mr.cheese Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 I have had a bit of a weird issue occur. I have shipped to the US without issue a fair few times but lately I have run into some problems with prohibited goods. So I shipped a Mammoth Molar an Ammonite and a stand and the parcel got held up as I didn't declare the stand and mini Ammonite, fair enough no worries, I spoke with Fedex and they said I used a third party (parcel2go) so I must go through them as the agent. Nice and easy to fix and had to re state the contents of the parcel as a Woolly Mammoth molar fossil, and an Ammonite and a stand, all good sorted and done. I have shipped a fair while ago the auction win off to Texas which also had extras inside so I though I had better check all is good and it said delivered so assumed all done. The recipient has been off air for a while and hadn't answered my messages so was unable to check with them. Anyway the parcel got returned to me a few days ago! After a long live chat with parcel2go again they informed me that the parcel contained prohibited goods! As Spinosaur teeth and an Ichthyosaur vert breech their rules regarding transporting ANY animal parts. I said they are fossils so do not have any actual animal parts at all, they said sorry teeth are teeth! So this leaves me with an issue! They refunded me the postage but not the insurance so I am left a bit out of pocket by this but that is not really the problem, I have a parcel that needs to be in Texas but it isn't permitted but it was with a parcel posted after that one it was? Help!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FB003 Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 I do not know the answer but did they say whether its a US or UK based issue? Parcel2Go is UK so I'm assuming its export vs import? *Frank* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.cheese Posted August 11, 2022 Author Share Posted August 11, 2022 1 hour ago, FB003 said: I do not know the answer but did they say whether its a US or UK based issue? Parcel2Go is UK so I'm assuming its export vs import? They stated it was a prohibited item and cannot be shipped with us, so I assume that is their own company rules, the issue with that is just a week earlier they allowed a tooth through after being directly told it was a tooth via live chat to then be added to the parcels item list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 They may not have interpreted the goods as fossils. Most dealers that ship to me from UK/Europe either use the words "mineral samples", "fossils for study" or just "fossils" in their description. 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 (edited) 17 hours ago, mr.cheese said: I have had a bit of a weird issue occur. I have shipped to the US without issue a fair few times but lately I have run into some problems with prohibited goods. So I shipped a Mammoth Molar an Ammonite and a stand and the parcel got held up as I didn't declare the stand and mini Ammonite, fair enough no worries, I spoke with Fedex and they said I used a third party (parcel2go) so I must go through them as the agent. Nice and easy to fix and had to re state the contents of the parcel as a Woolly Mammoth molar fossil, and an Ammonite and a stand, all good sorted and done. I have shipped a fair while ago the auction win off to Texas which also had extras inside so I though I had better check all is good and it said delivered so assumed all done. The recipient has been off air for a while and hadn't answered my messages so was unable to check with them. Anyway the parcel got returned to me a few days ago! After a long live chat with parcel2go again they informed me that the parcel contained prohibited goods! As Spinosaur teeth and an Ichthyosaur vert breech their rules regarding transporting ANY animal parts. I said they are fossils so do not have any actual animal parts at all, they said sorry teeth are teeth! So this leaves me with an issue! They refunded me the postage but not the insurance so I am left a bit out of pocket by this but that is not really the problem, I have a parcel that needs to be in Texas but it isn't permitted but it was with a parcel posted after that one it was? Help!! That company is well-intentioned but ignorant. People legally ship fossil teeth out of the UK all the time. Most of the animals were extinct long before there were people so it's not like they're encouraging a trade in living species. In fact, it's a great alternative for people interested in collecting natural history items. Yeah, I would just say "fossils for comparative study" on the paperwork. Edited August 12, 2022 by siteseer additional thought 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 I just say mineral samples and have never had a problem 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted August 15, 2022 Share Posted August 15, 2022 (edited) I once shipped a fossilized turtle to the USA. I did put "fossil" in the declaration, but that didn't help. It ended up at the "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Center". Fortunately, it was released after a little over two month. Edited August 15, 2022 by oilshale 2 Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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