I started asking this question in a thread that is buried now but has anyone in the UK or internationally dealt with FedEx acting sketchy about a completed grading returning to them?
I have had my 55 card submission held at Stansted airport customs as they needed more clarification on what’s inside and some physical proof of me exporting the original goods.
When I spoke to a lady over the phone she didn’t quite understand when I explained they were trading cards in protective plastic cases and subsequent emails with proof of export have had no response.
I have read PSA’s export form they sent FedEx and it clearly states the origin goods are trading cards printed on paper that have had expert assessment on them.
I have no specific answer to your question regarding the psa import but rather something about fedex holding things at customs. I recently purchased a card (ca. 500$) which the seller didn´t declare correctly. The gave me a call and wanted to know if I want to import them (customs recognized that this card is not 10$ lol). I stated yes and didn´t hear back from them. After 2 weeks the package arrived, there was no bill or anything included and I started wondering, because I had to send them a proof of transaction. Another 2 weeks later a letter suddenly arrived where they warned me that I had to pay 200$ extra. The lady on the phone never stated that they would charge any/horrendous fees for handling things at customs (for me around 100$) even after I had specifically asked her. Be sure to think carefully what you allow FedEx to do with your stuff!
I receive my submissions via Fedex and never had that issue, and I’m UK based as well. The only issue is that Fedex does seem to expedite customs processing and cover custom costs upfront so I do usually get a letter with charges from Fedex a couple of weeks after receiving my orders.
Personally I would wait up to 4 weeks as UK customs is notoriously slow with all orders. Even if they raise charges before releasing the items, I think you can still pay those charges and dispute them later with hmrc if you believe they were applied unfairly.
I read somewhere before that it can take up to two months for HMRC to process your request and issue a refund should your dispute be considered valid, so be prepared to have you money stuck for a while if you get a worst case scenario situation.
But since you already sent proof of export, it’s probable that customs will release it without additional charges.
Also, if you can update this post once everything is sorted I would really appreciate it as it may happen to other UK based collectors, and should give us and idea on how to handle it in the future.
Thanks for the heads up, I will keep this post updated with what happens!
Unless this is a case of me not having a FedEx account or something I’m not aware of it baffles me that this kind of thing does not happen more often or that PSA wouldn’t provide customs with all the info they need… I may have just been picked by the gods of misfortune on this one?
I received my last psa submission a couple of months ago by fedex. All I sent them as proof was the psa submission form as it showed my return address and costs of own return.
It took only 1 day with no complications or charge
As mentioned in the above post the only problem is that they charge £21 for so called processing fees due to completing the import.
I actually got a final payment notice as I haven’t paid it yet or they will take legal action which is quite amusing. I’m not sure where I stand with this but reckon they will drop the charge if I complain as it’s complete nonsense. (Anyone else have this problem?)
I had to once pay parcelforce fees(or they wouldn’t release my item) and another time I didn’t on my previous returns. Not sure why as they were the same, but that’s the broken system.
• 55 cards packaged and sent to PSA via Parcelforce Worldwide
• Cards sent to PSA via USPS once they arrived in USA
• Grading completed and sent back to UK via FedEx with international weekday signed delivery
• Cards reach UK customs where it is being held.
Being a Weekend I’m hoping that it will be sorted tomorrow / next week
I have already been on the phone with a customs rep explaining what is in the package and the reason for it’s export, and sent images of the original export from UK to an email address FedEx sent to me that their customs team deal with
That’s why I switched to FedEx would sometimes be £££ down and then your always worried what happens if they don’t agree with your dispute reasons,
Coventry Parcelforce is also the worst! They delayed my shipment because the computer told them not to send yet, even though all fees were covered, and then asked me to pay for Saturday delivery hahaha Think that was my last straw tbh!
No, not in my experience. I’m 50/50 with them as I wrote previously. Once was a free collection and the other a fee on collection due to processing. Not sure why, broken parcelforce system. Both were the same. I could of probably claimed back but didn’t.
Like the FedEx I will argue their processing fee against them as I already have the cards. And I chose a parcelforce return yet they FedEx’d it back. Not sure why either on psa’s part. Headache central.
There were a number of issues with my email server not sending my proof of export from the UK but after contacting FedEx on 0345 607 0809 in the UK a lady there was kind enough to email me direct so I could forward my proof of export to her which was then forwarded to FedEx customs.
I then had delivery delayed today as the driver for the FedEx van was “new to the area” and got lost…
HOWEVER
For any UK graders who would like to get a TL:DR of this whole thing:
I Pay PSA to have USPS Express Mail for exporting my submission back to UK
Send PSA submission via ParcelForce Worldwide
Submission gets to PSA through USA Customs via USPS
Submission gets completed and sent back to me in UK via FedExFedEx flag it for not being labelled clearly enough and want a proof of exportI ring FedEx on this number 0345 607 0809 and they ask a few questions and want proof of original export to USAI send scans of my Parcelforce receipts/customs form and PSA Submission formPackage is released from the cage at customs and makes it’s way to me two days later
As @cljdavis, has already explained in a post earlier I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND anyone sending to PSA from UK to do it via FedEx and get an account with them.
As far as I can tell from my own experience in retail, the less people involved in getting something from A to B the better. FedEx in this instance were overly suspicious of a package that they themselves did not originally export to the USA and a dispute about it’s origin and contents would be diminished significantly if only they were used in the delivery process from start to end.
I think I saved a few £ doing it the way I had done, but the stress it incurred having to prove and re-prove my ownership of the package will make me not do that again.
Think that was my last straw tbh!
