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It's supposed be coming to Cape Town. Surely they would notify me if any duties are due and then forward the parcel on from there once I've paid?

You would have been given a local tracking number if you have contacted ICM, so you can track it though parcel track. A parcel only gets held at ICM when the duty classification is wrong, (i.e clothing classified as bike parts), otherwise will be forwarded on to final destination, address or PO Box, you usually get a slip to go to the post office to collect and if any duties are payable you will pay at the post office.

 

Are you sure you have done a lot of overseas online shopping as per your other fred?

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You would have been given a local tracking number if you have contacted ICM, so you can track it though parcel track. A parcel only gets held at ICM when the duty classification is wrong, (i.e clothing classified as bike parts), otherwise will be forwarded on to final destination, address or PO Box, you usually get a slip to go to the post office to collect and if any duties are payable you will pay at the post office.

 

Are you sure you have done a lot of overseas online shopping as per your other fred?

 

I usually end up having to go fetch my parcels from the foreign parcels counter at the Depot behind Grandwest. Take my invoice with me and they work out the duties, VAT, etc.

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Ordered a ton of stuff from overseas (SJS, Wiggle, CRC, Star bike, various other small shops too). Some parcels came quick some came slow, but all arrived. Never had any gone missing regardless of shipping method - DHL from Germany was slowest, but it got here in the end. Customs duties (generally just VAT) you pay at the PO counter when you collect, or to the courier before they deliver. Some small items didn't get charged any extra (spokes etc).

 

Edit: when I say a "ton" - I mean quite literally almost an entire bike in bits and bobs

Edited by walkerr
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You would have been given a local tracking number if you have contacted ICM, so you can track it though parcel track. A parcel only gets held at ICM when the duty classification is wrong, (i.e clothing classified as bike parts), otherwise will be forwarded on to final destination, address or PO Box, you usually get a slip to go to the post office to collect and if any duties are payable you will pay at the post office.

 

Are you sure you have done a lot of overseas online shopping as per your other fred?

Yip, just this time my parcel got split up when CRC sent it for some reason, not sure why because they haven't responded to my mail.
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Ordered a ton of stuff from overseas (SJS, Wiggle, CRC, Star bike, various other small shops too). Some parcels came quick some came slow, but all arrived. Never had any gone missing regardless of shipping method - DHL from Germany was slowest, but it got here in the end. Customs duties (generally just VAT) you pay at the PO counter when you collect, or to the courier before they deliver. Some small items didn't get charged any extra (spokes etc).

 

Edit: when I say a "ton" - I mean quite literally almost an entire bike in bits and bobs

About10kg give or take a few grams :whistling:
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About10kg give or take a few grams :whistling:

Actually a bit more - as I got 2 sets of rims, hubs etc (one wheelset for touring) - plus some serious luggage for audaxing. But ok, yeah - ton may have been an exaggeration ;)

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Just to share my bit of entertainment for this morning...

 

After Being on the phone with EMS JHB yesterday they couldn’t tell me if I had anything to pay and that I had to drive out to them in Jetpark to collect my parcel and they can’t deliver to a post office closer to me, I was assured this is standard practice. This morning during a coffee break I decided to randomly track my parcel, it is now in transit again.

:ph34r:

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Maybe I'm dof or I missed something........I never got a Royal Mail tracking number, where am I supposed to get one or do I just patiently wait for the PO slip telling me my parcel has arrived?

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Royal Mail in the UK is close to using a decent Courier in SA, you can put a letter in the mail and it will be there the following morning. Problems all come when the parcels arrive in SA, SAPO is unfortunately close to useless, package will eventually arrive. Been waiting for a parcel from KZN for 11 days, eventually called them yesterday. and the site has simply stopped tracking it(says it is still in Germiston since 30 Oct, meantime it has been at the post office since the 31st)....can't even get the tracking right locally

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The scary stories really stem from the SA POST and the poor manner in which they deal with mail. Things generally go into slow mo once the parcel hits our stores and then sits at customs. Then it gets pawed about and eventually delivered on some random schedule to my local PO. Only after much harassing and phone calls do I have my parcel in my hands. Even the delivery note that is supposed to be put in my po box is another departemenent within my local PO. No one can answer me why I dont receive these slips - its always somebody else's responsibility it seems.

Same with Parcel force, all good tracking wise till it gets to SA. then the brakes are applied, and it will take so much longer to travel 80km from ORT to Midrand than it took to fly 13000km from the UK.

my only advice when using Royal Mail, or any untracked service - make sure you know somebody at your local PO who can keep an eye out for you and possibly ring you when they get something - will cost much chocolate (bribes? absolutely).

 

Just be patient. As mentioned above it takes longer to meander from the local PO Hub than from Hong Kong, LA, UK etc to SA. My Hubdoctor parts from LA took about a month, of which two weeks was in the local post office! And recently an item from Hong Kong was 2 weeks.

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7 Days later and I still have "Your item, posted on 31/10/13 with reference RU.......GB has been passed to the overseas postal service for delivery in SOUTH AFRICA"

Guess it is still in transit. Not in SA yet. Tried to convert the number on the EMS website. Hope it gets here at some point :P

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Mine was also saying "in transit" then they called to say it arrived and will be delivered to me today.

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