Whip Basics. The Forum

That's not good...

Uh oh....Good luck chasing it up, postal services are infamous for being difficult...

That really stinks!

Was that USPS Craig?

On the 10 footer question, my whips are known for being on the light side, but the first time I made a 10 footer for Robby's show in Sweden I was kind of shocked at how heavy it came out. I personally wouldn't add any to it.

It‘s time to clear the situation. Craig sent that whip to me, because I was interested to do a review on Frankenwhip. Simply because it‘s a very unique approach to whip making. What happened is this... Usually I give everyone detailed instructions how to send something to me. Ask Rachel, Jessie, Roy, Tyler and all the others. German customs is a pain in the ass! But before we could talk about all that, Craig sent the whip. And I guess, there was no invoice at the outside to see for those ****ing custom guys. When tracking says that it was delivered, it means that it was delivered to the munich customs office. And that is a dead end. The worst thing you could ever do, is, to mark a package as gift. I don‘t know if Craig did that. Just sayin‘.

I don‘t think that it‘s lost. At least it‘s the german customs... I bet they check(ed) it, found no proper invoice (proper for german customs...) and it will be sent back. I‘m really sorry for Craig - whilst I‘m sure that the whip will come back to him - but If anyone sends something to me, a whip for my expertise or a package of used ball pens, please ask me before you do that!

German customs is a pai... You know what I mean.


Robby

Good God Robby, that sounds a bit like Dutch customs, but than twice as bad.
I've had my share of doings with Dutch Customs and I was not at all amused.

I'm glad you know the proper way of handling with them.

At least it's not lost. I have had that happen once, though I think the recipient was lying wether he had received it or not. Anyway. Sounds to me it's somewhat resolved.

Sven

Mr. Frank, Robby, I'm sorry to hear about those customs problems!

I'm not sure if this is going to work, but if Mr. Frank would send an e-mail or fax with the invocie to the Munich customs office, it might prevent the whip from getting send back to the U.S.

All the best
Ben

Robby, I apologize, but I did indeed mark it as a gift. I've always marked packages to Europe as a gift. I was not aware that there would be any issues with that. I also marked the antler handle whip as a gift. Maybe it will still make it through.

Well, there was a customs form on the outside, just like any package that I send oversees. So it's not like I just wrote "gift" (coincidentally, poison in German) on the outside without a description. I just checked the gift block on the form.

And please allow me to apologize to Robby in front of everyone if my posts or messages sounded accusatory in any way. They are not intended as such. I'm still hoping that it will make it through.

Ah, customs... when I first started sending whips to Robby, it was enough to put the invoice in an envelope, tape it to the outside of the box and write INVOICE in bold letters with a permanent marker. The last time I sent him a whip, he asked me not to do the envelope, just to tape it open on the box because the customs agents had gotten too dumb/belligerent to open the envelope! Robby and Craig, I hope it still makes it through.

Thank you, Craig! Everything is totally fine. No worries. I know (and totally understand) what it looks like, when tracking says „delivered“ and the recipient says „nope, nothing“. Would puzzle me too, absolutely. The situation is, that the postal authorities mark everything as „delivered“ when it was handed over to somebody who signs. In this case, the packages are controlled in Frankfurt (Airport) and there they receive a new destination. The customs office in Speyer. They receive the package, sign for it and - it is delivered. As I wrote you - there is nothing more stupid than german customs. Once I had a discussion that went over half an hour with customs, that a brown nylon whip is not made from leather only because it‘s dark brown... „It is brown. So it is leather!“ no kidding. That was the argument of that customs guy. It is brown. So it is leather. If it would be nylon, it would be black! Serious. That is the level, german customs is.

As Tyler posted. He attached the invoice on the outside, right next to the adress field. It had the word INVOICE in big, fat letters written on it. Just never underestimte customs. They asked me for the invoice. I said that it is right there in front of their eyes. They denied. Because Invoice is not the german word for Rechnung. Which means invoice in german... It‘s embarrassing for me to admit that, but I think that the german government is still at the level of 1945.

Again - I am sure that the whip will come back to you. At least those guys are german... And I‘m really sorry that this happened. All I can say is - please contact me for the proper procedure before you send something my way.


Robby

Wow that's such an annoying procedure with customs! Also quite unfortunate that that happened with your whip Craig!
Robby, is there a law against getting leather shipped to you?

There is a silver lining to everything to this. Now the rest of us know not to just send it out. Though Craig, I am very sorry to hear about this. Packages being messed up like this are the worst.

Like I said - it is not lost. It just did not arrive. It will be sent back to Craig.

Sparky - I am german. In Germany there is a law against anything! Serious - you just have to know what you have to write on the invoice. If you write the proper description, you can send a dead body...

Robby

Sorry, I meant if there were laws making it impossible to send leather to Germany. It's interesting that an invoice is more important than a customs declaration or something of the sort!

OKay, now I'm going to have to do that...Thanks for the idea, Robby.

I had a feeling you might respond to that idea, Jessie (espesh given your sig )

As young Lydia said in Beetle Juice: "I have always been drawn to the strange and unusual, for I myself, am strange and unusual..."

Of course.

Well at least I now know where to send my dead bodies. Does that also apply to zombified bodies?

Now I only need to find a big enough box...

Sven