D23 UK members?

[wifey]

It would help if they used any other surface but standard USPS delivery it's no use at all to anyone outside of the USA and if they have sent them by any other method they should inform their customers how they have done so and when it should reach their destination. I've seen some Customs Charges this week from various locations dated from March 19th-March 27th when they entered the country they have just arrived up here this week after clearing Mount Pleasant and being sent up from London so I'm keen to see how and when anything may turn up. I'll let you know. I will restrict any further Disney purchases to a minimum, just our MNSSHP tickets, anything else can wait until we get there

After trawling through the HMR&C website I see Oceanscape seems to be correct there's a flat rate of 3.5% Customs Duty plus Import VAT at 15% so this would be £22 as stated, they don't make that site easy to understand. I did read under Cutoms Duty that is says it's charged as a percentage of the value which can vary on the type of goods and the country of origin, Customs Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods INCLUDING any local sales taxes PLUS Postage AND Packing and Insurance Costs ...., but if it's a gift sent by post then it's exempt except for items sent by Express Mail Service. That's it now I've got a It's too early in the day to wrap my poor brain around this I need more caffeine

 

[oceanscape]

My membership card arrived today, and the letter said the pack would be with me "within 1-2 weeks".

 

[wifey]

I have received my membership card this morningit came just like an ordinary airmail letter, it was concealed inside a folded piece of card stuck down on the opening edge. So at least something has managed to get here at last. Other members may be getting theirs soon too if they have not already got them this morning DH rang me just as I was heading out the door to get the weekly groceries to let me know it's here oh how I my hubby he knows how much I wanted this to arrive at last The rest of my stuff the letter says allow 10-12 weeks!!

 

[oceanscape]

The rest of my stuff the letter says allow 10-12 weeks!!

Mine says allow 1-2 weeks

 

[wifey]

Sorry.. yes mine says 1-2 weeks too... just got a bad case of typing cramp I'm having a strange day I seem to keep getting my words and numbers all in a muddle too. I need a good nights sleep I think dratted noisy neighbours grrr I think need a holiday before my holiday

 

[wifey]

Received my Mickey poster this morning Where the heck is my magazine then The poster came by "Mailsort" you know that awful service with a big M in the corner (first from from KY in the USA to Aylesbury), talk about do it on the cheap... after all the money we pay for P&P it's ridiculous. I'm NOT IMPRESSED I pray and hope our postman brings the magazine today. I'm very tempted to send Disney an email letting them know how disgusted I am with the way they have sent the items to me, I don't have an issue with the membership at all but the P&P is outrageous.

What do you all think?

 

[andrewilley]

What do you all think?

Agreed. At their prices, if they get about half a dozen UK memberships they could get someone to fly over here with the issues and post them for us in the UK!

Andre

 

[wifey]

I'm still waiting for the magazine hopefully DH will update me later as to whether it's there today, if it's not Disney Shopping are getting an email from me. It's been 19 working days, for goodness sakes, since it was paid for.

Update:- It's not there this morning so I have emailed Disney Shopping to find out what the heck is going on and that I'm not happy with the appalling postal service they are using. We'll see what they say.

 

[oceanscape]

My lithograph print, magazine and certificate all arrived today

I am so happy with it! I know a lot of people were complaining about the price of D23 membership but the magazine is absolutely AWESOME! Really high quality - more like one of those luxurious coffee table books. It has stunning pictures and some REALLY NEAT behind the scenes photographs and info!

I am still upset at the rip-off postage and the crappy postal method they used to send the items, but I must admit that I am very impressed with the items themselves.

 

[wifey]

I'm going to try to find a good frame to put the poster in until then it's staying in the tube so our cat does not get tempted to eat it, he's got a paper and plastic obsession The items are lovely but it's infuriating how long the post takes to get them here I find it odd the way they send them too there's no apparent order to the way that people receive them

 

[oceanscape]

I'm going to try to find a good frame to put the poster in until then it's staying in the tube so our cat does not get tempted to eat it, he's got a paper and plastic obsession The items are lovely but it's infuriating how long the post takes to get them here I find it odd the way they send them too there's no apparent order to the way that people receive them

I hope your items turn up soon

 

[wifey]

I've got a reply the items are sent from another company and Disney Shopping have let them know I'm having problems receiving my items. They are going to send replacement ones and they have apologised for the delays. So it looks like another wait of 12 working days, but at least they are trying to resolve this for me

 

[andrewilley]

So did everyone receive their D23 stuff OK in the end? And did anyone get charged any UK import duties? Magazines and books are meant to be tax & duty free, so you shouldn't have been as long as the senders labelled the packages correctly.

I succumbed and subscribed at the discounted rate at the end of 2009 to get Charter status, but I still got screwed with the same ludicrous postage charges though. I've now emailed disneystore.com three times about how they label these packages when shipping, but each time I got a completely fluff response (either a stock response that didn't answer the question, or an unhelpful one basically saying they didn't know how they labelled!)

Andre

 

[wifey]

Eventually I got mine okay ( not import taxes) BUT you should be aware that they import the magazines to a center in Aylesbury (sp?) but they in turn send them out over the country via the "Mailsort" service.... in other words as cheap as they can but we still pay as much for postage and packaging as the original cost for the magazines!! They did arrive well packed (big cardboard covers) and they are quality items but to be honest the whole P&P and lack of any use of the membership cards anywhere in WDW made me rethink the whole deal. No one wore the pins AND you couldn't buy any D23 merchandise anywhere in WDW. They are only now offering discounts but only 10 % and then mostly in the California park or at DTD in Orlando for things like the cinema. We are not returning this year for a family holiday so no benefit there. This could have been so much better a deal but once again we got alienated for not being "american" even the D23 merchandise will incur huge shipping and handling costs before any import gets added. I will not be renewing my membership this year and I'm not planning any of our holidays yet either.

 

[andrewilley]

I'm a bit annoyed about the new pricing structure for this year too - why have a membership option without the magazine?! More usefully they should have offered a reduced-cost magazine subscription ONLY, mainly I guess for non-US citizens who get no benefit at all from any of the other membership 'perks'.

And as for the 'framable' membership certificate and a lithograph - production is cost next-to-nothing, yet we're still being asked to pay through the nose for events/etc which we cannot possibly attened, and "opportunities to buy exlusive merchandise" (talk about having their cake and eating it).

Andre

 

[wifey]

Yes I'm with you there Andre I totally agree

 

[Becx N Gav]

I was actually interested in the reduced cost Silver membership - I have no space for magazines so am not interested in those but would have liked to become a member for all the little bits, certificate, pin, calendar etc.
However I was appalled to go and find out that the shipping was almost as much for the full membership

I sent a message to Disneystore.com and got a reply back saying they would look into the cost - hopefully they will bring it down to something more reasonable - although from what I've read here it looks like they have made a profit on the international shipping costs but have used a cheap delivery company here

Again such a shame we live on the wrong side of the pond to get any benefits And from what I've read elsewhere the west coast is the best place to be as most of the events happen there.

I don't think we'll see D23 around in a few years or if we do it will have changed drastically. It's a real shame.

 

[disneyqueenuk]

I joined last year also to get the charter membership status and do not feel that I have had value for the cost plus shipping of the membership.

I have sent numerous e-mails about UK events, and reduced shipping costs, all of which have had no sensible answer.

Like many on here, I feel that we are being discriminated against for not being US citizens.

I have not decided yet if I will renew next year, I do like the magazine but the cost and shipping it is definitely not value for money.

 

[Hathaway Browne]

I would imagine if they keep getting demand for international (ie UK) events then surely they'll sit up and take notice.

And I don't mean some watered down UK only version of D23, we want the full fat caffeine version that the US gets but with a more reasonable P&P price tag.

 

[Becx N Gav]

Hmmm, I've still not heard back RE the shipping cost. Looks like they really want loads of people to be encouraged