[Mateo Sanboval]

Did anybody take part in the Shore/Cronenberg test pressing giveaway? And by "take part," I mean buy all three and not necessarily at once? I still haven't purchased Crash, but fully intend to when another title or two goes up in the store. I've never been much of a TP fellow so the prospect of winning one doesn't really motivate me. I'd rather save on shipping! That said, it's a cool idea and I like that it will go to someone who clearly likes the scores since they bought them all and not just some random Joey Retweet.

[monsterworship]

where is such a contest existing?

[Mateo Sanboval]

Through Mondo, MW. I'm on my mobile otherwise I'd post tweets and histograms, but I believe it ends today. Just buy all three records under the same Mondo account and you're set.

[monsterworship]

Ahh, I bought all three but I'm probably disqualified as I bought my dead ringers from Howard Shore not the mondo site.

[deafmetal]

Hm, tempting, but I have been waiting for Castlevania to drop before ordering some of these recent Mondo titles.

[deafmetal]

Oops, totally missed the Castlevania drop due to a busy day at work. Ah well, the retail black wax will do nicely.

[frozeneyeball]

Hmm what d'you think the chances are of Mondo putting some of their SDCC leftovers online? I almost gave in and started browsing on eBay, but those flipper prices made my eyes water.

[Spun out of control]

Uh-oh... anyone in the UK just had one of these emails from Customs Clearance Ltd? Am guessing this is the Crash LP

Must admit my first couple of shipments since the improved international shipping prices have been problem free, so unsure what the snag is here:

"You have recently placed an overseas order from Mondo Tees that was shipped with DHL Global Mail. In order to release your shipment from Customs we kindly ask you to pay the incurred import charges to HM Revenue & Customs.
Please be advised that payment should be made by Friday 19th of August 2016 as your goods can only be held in our Customs Bonded area for 14 days, thereafter we have to either return to sender or pass for destruction."

[ScoJo]

Just had exactly the same thing, Spun :(

With VAT and charges, it's £13.50 on top of around £37 I'm already out for this, balls. Just like the bad old days.

(Funny we both got hit today - wonder if they do some kind of 'spot check' type deal on companies that export a lot of goods?)

[Spun out of control]

Hmm, I wonder.

My other thought was that the sickly value of the GBP at the moment might have immediately made such imports more expensive in the eyes of officials - i.e tipping over a certain import threshold. But then I have ordered two LPs at once previously and not had a prob. So don't know what gives...

Put it down to the perils of record collecting I guess...?

EDIT 08/08/16:
Not to derail the Mondo thread when exciting Twin Peaks news on the way, but the standard response from Customs Clearance is as below... it's basically put up & shut up:

'All goods entering into the U.K. with a customs value of £15.00 and over are subject to VAT and in certain cases duty. The breakdown of import revenues calculated are based on a harmonised tariff enforced across Europe.'

When LPs used to cost $20 or $25 and the £ was stronger than it is now, there was never much of a chance of an extra charge even if goods weren't marked down by sender, or they simply forgot. I guess now that LPs are regularly costing $35 for deluxe issues (nigh on £27 currently) before postage, the risk is greater if all rules are followed to the letter...

As ScoJo says, at least there is now the retail option/version down the line - but can't help wanting the fancy pants web-only version ;)

[texasvinyl]

It's a shame the import duty threshold is so much lower overseas. We don't pay any import duty on records valued less than $300 in the states, and the duty on shipments over $300 is very low.

[guyremix]

I've also just received that customs email. Never had a charge before either, I hope this is just a one-off! Will email Mondo to try find out what's happened.

[texasvinyl]

It is worth reiterating this has really nothing to do with Mondo. If you don't like import tax that is an issue pertaining to the laws of your country of residence.

If I were Mondo I would declare every international package as merchandise in amount of the purchase price. It should not be Mondo's responsibility or obligation to help a buyer evade the tax structure of the recipients nation, and falsifying tax forms is probably a felony

In fact, if someone sends me a package and lies on the customs form the government can technically levy penalties and fines on me, not the sender.

[slik]

Also got stung by CCL. This is the third time for me and I also noticed they have added over 50% VAT charges. Call me cynical, but DHL are making Mondo packages a target in my humble opinion. I agree this is not Mondo's doing, it's DHL and their sub CCL.

[skeletonbutt]

It is kind of Mondo's fault for this happening, since they switched to DHL purposely. If it was USPS this wouldn't happen. It's DHL holding the packages hostage.

Edit: or maybe it wouldn't get through via USPS? I dunno, but I do know DHL sucks.

[ScoJo]

Since they switched shipping operator, with cheaper Int options, I started ordering direct from Mondo again for the Cronenberg releases. The first two came thru without charges. If it's back to being a crapshoot again, it's no problem for me - I'll just go back to waiting til they show up at my local retailer instead. A potential BS custom charge of an additional £14 per LP is too rich for my blood, just to get the LPs a little sooner.

[NathanLurker]

It is kind of Mondo's fault for this happening, since they switched to DHL purposely. If it was USPS this wouldn't happen. It's DHL holding the packages hostage.

Edit: or maybe it wouldn't get through via USPS? I dunno, but I do know DHL sucks.

No no, this is not Mondo's 'fault' at all. It is all about the way that DHL works, and Mondo still offers USPS as a shipping method when you go through the checkout process. Mondo have merely added the DHL method to their shipping optons because they've received a lot of feedback that shipping prices were too high. It's a matter of choice from the customer to choose which shipping method works best for them.

[slik]

This is definitely not Mondo Records fault. It is firmly at the door of DHL/CCL. Months back I asked whether CCL was legit when I received an email from them and yes they deliver once you've paid up. My concern is the regularity these charges are now appearing on my Mondo orders. I have had import taxes before, through Royal Mail usually, though I have had to collect in person. The DHL deal is through a company that works for them and thus far, there has never been an official customs sticker attached to any package I have had to pay for.

[jgibbs4053]

Doesn't Transmission carry all of Mondo's releases? Or s this just for variants?

[guyremix]

ok I understand what everyone is saying, but i'm wondering why we are getting customs charges with this new shipping method as they usually mark all the packages with a value of $15 which means there would be no extra charge. There's no point offering a cheaper international option if we are to get stung with charges that end up more expensive that the standard shipping option surely?

[Dollarhyde]

I think customs fees in the UK come into play when goods are over 15 or 18 £. Remember this the price for the goods only, not the postage. It may be DHL or other companies pick up more parcels for customs fees over royal mail as they must have their own department to deal with customs duty.

i'm Curious how collecting customs factors in to private companies business. it would be in thier interest to not process customs fees as it would offer a more desirable product to their customers.

[nick1972]

who did your email come from for UK import charges?

I can see I have my Crash vinyl stuck at customs and it says consignee contacted but I haven't seen anything in the past two days since that was posted

anyone know who to contact to get somewhere with it?

[Occhionero]

In Germany I do not have more or less problems with customs. The customs here don't care about what value is written on the package. They usually want me to open the delivery and then research the real value of the contenet.

[ScoJo]

who did your email come from for UK import charges?

I can see I have my Crash vinyl stuck at customs and it says consignee contacted but I haven't seen anything in the past two days since that was posted

anyone know who to contact to get somewhere with it?

Hi Nick,

Contact Customs Clearance Ltd:

info@ccllhr.com

[Spun out of control]

Details of MondoCon 2016 released:

http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3403 ... -released/

Le Matos live... and intrigued by that re-issue harking back to the early days of both DW and Mondo - original Maniac maybe??