HM Customs stole my tobacco

I'm not sure he really cares that smoking is bad for him right now...

From where he is standing, it is theft.

Were you allowed to keep the 250g that you're allowed to bring with you?
 
Hmmm oh well better stop bring in the 500 or so cigs from Canada or whatever country i fly to back then lol :p. As of yet i havent been stopped and had any of my cigs confiscated touch wood but if they did then i wouldnt and couldnt really say anything as i know your only allowed to bring back 200 cigs from Canada/USA.
 
Beansprout said:
Sadly, ignorance isn't an excuse :(

I wonder what their policy on the red channel is - I assume making you pay the different and being able to keep the goods?
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I think the red channel is if you get caught, you pay the duty and keep the goods. Green is if you get caught, tough.

And you are right, ignorance is never an excuse when it comes to the law. Sorry officer, i didn't know it's murder ! It just doesn't cut it. As for stealing, well, if you hadn't got caught then you would be stealing from the tax man as he hasn't got the cut of tax he was supposed to.

So my opinion on this is pretty clear, you got caught red handed and got the appropriate penalty.
 
its stupid how some people get away with it though, came back on holiday about 2 years back with 8 boxes of cigs, each one had 200 cigs in it, no one batted an eyelid
 
It seems rather harsh that you forfeit the right to pay the outstanding duty by taking the green channel. What exactly will they do with the confiscated tobacco? Either someone from customs will "borrow" it, or most likely it'll just get disposed of.

So, surely it would have been much better for all concerned to let you pay up and be on your way.
 
You should have just told him you are going to collect the last baggade you forgot at the carousel, then light up and smoke everything you can't take with you. :cool:

gib786 said:
its stupid how some people get away with it though, came back on holiday about 2 years back with 8 boxes of cigs, each one had 200 cigs in it, no one batted an eyelid
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Ask any Greek/Spanish people how they manage to smoke loads. ;)

(you can bring in as many as you want from EU countries)
 
Spawn said:
Hmmm oh well better stop bring in the 500 or so cigs from Canada or whatever country i fly to back then lol :p. As of yet i havent been stopped and had any of my cigs confiscated touch wood but if they did then i wouldnt and couldnt really say anything as i know your only allowed to bring back 200 cigs from Canada/USA.
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A lot of that is down to what country you're coming from (or rather, what country they think you're coming from). They can't stop and search everyone, so they have to use intelligence and judgement to decide. If you appear to be arriving with far too many bags, or from a country on the 'dodgy list', then they're more likely to take interest than if you're coming from a country that has a relatively good past record. I'd certainly put the USA and Canada in the latter.
 
You broke the rules. They enforced the law. Your problem for not finding it out! You went through the green zone which has plenty of signs warning you about what you are and aren't allowed to bring from different countries, don't try and blame your mistake on other people.

Saying that should have just charged you the duty is like saying that someone stealing something from a shop should just be asked to return the goods, rules need to be enforced or they won't work at all.
 
Berserker said:
A lot of that is down to what country you're coming from (or rather, what country they think you're coming from). They can't stop and search everyone, so they have to use intelligence and judgement to decide. If you appear to be arriving with far too many bags, or from a country on the 'dodgy list', then they're more likely to take interest than if you're coming from a country that has a relatively good past record. I'd certainly put the USA and Canada in the latter.
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True but last yr i was stopped in customs, probably because of my skin colour and my religion lol:p. Was stopped by some spotty little asian guy...anyways he decided to open up all my bags...only 2 of them but didnt confiscate any cigs or any other stuff in there. Seemed that day they stopped a lot of asian people coming through, tbh it was a pain in the arse waiting and answering his stupid questions and i must admit i was quite abrupt with him. But then i had just got back off a red eye flight so was suitably shattered tbh and wasnt in the mood to make chit chat.
 
Berserker said:
A lot of that is down to what country you're coming from (or rather, what country they think you're coming from). They can't stop and search everyone, so they have to use intelligence and judgement to decide. If you appear to be arriving with far too many bags, or from a country on the 'dodgy list', then they're more likely to take interest than if you're coming from a country that has a relatively good past record. I'd certainly put the USA and Canada in the latter.
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I got stopped by the World's Tallest Customs Officer coming into Heathrow from Caracas....I guess a lone kid with tatty shoes but a smart-ish suit kinda looks a little odd :D
 
I don't think there was anything wrong, its your responsibility to check the rules. You can't despute a speeding fine because you didn't know the limit, or a drink drive offence because you thought you'd be ok having seven shots of tequila.

As for paying then, look at it the other way. If they allowed that, why would anyone go through the red channel? Everyone would go through green and only pay if they got caught.
 
PinkPig said:
You broke the rules. They enforced the law. Your problem for not finding it out! You went through the green zone which has plenty of signs warning you about what you are and aren't allowed to bring from different countries, don't try and blame your mistake on other people.

Saying that should have just charged you the duty is like saying that someone stealing something from a shop should just be asked to return the goods, rules need to be enforced or they won't work at all.
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FYI, there were no signs in the green zone regarding allowances nor were there any in the shop where I bought the goods.

I accept that I am at fault for not checking the allowances before buying the stuff and have never claimed otherwise. I fail to see where you get the idea that I was trying to blame anybody else for my mistake :confused:
I still maintain however, that confiscating the goods rather than allowing me to pay the duty owed was unnecessarily harsh.

For those who asked, I was not allowed to keep the 250g I was entitled to have - the rules state that if you are carrying more than your allowance, you forfeit the entire amount :(

Stan :)
 
Although I appreciate you're a bit miffed at losing the stuff, I tend to agree with others here that you only have yourself to blame.

The real crime is the arbitrary limits that C&E impose on stuff you bring in from other countries within the EU, such as the stuff you bought in Amsterdam. As far as I'm aware, you are legally allowed to bring in as much as you like provided it's for personal consumption. The problem is that the decision on whether the quantity you have is for personal use or not is left to the customs officer on the spot. When he said you were only allowed 3Kg from Amsterdam, this limit isn't set in stone anywhere to my knowledge, and was just what they'd decided was a reasonable limit for personal use.

My uncle brought a shedload of cigarettes back from the UAE a couple of years back, which was all perfectly legal as they were for personal use, yet the customs officer on duty that day decided they weren't and thus confiscated the lot. Now that's theft! What's needed are some clear guidelines from the government on exactly how much you can bring back from EU countries, rather than leaving it to C&E to decide.
 
didn't HM Customs & Excise cause wars in the past, and your worried about £70?

imho you shouldent be able to bring any alcohol or tabaco into the country, the nhs pays for the damage it does so the goverment should charge a nice chunk of tax, if you didn't check the rules carefully its your fault you had it confiscated, paying the duty just isn't enough but perhaps this is because i have this opinion because i love this country more than most and believe it is the best place on the planet and don't want to do anything to harm it.
 
Bigstan said:
FYI, there were no signs in the green zone regarding allowances nor were there any in the shop where I bought the goods.
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I've never been in an airport that doesn't have signs all over the baggage reclaim area telling you what the rules are. Even if they were mysteriously missing this time you'll have seen them before. You seem to be blaming customs for enforcing the rules rather than yourself for breaking them!
 
I For one think thats aload of Crap, they should have let you pay, its not like they wouldnt have then got there money is it?

i hate the import tax :@ i mean i buy 1 shirt and 1 jumper from America and get charged another £10 its stupid
 
i suppose you broke the rules, however in my experience customs is a joke:

i've been through the red channel once, because the airport was packed and I was late, and I was slightly over the limits on cigarettes i'd brought back as a gift, i just walked through and they didn't care when i told them how much i was over, said they'd let it go.

another time i went through the green channel, as i was knackered after being on the go for about 48 hours, and wasn't really with it, got stopped and searched and they confiscated stuff, despite me saying as soon as i was stopped(prior to opening the bag) i thought i was over and should have actually gone through the red channel
 
BUSH said:
customs is a joke.... i thought i was over and should have actually gone through the red channel
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Therein lies the problem.

I went through the red channel returning from Florida with some new camera kit, but it was hardly much. They let it go.

It's better to be honest than try and beat them at their own game :)
 
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