Held in customs, how long for?

[nhal039]

Hi
Just a quick hopefully easy question I returned a parcel and it has been held in customs since the 15th Nov, does this mean they are still processing it or that the seller has to come in and get it? The parcel has been posted from nz to belguim. I rarely send with tracking so have no idea what a normal processing time is.

Thanks

[Loa]

Do you know which country's customs?

[nhal039]

Yep its held in belguim, where its final destination should be

[Loa]

They may be looking at the taxes & stuff.

[nhal039]

Yep i get that, maybe i could word this better. What sort of time frame does it take to clear customs? how long do buyers (seller in my case) have to pick up the item if they have to pay taxes, how long should this process take?

[Loa]

Ooooh duh. Sorry hun. I imagine it might be a week if they need to contact the recipient.

[nhal039]

Yeah its been over a week so far, i just am worried it could take many weeks but i am not sure how the process works

[Loa]

Humbug

[tulagirl]

Well if you take out the weekend days it hasn't been in customs that long.  I have actually had an issue where something I sent was held up in customs for two weeks and then it started moving again.  Just because it says it is in customs doesn't mean the buyer has been notified to pick it up.  It could just be in a backlog of packages.  Clearing customs can take a while or not. I have had a package be in customs a week, another package I sent to Australia say it was in customs a month.  Then it was delivered.  So, really there is no way to know for sure how long this process will take.  I have had some delays with that country your mentioned before.  Held up in customs doesn't mean that a person has to go get the package at all.  It can only mean they are looking at the box. Hope that helps.  Sometimes they just look at boxes far too long. I don't know what the reason is.  Sometimes they like to dispute things.  Like my package I sent to a friend was marked as a gift, but they challenged it and we have to prove it was a gift for it to leave customs. 

[Taffeta]

I don't know how it works in Belgium, but here, there's a distinct difference between held in customs and collection of item. On our system, something comes into the country and if it's flagged for customs it gets put aside. It's usually a week in terms of working days, so maybe up to 10 days, sometimes less, depending on how complicated they think it is. After that the package gets marked up and is released into the care of the delivery people. THEY then hold it in THEIR depot, and they send out notification to the recipient. Not customs.

So in the UK, that would be Parcelforce for any larger item (they send a letter by post and it can take 3 or 4 days to receive) or Royal Mail for a smaller one (that's a card through the door, and that's usually next day but not always).

In short, if Belgium is at all like that, then there's two processes to take place, not just one. And that might make it take a bit longer. Although if that is the case I would expect it to show up on the tracking.

[nhal039]

Thanks for the anwsers they have been helpful. The statues still hasnt moved so hopefully one day soon it will be updated to delievered.

[nhal039]

Just an update i had to open a claim with the post office. Its still in customs which is far to long for a couriered parcel