I purchased a stove about 40 days ago from Great Britain. Yesterday it arrived after a long holding period by the Dangerous Goods Support Team. I don't have a problem with the RM inspection, they're just trying to protect everyone involved. I've received other stoves from other parts of the world with no issues (including stoves that still had fuel in the tank) so I am curious what prompted this stove to be inspected? The seller emptied all fuel, washed the tank with soapy water and listed it as "stove parts" (as it was broken down). It had a slight kerosene smell so perhaps another step would be to rinse it in white vinegar before shipping. Below is the letter attached explaining what happened but not "why" it happened. Does anyone else have any tips for successful passage?
I ask UK sellers to remove fuel, smell, include a brief note what they have done, list as parts or camping gear. Have only had one stove confiscated, believe seller did not clean obvious kero off the outside of tank, so it smelled from the start. Got a refund. Duane
If my own experience importing items for work carries over(near daily), postal authorities open anything that might be dangerous, as well as a "random" percentage of all other packages. You can do everything right, and it sounds like CCS'ers do, and your package is still going to get checked on occasion. At least you get a nice letter. Ours just gets cut open, half the packing material removed and discarded, the box run over by a steam roller, the contents run through a washing machine with boulders, and then what's left of the box resealed with "HOMELAND SECURITY" imprinted tape. Kinda bitter.
Howdy, All, I recently purchased a stove from the UK, and asked the seller if they had experienced any problems with sending stoves via RM. They did not regularly send such things, and so had had no problems to date. The seller told me that, IF the stove was confiscated and destroyed, they would give me a complete refund, no questions asked. That was good enough for me, so I took a chance and bought the stove. Here's how things look, so far: It's on the way. Shipped DoneFri, Sep 14 Done In transit Done Out for delivery Estimated delivery Fri, Sep 28 Tracking details Royal Mail tracking #RN230627284GB Sep 19, 2018 00:00am In Transit to Next Facility Sep 17, 2018 11:42am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility SAN FRANCISCO CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER Sep 16, 2018 14:09pm Processed Through Facility ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS) Sep 15, 2018 05:08am Processed Through Facility LANGLEY HWDC I bought the stove on 9/13, and the seller shipped it the next day. As you can see, if processed through Langley HWDC and arrived in San Francisco on September 16!! WOW!! That's a super fast happenstance!! It's now left SF and is on it's way to our local distribution center, from whence it will come up to me. So far, so good!!! I'll let you know how it all turns out, when the stove is actually in my hands. Oh, and by the way, I asked the seller NOT to list that it was a stove, but rather "used parts for repair", which they did. FYI. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
I ordered stove parts from Germany. Posted by DHL on Aug 8, 2018. Lost until Sept 15, 2018 when it appeared in the processing center. Now, it has not moved ... again.
@Doc Mark I'd say yours never got pulled for inspection Doc as the tracking will say so. This step is "stove purgatory" as they are over loaded and packages take 2-3 weeks to even get to. My seller also offered a full refund and when I inquired about the stove they called Langley and spoke to a real person who thought it was just backed up in the system. @Marc I think you're right, probably no sure fire way to completely eliminate inspection. Not only did I get the letter but it was nicely packaged beyond the sellers packaging and enclosed in a heavy blue plastic bag. @snwcmpr Maybe I got lucky, maybe they've changed their ways? I am Irish...hmmm @hikerduane Good tips. Once I get the stove up and running I'll post some pics. Jerry
I bought a stove from a UK seller in 2016, thru EBay, sold as "WW I German Soldier's Trench Stove". Turned out to be a WW II Arara 37. It went via Royal Mail, the seller had not drained the leaded regular from the tank, and the cap leaked. On customs form it was listed as "Souvenir". Still went thru, but that was 2 years ago. Now I'm waiting for some custom stove parts [including a regulator key for the above stove, but no fuel tank involved] from Gideon in the Kyrghiz Republic, and it's been about 28 days. Hasn't arrived in Tucson yet.
Part of the problem with Royal Mail is that nowhere in their list of restricted or prohibited items does it mention stoves or lamps. But at the end of the list they say "We reserve the right to refuse any other item banned by law or that in our opinion may be harmful or dangerous to our customers or employees." So effectively, if an employee thinks that the towel you are sending to Auntie Betty could be harmful, they can destroy it.
I bought a Tilley x264b from a UK Seller which had really foul smelling kerosene in it. It was shipped to Germany without any problem. Now the Shinabro 340 I bought from the Netherlands was a whole other issue, with me being at fault, telling the seller to ship to a DHL "Packstation", when the postnl do their shipping in Germany via hermes and not DHL. So they sent it back to the Netherlands and it took like two and half months to arrive.
