Brexit -- The Gift That Keeps on Giving! [Caution. Contains Rant]

[stuzbot]

I ordered a set of genuine Toyota Lower Ball Joints for my 90 Colorado from Euro4x4Parts in France, as I couldn't find anyone with them in stock in the UK. Around £250 all in, including postage and taking into account my dodgy mental arithmetic conversion from Euro to £££. A bit steep, but the only other option seemed to be Amayama who were a bit cheaper but would dispatch from UAE which would add about a month onto the delivery time.

So, having already paid well over the odds, imagine my delight when I received this from DHL tonight:

...which pretty much means I've paid almost double for the parts now.

I know people will say it's my own fault for not thinking about customs etc before I ordered. But I've been so used to buying stuff from various parts of the EU over the years that it never even crossed my mind that it would all have gone tits-up since Brexit.

So thanks Daily Fail readers!

 

[chapel gate]

its a pleasure!

 

[stuzbot]

More confusion.

I've just received an email invoice from Euro4x4Parts showing the amount I should have been charged [ie. without VAT]. However they charged my card the amount including VAT. So I think they owe me about €46 €54 [curse my mental arithmetic!] back. Which will slightly take the sting out of it.

[Though, in the pursuit of justice, I'm still going to smack the next person I see buying the Daily Fail in the gob]

 

[chapel gate]

well, its britains biggest selling newspaper.

id put on some boxing gloves...

 

[chadr]

well, its britains biggest selling newspaper.

That explains a lot. Actually, in fact almost everything.

 

[chapel gate]

so what are you saying about the majority of people in this green and pleasant land?

 

[chadr]

Actually, the Daily Heil readership is around 1m (give or take 100k in 2020/2021), so whilst it does have the largest readership of the mainstream (I use the term lightly) newspapers, you can hardly call it "the majority of people".

BTW I have no issue with the "green and pleasant land" part

 

[frank rabbets]

I had a bill from DHL years ago fr some sort of tax. I ignored it and have not heard a thing since.

 

[TonyP]

These days if you don't pay they won't release the goods, so they have you either way

 

[stuzbot]

^^ This

You're basically held to ransom. If you don't pay the charges [including their £11 admin fee] you don't get your parcel.

Anyway, some slightly better news. I got in touch with Euro4x4Parts and they confirmed that they shouldn't have charged me VAT at their end and they've already refunded me the €54,80 back. So big thumbs up to them for prompt customer service. This means, in the end, I've only lost about £12 in 'Brexit Tax'.

I know it seems obvious in retrospect but something for us all to bear in mind when ordering stuff from the EU now.

As I said in my original rantlet, I'd been so used to buying stuff from the EU over previous years; my last camera from Germany, replacement exhaust for my van from Poland, chorizos from Spain, boots from Austria, etc. etc. as easily as buying stuff from the UK that it didn't even cross my mind that things would be so much crapper now. In addition to the additional charges, DHL have now given me an estimated delivery date of a week from now. So much for paying the extra to get the items from 'next door' so they'd arrive quicker than ordering from UAE via Amayama.

 

[fbnss]

I recently ordered a winky turbo, had to point out to him that i wasnt going to pay him Vat as hmrc would tax me. after a couple of weeks of silence (bit slow on posting) it arrived, hoorah! then 2 weeks later got the bill for vat and handling from UPS....yay. but all was expected. same as ordering bits from amayama really.

 

[Grimbo]

Not sure how much of the current chaos would have happened if China hadn't dropped Covid on us ....

The world is currently playing catch up and most companies are facing supply issues and production volume issues because of Covid .... DHL are one of many that are running short staffed etc.....

Brexit would have caused problems with supply from the EU but supply from non EU would have been the same without a Covid affect...
That and the fact the EU are acting like spoilt children and deliberately making problems also isn't helping...

 

[Raj]

Scientific community was expecting such a situation from a flu virus for many years. It happened now at wrong time for us.

 

[chapel gate]

Actually, the Daily Heil readership is around 1m (give or take 100k in 2020/2021), so whilst it does have the largest readership of the mainstream (I use the term lightly) newspapers, you can hardly call it "the majority of people".

BTW I have no issue with the "green and pleasant land" part

so. daily mail readers deserve a "smack", and are also nazis? i presume this also applies to brexit voters?

oh how tolerant, inclusive and liberal minded the so called educated and enlightened ones of this country are...

 

[chadr]

so. daily mail readers deserve a "smack", and are also nazis? i presume this also applies to brexit voters?

oh how tolerant, inclusive and liberal minded the so called educated and enlightened ones of this country are...

Firstly, I never said that DM readers deserve a "smack" as you put it - so please don't put words in my mouth/post.

On the other point, you may or may not be aware that the Daily Mail was one, if not the most, supportive and sympathetic newspapers of both Hitler and Mussolini and fascism in general.
The Daily Mail's owner at the time, Lord Rothermere was a huge admirer of both Hitler and Mussolini and used the DM to promote a pro-Nazi agenda in Britain in the late 1930s. This stance led to him/DM having personal meetings, as an honoured guest with both men and having 1-2-1 interviews etc. Rothermere/DM even congratulated Hitler on the annexation of Czechoslovakia. For a short period they also supported Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts. However, following the outbreak of WWII, the Daily Mail distanced itself from Nazism and Fascism in general.

Well that was 80+ years ago and yes, in that period ownership has changed and moved on, so has the DM's editorial stance on many things. However the DM's general rhetoric and outlook since, till now has been one tinged with racism and xenophobia - slowly drip feeding hate and fear to its audience. So if you're consuming the "news" from the DM regularly, then it can only help to promote those attitudes and perceptions and eventually legitimise them. It's like the frog in warm water, if you heat the water slowly enough, the frog doesn't notice until it's getting boiled to death.

On to Brexit: Let's take one of the key drivers behind support for the Leave campaign - the fear stoked up around mass immigration from the EU. Remember the Nigel Farage Breaking Point poster*? Or the "Turkey is joining the EU" poster? This was all stoking fear about immigration from the EU, when in fact, (legal) immigration from the RoW was actually running much higher than (legal) immigration from the EU and had been for several years, plus Turkey has very little hope of joining the EU and hasn't for the last 20 years, nor for the foreseeable future. (Ironically the post-Brexit trade agreement we have signed with Turkey might make our relationship with them closer than the EU's).

And finally, just some flavour of the DM's front pages over the last 8-10 years, so you know what I'm talking about.....Tolerance, inclusivity and liberalism are certainly not the first words that come to my mind.

* The Breaking Point poster was almost a direct copy of a piece of Nazi propaganda.

 

[Chris]

Guys we have plenty of other threads that thrash out this subject. We don't need another one that descends into anarchy. The point originally was that in leaving the EU, we now find ourselves paying extra as items cross borders. Well who'd have guessed that - well somewhere around half the population I'd guess.

So the topic is paying more than we used to for stuff and our experiences of that happening. When it happened, when it didn't. Who from, where to and so on.

Ya hear me?

 

[Raj]

We have club members across borders, just an alternative thought. Can we do something where club members co ordinate and get parts when possible across border without extra taxes. Technically it’s like getting things for personal use. Or will it be considered illegal? If done at club level?

 

[goodoldboy]

descends into anarchy

I live in hope

 

[fbnss]

my point was other than paying £11 handling it cost the same as before, on a £1300 (total including charges) purchase its kinda irrelavent