baronfloyd

First rate chap to deal with. Absolutely fantastic in all respects. Thanks Richard.

Just bought a Morely pedal. Super dude to deal with. Big thumbs up here.

Mick could not be a better person to deal with. Fantastic in every way. If I'm ever down his end of the country I must buy him a glass of lemonade

Another satisfied customer. Rich is definitely a top chap. Great to deal with. No problems whatsoever.

Hopefully this will help somebody else avoid some of the pitfalls of getting a bass to the UK from Germany post Brexit. This probably applies to other EU countries too so grab a brew and a biscuit or jump to the end for the short version. I bought a very nice bass form Ovialexm of this parish (he is great by the way). Given Brexit, part of the deal was that I would arrange shipping. I knew and was prepared for the VAT bill and other possible charges and was prepared to take it on the chin (reluctantly – but 51% of the nation said that is what they wanted). I looked at the various couriers who were still willing to ship EU to UK. The prices are now approximately double previously. Again, I sucked this up. I decided to go for DHL thinking that they should have export from Germany all sewn up (being part of Deutsche Post). I completed the necessary paperwork requesting a pick up and declaring the value for the VAT and any duty (officially called the Commercial Invoice form – must be done regardless of price). I foolishly decided to be honest and declared the price of the bass and here starts the trouble. If I had been dishonest I would have paid less VAT and also saved a lot of time and trouble. The value was declared in GBP and was over £1000. The bass was collected by DHL (they missed their first booking and I had to arrange another collection). Within hours I received an email invoicing me for the VAT and the administration fee (20% for the VAT and a charge of £10 for the privilege of paying it). Super – another few days and my bass will arrive. Next day I check the tracking to see ‘Shipment on hold’. Later that morning I get a telephone call from Ovi (I said that he was a good guy). DHL had contacted him as the ‘Exporter’ and informed him that vital paperwork was missing. Neither of us knew what they were on about. DHL UK told me that it was simply an invoice stating the exporter’s name and address, the importer’s name and address (me) and the price in GBP. Soon sorted and emailed to DHL. Not good enough, because the value of the export was more than 1000 euro a separate form was also needed. This form is called an Export Accompanying Document. Simple eh? NO. After a lot of back and forth communications between myself, DHL and Ovi (have I mentioned that he is great guy to deal with) we reached a point where the help of another agency was needed – a Customs Agent (zollagentur in German). Finding one was not too difficult but the problem arose when they discovered that the shipment was being held by DHL then it was ‘sorry- can’t help you mate’ (only in German). I eventually managed to find an agent who could help (for another 50 euros). The guy worked wonders, produced the paperwork and the bass was released within half an hour. The bass then spent the next week and half traveling up and down the major cities on the Western half of Germany before being sent to the UK after I registered a formal complaint. Not over yet … (you should have got a few more biscuits). Once the bass arrived in this country it was held for another 24 hours while all the paperwork was checked at this end to make sure that it matched up with the paperwork in Germany. And so, after two and half weeks of waiting I finally got my bass so I am now happy but will not be getting anything from Europe for a while! Short version Bringing anything over the value of 1000 euros into the UK post Brexit – assuming that you are going to be honest and declare the actual value. The sender is officially the Exporter and will need to include an invoice in the paperwork as well as a UK Commercial Invoice (downloadable form for this). The sender will also need to include an Export Accompanying Document (Ausfuhrbegleitdokument (ABD) in Germany). This paperwork can be done via DHL for a cost of 9 euros, if you use them. German citizens can register the ABD via the Zoll Onine website if they can negotiate the bureaucracy. It must be done before sending the shipment. If you do not have this it will cause a lot of hassle and can only be completed in the exporting country by the exporter or their agent. If the value is over 3000 euros then a different form and procedure is needed but I don’t know what that is – fortunately. The UK person is the Importer and must pay whatever costs there are for VAT and any other duties (I only paid VAT). I hope that this helps to smooth the path for somebody else or at least raises a smile for some. Just in case anybody missed it – Ovi (Ovialexm on this forum) is great to deal with. He helped as much as he possibly could and was super patient throughout (thanks Ovi). Phew, glad to get that off my chest. Hope that it helps someone.

Ovi is super to deal with. Speaks very good English. Went out of his way to make sure that is was a smooth sale even though the problems were nothing to do with him (Brexit). I would certainly buy stuff from him again ... if he is still willing to deal with the UK!!!!! Thanks Ovi. Take care my friend.

Absolute top chap. Fantastic comms and really friendly with no messing. Lee is the kind of guy it's always nice to deal with - thoroughly recommended. Cheers.

I usually just lurk around the forum collecting useful information about all sorts of stuff. Glad I checked here before splashing out on a wireless system. Loads of praise for the Smooth Hound system - well built and feels as though it should take more of a bashing than first viewing would suggest. Backup from Chris has to go into the purely awesome category. Having received mine and played around with it for a short while I thought I might have an issue. Contacted Chris and problem sorted within the hour along with a brief physics lesson and an explanation of the design decisions he took. Big thumbs up here. Thanks Chris

Wud is a top chap to deal with. Fantastic all round good guy. Just how things should be.