We are back, but trouble at Customs

[floridalol]

Hi John

Yes I mean leave the brand tag on otherwise they can confiscate if they want to - I have heard of this happening through someone else once but they admitted to me that they were being very obstructive to the customs officials and in the end they just confiscated everything without a label which was virtually everything because they cut off the brand labels. Unfortunately customs seem to have unlimited powers so if you are stopped it seems prudent to be co-operative and pleasant - as I stated before they know every trick in the book and don't like to think that someone thinks they are smarter than they are!

Everybody enjoy their holidays - less than 1% get stopped in the green lane.

 

[su su]

Firstly I would like to apologise for starting a argument on these boards, I did not mean this to happen.

I honestly did not realise about the £145>

I ACTUALLY DO NOT SMOKE and discourage anyone smoking around any child. The cigarettes were for the very kind person looking after my dog, without her I would not be able to go away at all.

After the last 2 years of losing 3 very dear people (my DH, my dad and my mum ) who I loved dearly, I was so looking forward to my holiday, which was spoilt at the end of it, due to my own stupidity. Which I can honestly say I have learnt by.

I DID NOT DELIBERATELY TRY AND DEFRAUD. I can only say that after that experience which made feel so very ill whereas i nearly fainted at the time, it will never happen again.

The last thing I wanted was sympathy, I know I was very luck and deserved what I got. I was only trying to send a warning to other people.

 

[pauldents]

Su Su,

So sorry to hear about your family.

Thank you for your posts. Lets hope they raise the awarness of customs duty allowances so everyone can have great holidays

Kind Regards

Paul

 

[daywalker]

Yeah su su, it was good of you to post to warn others, how many would just be silent & not mention it? It takes more courage to admit these types of things than it does to sit there silently Personally thats why I thought you posted & just decided to add some things that do help.

Incidentally, when I said remove all labels I did mean price tags etc, not clothing labels!!

 

[WDWfan uk]

Hi Sue,
I'd like to thank you for posting your experience on the boards and say to you that you have no need to apologise or feel you have to justify yourself here in any way.

I hope you haven't been deterred from posting and once again, thank you for sharing this dreadful experience with us...... it will I'm sure help others who are not aware of the customs limit.

 

[SpottyDog]

Well I must be just plain stupid (no surprises for many there then!)

We were pleased to read yer thread Sue as we'd never stopped and considered the implications of our purchases - trainers ,yes, but clothes? We knew they counted, but how can a few t shirts etc addd up? But they include yer park photies too ?!!!!! - just as well I'm too tight to buy them then.

Sue, your post was intended and taken as a legitimate warnin of how most of us take things for granted. Thank you.

 

[#1MMFan]

Thanks for your post Sue. It really made us all think. I think people probably see themselves in you (or your actions) and it scares them to think this could happen. Going through the Green Channel at Customs is about as nerve-wracking as going through security at the airport - you have butterflies just thinking about it even tho' you KNOW you shouldn't be worried... until you realise that there is a limit to souvenirs also. In the US, we tend to record purchases in duty free acquired in the UK on their customs form, because we had once put 0 (genuinely didn't really understand the form) and a customs official pointed out that we had duty free bag hanging from our trolley. Oops. We had thought it was only duty free over the limit or that staying in the US (not returning to UK with us) that needed to be recorded.

Don't you all just feel that your holiday doesn't really begin until you are through security on both sides of the atlantic as it can be really stressful!

John

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Sue,

Thanks for posting about your bad experience.........
I think it was very unfortunate what happened..........because there can be very few Brits who go to orlando and bring back less than £145 worth of goods and souvenirs..........me for one!!! Shopping is a big part of the holiday, and nearly everyone I know who goes always has to buy an extra bag or case to carry all the stuff home. And I did kind of know about the rule, but didn't really think that anyone would get fined for being over......

Oh well, I'll need to watch in future.

 

[JANNYANS]

When we visit Florida we always take very few items of clothing with us as weknow we going to come home laden with goodies.What we do is take a suitcase each with a smaller one inside so we have lots of luggage space and do not have to buy another bag out there and we always wear every thing at least once and remove labels.