Customs - anything I can do about harassment.
Discussion
I'm planning a trip to France again this summer but since buying the W124 Coupe Customs seem to have their beady eye on it. Been to France 3 times and the car has been pulled apart by Dover customs twice on arrival in the UK. (Genuinely - interior/boot stripped/listening devices on the engine - hi def cameras on screw heads to see if anything had been unscrewed/ seats/carpets removed - well over an hour each time.)
Second time got stopped again, told the customs guy the car had pulled to bits last time we came back to UK, but that didn't stop him doing again. Told the customs douche that the car had been stripped last time we came back to UK but he no record of that.
We've been to France a million times before without any grief, is there anything I can do about this.
Second time got stopped again, told the customs guy the car had pulled to bits last time we came back to UK, but that didn't stop him doing again. Told the customs douche that the car had been stripped last time we came back to UK but he no record of that.
We've been to France a million times before without any grief, is there anything I can do about this.
The first and last time I used dover was about 10 years ago. I went for a booze cruise for the day, however I was shocked at how dear it was over there. On the way back we were stopped and literally had the car pulled apart and not put back together properly. I tried to tell them everything was cheaper in this Country but it was lost on them. We just sat there for an hour laughing at them pretending they knew what they were doing tapping the tyres.
Didn't even get an apology off them when we left, bunch of w
kers.
Didn't even get an apology off them when we left, bunch of w
kers.NH1 said:
The first and last time I used dover was about 10 years ago. I went for a booze cruise for the day, however I was shocked at how dear it was over there. On the way back we were stopped and literally had the car pulled apart and not put back together properly. I tried to tell them everything was cheaper in this Country but it was lost on them. We just sat there for an hour laughing at them pretending they knew what they were doing tapping the tyres.
Didn't even get an apology off them when we left, bunch of wkers.
So you watched them take the car apart, bodywork off, engine out, presumably. Then they failed to put it back together, but you still managed to drive it away and laughed at it. Amazing!Didn't even get an apology off them when we left, bunch of w
kers.Anyway what is a W124?
jimbop1 said:
MarshPhantom said:
The irony is that since we joined Europe we should be able to pass borders unimpeded.
Should we? I'd like to think that people get checked coming into our country, European or not.It tends to be me and not the car which is singled out for whatever they swab you for after pulling you out of line
x2 lads trips in different cars - pulled from queue and door handles swabbed
x2 family holidays in different cars - same again plus steering wheel swabbed
Ive never thought to ask what they are looking for - is it drugs or TNT?
cheers
I've never had major hassles.
Came back from France with my parents caravan a few (lot) of years ago. Asked a couple of questions, whose caravan, whose car, what did I do for a living and sent me on my way.
Came back from German via Rotterdam to Hull in my Volvo Estate. As I came off onto the terminal roof I saw the walkie talkie go up and was not surprised to be pulled in.
They asked a few questions, asked for a copy of my itinerary (I'd been visiting car showrooms on military bases), and asked if they could chuck the dog in, then sent me on my way.
Does sound like OP or his car has a marker of some sort...
Came back from France with my parents caravan a few (lot) of years ago. Asked a couple of questions, whose caravan, whose car, what did I do for a living and sent me on my way.
Came back from German via Rotterdam to Hull in my Volvo Estate. As I came off onto the terminal roof I saw the walkie talkie go up and was not surprised to be pulled in.
They asked a few questions, asked for a copy of my itinerary (I'd been visiting car showrooms on military bases), and asked if they could chuck the dog in, then sent me on my way.
Does sound like OP or his car has a marker of some sort...
kiethton said:
MarshPhantom said:
They seem to have taken against SE Londoners.
I'm SE London and never have any bother, the only time they've been the slightest bit interested was on the way to LeMans when they seemed to swab every bodies steering wheel at the tunnel.MarshPhantom said:
We have a big old Camper that you could hide anything in but that never gets a second look at customs. I don't think they want to spend a few hours finding nothing.
Quickest way is to run a chirpy little spaniel sniffer dog over a vehicle - they don't usually spend hours on a subject, unless they know there's likely to be a result...I used to be on some sort of register, possibly due to my old business involving traveling all of Europe on a weekly basis. I used to get pulled in every time! Be that in my own car or with mates cars. Guaranteed every single time, it caused much amusement on the ski trips 
though only once did they have a "really good look" round the car with some panels pulled off.
I then asked them why one time, it was frequency of trips, age, vehicle type etc. Obviously fitted a certain profile they were looking for. The chap said they'd always asked where I'd been & suggested I should produce evidence of such, like receipts etc. Since then I got stopped but never tugged into the search bay.
Bear in mind they run sniffer dogs down the boat loading bays whilst at sea (so I heard) so my bet is your car has had a previous life...
though only once did they have a "really good look" round the car with some panels pulled off.I then asked them why one time, it was frequency of trips, age, vehicle type etc. Obviously fitted a certain profile they were looking for. The chap said they'd always asked where I'd been & suggested I should produce evidence of such, like receipts etc. Since then I got stopped but never tugged into the search bay.
Bear in mind they run sniffer dogs down the boat loading bays whilst at sea (so I heard) so my bet is your car has had a previous life...
One of my friends has a problem with Customs and he has absolutely no idea why.
Twice he has been approached, by name, walking back through customs after collecting his bag, by name I mean "Hello Mr Smith, have you had a good holiday? If you follow me we would like to have a look through your bags".
He has also had his car searched twice upon returning to the UK from France, once was a fairly brief look around and emptying the stuff out of it, but the second time was a proper pull-it-to-bits search that took well over an hour to complete with absolutely no apology from Customs, who insisted on being very rude to him throughout with a "we'll find something in a minute" attitude.
Very odd.
Twice he has been approached, by name, walking back through customs after collecting his bag, by name I mean "Hello Mr Smith, have you had a good holiday? If you follow me we would like to have a look through your bags".
He has also had his car searched twice upon returning to the UK from France, once was a fairly brief look around and emptying the stuff out of it, but the second time was a proper pull-it-to-bits search that took well over an hour to complete with absolutely no apology from Customs, who insisted on being very rude to him throughout with a "we'll find something in a minute" attitude.
Very odd.
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