods is
defeating HM Revenue and Excise's efforts to collect all the duty and
VAT to which they are entitled.

Yes, I think that's exactly it, up to the point where you say that HMRC
is *entitled* to collect the duty and VAT. They think they are, the
government thinks they are and I suppose the law says that they are but
I don't recall voting that they should. In any case, we know that
they will only waste it.

Therefore if they aren't capable of handling their affairs and don't
charge the VAT, so be it. I am not going to cry for them.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4878e97c@qaanaaq...
On 2008-07-12 17:53:54 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:4878cb65@qaanaaq...
On 2008-07-12 16:12:39 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:



"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" wrote in
message ...
Peter Parry wrote:

Sort of. Your package does indeed go by air but they seem to have
negotiated a really good deal with the HK Post Office which I suspect
is based on goods going on a "space available" basis. This is a very
cost effective way of shipping but may mean your parcel goes via the
Arctic and Venezuela. Apart from the rather variable delivery times
(which they do tell you about) the service is very good.

And labeled up as "gifts" for customs#though you'd be hard pushed to
spend more than £50 in one shipment, and why would you want to when
it's
free delivery anyway.
Great way of avoidubg import duty and VAT.

When did it go up from £18?



It hasn't and I don't think that he was saying that £50 was the limit.
However, IME, at under £50 or so, often the VAT isn't collected since it
probably costs as much to process it.

That isn't an issue as the courier will charge you the fee to process it,
about £14 IIRC.

If it's a private courier firm then the processing charges normally
comprise an admin fee plus a percentage.

Royal Mail, which is probably what is being used by this Hong Kong caper,
sometimes doesn't do either. The problem is that one then has to put up
with the lousy service of Royal Mail.

Royal mail do collect customs duty and they do charge admin, if you haven't
been charged you are lucky.

Andy Hall wrote:

Yes, I think that's exactly it, up to the point where you say that HMRC
is *entitled* to collect the duty and VAT. They think they are, the
government thinks they are and I suppose the law says that they are but
I don't recall voting that they should. In any case, we know that
they will only waste it.

Therefore if they aren't capable of handling their affairs and don't
charge the VAT, so be it. I am not going to cry for them.


YAWN

On 2008-07-12 20:02:06 +0100, "dennis@home"
said:

Royal mail do collect customs duty and they do charge admin, if you
haven't been charged you are lucky.

Then I've been very lucky.

However, their service is still crap.

"dennis@home" wrote:
"Andy Hall" wrote:

If it's a private courier firm then the processing charges normally
comprise an admin fee plus a percentage.

Royal Mail, which is probably what is being used by this Hong Kong caper,
sometimes doesn't do either. The problem is that one then has to put up
with the lousy service of Royal Mail.

Royal mail do collect customs duty and they do charge admin, if you haven't
been charged you are lucky.


Incoming international mail and parcels are handled by Parcelforce
International. They do make an admin charge, but it is generally
about half (or less) of the charges from courier companies like DHL,
FedEx and UPS.

On 2008-07-12 20:29:20 +0100, Bruce said:

"dennis@home" wrote:
"Andy Hall" wrote:

If it's a private courier firm then the processing charges normally
comprise an admin fee plus a percentage.

Royal Mail, which is probably what is being used by this Hong Kong caper,
sometimes doesn't do either. The problem is that one then has to put up
with the lousy service of Royal Mail.

Royal mail do collect customs duty and they do charge admin, if you haven't
been charged you are lucky.


Incoming international mail and parcels are handled by Parcelforce
International. They do make an admin charge, but it is generally
about half (or less) of the charges from courier companies like DHL,
FedEx and UPS.



With a level of service to match.

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:29:20 +0100, Bruce wrote:

Incoming international mail and parcels are handled by Parcelforce
International. They do make an admin charge, but it is generally
about half (or less) of the charges from courier companies like DHL,
FedEx and UPS.

RM handle HK Post items and charge £8.00, however, as others have
pointed out, a lot seems to leak through without charge.

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:50:48 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

With a level of service to match.

Over a few hundred packages in the last 12 months I have to say that
RM beat the likes of Fedex and UPS by quite a significant margin.
It's a bit difficult to compare them with DHL as an inebriate rat with
asthma could do better than that particular pack of gibbering
incompetents.

"Why isn't my next day parcel here"

"Because it's in Reykjavik"

"Why?"

"Because that's where the aircraft went"

"Ah - it was broken was it?

"No - that's where it was going"

"Why was it going there with my package?"

"Because there was space"

"But I want it here - you promised delivery the next day and someone
in the USA paid a fortune for it"

"Ah, that wasn't a guarantee but an aspiration"

"So it's aspirationally in UK although actually in Iceland?"

"Yup"

"When will I see it?"

"Some time soon, we have met our aspirational warranty by delivering
it to Iceland which is Europe so it's now a non-priority task"

"But I'm not in Iceland, it wasn't sent to Iceland, I don't know
anyone in Iceland"

"That's OK, not many people do, but we don't deliver a lot of parcels
there as it's very efficient for us".

"eh?!!"

"It's a 9/11 elfin safety issue so you can't question it - have a nice
day"

It actually turned up a week or so later having (according to their
tracking system) spent three days in transit between Reykjavik and
Stansted so I presume it Robert Lindbergh delivered it in the "Spirit
of St Louis" as nothing else is slow enough.

It then spent 5 days in the hands of their "Home Delivery Service".
This appears to be run by a weird collection of people whose main
qualification is that they like working at night and own a 1967 Ford
Capri with commensurate reliability. They must also have no form of
communications with the company whatsoever.

"Your tracking system shows my parcel has left Iceland and is now
"delivered" on your home delivery service. I haven't received it"

"No good asking me - if it's on Home Delivery its delivered"

"But it isn't"

"That's your problem, we stop tracking when it goes onto Home Delivery
because its delivered"

"But it isn't"

"No problem, we have it marked as delivered so you have it"

"But I haven't"

"Well we know you have, because that's what our computer says"

"You have proof of delivery?"

"Yes - our Home Delivery man signed for it"

"But he hasn't delivered it to me"

"That's probably because he is busy- he will any day now"

Eventually a creature who looked like an extra from "The Outer Limits"
but with worse quality clothing turned up at 22:00 one night
clutching a water soaked package announcing he was sorry it was late
but his clutch went and sorry it's a bit damp but his boot leaked (It
didn't leak in the conventional sense, it simply didn't close).

On 2008-07-12 23:04:51 +0100, Peter Parry said:

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:50:48 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

With a level of service to match.

Over a few hundred packages in the last 12 months I have to say that
RM beat the likes of Fedex and UPS by quite a significant margin.


My experience has been consistenly the opposite over many years.

Every time that I have attempted to have something delivered via a
combination of USPS and RM it has failed miserably. Your Reykjavik
experience pales into insignificance when compared with the games I
have had with these two joke outfits.

I now insist that any supplier from whom I buy in the U.S. uses Fedex,
giving them my account number if necessary.

For UK suppliers, I am insisting that they don't use RM or I shop
elsewhere. It's that bad.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-07-12 23:04:51 +0100, Peter Parry said:

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:50:48 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

With a level of service to match.

Over a few hundred packages in the last 12 months I have to say that
RM beat the likes of Fedex and UPS by quite a significant margin.


My experience has been consistenly the opposite over many years.

Every time that I have attempted to have something delivered via a
combination of USPS and RM it has failed miserably. Your Reykjavik
experience pales into insignificance when compared with the games I have
had with these two joke outfits.

I now insist that any supplier from whom I buy in the U.S. uses Fedex,
giving them my account number if necessary.

For UK suppliers, I am insisting that they don't use RM or I shop
elsewhere. It's that bad.


Funny how experiences can vary so much - even with one company in one
country.

Local RM are pretty good. Most things sent to us arrive as expected
without fuss or problem. The odd thing takes an extra day.

Everywhere I look I see criticism of City Link, but we have nothing but
sparkling praise. Always delivers on time. Always in good condition.
Always friendly. And their tracking is now pretty reliable (was a bit
shaky a few years back).

If you want to talk about crap carriers - try HDNL. Tracking? What's
that? Same day? Ah - same week, if you're lucky. But even then, most
things do get through eventually - don't hold breath waiting.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:31:34 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

I now insist that any supplier from whom I buy in the U.S. uses Fedex,
giving them my account number if necessary.

Ah, Fedex, the ones who managed to try to charge VAT of GBP25.37 on an
item costing GBP14.50 and then suggested that the easiest solution
(for them at least) was not to correct the error but for me to simply
deduct the VAT on my next VAT return.

Having failed to send an invoice for several months, when they finally
did, they sent two. One to me and one to their debt collectors at the
same time "In the interests of efficiency".

For a time some years ago a local auction house had the contract for a
number of courier companies to sell packages which had gone astray but
later been traced after compensation had been paid . Most "losses"
were packages simply misrouted within their own systems. As all the
couriers are a bit sensitive about this activity they deliberately
select small auctioneers and rarely stay with one auctioneer for long
so it no longer happens but it was good while it did. The sale which
caused most amusement was of what appeared to be a complete set of
brand new petrol forecourt pumps and GRP mouldings complete with the
petrol station name all over them.

On 2008-07-13 12:16:41 +0100, Peter Parry said:

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:31:34 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

I now insist that any supplier from whom I buy in the U.S. uses Fedex,
giving them my account number if necessary.

Ah, Fedex, the ones who managed to try to charge VAT of GBP25.37 on an
item costing GBP14.50 and then suggested that the easiest solution
(for them at least) was not to correct the error but for me to simply
deduct the VAT on my next VAT return.



Curious. I've had no issues at all in several hundred transactions with them.

Rod wrote:

Funny how experiences can vary so much - even with one company in one
country.

Local RM are pretty good. Most things sent to us arrive as expected
without fuss or problem. The odd thing takes an extra day.

I think that is often the crux of the difficulty. There is so much local
variation. Probably because many of the "big name" services operate
branches on a franchise basis. So much depends on how good yours is.

Everywhere I look I see criticism of City Link, but we have nothing but
sparkling praise. Always delivers on time. Always in good condition.
Always friendly. And their tracking is now pretty reliable (was a bit
shaky a few years back).

Yup, our City Link is very good as well here.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
Rod wrote:

Funny how experiences can vary so much - even with one company in one
country.

Local RM are pretty good. Most things sent to us arrive as expected
without fuss or problem. The odd thing takes an extra day.


Same here. I find RM to be excellent around here (folkestone). DHL aren't bad
either.

Everywhere I look I see criticism of City Link, but we have nothing but
sparkling praise. Always delivers on time. Always in good condition.
Always friendly. And their tracking is now pretty reliable (was a bit
shaky a few years back).

Again, Citylink is good around here, in fact, I'd probably say it's my
prefered option. Can't say I agree about their tracking though - a TV
they delivered a couple of months ago is still in swansea according to
their tracking

If you want to talk about crap carriers - try HDNL. Tracking? What's
that? Same day? Ah - same week, if you're lucky. But even then, most
things do get through eventually - don't hold breath waiting.

Yep, never had anything go missing but for randomness they win!

Darren

In article ,
Peter Parry wrote:
On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:31:34 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

I now insist that any supplier from whom I buy in the U.S. uses Fedex,
giving them my account number if necessary.

Ah, Fedex, the ones who managed to try to charge VAT of GBP25.37 on an
item costing GBP14.50 and then suggested that the easiest solution
(for them at least) was not to correct the error but for me to simply
deduct the VAT on my next VAT return.

Heh, sounds familiar. A colleague at work had something delivered worth 30
quid. A couple of weeks later a bill turned up for nearly 30 quid tax.

When questioned they claimed they didn't know the value of the parcel so
just charged an average and that it would all work out over several parcels!

He ignored it and in the end they agreed to waive the charge "this time".

Darren