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I had an associate that had this happen in a U.S. port It was because the import violated a condition of customs which said all the merchandise had to be labeled a certain way, which it wasn't and was apparently discovered in customs. They said he had two choices send it back or get it labeled correctly. He spent a few days crawling around the load sticking the appropriate label on it. When he was done they approved the load and he could claim it.

Maybe you face a similar situation in the U.K. or maybe there is some type of import restriction you are not aware of. Have you tried called your customs office and asking if there is any reason they can think of why this company would be telling you this?

I have since found out that they will be sending me a bill of landing and invoice etc which I then take to the port and clear with customs.

a company have quoted £40 to clear at customs but Im not quite sure what they would be doing for there money.

While it may be painful to actually try calling the customs office I would still do it and explain the situation and see if you can get a straight answer about what the issue is and what you need to do to clear the load through customs.

Best case scenario you save yourself 40 bucks and have a smooth pick up. Worse case scenario you don't learn anything and you are no worse off than you are right now.

Here it goes

Uk customs are allot more at ease than the us ones still if it’s a full container 20 or 40 foot u r importing u wont get to see the goods until they leave times port assuming this is the port u r using

U want to hire some one who will do the clearance for you
Shipping and haulage companies provide that or will direct you to the right direction

Its always worth doing your home work on sourcing cheaper haulage they vary allot

The yellow pages will be a great start

Look for an agent near the port u r importing from
They always work cheaper
Look up the post code of the port and search yell for that post code or the first 3 digits of it

Also u will find transporting the container to you warehouse allot more expensive than transporting it from the country of origin

Average for a 100 mile trip in the uk can be some ware around 2k excluding the tax vat and customs

Do your homework b4 the goods arrive
The a copy of the papers /preferably originals for your shipment ready for your agent to start working with
If u are late in collecting the goods u might be fined up to 60 pounds a day for haulage

Also if u was unlucky and they decided to x ray your container expect an extra cost of around 80 pounds for that to be done
It originally cost 50 pounds but agent want there share of profit there too ,,,

Do your home work on who will do a full package for your at the right [price]

Good luck hope this helps