Uk Border customs stripped my car with no VALID reason
Discussion
Ultra Sound Guy said:
Some of the most amazing tales of 'unfairness' seem to come from those travelling to the States and having problems with rude Homeland Security officers on the way in! I've always found them courteous and helpful! The worst scenario I've had with them was on my last trip; looking at my passport, the officer asked me why I visited Turkey so often, I replied that we had many customers there to which he replied "That's fine' you can't be too careful these days!" This intense encounter left me psychologically scarred! 
But really, do some people just have a 'lucky' face or is it an attitude thing?
Mrs BC & I visit the USA regularly. We only ever had one rude Homeland Security guy. He started his shift by shouting at some people in the queue to get off of their phones, I then heard him giving the man ahead of me a hard time about something. When I approached the desk he barked that I was too close. I stood right back and leant over to do the fingerprint like the guy getting out of jail at the start of the Blues Brothers film.But really, do some people just have a 'lucky' face or is it an attitude thing?
OK, there was this one time, coming out of Russia, but that's another story!
We have our share of A R Soles and so do they.
Attitude has a lot to do with it, I can imagine if you are the border control cop on your 6th straight 12hr shift, and you pull over your 5th car of the day, go through your list of questions and get the " why do you need to know that? what relevance is that ? " type of guy - wrongly you would go off on one in your head and think OK mate, Im gonna make it hard for you now.
Bit like when I worked in car insurance and the customer asks why I needed to know the answer to X Y and Z and what relevance that made - quite a lot actually as they were standard Insurance quotation \ risk questions which hes probably answered year on year, when I got one of these I dragged it out a lot longer than necessary, asked for every little detail even though I didnt need to, and used the old " systems running slow today" routine. 15 mins can easily turn into an hour :-)
Bit like when I worked in car insurance and the customer asks why I needed to know the answer to X Y and Z and what relevance that made - quite a lot actually as they were standard Insurance quotation \ risk questions which hes probably answered year on year, when I got one of these I dragged it out a lot longer than necessary, asked for every little detail even though I didnt need to, and used the old " systems running slow today" routine. 15 mins can easily turn into an hour :-)
Sounds a nightmare for the OP - I don't think any of us would be happy about that.
I have found that when driving something decent (Ford GT, Murcielago, Vanquish) I was stopped every single time. I think they just wanted a nose around the car - but it was a 100% strike rate. For years and dozens of trips - could guarantee it.
Fortunately, I never had either the screwdriver or rubber glove treatment.
I have found that when driving something decent (Ford GT, Murcielago, Vanquish) I was stopped every single time. I think they just wanted a nose around the car - but it was a 100% strike rate. For years and dozens of trips - could guarantee it.
Fortunately, I never had either the screwdriver or rubber glove treatment.
jimPH said:
I'm a frequent flyer, the only time I've ever been stopped is when I brought some giraffes over from Africa. I was quite amused by this as I couldn't think of anything more ridiculous than smuggling drugs in a 3ft giraffe.
I'm struggling to think of why anybody would import multiple 3ft giraffes except stuffed with drugs...I've had a few stops, but never a full search through all my time travelling, here are some memorable moments:
Stopped at Dover after a really rough crossing, showing customs fellow around the car and threw up, waved through
Customs pull me and suggest I came over the speed humps slowly, yes a bit of weigh in the back all beer..... Ok safe journey
Dover again and is this beer all for you, yes, can you prove it, yes I've a table and chair in the back do you want me to crack some open, No thanks bye
Lastly driving a hired 7.5 tonner home, only contents my travel bag, a fridge, 2 cases of beer and a few cases of St Emilon.
The head customs guy, French was really old school, but got the young staff to open the back up. The young ones were getting excited about the nearly empty back, must of though stuff was stashed under the floor etc.
Bellowing STOP from M Old School, and I intrepreted it as this gut is carrying Good Frence win, hes is honoury french let him go!
Stopped at Dover after a really rough crossing, showing customs fellow around the car and threw up, waved through
Customs pull me and suggest I came over the speed humps slowly, yes a bit of weigh in the back all beer..... Ok safe journey
Dover again and is this beer all for you, yes, can you prove it, yes I've a table and chair in the back do you want me to crack some open, No thanks bye
Lastly driving a hired 7.5 tonner home, only contents my travel bag, a fridge, 2 cases of beer and a few cases of St Emilon.
The head customs guy, French was really old school, but got the young staff to open the back up. The young ones were getting excited about the nearly empty back, must of though stuff was stashed under the floor etc.
Bellowing STOP from M Old School, and I intrepreted it as this gut is carrying Good Frence win, hes is honoury french let him go!
ecsrobin said:
3, You don’t get low mileage good example Fiat Multiplas because they are owned by families that use and abuse them and the car is a tool not for enjoyment.
b
ks. I've taken one around the Nurburgring and it was way more fun than it had any right to be. I challenge you to try it before condemning it. They're a hoot on track. Like hustling a block of flats around. The body roll is London bus level. I laughed the whole way around.jnoiles said:
ecsrobin said:
3, You don’t get low mileage good example Fiat Multiplas because they are owned by families that use and abuse them and the car is a tool not for enjoyment.
bks. I've taken one around the Nurburgring and it was way more fun than it had any right to be. I challenge you to try it before condemning it. They're a hoot on track. Like hustling a block of flats around. The body roll is London bus level. I laughed the whole way around.jimPH said:
I'm a frequent flyer, the only time I've ever been stopped is when I brought some giraffes over from Africa.
You said this, and I had an image of a guy leading a bunch of giraffes on massive long leads through passport control. Too right I'd be stopping you.jimPH said:
I was quite amused by this as I couldn't think of anything more ridiculous than smuggling drugs in a 3ft giraffe.
Then you go and ruin it by telling me they're toy giraffes. Though I agree with the above. 3ft toy giraffes is like smuggling 101.Edited by Smitters on Monday 9th April 10:00
vikingaero said:
skilly1 said:
SturdyHSV said:
1. 3 chaps, ideally with mixed nationality passports, all grow beards
2. Said 3 chaps rent LWB transit
3. Nip over to France one way via ferry, just to be extra suspicious
4. Purchase enough golf balls to fill the back of a LWB transit, along with large sunglasses and beanie hats (in summer ideally) for extra stealth
5. Return to UK via euro tunnel, act as shadily as possible with fingers crossed
Why were you buying golf balls? 2. Said 3 chaps rent LWB transit
3. Nip over to France one way via ferry, just to be extra suspicious
4. Purchase enough golf balls to fill the back of a LWB transit, along with large sunglasses and beanie hats (in summer ideally) for extra stealth
5. Return to UK via euro tunnel, act as shadily as possible with fingers crossed
I remember 10 years or so ago being stopped at the Swiss border and given the third degree - three lads road tripping in a knackered old V8 S class obviously looked like we might have pockets full of weed. While stood there for a half an hour or so while they very thoroughly searched all of our bags we saw them totally dismember some French lads hatchback. Seemingly no piece of interior trim was left attached. Once they'd finished they didn't even bother re-attaching it - they just stuffed it all in the boot/back seat and (politely) invited him to fk off out of their border post.
k off out of their border post. 
I think part of the problem with the multipla is that there is a false floor so there is a largeish void under the passenger compartment, afaik they were considering putting hatches in to make a storage space at one point but I dont think they actually did.
I had a very early multipla and it was a great car, plenty of room for 6 and their luggage unlike a scenic or zafira, not the best looking car but it was surprisingly good fun to drive
I had a very early multipla and it was a great car, plenty of room for 6 and their luggage unlike a scenic or zafira, not the best looking car but it was surprisingly good fun to drive
My brother drives an 11 car car transporter. 2 weeks ago he was taking a load of classic cars to be delivered to various people in europe. As he pulled up to eurotunnel, he was pulled in and asked to jump out, while they had a look around the fully loaded truck.
On the back, Last car to be loaded was a New zealand import Holden pickup. Straight away he noticed that the UK customs were looking at that car in particular. He was then told to drive through the xray machine. This he did and was then asked to unload all the cars. This again he did. They then bought a drugs dog out, who wandered around the cars and stopped at the Holden pick up. Lots of officers then had a more detailed look around the fuel filler area of the car. They then found that the fuel lines had been intercepted, which then ran back to a hidden, smaller, fuel tank in the engine compartment.
The fuel tank had been used, at some point in the past to hide drugs in, running of the slave tank. Upon opening the tank, they found 1 very small bag of very old weed. The officer kept my brother informed all the time and said that he was ok to go, but they were in pounding the car. He then had to ring the owner, telling him that the car that he was awaiting payment for on delivery, was being kept by UK customs.
On the back, Last car to be loaded was a New zealand import Holden pickup. Straight away he noticed that the UK customs were looking at that car in particular. He was then told to drive through the xray machine. This he did and was then asked to unload all the cars. This again he did. They then bought a drugs dog out, who wandered around the cars and stopped at the Holden pick up. Lots of officers then had a more detailed look around the fuel filler area of the car. They then found that the fuel lines had been intercepted, which then ran back to a hidden, smaller, fuel tank in the engine compartment.
The fuel tank had been used, at some point in the past to hide drugs in, running of the slave tank. Upon opening the tank, they found 1 very small bag of very old weed. The officer kept my brother informed all the time and said that he was ok to go, but they were in pounding the car. He then had to ring the owner, telling him that the car that he was awaiting payment for on delivery, was being kept by UK customs.
vikingaero said:
Presumably when Customs open the rear door, most of the golf balls spill out over the whole area.
Security guy at Old Trafford Football Ground insisted on opening my car boot before I could warn him. About 8 paint spray cans fell out and rolled away (I work on the roads). He frantically grabbed them and put them back in for me and didn't search any more of the car.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff