Ask the Bear & Badger - The Bear and Badger

cockbeard

If I get a package delivered to work (from abroad), is it really less likely to attract customs and duty? I've been fine with small packages recently, but this is a big package

davyK

I've only been stung for import duties once. And it wasn't even for a large item (think it was a games console from the US).

I've always had stuff delivered to work. Have had it delivered from Japan and the US.

I_R

cockbeard wrote:

If I get a package delivered to work (from abroad), is it really less likely to attract customs and duty? I've been fine with small packages recently, but this is a big package

I can't see how the address would matter unless customs were actually looking for certain recipients. A random check is going to involve looking at the address after the packet has been pulled out to be opened.

Lord_Griff

Yossarian wrote:

Naming yourself 'Lord' is backfiring now, eh?

Wait, this is just inverted snobbery!!!

WorKid

cockbeard wrote:

If I get a package delivered to work (from abroad), is it really less likely to attract customs and duty? I've been fine with small packages recently, but this is a big package

If you use a courier like DHL you'll definitely get stung. I'm not sure why a work address would make any difference.

pantyfire

In my experience I have ALWAYS been stung by UPS, sometimes by DHL and less so by the Royal Mail, but if it has a declared value on it above £35 (or wotevs) then it doesn't matter who its been sent by there's always the chance.

If it's a massive issue for you, you can always ask for the sender to declare less on the package or declare it as a 'repair' (I asked a US shop to do this once and it worked on a £400 bit of kit) or something but if it goes missing you obviously wont get your full money back.

cockbeard

Yeah it's a weird one, the stockists over here are out of stock until December so could buy direct from manufacturer. Realised that by doing this I would save about £30 on local dealers prices, but the convenience of being able to return it if faulty without having to ship it to California is appealing. Also noticed that duty works out around £350, so if there's a chance of saving that on top of the £30 it might be worth taking a chance on it not being noticed by customs

I've no good reason for why it shouldn't be checked just as stringently, but figured that they maybe trust items going to VAT registered businesses more, and in my experience seem to have had more stuff get through unchecked. Wondered whether that was just my experience or if others had sen the same

edit: The repair thing is a good shout, I might well ask them to do that, could be an easy win

M0stly harm13ss

There's handling fees as well as just the duty, was that factored into your £350?

I and a number of friends used to buy golf clubs and associated stuff from the US. We could have been unlucky but I would say 95% (made up stat, let's say less than half a dozen) packages made it from the US without customs having a shufty.

Dark Soldier

fuckin hell how many mancs do we have on here

Eric

Mankystock?

M0stly harm13ss

Real ones or ones from 'Oldham'?

Diluted Dante

M0stly harm13ss wrote:

Real ones or ones from 'Oldham'?

Whyioughta!!!

Escape

cockbeard wrote:

I've been fine with small packages recently, but this is a big package

DEPENDS HOW IT'S DELIVERED

cockbeard

M0stly harm13ss wrote:

There's handling fees as well as just the duty, was that factored into your £350?

I completely forgot about paying them for the privilege of opening my new toy. Wankers did that on a Botch jacket, which only cost about £12 so Shouldn't attract any duty bit I had to pay them more than that because they decided to open it, wankers

acemuzzy

Anyone been a school governor? Good craic? Too much hard work??

Kow

Is that some kind of London school bully?

WorKid

I haven't personally but it is a lot of work yes.

[Deleted User]

Some videos I’ve seen online suggest that it’s all the craic you’d want, and more, from surprisingly mature looking students.

Diluted Dante

Kow wrote:

Is that some kind of London school bully?

No, that's a School Guv'nor

cockbeard

Where's yer fookin tool

But seriously my uncle was governer at my school, helluva lot of work. It's kinda like being a non-executive director

GurtTractor

Lord_Griff wrote:

So, laptops.

Need a little something for work/travel.

Seems like it is a toss up between the XPS 13 and Surface pro 4, unless I am missing something.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Dunno if you've got something already, but I would very probably get a Thinkpad X series, very impressed with the older X230 I have. The latest ones have hotswappable batteries which is an awesome feature, plus the usual Thinkpad luxuries such as a great keyboard (I assume the latest models maintain this trend), and the trackpoint nubbin pointer thing, which I don't think I could do without in a laptop now.

The next new laptop I get will very likely be a Thinkpad, once they've updated the line with either the latest 4 core 8 thread "U" processors, or maybe AMD's latest mobile processor, hopefully a 6 core will be a thing.

nick_md

So I need to lawyer up following a house dispute with an ex-partner, have no idea where to start really. Money Saving Expert suggests getting recs from friends and family, so...

...anyone got any advice / recs for a London based solicitor firm experienced in these kind of matters?

Diluted Dante

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Cant be helpful, so hopefully I can make you smile.

Hodge360

Isn't Gonzo a London based lawyer type?

GooberTheHat

If your names on the title deed I'm not sure what can be disputed.

[Deleted User]

If deposits, mortgages, any financial investments haven’t been 50/50, there’s plenty to dispute.

M0stly harm13ss

Sorry to hear Nick. I’ll ask around re solicitors. It sounds to me like you’ll need a no nonsense kind rather than the conciliatory type.

In the meantime, make sure you’ve kept any communication where she admits blame, the affair, or is the cause of the situation you currently find yourself in together with anything that may be construed to be a financial agreement (even emails/text messages that say things like ‘you keep the tv, I don’t want it’ etc). All this may well help.

A solicitor should be able to offer an opinion on entitlements, property and shared cash split, anything owed, etc based on an initial hour appointment. I did this when I got divorced and it was invaluable. You have to be honest though about the current situation and things that have happened since the initial split, etc.

GooberTheHat

Andy wrote:

If deposits, mortgages, any financial investments haven’t been 50/50, there’s plenty to dispute.

Yeah, but legally I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

Kow

@Australians, particularly Sydneysiders, a friend of mine and some of his friends are heading to Australia over Christmas and are looking to rent an apartment in Sydney for 3 couples for 3 nights. Prices seems prohibitive but I guess that's normal. Staying smack bang in the centre seems out of the question. So the question is what would be a good area to stay in that's reasonably near to the centre, not to far from the beach, not full of junkies and crooks etc? They were looking at an area called Hurstville, but have no idea what it's like. The owner of the apartment wanted two and a half grand transferred immediately to his bank account, which seems a bit dodgy. Any ideas?

nick_md

The dispute is that we're at a total impasse, she wants rid of the property, I want to keep it. I've been advised to lawyer up.

M0stly harm13ss wrote:

Sorry to hear Nick. I’ll ask around re solicitors. It sounds to me like you’ll need a no nonsense kind rather than the conciliatory type. In the meantime, make sure you’ve kept any communication where she admits blame, the affair, or is the cause of the situation you currently find yourself in together with anything that may be construed to be a financial agreement (even emails/text messages that say things like ‘you keep the tv, I don’t want it’ etc). All this may well help. A solicitor should be able to offer an opinion on entitlements, property and shared cash split, anything owed, etc based on an initial hour appointment. I did this when I got divorced and it was invaluable. You have to be honest though about the current situation and things that have happened since the initial split, etc.

Cheers for this - if you do hear any good recs re. solicitors please pm me, cheers Rob.

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