Customs clearance - how long?

[Squadrone Rosso]

Afternoon all,

I've ordered an Oris watch from the USA. It's been delivered to the UK but has been stuck in Customs since 11th December.

Can anyone advise if this is a normal delay for this time of year or if there's anyway to expedite it.

The Shipper is USPS and the service was 48 hour...lol. Parcel Force will deliver it in the UK.

Cheers,

Simon

[chrisr29]

Once you've paid the VAT its usually a couple of days. I take it you've had the VAT invoice?

[Squadrone Rosso]

chrisr29 said:

Once you've paid the VAT its usually a couple of days. I take it you've had the VAT invoice?

No, nothing eve though I accept I'll have to pay.

The detailed tracking status just says "awaiting customs clearance".

[PJ S]

Normally, it tends to be 5 days or so – however, at this time of the year, you’re probably lucky if it’s released within 10 days.
Parcelforce or RM should deliver it to a local depot, where you can collect and pay what’s owed.

[CAPP0]

I had a watch stuck in Customs a few months back, in the end on advice from here I tracked it down and called the depot holding the watch direct. Paid the duty and it was with me the next day. I suspect I'd have been waiting a good deal longer if I had waited until they "got round to it".