UK Customs checks
Discussion
If you're stopped at the border on re-entry into the UK and decide to be uncooperative then you should probably expect to get scrutinized a lot more.
Personally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bare in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
Personally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bare in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
Customs have sweeping power. More than the police in many cases so yes you have to answer.
My father flew light aircraft. A friend of his was stopped and customs wanted to remove various panels.
He said no. They said tough. He said my life depends on this aircraft and if you want to take it to bits fine but you get a licensed engineer to do it.
The aircraft was impounded and it went to "court " or similar. Dad's friend won and customs had to pay for an engineer. They found precisely nothing.
I also flew light aircraft. One day left Bournemouth for France and returned 3 or 4 hours later. Red flag. Met by customs ( only time in 15 years of flying ) who had a good nose about and then left.
You really don't want to argue with customs.
My father flew light aircraft. A friend of his was stopped and customs wanted to remove various panels.
He said no. They said tough. He said my life depends on this aircraft and if you want to take it to bits fine but you get a licensed engineer to do it.
The aircraft was impounded and it went to "court " or similar. Dad's friend won and customs had to pay for an engineer. They found precisely nothing.
I also flew light aircraft. One day left Bournemouth for France and returned 3 or 4 hours later. Red flag. Met by customs ( only time in 15 years of flying ) who had a good nose about and then left.
You really don't want to argue with customs.
bloomen said:
I find it pretty incredible that it didn't occur to customs that prising open an aircraft could be fatal for the user.
Surely there's SOME rule about that.
Whilst I never had to search a light aircraft I did have to search the hold of a jet airliner. We were told in no uncertain terms not to touch anything that 'looked important' or was part of the avionics... although as no-one knew what in practical terms that meant it was usually left to the individual officer as to how deep they wanted to go with their search. Surely there's SOME rule about that.
When it came to aircraft I basically touched nothing.
bloomen said:
I knew a geezer who was bringing back his newly acquired Lancia Thema 8.32 with hand stitched leather interior. Customs lovingly unstitched it. Including the dash.
What's the law on this? Obviously customs have wide-ranging powers of search but in doing so they've caused expensive damage, is there compo or do you just have to lump it?
CarlosSainz100 said:
If you're stopped at the border on re-entry into the UK and decide to be uncooperative then you should probably expect to get scrutinized a lot more.
Personally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bare in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
I presume this is the cass considering he didn't verify fPersonally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bare in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
k all before letting me go and I was quite clearly absolutely exhausted.Seemed ludicrous he wanted to see the outbound ticket email confirmation from bloody February
hidetheelephants said:
What's the law on this? Obviously customs have wide-ranging powers of search but in doing so they've caused expensive damage, is there compo or do you just have to lump it?
You can apply for compo. They would have only gone to those lengths of unstitching the seats and removing the dash if they were absolutely sure it was going to be worth the hassle....They wouldn't have done all that for the lolz
bloomen said:
Was there anyone technical keeping an eye out or did officers leave with the odd bit of landing gear to use as an ashtray?
No, no-one else other than colleagues. There were special rummage courses to go on where you got trained on what you could and could not take apart and the best places to hide contraband. Not that the majority of Border Force officers at an airport would ever go on those. If you're at a freight terminal or Ferry terminal then you'd probably be first on line for the course. As a rule Border Force officers don't tend to take things apart unless they have a pretty good reason. That doesn't mean they always will have mind you. Or that they'll find what they were looking for. Although I did once find a turd down the back of a planes seat once.....good job I was wearing gloves.
CarlosSainz100 said:
You can apply for compo. They would have only gone to those lengths of unstitching the seats and removing the dash if they were absolutely sure it was going to be worth the hassle....
They wouldn't have done all that for the lolz
That bloke was young, always alone, and importing several fancy cars a month. Even so if I were him I would've offered to pay for a camera ant or something. They wouldn't have done all that for the lolz
CarlosSainz100 said:
Although I did once find a turd down the back of a planes seat once.
That's weirdly impressive. CarlosSainz100 said:
If you're stopped at the border on re-entry into the UK and decide to be uncooperative then you should probably expect to get scrutinized a lot more.
Personally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bear in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
Perhaps if a lot more were like you, and not the miserable fPersonally, I could tell straight away whether the person I was speaking to was being uncooperative because they'd done something wrong or just tired after a long flight and wanted to get home. I'd try not to escalate things and tried to be reasonable. It didn't always work.
One thing to bear in mind is the Border Force officers probably won't be sure which flight you've arrived off until they ask you. I often thought that members of the public believed it was a lot more hi-tech behind the scenes than it actually was. It's an omnishambles the majority of the time.
kers I meet it’s go better for everyone. Apart from my own slight fallout just last week one was barking at a visitor about her phone. I think they believe people expect them to be assholes. They’re just not scary enough, Israel does the whole ‘take us seriously’ thing much better at the airport. Oh, and if the automated machines weren’t so utterly crap this would probably not put passengers in such a bad mood in the first place 
carlo996 said:
Perhaps if a lot more were like you, and not the miserable fkers I meet it’s go better for everyone. Apart from my own slight fallout just last week one was barking at a visitor about her phone. I think they believe people expect them to be assholes. They’re just not scary enough, Israel does the whole ‘take us seriously’ thing much better at the airport. Oh, and if the automated machines weren’t so utterly crap this would probably not put passengers in such a bad mood in the first place
Ah yes the e-gates. This was meant to be the panacea from the fallout caused by cutting lots of staff. The only problem was they often decided not to work; which led to enormous queues and very grumpy passengers. kers I meet it’s go better for everyone. Apart from my own slight fallout just last week one was barking at a visitor about her phone. I think they believe people expect them to be assholes. They’re just not scary enough, Israel does the whole ‘take us seriously’ thing much better at the airport. Oh, and if the automated machines weren’t so utterly crap this would probably not put passengers in such a bad mood in the first place I don't work for Border Force anymore and rarely miss it, although it could be fun at times. I joined as a Customs Officer tasked with looking for drugs and random turds down the back of seats but when it became the Border Agency and all the Customs staff were consumed into the Home Office and the massive sh!t show that was Immigration and then was made to stand all day scanning passports it lost its appeal very, very quickly.
I've got a great idea - let's introduce a rule that if you arrive at Dover and you looked tired (or say you're tired) and you've rushed to get there in time for your train / ferry because you didn't leave early enough, then you're automatically exempt from all customs checks and you just get waved through.
omniflow said:
I've got a great idea - let's introduce a rule that if you arrive at Dover and you looked tired (or say you're tired) and you've rushed to get there in time for your train / ferry because you didn't leave early enough, then you're automatically exempt from all customs checks and you just get waved through.
Ah! You sound like you've also got an NVQ in clipboard management like the little Hitlers at the port! Biker9090 said:
Ah! You sound like you've also got an NVQ in clipboard management like the little Hitlers at the port!
Not really - it's more a case of you expecting to get through unchallenged because you're tired and you rushed to catch your boat / train. How old are you - 5?I presume that you understand the need for checks at the border - both intelligence led and random checks? If you don't understand the need for this, then I'm not going to bother explaining it to you, as you probably still wouldn't understand. If you do understand the need for it, why do you think you should have been exempt? For the reasons stated above (tired / rushed), or some other reason?
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